That moment when Microsoft Edge doesn't support the usage of Grammarly in google docs so you have to manually reformat the entire thing.
...Followed up by the realization that Grammarly works in the editor.
Edit: Fixed some formatting issues near the end that had nothing to do with the Grammarly thing that involved confusing lines of dialog and such.
Nobody really made any suggestions, but the selection for what Kuraima will get as a familiar in the Familiar Forest arc has been chosen by the dice gods.
Who or what will it be? Who knows!
Anyways, a bit of a filler chapter, the calm before the storm!
REEEEEEEEEEview time
Spazmatism - ok seriously how does an eyeball type
Anyways, thank you for the name suggestions. A bit too late for Crabulon, but…I believe you may have just potentially saved me a lot of time.
"Hey, so how'd it go?" Issei asked Kuraima as the two walked through the halls of Kuoh Academy.
"Dude, we hit it off really well. She's a lot like Asia. Except, the more food you give her, the more she warms up to you."
"Man! I'm both incredibly jealous and yet so proud of you, bro!"
Kuraima paused mid-step. "Wait, jealous? Don't...don't you have Asia-san?"
"...what?"
"You serious, Issei? I...you know what, forget I asked…"
"Oi! What are you talking about?"
"Too late, dumbass!"
"Hey! Get back here!"
Everyone watched the spectacle as Kuraima took off, leaving Issei behind.
It seemed like yesterday when the third year had berated the first year's ideals of becoming the Harem King™ and now the two were acting all buddy-buddy.
All they knew for certain is that you do not fuck with the new girl just transferred in. Aka, Asia Argento.
The last group of delinquents who tried to take advantage of her shy and naive personality…well…
"D-Demon!"
"He's not fucking human!"
"RUN FOR IT!"
He just wanted to look a bit intimidating, so he had channeled his animosity into his [Rage] ability.
He might as have well channeled the fucking Doom Slayer. Who would've known that [Rage] had a passive pacification effect on normal humans?
Anyways, back to the here and now.
Kuraima finally allowed Issei to catch up to him, chuckling. "So, eh, you develop that [Boosted Gear] at all?"
The reincarnated Devil shrugged and scratched the back of his head. "Haven't really had much time to practice. I can reach up to 4 boosts, kind of a hard cap, though."
"Gotta start somewhere, y' know? If it's doubling your power, then that means that once you reach full power, that's like what, a 16x multiplier?"
"...Yeah! You're right! Imagine how powerful I'll be by the time I become a High-class Devil!"
"Issei! Not in front of the normal people!"
"Haha...sorry."
Later at lunch, Kuraima held a light novel in one hand and a bento box in the other.
"Hey, Kuraima-san," Kiba said, taking a seat next to him.
"Oh hey there, Kiba-san."
"Watch are you reading there?"
"I decided to start reading the Halcyone series written by that guy who runs the Moonlit Cafè. Apparently, they're really good, and I can see why."
"Oh? I see…"
"It's absurd how much I can relate to the MC. We're both blessed by cosmic deities, both socially awkward— albeit in different ways— and we both have a crippling addiction to Hot Pockets. It's almost like he's a self-insert of me."
"...I see."
Kuraima then turned serious. "Say, can you do me a favor, Kiba?"
"Sure thing. What is it you need?"
"Can you teach me swordsmanship? I've decided that I need to get better at defending myself but I don't have the guts to ask the Kendo Club girls…"
…
…
…
"Hm...alright. I'm probably far from being the best teacher, but I'll see what I can do."
"Aight. Thanks, dude."
"Anytime."
[Later that week, on Wednesday…]
"Keep your stance steady. Yeah, spread your legs apart like that— little too much. There! That'll do. Now, keep swinging!"
Just when Kuraima thought that the weird visions of "not-Kuriama" were over, here they were, bleeding over into his tutoring session with Kiba.
"You're getting the hang of this rather quickly, Kuraima-san."
The Astral student looked at Kiba. "I am?" Then, he looked at the series of slash marks on the hay-filled training dummy in front of him. In his hand, a wooden sword. Nothing too fancy, just a generic training blade.
…
…
…
"Huh. So it seems."
"Though, you seem to be...staring off in space while you do it."
"Ah, well, you see...I've been having these strange visions as of recently. Had them ever since the first time I went to the Moonlit Cafè."
"Oh? That sounds...interesting."
He thought for a moment. "You know, it's weird. They showed up last time I was training. Now that I think about it, they usually show up when I work up a sweat. Either that or when I go to sleep."
"They're always somewhat the same, too. I find myself in the body of this samurai guy. Sometimes our actions line up, but most of the time I'm just spectating. I can look around freely, though."
"There's also this other guy. He looks like a robot, has this red mechanical armor and has these weird cyan neon eyes that glow. I lowkey wanna call him Sans Undertale, except it's both eyes that glow. I think he's some kind of mentor because the samurai dude keeps calling him 'sensei'."
Kuraima sighed. The people in his vision had yet to actually address each other by name, yet there was something infuriatingly familiar about them.
"...I see. Have you told anyone else about these?"
"Just my housemate. She's...how do I say this…"
…
…
…
"Fuck it. She's a Stray Devil."
"She's a WHAT?!"
"Hey! Hey! Chill! Chill! You don't need to get up in arms. She's not gonna start anything! I beat her ass twelve ways to Sunday! The only reason that she's still alive is that I couldn't bring myself to finish the job!"
"...Fine. Continue?"
"Anyways, I had a vision of the samurai fighting a massive beast with almost the same exact qualities as she did. She showed up in the middle of that vision and...uh, to say the least, now she eats all my food and I'm pretty sure she's using my basement to horde less than legal goods. But uh, she's a really good craftsman. And she pays the rent. Though, now that I think about it, she might be bribing me…"
Kuraima paused. "Wait, I'm getting off-topic. Back to visions. Anyways, I had them when we fought Raynare. I…"
…
…
…
Kuraima's voice became rather somber. "I...had a vision of the samurai...he was in a cathedral…" He paused. "When...when Asia died, I saw a little girl I didn't know. She had a health bar, like the kind you see in video games. I...I watched it hit zero while the samurai held her in his arms."
…
…
…
"I…I see." The pretty boy responded. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, Many higher-end Sacred Gears can only be wielded by a single person on the entire planet, so when they get passed on, sometimes these gears will hold memories of their previous wielder. Perhaps that could be the case with yours?"
"I….Maybe? I highly doubt it, though. From what I learned in that dream where I talked with Astrum Deus, I'm supposed to be the first one to get this piece. But if it's true that I'm not the first wielder of [Stella Dominus], then something's just not adding up, and…"
…
…
…
"Oh my fucking god."
"W-What?" The Knight piece asked as he flinched from Kuraima's usage of the g-word.
"That man in red was speaking the lyrics of The Stains of Time!"
"...I see?"
"...Sorry. Uh, back to sword training?"
"Uh, sure."
Kuraima has leveled up his [Melee] Proficiency!
Not much else happened over the remainder of the week. Nothing of importance, anyways.
Soon, the time came for the Astral student's second date.
By the end of the night, it would certainly be an unforgettable experience.
But not for the reasons one might expect...
[That Saturday…]
Kuraima once again approached the fountain, the one where he and Helenski had met before.
And there she was, waiting for him.
"Hey there, Sola-san."
"H-Hey…"
"So, the carnival's in town." Kuraima said as he shrugged, "How about we go check it out, just you and me?"
"Aa...I…"
"We can get some cotton candy…"
Ah, that look in her eyes. "Yes, please!"
The two of them set off together, towards the bright flashing lights of the carnival.
"Nice shootin', kiddo!" The staff member behind the counter of one of the many games stations that had been set up around the park. "Pick any medium-sized prize ya want!"
The Astral student chose one of the many animal plushies on display, and once he received it, immediately handed it off to Helenski who added it to her collection of assorted prizes being held in her arms.
"Not bad, eh?" He quipped, putting down the cork gun as the two left to find something else to do.
Suddenly, Kuraima had an idea. "Wanna ride the Ferris wheel? I've never really tried one before, so…"
She perked up for a moment, blushing. "W...W-Well…"
Now, the two were sitting next to each other as the great mechanical wheel hoisted their carriage into the air.
"Oh...this is nice!" Kuraima said, looking out through the window. "You can see pretty far!"
"R-Really?" His date asked, peering out the window with him. "W-Wow…!"
Kuraima leaned back in his seat. "Hey, Sola-san…can...can you do something for me?"
"Huh?"
The Astral Student held out an empty hand. "Hold this."
"...Huh? B-But there's…"
Her face turned many shades of red that shouldn't have been physically possible for the human body when she realized what he meant.
…
…
…
"Y-You want to hold hands?!"
"Eeyup."
"..."
"S-Sure…"
The white-haired girl blushed and looked away shyly as the couple's fingers slowly interlocked with one another.
Kuraima, on the other hand, had a big cheeky grin on his face.
"Hey, it's not so bad, y' know?"
"N...Nnnn-no! It's...not...so b-bad…"
The two sat there, watching the landscape as the Ferris wheel continued to gently spin them around.
"Heh, did I ever tell you how well you pull off the 'freckled bespectacled cutie' look?"
"A-Ah…"
The two were now walking back to their usual meet-up area, the Astral Student teasing the platinum-haired girl with compliments. Neither of them really paid attention to the fact that this place was rather empty, even though the carnival was in full swing.
"So, d-does this...make us…?"
"Boyfriend and girlfriend? Sure, why not. I think we've hit it off really well. It's almost like we were meant to be together, y' know?"
La Sola looked away nervously. "I...I suppose…"
…
…
…
Then, she turned back towards him, twiddling her thumbs. "Kuraima-san...Can...Can I tell you something?"
"...Sure?"
"W...W-Well, I know everyone has their secrets...and...you've been so nice to me...but…"
She wasn't able to finish her confession, as the ground began to shake.
"Wh—?!"
A massive purple worm came shooting up from the ground, knocking the couple away from one another as they struggled to regain their footing.
"Grrrrooooooar!"
"What the actual fuck!?" Kuraima yelled, reaching into his pocket to pull out his retractable baton— the only weapon he really felt comfortable carrying in public.
"Hm. I missed." An ethereal female voice called out as its source walked out from the bushes. "It'd be lame if you had died in one shot." She taunted, her voice turning normal as she revealed herself.
She wore a large purple trench coat, the trims lined up with rows of large, sickly worm teeth, not unlike those of Matilda's.
The giant worm retreated through the hole in the ground, reeling itself back in and shrinking as it took the form of a worm-shaped scarf around the attacker's neck.
"What the hell is your problem?!"
"Oh, as much as I'd love to say that it's nothing personal, it's quite the contrary. You blew up everything we had worked so hard for!"
…
…
…
Kuraima...was confused, to say the least. "I did?"
"Don't play dumb with me, you little shit! You're the one who took out our meth lab! Our pride and joy!"
The Astral Student gave Helenski an 'Are you seeing this shit' look, though this seemed to unsettle her more than she was before by this strange turn of events.
"Aight, listen. I legitimately have no clue what you're talking about. Well, okay, yeah, I know the meth lab blew up, it's in the fucking news, go cry me a river. But look at me!" He gestured to himself. "Do I look like the kind of person who could pull it off?!"
…
…
…
"Well...no…"
"Good. Glad to see that diplomacy has—"
"But you know what? That's probably the whole point!" She responded, pointing at him. "What better disguise is there other than some unassuming highschool brat!"
"You overestimate my power!"
"That matters not! I'll just have to beat the shit out of you!"
"My name is Eatah, the Eater of Worlds!"
The scarf once more transformed into a massive segmented worm with countless eyes, roaring as it
"And this is my Sacred Gear, [Corruptus Vermis]!"
Eatah, the wielder of [Corruptus Vermis] has awoken!