Bit of a short chapter this time.
Wooden blades clashed as Kuraima and Ai Sore charged at one another, locked in a state of battle.
Ai was fast, but thanks to his incomplete Balance Breaker, and the fact that he'd trained with Kiba now and again, Kuraima was able to react to his opponent's honed reflexes.
Thanks to his training, he was able to stay in Astral Page for up to five minutes, which didn't sound like much compared to his initial limit of three. However, in a fight, minutes can be quite a long time.
"Haaaaaah!" The two swung at one another once more with great vigor.
Crack!
Their blades finally gave in, flying off to the sides as the stress caused them to reach a breaking point.
"Welp. Guess that's that." Kuraima said, scratching his head and dispelling his armor.
Sore chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose it is. Good fight, by the way." She bowed down politely. "I have seen for myself the great power that you wield. I look forward to learning from you."
Kuraima cringed inwardly, hiding the mental anguish with an awkward smile.
"Y…Yeah. Sure. Me too."
Wiping the sweat off of his brow, he grabbed a nearby bottle of water and gulped it down.
Looking around, he saw the gangsters sitting around, exhausted after giving it their all to improve themselves.
'Nah, Nah…I guess they're my gangsters now.`
"Hey."
Kuraima turned around to see one of Champ holding a fresh bottle of water.
"Oh, uh, thanks."
As he greedily gulped down some cooler, more refreshing water, Champ averted her gaze, crossing her arms.
"Don't think anything of it."
The Astral Student pulled the bottle away to look at her. "I'm definitely gonna think something of it."
"Ah, Kuraima-sensei sure has a way with words, does he not? To so easily see through your voice and then slice right through them." Ai Sore suddenly interjected, blindsiding the two.
Champ's face turned a light shade of pink. "What is that supposed to mean…?"
"Eh. Who knows?" Kuraima shrugged. "I sure don't."
"Such brutal honesty, I must say!"
Kuraima tilted his head, looking at Ai Sore with an unamused look. 'Okay, now you're just being both an asshole and a bootlicker.'
A small wisp of pink flame floated between Mochi's large mandibles as she, in her wyrm form, practiced her ability to manipulate her strange fire breath.
Wyrms were a species of dragon, so nobody was really surprised that Mochi had such an ability in the first place.
What nobody did expect though, was how strong her flames were for a being of her apparent age. They had no idea how Mochi got one of Kuoh's greenhouses, one of those reserved for biology classes, but it turns out she had a pollen allergy.
One of the resulting sneezes had flash-molten a few panes of glass in that greenhouse, destroying several magical enhancements that had been placed upon them by the Devils.
Whoops.
So now here was Kuraima, training Mochi on how to control her flames...by using her to roast marshmallows in his backyard.
….While wearing Matilda's welding gear. In rather warm weather.
He was sweating up a storm as he held the white fluffy treat just out of the Wyrm's reach with a pair of tongs usually reserved for handling molten ingots of steel and iron in a blacksmith's forge, and even those had started to give in after multiple exposures to the vibrant pink flames of destruction.
But Mochi was getting better and better by the day. She was finally learning how to control her flames, to the point that she could roast marshmallows without burning them to a crisp.
"That'll do."
The pink wisps of fire dissipated as Kuraima pulled up the welding mask, blowing on the roasted treat to cool it down as Mochi slithered up like a puppy, eager for a treat.
"Careful. It's still hot." He lowered the tongs into Mochi's range, allowing the Wyrm to snap forwards like a snake, sinking her pincers into the marshmallow. "...Not that it'd be a problem for a dragon-ish thing like you, I guess."
It was amusing to sit there and watch as the little worm tore into the half-melted confectionary.
"Heya, kiddo." Matilda said, sitting down next to the Astral Champion. "Being a mob boss is kinda tough, isn't it?"
Kuraima just shrugged. "Well, I mean…at least we're not getting into gang wars. It's a pain in the…neck as it already is. No wonder Champ's such a stick in the mud."
The Desert Scourge snorted. "Heh. Wow. Didn't think you'd have it in you to say that."
"Can't say I blame them for the ways they act, though. They must've had it pretty hard before Champ came around."
By now, Mochi had finished her little snack and was playfully coiling around Kuraima's arms.
"She is, as one might say, the Bruno Bucciarati of the group?"
That got the Third-year student chuckling. "Heh. I didn't take you to be a woman of culture!"
Matilda playfully shrugged. "Turns out you can appreciate a lot of things once you deal with the iron deficiency that comes with being a stray devil. Mutations take a lot out of you, y'know?"
"Yeah…I suppose it would. Not like you can just find other sources of meat in the city, let alone cook it without fire powers."
"You got dat right, worm boy."
"Well, then again, I suppose if you're eating raw flesh then you could also just hang out near a grocery store and go dumpster diving- a lot of food gets thrown out because of 'health hazards' instead of being donated to homeless shelters."
"Huh. For real? Never knew that."
"It's true. If the power goes out for even an hour in the refrigerated section where they keep the things like the Lunchables they have to throw that...stuff out. But hey, free food if you're willing to keep up with it, I guess."
"Well, I'll be darned. I guess I'll have to share that tidbit of info with my associates, ya know?"
Kuraima gave the Desert Scourge a weird look. "Hold up…"
"Nah, ya don't have to worry about it. I'm just a freelancer. Plus, well, many of us strays do keep in contact for one reason or another~"
"…Alright, then." The Astral student sighed in defeat, getting a chuckle out of Matilda.
"Anyways, I bought some more weapons today. Figured I might as well. Some powerful stuff- against humans, at least. Decided to buy a stun baton, pepper spray, and a taser. Think you can work your magic on them, maybe get them a bit juiced up?"
The scourge smiled as she gave him a thumbs up, "You bet your bottom dollar I can!"
It was now day three of training with the gangsters. It was far, far too early to see any changes in their powers, but at the very least, they had grown to respect their new leaders.
Standing before him right now were Perfa, Eatah, Smar, Laye, and, of all people, Champ.
"So. I've chosen you specifically for one reason. The five of you share a similar trait. Can any of you guess what that is?"
"We're violent!" Perfa shouted with absolutely no hesitation or shame, startling the others as she raised a clenched fist into the air.
"Well, that's…" Kuraima paused mid-sentence and mid-stride. "...Not wrong. But not the answer I'm looking for. The thing is that you all have powers that summon monsters."
He raised one of his arms, which had Mochi coiled around it. "But let's be honest. How many of you have….y'know…" He reached over, giving Mochi a few chin-scritches, causing the Wyrm to make a contented purring noise. "Thought of them as more than just a beast you control?"
The group of five all shared glances with one another as if none of them had ever conceived of such a notion.
"So what are you waiting for? Bring them out."
Kuraima watched as the group of five did what they were told, as a horde of summoned monsters appeared.
Looking at their grotesque forms, Kuraima couldn't help but think about a few things.
'Surely, God must have a few standards for the Sacred Gear screening process…'
He didn't really want to know if biblically accurate angels were a real thing, but he also didn't know if God would just let a few gears with horrific monsters be a part of the system.
'Then again, I received mine from a foreign star god. Not really my problem, now is it?''
Come to think of it, how come he kept having visions of a samurai fighting giant monsters…when these giant monsters corresponded to the opponents he was fighting?
He shook his head, clearing his mind of those thoughts as he looked over the beasts his group of five had finished summoning.
Both Laye and Smar were surrounded by a large number of their creepers, while Eatah and Perfa had brought out their giant worms.
Meanwhile, Champ's slime maids stood at her sides, standing at attention like military personnel.
'They could totally body me right now if they all attacked at once.'
"Now, I get that these things should be unquestionably loyal. But don't you think that maybe, you could, I dunno…reward that loyalty?"
He gave Champ a pointed stare for a few seconds, just for good measure. In response, the former leader rolled her eyes, miffed at being singled out.
He motioned to the coolers and plastic storage tub sitting behind him. "I've bought a lot of meat and had Buon make a few toys for us." He reached into the plastic tub and grabbed a ball made of solidified pink gel, courtesy of the currently absent Buon Cey, wielder of [Rex Limus].
"So today's orders are to let loose and relax." He tossed the ball up into the air, letting it hit the ground where it bounced before he kicked it over the heads of the gangsters lining up before him.
Perfa's Perforators snapped into the air with enough force to lift their wielder a few feet into the air in order to try and catch the ball, which sent her face-vaulting into the ground with a disturbingly satisfying smack.
Well…at least they had the right idea.
"You call this training, human?" Providence said, landing on his shoulder opposite of the arm that held Mochi. "You literally told them to play around."
"Yeah, yeah, and what's the saying? 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy'? I get that you're some kinda goddess of fire, but the least you could do is lighten up."
"I will not tolerate these…'puns', human. Especially those at my expense."
"Aw, come on. You really do need to stop being such a stick in the mud, though."
"I am not a 'stick in the mud', I am being practical."
"Maybe someone needs to spend more time in their humanoid vessel and experience human brain functions." He reached up and gave Providence a few boops on the noggin, eliciting a few indignified squawks from the so-called goddess. "Would leave a lot more room for your thoughts than your little pigeon head."
"H-Human…! You dare…!"
"By the way, I'd duck if I were you."
"Wh-"
WHUMP!
One of the pink gel balls smacks straight into Providence, causing her to disappear in a flash of feathers.
"S-Sorry!" Eatah shouted from across the room.
The Astral student looked over his shoulder to see the white dove flailing around on the ground before eventually righting herself and flying off somewhere where she would be less likely to get hit by a bouncy ball going at full speed.
Kuraima just gave her a shrug. He then noticed Champ over to the side, kind of half-heartedly rolling the ball back and forth between her slime companions.
Walking over, he crossed his arms, with Mochi curling up around his neck like a living scarf.
"Don't you think you could be, I dunno…more enthusiastic?"
"...I'm trying."
"I'm not doing all of this just for the gangsters, but for you too. Remember, we're gonna beat the shit out of the guy who hypnotized your parents. Then, who knows? Maybe we'll help the others finally deal with their own problems afterwards-" He paused, "Oh, wait, you're actually on board with this?"
"It's just...a little embarrassing…"
"Huh. Didn't think you had it in you to admit it."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't push it."
Kuraima snickered. "Heh. Bit of snark, eh? Fair enough."
The two slimes had turned their attention to him, their gazes strong yet curious.
"...I don't mean to change the subject so soon…but…what's the deal with the maids, anyways?"
"...Come again?"
The Astral Champion was in the middle of giving the red maid a pat on the head, eliciting a contented chirping sound. "The slimes from your other two Sacred Gears. Why are maids their default state?"
Champ visibly flinched, clearly not expecting that question. "I-….What?"
The purple one moved closer to Kuraima, also wanting headpats, a request to which he obliged.
"Because, look...I get it. As a fellow man of culture, I think they're cute too."
The former mob boss recoiled, absolutely speechless.
"Wh—…! I…! Ah…"
'…Shit. I think I went too hard there.'
"Yeah. Uuuh…sorry. I got ahead of myself there. Just….forget I said anythi-"
Champ suddenly got up really close, her voice cold but her face red-hot. "This stays between us. Understand?"
"Yeah…?" Kuraima responded, more confused than intimidated.
"Good."
She walked away, leaving the astral champion behind with her slimes, having forgotten about them in the heat of the moment.
…
…
…
"You two like snacks?" Kuraima asked, pulling out a bag of homemade pastries that he and Helenski had made over the previous weekend.
The faces of the two maids lit up, as did Mochi's.
Man. Things were going to be so awkward when he got back home...