You know, that first hideout I felt pretty powerful. Didn't even have to enter the house to kill five assholes, finished the remaining one stylishly, spun my revolver like a proper cowboy; to say that I was feeling myself at that moment would be an understatement.
B A N G!
PI- PI- PI- PING!
But the thing with that feeling of success was that, upon repetition, the feeling would eventually subside, because such was the grueling nature of work. Sure, if you worked at something you loved, the exhilarating feeling of performing your tasks might have still remained years and years into the future, but it would've still been diminished at the end of the day.
In layman's terms, a tad too much stroking makes the cock go softy.
B A N G!
PI- PING!
Which was a very disgusting way of saying: I was starting to get really fucking tired of these Stray Exorcist hideouts.
"O- OKAY! I- I surrender! I give up! H- Ha ha, I'm sorry for all that- uh- murdering and stuff! You got me!"
I frowned in annoyance at the mutterings of the exorcist, looking at him drily as I, with a very cool motion, popped the chamber of the S&W 460 open, tilting it back so all the spent rounds fell to the ground. As they collided with the ceramic floor, their clinking rang loudly inside the bloody apartment where, minutes ago, were seven living exorcists playing domino.
Evidently, six of those exorcists were now headless corpses… except one, because unlike any other exorcist so far, he jumped to dodge. Jumped.
"You CAN'T kill me!" begged the last survivor of the group, tightly holding the stump where his right leg should be. If I were to look to my right, I'd see the missing limb carelessly laying on the floor, splashing blood. "I- I can give you info! I was the team captain! Y- You want to know where our bosses are, right!?"
I considered reloading the revolver, but that meant that I'd have to listen to Mr. I-Shat-And-Pissed-My-Pants for a few seconds longer (plus wasting perfectly good ammo). Thus, I popped the chamber back into the revolver, empty, and holstered it back into my suit jacket.
The action seemed to have brought some relief to the exorcist, as a tentatively (and very much nervous) smile dared to sneak onto his face. "H- Hah- YES! G-good! I'm glad you can see reason! If you help me stop the- the bleeding I can-"
Promptly dashing his hopes of life away, I took out from my other pocket the lovely Colt M1911.
It was a bit funny how quickly his smile faded.
"Oh, you- NO! NO! PLEASE! I BEG YOU! I CA- I AM USEFUL! I WILL-!"
BANG!
Straight to the head, instant death. The wall he was leaning against was painted with blood.
As his corpse finally shut up, I let out a tired sigh and holstered the Colt.
"Done!" I yelled, stepping towards the guy I just killed. "You and the voyeur can enter!"
In a moment, I felt two people entering through the apartment's front door. E.E told me that first was Kaede, but even without that I would've known. Not because of anything she did, specifically, it's just that after six hideouts, a routine was formed. First came Kaede, second came the voyeur.
Rias entered the room looking rather unamused. "Is the voyeur supposed to be me?"
"You are doing exactly what a voyeur would do," I replied, shrugging. "Just looking ain't you?"
"That doesn't apply when I have offered numerous times to help."
I clicked my tongue. "Entonces mirona pero no por elección."
Rias sighed, "I understood that."
Kaede looked around the room with a professional air, taking notes in her notepad and checking boxes every time she spotted a corpse. In the meanwhile, I grabbed the leg-less corpse by the armpits and began dragging him to the center of the living room.
"A 7/10," suddenly said Kaede, finishing her notes and looking back up at me. "You almost botched the last exorcist."
I grumbled, reaching the spot for the soon-to-be pile and dropping the corpse. "I see him dead there, Kaede."
She made the deliberate motion of fully turning her head and looking at the corpse. "Why, that is true, Daniel."
"So?"
"I can also see that he has two bullet wounds, instead of your usual one."
To call the complete evisceration of his right leg a bullet wound wasn't incorrect, technically, but it still felt inadequate.
"Well, I still think a 7/10 is rough for a single eeny-meenie mistake."
"Hm, tough," replied Kaede mercilessly, a small smile tugging at her lips. "And here I was almost fooled into thinking you never missed. You're quite the liar, Daniel."
I playfully grumbled, but I was still pleased. Little by little, hideout by hideout, I was breaking through Kaede more and more. For one, now she told me her score without having to be prompted by me. AKA: she considered verbal interaction with me NOT a bother.
Ah, it was like romance was in the air inside this bloodied up apartment. Why, with all this playful banter, one could've almost ignored the ever-growing pile of dead bodies! Or the fact that in less than one week my kill count had gone from a very humble '2' to numbers that could only belong to someone that had been deployed at an active warzone!
…Um, Daniel?
I stopped dragging the fourth corpse into the pile to reply to the sudden query from the voice inside my head. Yes, Conscience dear?
Are you… okay? Morally? Psychologically?
Hm? Me? I was fine, morally and psychologically. These were Stray Exorcists, AKA, irredeemable assholes, which was very convenient for my vague moral compass because good lord had I been whacking Exorcists like they were mosquitoes. The most I got to feel was either satisfaction for having smacked em', or exhaustion for having to keep smacking them.
I was feeling that second one now, mostly. Smacking a mosquito only to find out there were a dozen more waiting could be quite the tiring experience.
This is worrying.
You are fucking exhausting.
Dismissing the concerns of the pesky voice in my head, I resumed the building of the sixth corpse pile of the day.
"Kaede!" I yelled as I began dragging the fifth corpse. "I know this might be a tough ask for such a cute lady like yourself, but why don't you help a little!?"
Kaede stopped writing in her notepad, raising her gaze to me and lifting an eyebrow. "You… this is the last hideout and now you ask for assistance?"
"Well, if you say it like that it makes me look like a moron."
Kaede looked at me like I was a moron. E.E spotted the same look coming from Rias. I promptly pointed towards the third-wheel without looking with my eyes.
"You don't get to look at me like that! At least Kaede's doing the clean-up, you're doing jack-shit!"
Rias rolled her eyes, not surprised by the inexplicable eyes at the back of my head, then asked, slowly. "Do you want me to he- ?"
"No," I replied, curtly. "Youkai business only, voyeur."
Rias sighed.
Kaede gave her a look of disappointment, as if saying 'what else did you expect', before looking back at me and the headless corpse I was dragging.
"Well, I was supposed to help, but you were so good at lunging around corpses that I thought you'd do fine by yourself. I'm impressed, actually. You don't look that fit."
…Was that a compliment?
"Was that a compliment?" I asked, surprised.
Although her expression was as composed and stoic as always, I saw one of Kaede's fox-ears twitch, her white tail swishing gently behind her. "I… suppose it is, Daniel."
Oh, that was nice.
We remained in silence, looking at each other deeply inside the room full of corpses and blood. Rias looked at the exchange with a bored look. Kaede's and I's eyes remained in full contact the whole time through. I could almost forget I was surrounded by dead people.
…
"Wait, so you were supposed to help."
"I was hoping you'd conveniently forget about that," confessed Kaede, looking remorseless, shrugging. "You're surprisingly easy to distract."
At that, I grinned, not even upset at the compliment being deceptively weaponized.
"Oh? You're much more sly than I thought, Kaede. I didn't take you for the kind of gal to push her work onto others like that. I'm impressed."
Kaede's lips tilted up slightly. "After a while, stacking up corpses and dirtying my suit with viscera and blood loses its luster."
"So you got the sucker who doesn't know shit about clean-up to do all the nasty work."
"Those are your words, Daniel. I admit nothing."
She was smirking, the asshole. I chuckled as I went towards another one of the corpses inside the apartment.
"You're lucky that you're cute enough to get away with this. Otherwise I'd put you to work immediately."
Kaede raised her eyebrow at me. "You should really stop saying things like that."
Reaching yet another headless corpse, I held it by the armpits and began dragging again.
"Things like what?" I said, playing dumb as I moved the corpse.
"You know what I mean," she replied, frowning.
"That you're cute?"
Sighing, one of her white fox-ears twitched cutely. "You're behaving immensely unprofessional with a coworker you met today."
"You don't seem that unhappy about it, though," I replied coolly, not letting her critique get me down. "Otherwise I would've stopped long ago, I ain't a monster."
That was true, I wasn't keen on turning into a creepy weirdo in my afterlife.
"Such blatant flirting in what are supposed to be work hours is unacceptable," Kaede said, looking exasperated… but not mad.
"Notice how you didn't deny that you liked being called cute."
Kaede rubbed her temple. "Look here, Daniel-"
"Cute."
"You-"
Rias Gremory, heiress of the Gremory Clan, was regretting many decisions.
There were the usual regrets piled in there, the regret of not nourishing her peerage properly from the start, the regret of not being adequate enough when it mattered, the regret of how she poorly handled Gasper's upbringing.
At that moment in time, however, Rias Gremory was regretting having volunteered in voyeur duty. Volunteered in third-wheeling.
Rias' gaze had long gone numb, simply staring into the void as she leaned against the wall, a pile of corpses in front of her.
It was fun surveilling the human that she failed to recruit the first two hideouts, to have an in-person taste of his wonderful potential. It was entertaining to annoy him and his partner, as a way to strike back after the humiliating dressing down from earlier, petty as it might have been.
It wasn't entertaining to watch Daniel shamelessly flirt with his partner every second he was able to talk. Partner of one day if what she was hearing was right.
Being subject to such conversations for hours would do away with anyone's entertainment.
Frankly, Rias didn't know what she wanted as an end-goal here. Just gauging their abilities, maybe? Put duct-tape over her thoroughly wounded pride? It was true that her ego had taken a nasty beating the last few days, so maybe that was it, but right this moment, after watching whole groups of Stray Exorcists get executed swiftly in less than twenty seconds inside six different homes, she had begun losing her motivation for this. They spent more time moving across hideouts and cleaning the place up than in the actual fight.
"-and look at you! You posture as if you're the prim and proper, smart sort, but you're the devious underhanded type, aren't you?"
"Daniel-"
"Look at your ears twitching like that, I'm right on the money, aren't I?"
…Trying to ignore the conversation going on at the other side of the room, Rias began considering her feelings for a second, because spending this much time with nothing to do eventually gave room for thought in ample quantity. Why exactly was she hung-up on this homeless human? Why did she even bother volunteering herself just to stay a few more hours close to this guy who practically spat on her face?
It wasn't like she could recruit him now, so that excuse wouldn't fly. Worry, maybe? She did worry for him, because even with his oddities and Sacred Gear (that no matter how much he claimed was shit it obviously helped obliterate exorcists) he was still a human. Rias remembered that something weird had happened to him ever since he killed that Stray Exorcist the day before he left Kuoh, but even now she couldn't tell what was different.
"-frankly, I am thoroughly surprised that Lady Yasaka hasn't given you a warning due to your behavior. You're warranting one, really."
"You call me obnoxious and all that, but you're the one keeping the convo going instead of writing in your little notebook, aren't you?"
"I... have no clue what you're talking about."
"Ha! You like me at least a little, don't you? I entertain you at least a little bit."
…Rias silently swore to never let Akeno know about her current peril, because otherwise she'd never be able to pass a second in silence without a perfectly placed comment especially designed to annoy her immensely.
As her gaze drifted slightly towards Husk and Fujiwara-san, bantering amicably despite the outward professional appearance Fujiwara-san was putting on, a thought went across Rias' head, making her narrow her gaze.
…Was this hang-up with Daniel something of… THAT nature?
You know… romantical?
…
Rias stopped herself from putting a close to the topic with a flustered NO I HAVE NO SUCH FEELINGS and calling it a day. No, even if she wanted to close the matter as such, Rias was an emotional person at heart, and as such, she took a deep breath… and considered her feelings.
And after some thought, she came to a conclusion.
Rias Gremory was not crushing on him. That she knew.
…But… you could say she was… intrigued, at the very least.
…
Just vocalizing the thought inside her head made her cheeks flush slightly, but she didn't let it show any further, carefully maintaining a bored expression on her face. Rias knew she was absolutely inexperienced in anything of a romantical nature, but she wouldn't let such a silly and girlish and most importantly small thought make her lose composure.
Yes, Rias knew how to charm people. It came naturally, and she wasn't above using her (objectively) great looks to make things go her way occasionally, but even with that, she had never been in anything resembling a romantic relationship.
…Well, there was that deal with Riser, but she'd rather kill him a thousand times over with a fork than do anything romantic with that absolute fucking asshole shithead.
So, it was with that inexperience that it came as a surprise to her when she met a human with wonderful potential and talent, doing only parlor tricks on the street to get by, who seemed to have been wandering and traveling without a care from another continent into Japan, and seemed to absolutely not care about anything that was part of Rias' world.
Daniel… intrigued her. It didn't help when he so casually said her name like it was nothing. Rias, so accustomed to being referred to by titles like President and Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess (she hated that one) or simply by her surname, the name of her family, Gremory…
She wasn't used to being referred to as her. As Rias. Not Rias Gremory, or Ms. Gremory, just Rias, without the weight of responsibilities and expectations that would inevitably come for her, without the weight of leadership that came with her peerage, without the pedestal of perfection that came whenever a peer talked to her at school, so fearful of upsetting her that they referred to her with the maximum respect possible despite being the same age.
And Daniel, uncaring, just went, called her Rias like it was the most natural thing in the world, upset her entirely by making her face complete failure for the first time in her life, and just fucking left. It was like he rubbed all that he had aplenty, even with his precarious economical situation, to her face mercilessly.
Even though Daniel was just a human. A homeless human, at that, compared to her powerful pure-blooded lineage… he was completely free, where she was not.
Could Rias be blamed for wanting to know more about him? To know of his travels, to see how little shits he gave about everything and everyone around him, forging his own path through sheer stubbornness and refusing to cross his own lines like turning to a devil… could Rias be blamed for wanting to know more of what she was not?
It helped that Daniel looked more… mature than what she was used to seeing. He wasn't bad-looking, and there was a bit of a rough charm if she looked at him long enough. The tired face, the stubble, and now that he came back to Kuoh, the black suit. The casual use of cigarettes and alcohol helped add to that, and whereas some might be repelled by such things, instead it just… drew Rias' gaze, just a bit, out of curiosity. Out of intrigue.
And sure, he expressed himself rather crassly… but not immaturely. It was a complete lack of care for what she'd consider the standard, and yet he did so anyway. Because he could.
He was petty, yet it was still clear that it wasn't out of stupidity, it was deliberate. He wanted to elicit reactions from people, and he got them. He was free to fuck with people, and thus he did.
Daniel García's way of life severely intrigued Rias Gremory.
"Oi, mirona, what are you lookin' at? Is my ass particularly shapely in these pants or somethin'?"
…It is deliberate, thought Rias, almost as if trying to convince herself. He wants to upset me, this is part of his charm, not otherwise.
Rias didn't know when she reached the point she needed to defend him from her own thoughts, but she guessed that this was just the state of things now. Rias was intrigued by him, and she wouldn't deny it any longer.
If that intrigue developed into something else, that she didn't know. Besides, it'd be hard for something like that to happen anyway, seeing as he was so engrossed in his partner Fujiwara-san…
…But she'd just have to wait and see.
Rias ignored my very eloquent comment for a moment, closing her eyes, and just when I was about to follow up with something much more horrid, she met my gaze with a sort of… odd glint?
"Yes," she said, suddenly, her voice having gained a weird confidence that wasn't present throughout this entire day. "Your ass does look quite good in those pants."
…Huh?
I frowned at her uncharacteristic answer, silently checking my own ass with E.E for confirmation.
"You serious right now?" I asked after coming to the conclusion that my ass was about average in terms of spankability.
"Yes, I think the suit in general fits you well."
"..."
I narrowed my gaze at her, who was leaning against the wall, looking at me in a much more composed manner than before. "What are you playing at?"
She had spent the entire day just morosely watching me and Kaede with a bored look. The fuck's with her now? She had been oddly focused on me for a while as I worked, but this had been a tipping point in the odd-behavior.
"Nothing," she replied, simply. "You asked me and I answered. Why am I being under scrutiny now?"
"...Fair enough," I ended up saying, deciding to ignore the interaction entirely. "Just stop leaning against the wall, Kaede's starting the clean-up spell."
Rias promptly stepped forward, leaving the wall alone. I gave her one last weirded out look before turning to Kaede, who was in front of the corpse pile. Her white fox-tail swished gently behind her, focused on the incoming clean-up.
"Kaede," I said, stepping beside her.
"Yes, starting the spell."
Kaede put her hands together, her left hand open and extended, her right hand over it, with her thumb and index finger gathered, the rest of her fingers straight. Closing her eyes, a blue, weird and viscous looking magic-stuff began expanding from the sole of her shoes, slowly covering every surface in the apartment. From the floor, it traveled to the walls, to the ceiling, covering all in a blue, semi-transparent layer. The furniture, the appliances, the domino pieces on top of the dining table, the foodstuff, all began to be covered with her spell.
Before long, the magic visibly stopped expanding from her. The entire apartment was now covered in blue stuff.
Kaede, still keeping her eyes closed and left hand open, changed her right hand's position and gathered her thumb and middle finger.
"Consume."
Snap!
The ignition started from the pile of corpses in front of her. A sacred-looking golden fire began consuming the corpses at a rapid rate, and from the bottom of the pile, the golden fire quickly expanded and began consuming all, harmlessly going past us, not feeling even a hint of heat.
Every couch, every chair, every table, every wall, the entire ceiling, every appliance, every stupid piece of domino. All got covered in golden flames. The show was almost beautiful, were this not a blatant cover-up for a murder scene. Even as the golden flames harmlessly covered us, the absolute consumption of everything on sight was still evident.
The pile of corpses in front of us began getting smaller, and smaller, the Exorcists getting reduced to ashes in front of us, and from ashes, they began simply disappearing completely. There would be nothing to recover. Nothing to prove they ever existed in Kuoh, just like all the hideouts before.
Just like the corpses, all the furniture in front was getting reduced to nothing. To call what we did a clean-up was a disservice. This was a thorough extermination of everything that ever existed inside this room.
Once the pile in front was completely gone, all seven Exorcists' bodies erased from existence, Kaede clenched her left hand and opened her eyes.
"Cease."
And unlike how it came, full of dramatics and preparations, the fire simply ceased to be. In an instant, the golden cleansing fire was gone, and with it, gone was everything that used to be here. Where before was an apartment that was obviously lived in, with fridges containing alcohol, sinks, toilets, the table full of domino pieces, the TV, and all that was covered in blood, gunshot holes, and bits of viscera and gore strewn around… all of it was gone. Rias, Kaede and I were left standing inside a completely empty apartment. No evidence of anyone living here could ever be found. Even the bullet holes got fixed, somehow.
I whistled. "It's always impressive, this little trick. Is it part of Youkai schooling to teach how to cover-up murder scenes?"
Kaede crossed her arms, looking around the now deserted apartment, bereft of any blood or evidence of death with a light smirk. "No, it's just something I picked up and got me my job. I appreciate that you enjoy my 'little trick'."
After every clean-up spell, it was clear to everyone that Kaede was more than satisfied with her own work.
"Are you happy knowing your specialty is covering up murder-scenes?" I asked, intentionally trying to get a rise out of her.
"I am not, because that is not my specialty. I am simply good at it," she replied, still smirking slightly to herself. "The fact I am simultaneously blessed in the arts of Barrier-Setting, Speaking, Stealth and of course, Clean-Up, is something that's just beyond my control."
Rias raised an eyebrow at her ostentatious declarations. "I didn't take you for the cocky type."
"Can it be called 'being cocky' when I simply speak the truth?"
So far, I had gotten plenty of hints that Kaede took pride in her work, so I should've guessed she'd turn a bit insufferable after proving herself effective. Her fox-ears twitched cutely at her declarations and her tail, although it was at a gentle pace, swooshed from side to side.
How fucking cute.
I felt a sudden urge to pet her head like I'd do a dog, but I held it back. No, I didn't feel we were close enough to start just doing that, no matter how tempting it was. It should've been illegal to pair cute animal ears to cute girls. I was actually holding myself back from doing what I wanted at that moment.
E.E detected Rias giving me a look, as if reading my thoughts. My eyes were practically zeroed in on Kaede right at that moment, so it wasn't hard for any onlooker (AKA: a third-wheel) to guess that I was charmed with her prideful boasts.
I didn't care.
"So," I said, instead of petting her like I wanted. "This is the last Stray Exorcist hideout, yeah?"
Kaede basked in her own brilliance for a few more seconds before schooling back her expression into demure neutrality. She turned her gaze to me, no hints of the smugness from before.
"Yes. The last remaining Stray Exorcists and Fallen are all located at the…" She interrupted herself, giving Rias a tiny narrowed glance. "...at the spot."
How terribly unhelpful that would've been if I didn't know that the spot was the abandoned church located by the outskirts. I guessed that she just didn't want Rias doing something stupid like rushing to get there first and clean-up the trash before we could.
"Well, let's…"
My words drifted off, a sudden thought coming to my head.
…Holy shit, I was fucking loaded in Souls.
If I were to attack the Fallen right now, I risked dying and losing all of my Souls. Sure, they got dropped in that Bloodstain, but I didn't want to even risk it. Such a stupid amount of Souls wasn't usual at all.
I quickly looked inside of me, and counted up all the Souls I had on hand. The result made my chest tighten in anxiety.
…Oh fuck, I could NOT lose this shit. How did I even gather this much!?
Killing.
Fucking- Right, obviously. Fuck, let's see…
Hastily, I tried doing some mental math, which wasn't my forte exactly, and wasn't helped by Kaede starting to look at me oddly due to my continued sudden silence.
So far, every shitty run-of-the-mill exorcist had given me 400 Souls. Let's see… the first hideout was five assholes, so 2400, that I knew… then…
2nd Hideout: 4 kills
3rd Hideout: 5 kills
4th Hideout: 3 kills
5th Hideout: 4 kills
6th Hideout: 7 kills
Total (excluding 1st Hideout) = 23 kills.
And 23 times 400 was… was… holy shit, fuck math.
…9200 Souls, yes. We added 2400 Souls and it gave me 11,600 Souls, and we added to that the spare 677 I had after enhancing myself earlier in the day…
Yup, I hadn't been seeing things, the numbers added up. I had 12277 Souls on hand. No fucking shot I was missing these fuckers in case of death.
"So, before we go there, can we stop somewhere real quick?" I finally asked.
Kaede raised an eyebrow. "Stop where? I hope you realize we're under a strict schedule here."
"I want to stop at an alleyway."
Comments like that made me feel like I was taking two steps forward and thirty steps backwards with Kaede, because she looked at me like I was a moron. "...Why do you need to go to an alleyway?"
"Pick up some things," I lied. "Essential things. It's under the hush-hush end of things."
Kaede thankfully caught my hyper-subtle message. This was related to my Undeath. Keep it quiet from the voyeur.
"...That is fine, then," she acquiesced. "How far is this alleyway?"
"It's… a bit far, actually," I admitted, wincing. "I can go on my own and- "
"If you go on your own, I'll follow," suddenly interrupted Rias. Like most things she said in this little murder-trip, both Kaede and I gave her sour looks.
"Is- are you okay?" I asked, genuinely. "In the head, I mean?"
Rias, surprisingly enough, just smiled charmingly.
"Quite so, since I am here to keep an eye on you and make sure you behave. So far it's been all good, but if I had to choose between keeping an eye on Fujiwara-san or the Special-Rank Agent Husk who has single-handedly killed groups of exorcists in less than a minute…"
Rias then continued, her eyes confident. "Besides, I'd get to talk to you without a pesky third-party for once. When was the last time we had a one-to-one talk, Daniel?"
For once, Kaede actually looked offended, frowning. "Oh, I'm a third-party now?"
Rias fearlessly looked back at her. "Well, yes. I think it's obvious already, but I volunteered in surveillance duty to talk to Daniel, not you. To me you're a bit of an obstacle, if anything else."
…I mean, it was obvious to everyone she offered herself to watch over us just for me, yes. I just wasn't expecting her to outright say it.
Kaede didn't back down at Rias' sudden declaration of… her being an obstacle (Jesus Christ).
"Miss Gremory, this might be news to you, but this is an operation. Whether you wish to speak to my partner is a matter that is entirely irrelevant to the matter at hand."
"Oh, but I am performing my role as a surveyor. I'm just choosing to survey your partner specifically, were you two to separate. I am not omnipresent, after all."
This was fucking stupid. I looked around to see if I could find anything large and metallic, or some wood for fuel. Of course, there was nothing, because we just erased everything inside the apartment from existence.
I quickly thought about our way here, then remembered that beside this apartment complex was an ever-convenient alleyway. That'd have to do. I'd make a Bonfire and spend my Souls there. Only problem was the matter of fuel, last time taking me a good while to gather all the wood and trash needed to start the fire.
I then remembered my partner's constant note-keeping.
"Hey, Kaede, you got any spare notebooks with you?"
The question was done out of politeness more than anything. E.E instantly detected a notebook tucked on the inside pockets of her jacket. It looked a bit fancy, but it had nothing written in it. Brand-new.
My question interrupted Kaede's next scathing words towards Rias as she turned to direct her frown at me. "What do you need it for?"
"Hush-Hush," I said, unhelpfully.
"You're terribly unhelpful."
"Look, just give me one of your notebooks," I insisted, extending my hand and doing grabby motions.
This particular topic seemed to, surprisingly enough, annoy Kaede quite a bit, who seemed to be fond of note taking for whatever reason.
"...Is it truly necessary for the mission?" she asked, absolute reluctance tinging the question.
Honestly, no, I could probably deal with losing these Souls by just getting to the Bloodstain and voila', problem solved without sacrificing a precious notebook from my dear partner.
On the other hand, that seemed like a pain.
"Unless you want us to separate and delay this mission any longer, then yes."
Kaede remained unconvinced. "In what way is giving you a notebook going to help you?"
"Hush-hush business."
Her eyes glared at me.
"You-"
"Just give me the notebook, I promise we'll get this operation over with much, much faster this way… unless you want us to take a one to two hour detour."
Kaede's frown at me turned truly, truly sour for the first time, something that none of my teasing or deliberate annoyances had achieved so far, before she just sighed exasperated.
"Fine," she practically spat, reaching for her jacket's inside pockets. "You can have my spare notebook. I expect you to buy me a suitable replacement the moment this mission is over."
From her suit jacket, she produced the fancy-looking notebook. The design was rather fancy, so I'd probably have to fork over like ten bucks or something to repay for it.
Hey, that was easy enough. Here I was thinking she'd make more of a fuss about it.
I reached for the notebook, and as I held it, Kaede tightened her grip on it, refusing to let go. Instead, she pulled the notebook closer with surprising strength, pulling me close to her with a stumble. Kaede reached with her other hand for the collar of my shirt and held me in place with a fierce grip, making me choke a little.
"Wha-!"
Kaede leaned towards me, her (still pretty) face staring at me emotionless, and yet, I could tell easily that she was not pleased in the slightest.
"This notebook," she began, whispering with a shit-ton of warning. "It cost me an entire two month's worth of salary, Daniel."
…That was a stupid amount of money to pay for a notebook.
"That's a stu- Hugk!"
She pulled my collar higher, choking my words out.
"It was a limited edition, scarcely-produced Angelicaro brand journal that I had been eyeing the second it had been announced. This cannot be bought in the human realm, being a craft made from the most select of Angel Paper Makers that once in a blue-moon deign themselves to go down to this plane and share their perfect talents at prices too low for their quality. It has a fully gold-embroidered cover and all of the pages are specially made to feel delightful to the touch. The writing-feel with even the most terrible of pens is said to be just heavenly… and I'm giving it to you so, from what I can presume from your horrid wording, you can destroy it."
Her emotionless stare turned somehow more intense, her yellow eyes boring down on mine, grip on my collar still tight, even as Kaede was shorter than me.
"The second, the goddamn second this mission is over, HUSK, you will replace it. You will pay out of your own pocket to get me another one of these limited-edition journals and if you don't, help me the heavens above, I will make sure to kill you once, then twice, then thrice, then again, then again, then again, and no contract with Lady Yasaka will manage stop me from tearing you limb from limb from limb until you die a painful death a thousand times over. You will never again know rest, you pathetic worm."
…
"I… uh, I think I can make do for what I need with things from the alleyway next to this building, actually, h- heh heh. You can keep your notebook."
I gave Kaede an apologetic grin to seal the deal.
This somehow made Kaede's grip on my collar tighten further.
"Oh? So you're telling me that what you needed could be procured from… an alleyway? Trash?"
"I-"
A thousand excuses bubbled up in my throat… but Kaede's too pretty to fumble and I already stepped on inexplicable, stupid landmines enough, so I swallowed the lies up, then simply gave her my most chastised look, trying to display repentance to her.
"I am very, very, very sorry, Kaede. I didn't know this uh, Angelicaro notebook was this important of a notebook a- AND EXPENSIVE!" I hastily added as Kaede narrowed her eyes when I didn't mention its price. "I promise you that I truly, truly, just thought these were like, $2 notebooks."
I gulped. "I apologize for my absolute idiocy, Kaede. I am but an ignorant, dumb man."
Her intense stare and grip continued, boring down on me relentlessly, before suddenly, with a sigh, it all went out. Her grip completely loosened (making me stumble back) and she closed her eyes.
"It's… fine," she finally said, notebook related fury placated. "It isn't common for a notebook to be this expensive in the first place. You couldn't have known."
Kaede, as if all of her words and death threats were coming back to her, winced. "I apologize."
Rubbing my neck, I stared at her, who was wincing apologetically and giving me a hesitant look… and I whistled in response.
"I'll admit, Kaede, that your absolute hatred and vitriol against me was absolutely adorable. All's forgiven."
And, I didn't know if this was because the matter of the notebook was deeply personal to her. I didn't know if this was due to some previous experience that involved Kaede expressing her complete raw fury against someone else. Perhaps the intense emotions she just felt left her especially open, or maybe I just got lucky (probably that one)… But lo and behold, for the first time in this day, after hours and hours of chatting, teasing, joking and bantering with her…
I managed to make Kaede actually blush.
Of course, she averted her gaze quickly, her fox-ears flattening against her head as she glared at nothing. Kaede could probably feel her own cheeks heating up, and that made her embarrassment all the more entertaining.
"S- Shut it," she mumbled, eloquently.
Of course, I pushed. "Absolutely adorable."
Her glare at the floor intensified. "You- Agh!"
Kaede let out a sound of frustration, closing her eyes momentarily before forcing herself to glare at me directly.
"You can't keep saying such things to a coworker," she stated, having regained some composure. "I barely know you. You're a stranger."
Harsh. The blush on her cheeks made the complaint ring a bit hollow.
"Should I remind you of the death threats you just vomited against me? Now that's inappropriate."
"I- " Kaede shut herself up, knowing that I had a point. After a few more moments of glaring at me, a cute flush adorning her cheeks, she sighed exasperatedly.
"F… Fine, I'll let it pass this time, just- just stop it."
I raised an eyebrow. "Stop what? Speaking the truth?"
"You-"
A loud cough, that sounded completely fake, came from the side. Oh, right.
Rias was staring unamused at us both.
"So, should I report to both peerages once all's done and over that the high-ranking Youkai Agents that so brazenly disrespected us in our own territory were a bunch of unprofessional idiots who couldn't stop flirting with each other for more than ten seconds?"
Kaede's eyes widened at her words, then she turned to glare at me, as if this was all my fault.
It was.
I remained in pensive silence for a little, narrowing my eyes at Rias' unamused stare. It would actually go against our objective of grand-standing in enemy territory if Rias were to sully our image thanks to my shameless flirting. I thought for a little longer before offering.
"If I stop ignoring you when walking, will you abstain from reporting to your peerage how I made Kaede break character and blush lovingly?"
"Husk!"
Rias considered my offer while ignoring Kaede's embarrassed protest, humming, then nodded professionally.
"Yes, that works. As long as your replies aren't curt and actually lead to conversations."
"Perfecto. Consider me your chatting partner, Rias."
We shook hands professionally. Kaede looked at both of us with something akin to helplessness, before sighing yet again.
"Just…"
She shook her head, and as if by magic, when she opened her eyes, her usual impassive neutral mask was back on. Of course, I could instantly tell that it was flawed, since I could see the traces of embarrassment on her face still, and her fox-ears were still twitching intermittently.
The fact she was trying was cute.
"Let's just move," she said, her voice back to the soft and pretty baseline. "I want to get this over with."
Taking out my cigarette pack from my jacket, I nodded.
"Agreed," I said, perching a cigarette in my lips. "Let's clean this shit up… Kaede?"
Another sigh, and still, a snap rang inside the empty apartment, my cigarette now lit.
As the three of us descended the stairs of the apartment building, Rias walked next to me, then said, smirking.
"So, tell me about you, Daniel."
Goddamn deals.
Luckily, the materials for a Bonfire were readily accessible in this particular alleyway. After threatening both Kaede and Rias to make them leave the site for my Bonfire ("I WILL piss here, girls, do NOT stay here.") I made quick work and, soon enough, the Bonfire was complete, a broom sticking out of the pile of broken wooden furniture, which soon caught on the gentle flames.
BONFIRE LIT.
Since I already 'rested' at a Bonfire earlier in the day, my woes and tiredness didn't go away, since the effect was once per day. Still, I quickly went and dumped all my Souls into Strength, like usual.
Level: 7
Souls: 12,277
Strength: 20 ⇒ 27
Cost: 11,732 Souls
Level: 19
Souls: 545
Once I dumped all my Souls, a surge of sheer 'Strength' went over me. Feeling the rightness of spending Souls to strengthen myself, I looked at my arm again. I could use E.E, but feeling for how things looked under clothes always was a bit of a hassle compared to just uncovering it myself.
Thus, I took off my jacket, slung it over my shoulder, and looked back at my arm, covered by a shirt that felt much tighter than it did at the start of the day.
And I flexed.
"Oh SHIT!"
Glory… glory grazed my eyes.
My bicep flexed under the shirt, straining powerfully against it, as if stating loudly to anyone that could see: I AM STRENGTH. I AM POWER. I AM FITNESS. Entranced, bewitched, bedazzled, I was unable to steer my lovestruck eyes away from what was my own arm.
Slowly, tentatively, fearing that what I was witnessing was nothing but a pleasant, sweet dream that I would wake up from, I moved my free hand close to the bicep.
And I squeezed… and I felt POWERFUL muscles.
"I- I…" were the mumbles that came unwittingly from my mouth, shocked to the core at what I was witnessing. Still squeezing my arm, I managed to put into words what I needed to say.
"I… I am… I am fucking RIPPED."
God bless the Darksign
, I thought devotedly. God bless Undeath.
Using E.E, I dared to focus under my shirt, specifically in my abdomen. Could… Could it be…? Could I perhaps now have… No, no, that would be too good, so it simply cannot be possible.
…Right…?
…
I felt tears pricking at the end of my eyes as soon as I checked, blissful ecstasy filling my whole self.
"God bless the Darksign," I muttered, closing my eyes with a smile as if I had ascended to a higher plane of existence, falling to my knees. "God bless Undeath."
Although seeing the Latin-American man enter the alleyway claiming to go pissing (which Fujiwara Kaede knew was lie, unlike Rias Gremory who looked at him with a suspicious frown) was odd enough, seeing him come out drying his tears with his fist, sporting a smile only belonging to enlightened saints was definitely bizarre and, perhaps, concerning.
"Daniel? What happened?" asked Rias, a bit worried. Kaede, although silent, still gave a similar look to her partner.
Giving his eyes one last rub, García looked at both women and replied casually, saint-like smile still on.
"It's nothing. I just realized that life truly is good."
The answer was, as most things that came out of Daniel García's mouth, completely unhelpful for anyone. Before Fujiwara could express as much, he took out yet another cigarette from his jacket and perched it on his lips. This time he didn't ask for Kaede's help, simply taking out a lighter to light his cancer-stick.
"Now I'm ready," he said, exhaling the cancerous smoke. "No more stops now."
And with that, he just started walking. The unsubtle attempt to divert questions was evident, but both Rias and Kaede decided to just let the matter be. It probably wasn't important, anyway.
The only thing that could serve as a clue to what happened in that alleyway were the intermittent flexing García performed with both of his arms, looking at his arms like they were his newborn baby.
As we walked…
"So, Daniel… where are you from?"
Fucking deals.
"Chile."
Rias frowned at my curt answer. Right, I said I'd wouldn't give one word responses.
"I'm from Chile, Santiago specifically," I replied again.
"Oohh…and why are you traveling?"
"To become filthy rich," I answered honestly, omitting the YHWH parts.
"That's… certainly a goal. Why?"
"Is there anything better than money?"
Seeing that she was about to answer, I raised my hand to silence her.
"Don't answer. You were born rich, so you wouldn't get it, but money is the thing that moves the world round. Of course, since you already were born with a shiny silver spoon stuck up your shapely bum, you don't get this."
I turned to Kaede. "Were you born with shiny silver spoon stuck under up under your-"
"I wasn't," she replied, sighing. "I got recruited by Yasaka after she saw my obvious talent. It was natural that I'd end up in the position I am today."
"Very cute," I replied, to Kaede's annoyance. I turned to Rias. "Anyway, I just want enough money to buy myself a mansion full of servants willing to do my general bidding."
Rias frowned at my answer. "If you entered my peerage, you would've eventually gotten just that, Daniel."
"A-ha! But it wouldn't truly be my mansion, now, would it? I'd still be under your thumb. The point of the mansion and the servants that do my general bidding is that I am the one in the top. I want no rulers or bosses or anything like that."
She sighed, crossing her arms and pushing up her chest (which was still ridiculously sized, thanks for asking).
"What would you even do with a mansion?"
I paused, then considered the question.
"...I dunno, live in it? Swim in the pool like a dolphin? Drink a piña colada anytime I wished because I have servants that do my general bidding? Perhaps laze around all day? I- Look, the mansion isn't really the point, the point is the ROAD to the mansion, you get me?"
As I talked, my words became more and more passionate.
"The mansion's just a conveniently mansion-shaped statement of my status. To have a mansion full of servants that do my general bidding, I must have become someone affluent before that. I must be rich by then, and I also must be generally someone to fear if I have enough disposable income to waste on the fucking mansion and servants that do yadda yadda yadda."
I took a drag from the cigarette, then finished my rant.
"My goal isn't having a mansion, it's BECOMING someone that has a mansion, which is why I'm traveling around in Japan and hustling like my life depends on it. All this supernatural shit came as a surprise, but so far it has aided in my goals quite nicely."
Rias nodded slowly at my words.
"That's much better than saying you just want to be rich and have a mansion. I was ready to write you off as an idiot right then and there if you didn't explain yourself."
It sounded like a joke, but I could tell that Rias actually considered it for a second. Spotting with E.E, I could tell that Kaede was thinking something along those lines too.
…Did I almost fumble her by accident with my reply? Christ.
"A- Anyway," I began, trying to change the subject away from me. "Why did you come here with us, Rias? Like, I know you wanted to talk to me and all that, but why? When I left I rejected you pretty thoroughly and after that I pretty much pissed on you and your peerages' faces with our request for you to stay put."
Rias then, casually, just said.
"Because I'm interested in you."
…Both Kaede and I paused, then stared at her in confusion.
"Wait, huh?"
"What?"
"Something wrong, Daniel? Fujiwara-san?"
Both of us were caught off-guard by her sudden statement, with Kaede having a complicated expression on her face. I shook my head.
"No no no, say that again? What do you mean-"
"Interested, Daniel. You interest me. I wanted to know more about you, that's it."
She said it so casually I could almost pretend the obvious subtext wasn't there. I couldn't, of course, so I just stared at her oddly, then asked.
"...Why, exactly?"
The question was more out of confusion than genuine curiosity. As if I couldn't fathom WHY exactly this devil girl wanted to spend more time than necessary with me.
She shrugged.
"You're nosy," was her only reply. "Come on, why don't you tell me about your childhood?"
At that, my face soured.
"I'd rather not."
"Okay, touchy subject. What about Santiago itself? Tell me about the city."
I sighed, the topic of Santiago almost as awful as my childhood, but it was better.
"Sure… so, there's this river full of shit called the Mapocho-"
Like so, we kept walking and chattering.
After much, much, much walking, to the point Rias offered to just call a chauffeur to take us to our destination (which we refused because she was just the voyeur), we finally had our objective in sight.
A rather shitty, desolate looking church. It had that sort of homely look that would ensure that if you stepped a single foot inside a pack of homeless assholes would promptly shank you to death, steal all your belongings, then probably fight amongst themselves for the loot.
"Hm, I could picture myself sleeping there."
Kaede gave me a look, as if I was saying nonsense, before sighing.
"I can, too."
"Rude."
Rias raised an eyebrow at the exchange.
"You're the one that told two young women that you're going to piss in an alleyway, Daniel."
"It's the principle of the matter," I defended.
As we walked closer to the church, Rias's face turned resigned.
"As I thought, they were here…"
"Yup," I said, taking a drag from my cig. "It's pretty obvious, right? Where else would the nefarious Fallen Angels be bumming around in than an abandoned church. It makes it kind of embarrassing you didn't spot that sooner."
"...Right," she replied drily.
"Super, super embarrassing."
My comment left a bit of a bitter look on her face, which meant I did great. That's what she got for asking incessantly about my past (aka: horridness). The voyeur's self-esteem dealt with, I turned to Kaede. "So, how do we do this? Should I just go and shoot the shit from outside like the hideouts?"
Kaede didn't meet my gaze, staring at the church with analytical focus.
"Can your bullets penetrate through stone?"
"Eventually."
She didn't question the answer that would normally make no sense and nodded.
"Considering what the Fallen said in the interrogation, and all the others that we've taken care of so far, there should be around fifteen remaining exorcists."
She glanced at me.
"Can you take care of that?"
"Yeah," I replied. "I'm more worried about those Fallen."
Kaede's face soured. "Yes, the Fallen…"
Dealing with those three feathery assholes was more or less the main problem with this entire operation. The exorcists were just fodder we needed to get through to get to the real stuff.
"Kalawarner," began Kaede, reading from her notebook. "A long-haired female Fallen with curvaceous figure. Is the most level-headed of the bunch."
It was honestly a wonder how much Raynare ratted out to Yasaka. No detail was left unsaid.
"Mittlet is a Fallen that looks like a little girl. Particularly sadistic. 'Annoying voice', according to Raynare herself."
Kaede flipped a page in her notebook.
"Dohnaseek. Male. Wears a trenchcoat with a fedora. Ruthless to his own detriment."
"That's very cool, Kaede. Does knowing the little shit is a sadistic bitch help me in any way?"
My partner sighed in exasperation, then glared at me. "I'm trying to give you as much info as I can, Daniel. If we fail this, even considering your condition, then it means that our status as agents will be severely negatively affected, and that's without counting the reduced pay for failing to meet all objectives."
I grunted, but nodded nonetheless.
"Considering your… abilities," continued Kaede, staring at the church in the distance. "I have confidence that your bullets can kill the Fallen."
Her expression fell a bit, frowning.
"I am mostly concerned about the fact they'll strike back against you."
It was a fair issue to have. Raynare had impaled me with one of those light spears back at Kyoto and the speed at which she created and shot it was too fast for me to even react. Sure, it was at point-blank, so maybe that played into it, but the moment one of those spears made contact with me, I was as good as dead. The 'Light' weakness I carried would sap away my strength quickly.
…Or maybe my strength was sapped because I had a spear right inside my stomach. Who knew. I just needed to steer clear from those fucking things.
"...If I shoot them dead the second I see them I should be fine," I finally said after a few beats of silence. "They won't be expecting a regular human gun to actually slaughter supernatural beings."
"That is true," acknowledged Kaede. "But still, I recommend some degree of caution. They won't be as weak as all these Stray Exorcists and those Stray Devils you killed."
I glanced at her and, sensing a potential avenue for teasing, I smirked.
"Are you… worried about me?"
Kaede looked at me, expressionless, then sighed.
"I will stop this line of questioning at once," she said, sensing the following teasing coming a mile away. "Just know that I prefer getting remunerated accordingly once I finish a job, and that I'd prefer not losing the position I have within Yokai affairs."
"So, you're worried about me."
Her brows furrowed and she remained in silence, as if choosing carefully her next words, knowing the consequences of a bad answer would be more teasing. This pleased me, since she could easily just cut me off with a 'Shut the fuck up' if she hated me so much.
…but she didn't.
Eventually she answered.
"If you must hear it from my own mouth then yes, I am worried," she finally said. "But it is not because of-"
"Alright," I said, cutting her off deliberately with a smirk, taking a drag from the cigarette. "You're super super worried about me and if I died you'd cry and sob and you'd regret my passing dearly."
Before Kaede could reply to my very true statement, Rias cleared her throat, forcing me to focus back on her.
"Are you sure you don't want any help?"
Although she phrased this with the tone used for a joke, as if expecting my negative answer, the concern etched on her face was evident. She thought that I would really just die if I failed.
"I'll be fine."
Rias glared at me, actually mad at my blase answer. "Daniel, you can't seriously expect to shoot down a Fallen Angel. They'll take those bullets without any issue!"
"I-"
"I know you killed those Strays, this is different!" she interrupted. At this point both Kaede and I were giving her looks at the outburst. Rias didn't care, and continued. "They are in complete control of their abilities, your gun won't do anything to them."
"Come on, Rias, you've seen me wipe the floor with like thirty Stray Exorcists, you know I don't just shoot normal bullets by this point, right?"
I took out my revolver and jiggled it a bit for emphasis.
"Like, I know I remain comically shush about my abilities, but you MUST know by now that my shots aren't just normal ones, right?"
Rias glared.
"You have been involved with the supernatural for less than a WEEK! To try and take down Fallen Angels when you're so ill-prepared…"
"Oh, I'm perfectly prepared."
A groan came out Rias' throat, not hiding her frustration in the slightest. She closed in on me and tapped my chest with a finger.
"You're going to die. Three Fallen, Daniel. Three Fallen! You expect me to believe YOU are going to just take down three of them by yourself!? You are either consciously killing yourself or being fooled into doing so, and I don't know which of those possibilities is more stupid."
"Oi," I let out, now getting properly annoyed. I held her wrist firmly to stop her nagging tapping and, using the same kind of glare I'd use when threatening someone at knife-point in my past life, with the same low tone of voice and the same characteristic cadence in my words that criminals in my country would use when trying to shank someone, I spoke.
"Let me put things clearly for you, missy. I will enter that church, I will kill everyone inside INCLUDING those feathery fucks, and then I'm going to invite Kaede to go out and have some drinks to celebrate, and YOU are going to do jack-shit. You will sit outside, wait until I'm done, and then you can go off and do whatever the fuck highschool demons do in their free time aside from recruiting underage teens into slavery."
I leaned forward, glaring and leaning down to stare directly into her eyes.
"Are we clear?"
Usually, that'd have the recipient of my words handing me their wallet and their shoes. Not to brag or anything, but the intimidation factor from an unkempt hobo threatening you is quite effective. Students of all ages had been victims of this one simple trick.
…But she didn't back down… instead, I could feel power gathering in her fist. Kaede tensed.
"Ms. Gremory-"
"I'm not letting you die, Daniel," said Rias, tone hardening. "Not for something so stupid. I would've never thought the Yokai would willingly fool humans into killing themselves with impossible tasks. I will not stand for this."
For the first time since I met her, Rias felt dangerous. Powerful.
….Hm, perhaps trying to power-play against a High-Class demon wasn't my best idea. Sorry, Kaede, I had to try something.
She took a step towards me, the dark, black energy gathering more and more strongly in her hand. I couldn't help but glare back at her as I took a step back instinctively.
"So, please, let me help you," she asked, tone faux-cheerful. "Let me help you clean this place of vermin… or I'll reduce both you and your partner and take care of it myself."
…
On one hand, I was flattered that someone cared enough about my potential death to be this annoying about it.
On the other hand, I needed to hustle, and having her help would reduce my pay.
And that was just not acceptable.
I glanced at Kaede, who was glaring intensely at Rias. Her fox features were undisguised, and I could feel the power gathering around her… but it wasn't as imposing as Rias'.
She looked back at me. I didn't see the same confidence I'd see normally in her eyes when dealing with the Exorcists. She wasn't sure we'd be able to stop her.
…The moment Rias attacked, we were probably fucked, so that meant I needed to deal with her quickly and, most annoyingly, non-lethally. Killing the Gremory Heiress was an absolute no-go, and Yasaka would definitely fire me on the spot and hand me to the nearest devil authorities.
I bit my lip unconsciously as I processed the logistics of this. I had no [Perfect Stacks] on me, so I'd be starting from zero. One bullet going through six coin-ricochets would give 30 [Stacks], and just like when I killed the Stray, I could accumulate almost a hundred of them in a second…
…But that was a Stray, and this was a High-Class Devil. Even I knew just by the title and the numerous 'Heiress' and 'Little Sis of a Big Shot' warnings from Yasaka that this was another matter entirely.
Of course, the easy way out would be to just accept her help…
AND GET MY PAY CUT.
"...Kaede," I said, glaring at Rias. "Could you be a dear and hand me my Exorcist Gun from my backpack? The one specifically designed to kill Devils, yes."
Rias let out a mocking huff. "You think something like that is enough to kill me, Daniel? And you expect me to let you inside that church just to get yourself slaughtered?"
I realized that if I just told Rias of my immortality, all this could've been avoided. I could've told her NOW and it could still be fixed…
But I would NOT get my FUCKING PAY CUT by disclosing that information.
So, instead of defusing the situation, I just smirked cockily at Rias, tilting my head as if talking to a toddler.
"Kill? Oh, no, that'd be first: too easy, second: not beneficial to anyone at all. No, I'll just reduce you. Make you submit, if you will."
"...Oh? Is that so? And tell me, Daniel…"
Her eyes gained a predatory glint that I didn't think it'd be possible for a cute girl like her to have.
"How exactly are you going to do that?"
My smirk widened.
"...Want to bet on it?"
I bet I can talk Rias into giving me an advantage to her own detriment.
Misty red energy began emanating from my hands. It was risky enough. If I failed this bet, then it'd make the confrontation with Rias impossible thanks to [Gambler's Shame].
Rias smirked back, not intimidated in the slightest. "Oh? A bet now?"
"Why, yes, Rias. A bet. Unless you consider me dangerous enough that you can't have a little fun with this little ordeal. If so, then please, break my legs now to keep me safe… but if I'm so weak and pitiful that you need to intervene in my business by force, then surely a little bet won't change anything, no?"
As I said the magic words, I raised my fist in front of me and the red misty power gathered inside it, materializing a simple yet powerful red chip. Untold power lied within it.
I knew how [Going All In] worked. The bet had to involve using the [Betting Chip] in some way or form… and I knew how I'd use it.
"This," I said to Rias, showing her the red chip. "Is my Balance Breaker."
A sick grin spread to my face, challenging Rias, as she momentarily faltered in her approach, surprised at my declaration.
"I bet that if we make this duel like cowboys do," I continued, my grin still sickeningly wide. "With, say, 12 meters between us, only shooting when a third party like Kaede gives the word… I bet I can take care of you in a single fucking shot."
I didn't back down, twirling the chip in my hands.
"Unless, of course… you're scared of me doing that. But that can't be, right? I'm a dumb little human with a gun, so surely a duel like that won't stop you in the slightest… right?"
At my taunting, Rias glared.
"You don't know what you're dealing with. You overestimate yourself."
My grin subsided, turning into a condescending smile.
"...Am I, Rias? Am I overestimating myself? Can't it possibly be that you're the one overestimating yourself?"
My words seemed to have struck, because she took another step forward.
"...And what is in it for me? Why shouldn't I just break your legs and ensure your safety right now?"
At that, I boldly tapped my chin. Kaede, as if sensing what I was about to propose, turned to me, eyes widened.
"Daniel-!"
"How about joining your peerage if I lose the duel OR take more than one shot? Willingly, too, and without those concessions you were making last time we discussed this crap. Straight-up slavery. The devil's delight."
That gave pause to Rias, who actually froze on the spot, not expecting the offer at all. Kaede froze as well. I smiled pleasantly at Rias.
"Sounds good, right? And all that to duel some weak human with a gun."
I extended my hand, and in that moment, against all reason, it felt like I was the Devil in the conversation, tempting Rias into a deal that would fuck her over if she accepted.
"So, bet?"
The coin in my other hand thrummed impatiently, wanting to know the outcome. Did I get it right or wrong? Gambler's Shame or Delight? Heaven or Hell?
Rias stared at my extended hand with trepidation, now actually thinking things over. As if evaluating if I really was that weak to even offer my entire life in a bet that seemed to be absurdly stacked against me.
…A deal that I wouldn't honor, obviously, but I knew that Rias was the 'good girl' sort of type. The type that sees kindness in others. The type that would take such a bold offer at face value. Even after the 'changes' that seemed to have happened after my rejection, she still was at heart an earnest type of person.
The type that wouldn't suspect me shooting her in the back if it meant I wouldn't get my pay cut.
Rias, face complicated… finally shook my hand firmly.
"...I agree to your terms. I will give you 12 meters of distance and only attack when Fujiwara-san gives the go ahead… and if you lose or shoot more than one bullet, you enter my peerage."
SUCKER.
And at that moment… oh, at that very moment, the red chip in my hand, glowing red with power, BURST, all of the energy going to my core, engulfing me whole, covering me in its powerful embrace. Rias' eyes widened as she saw the powerful red aura covering me, entering my body, and although I didn't know if she felt regret, surprise, confusion, or whatever the fuck else…
I did know what I felt.
[Gambler's High]
A deep breath… and through E.E, I could see the expression in my face. Oh, I tried containing myself, to not give away what just happened too early. Oh how I tried putting my expression together into something resembling neutrality or the same casual confidence I was posturing with earlier… but it was impossible. All that could be seen in my face was one thing only, abundantly clear to anyone with a working pair of eyes.
Ecstasy.
Rias stepped back from me with caution as she saw my enlightened expression. As tears fell from my eyes, unbidden, I gave Rias my most charming smile. the tears running down my face without any attempt to brush them off.
"...Well, let's get those 12 meters, yeah?"
As I soared, I could almost hear music, music loudly and excitedly celebrating my victory, as if welcoming the arrival of a new king…
777 [Perfect Stacks].
AN: Oh, hi hello. A month-long break, huh? Almost takes me to the good times I took two years to upload a single update. Good times, good times.
If I blame anything, I blame Limbus Company.
If there's any formatting errors, I blame FFNet entirely. If you want this story with some nifty formatting changes that aren't limited by this website's ancient arbitrary limits, then go to the Spacebattles thread. It's titled the same as this story's title. You can also talk directly to me and ask questions if you want, since it's not bound by FFNet's PM system.
I thank everyone who bothers reviewing my story and giving me their thoughts. I am quite literally writing this only for your amusement, so if you got amused by my story or have any sort of feedback, let me know. PLEASE, I BEG YOU.
Thanks for reading.