Within the occult research club building, Rias Gremory was sitting at her desk, deep in thought.
"What are you looking at?" Akeno Himejima approached her, taking a peek at the file the redhead was holding. "That boy's student file?"
"I'm still not sure what to think." Rias admitted.
"During his application process, Sona was barely able to dig up any information on him." She revealed.
"So he's..." Akeno trailed off.
"He has a birth certificate, which is undoubtebly real. The fact that he used to live in Kuoh Town is true. But after the first 5 years, everything is blank."
"Isn't it a bit risky to let him run freely, then?" Akeno asked.
"That was Sona's argument for letting him come to school." Rias replied, still staring at Suk-chin's file. "It would be better to have him nearby where he can be observed."
The two girls fell into silence for a moment.
"Akeno, what did you feel when you ran into him?" Rias finally asked, breaking the silence.
Akeno thought about it for a moment.
"Well, I didn't feel anything necessarily malicious coming from him, if that's what you were wondering." She tilted her head. "Although, we did brush shoulders briefly. I got a small glimpse from that."
"And?"
"It was like...
Standing in a bottomless well."
...
Suk-chin and Kiba stared at each other in silence for a moment. Before Suk-chin went for another kick.
Kiba raised his arm up and blocked it.
This was annoying.
Another kick, and Kiba had to block again.
Attempting to counter attack, Kiba threw a quick jab, which landed. However, Suk-chin was utterly unfazed by the punch.
Really annoying.
Kiba wasn't a hand to hand fighter. He knew this. He was trained in some basics, but it was quite far from his area of expertise.
So his primary concern was how to escape this current scenario.
He could either convince Suk-chin to stand down- something he wasn't very sure would work, get away from the boy entirely, or use a sword.
But there was a problem. He didn't want to seriously harm or kill Suk-chin, since Rias was interested in him. His status as an actual enemy was still questionable.
Suk-chin threw his next kick, and Kiba moved to block it. But the attack switched directions, and instead of his side, it hit his head.
Kiba grit his teeth. That attack was a little stronger than the others. Which meant Suk-chin was still holding back as well.
Misunderstanding or not, he wouldn't let himself get rolled over like this.
If Suk-chin got maimed, it was his own fault for picking a fight.
After a sudden flash of light, Suk-chin found himself dodging a steel blade.
"Hah." Suk-chin smirked at Kiba, who now sported a real sword, summoned out of thin air.
"What a bastard." He said.
Kiba thrusted his sword forward, and Suk-chin sidestepped it. His foot landed squarely in Kiba's face, staggering the blonde.
But not for very long.
Kiba quickly recovered, and retook his stance. So when Suk-chin attacked next, he evaded it and swung his sword.
Suk-chin leaned back, avoiding the blade. "This is a lot better. You trying to kill me with that thing?"
"Stand down and I won't." Kiba adjusted his sword and swung down as Suk-chin was still in an awkward position.
Still bent back, it looked like Suk-chin had no way out.
Until right foot rammed into Kiba's jaw, halting his momentum entirely.
Kiba was frozen in place for a moment, before he slouched slightly, caressing his jaw.
Suk-chin did not attack. Surprisingly, he waited.
After a moment, Kiba sighed.
"Okay. I didn't really want to hurt you." He admitted. "But I guess I don't really have a choice, right?"
He looked Suk-chin in the eyes with a serious expression. "Sorry about this, but I'll make sure you get treated afterwards."
And then, he vanished.
Quickly, Suk-chin leaned back again as the tip of Kiba's sword sailed past where his head once was.
Not giving him any time to counter, Kiba continued his assault.
Countless sword swings that hit nothing but air as Suk-chin narrowly avoided them all.
But the gap was getting smaller and smaller. Quickly.
Suk-chin scowled as a few strands of hair got swiped off by Kiba's blade.
Disregarding Kiba's incoming attack, Suk-chin launched a kick to the blonde's head.
But Kiba vanished.
"Is kicking the only thing you know how to do?" He heard Kiba ask as he jumped out of the way of the blonde's ambush.
"Why bother putting gloves on if you aren't going to use your hands?"
"The only thing I know how to do?" Suk-chin repeated.
"Hey." Suddenly, Suk-chin was right in front of Kiba. It was so fast, that he couldn't even perceive it.
Suk-chin took his right hand out of his pocket and raised it into the air.
And Kiba felt an overwhelming sensation of danger.
"You should feel lucky I haven't used them so far."
Kiba jumped back as Suk-chin swung his hand down. The hand collided with the ground with a loud smash, tearing a portion of the sidewalk apart.
"What's with that expression?" Suk-chin asked, seeing Kiba's startled face. "I was just gonna give you a tap."
"Is it too late to ask you to start kicking again?"
"It is." Suk-chin confirmed, pulling his hand out of the ground.
The threat level of the situation just increased one hundred fold.
This was really, really bad.
Before, Suk-chin's attacks had hurt, but he could walk them off.
But now he couldn't afford to get hit a single time.
He didn't know if he would be able to survive an attack like that.
Suk-chin swung his hand as if it was his own sword. Kiba used his top speed to avoid it as the hand slammed into a brick wall, creating a large hole in it.
I'm sorry, Rias.
Kiba lunged forward at a blinding speed, closing the distance between himself and Suk-chin in a fraction of a second.
His sword collided with Suk-chin's chest.
I can't afford to hold back.
Kiba let out a loud sigh. This was troublesome. Rias would surely understand, wouldn't she? He was being attacked, after all.
But Kiba quickly realized that something was wrong.
Firstly, when his sword collided with Suk-chin's chest, the sound it made was different.
It wasn't the sound of metal cutting through flesh.
It the sound of two hard objects clanging against each other.
Kiba looked up as he started to realize.
Suk-chin stood his ground, staring down at Kiba with an unfazed expression.
My sword...
Isn't cutting his body?
"Until now..." Suk-chin grabbed onto Kiba while he was distracted. Preventing his escape. He raised his hand back into the air.
"I was just playing with you, too."
He swung his arm down.
It was as if time had slowed nearly to a halt for Kiba.
He tried to escape, but Suk-chin's hold on him was downright monstrous.
However, Suk-chin's hand stopped an inch away from Kiba's face.
The wind pressure caused his hair to fly about, but otherwise, he was unharmed.
Suk-chin laughed as he let Kiba go.
He took a step back, and cracked his neck.
"Oh man, was that satisfiying or what?"
Kiba's expression changed to one of utter confusion. What?
"Alright. Now that we've settled that, go on and tell me everything." Suk-chin said, suddenly serious again. But this only caused even more whiplash for Kiba.
"...Huh?"
"The fuck do you mean 'huh'? It's a pretty simple question. You. Those girls at school. What are you? Tell me everything."
Kiba blinked. He was still stuck in a confused state for a moment, before he slowly realized that they weren't fighting anymore.
"Oh relax, will you?" Suk-chin patted him on the head. "I'm not gonna kill you." He said. "You said you would be happy to give me information earlier, right? So go ahead."
"Why... didn't you accept that earlier?"
"Because I wanted to kick your ass." Suk-chin shamelessly admitted. "Getting information was kind of the secondary objective here."
Kiba stared at Suk-chin incredulously. His face twitched a few times, like he was trying to find something to say, but simply couldn't.
He sighed in mild frustration, rubbing his face. He let go of his sword, and it vanished from existence.
"How annoying." The blonde couldn't help but admit.
"You pissed me off first, so fuck you."
Kiba shrugged. "True. Although attacking me was extreme."
"Meh. Agree to disagree."
"So... truce?" Kiba asked.
"Yeah sure. I'm not gonna attack you again out of the blue, at least." Suk-chin agreed. "Well, depending on what you tell me now."
Kiba observed Suk-chin for a moment, but couldn't find any traces of malicious intent.
So, he finally revealed the truth.
"We're devils." Kiba said simply.
"Devils?" Suk-chin tilted his head. "You mean those giant ugly monsters? The ones that eat people?"
Kiba shook his head. "No. You might be referring to stray devils, however."
Suk-chin's eyes light up in understanding. "Oh, right. Right." He nodded his head. "Stray devils. Different from you."
A brief pause.
"Those things are fucking disgusting by the way. I found one that shot magic missiles out of its ass."
"They are a nuisance to be sure." Kiba agreed. "But again, we aren't like that. And we don't mean any harm to the residents of this town. In fact, this town is the territory of the devil I serve."
Suk-chin frowned. "Is that so?" He didn't sound all that happy. "And who would that be?"
"Well, if you would have let me finish my earlier offer before attacking me, you would know already."
"I thought we were past that?"
"Look. She'll want to meet with you." Kiba told him. "She doesn't come with any ill intentions. None of us do. She just wants to talk."
"Hm. I dunno. You think of devils and 'no ill intentions' isn't exactly the the first thing to come to mind."
Kiba sighed. "At least think about. Also, please don't attack anyone again."
Suk-chin smirked. "Oh yeah, I'll think about it alright."
Kiba blinked. "The meeting? Or not attacking anyone again?"
But Suk-chin was already walking away.
Kiba could only sigh. Whatever would happen in the future, he knew it would definitely be trouble.
...
The next day, Suk-chin repressed a groan as the class bell rang.
Similar to the previous day, the boy was surrounded by his classmates. Well, the girls specifically.
They were chattering about something, he wasn't quite sure what. He wasn't listening.
At the end of every period, he had at least six different people surrounding his desk trying to get his attention.
It was starting to get rather annoying.
The first time, one of the girls asked if it was true he was at the kendo club yesterday. He foolishly responded, saying that the claim was true.
After that, someone else mentioned that Kiba was there too, and that he and Suk-chin had sparred.
Now he was being badgered even more incessently than before. All the girls wanted to talk about was the idea of him and Kiba interacting.
I wonder how they would react if I told them I jumped him yesterday.
Probably not well. But it was an amusing thought.
He did try to get them to leave him alone. But... they didn't really listen to him.
I could try hitting them?
But that probably wouldn't help reputation wise. He didn't really want a good or bad reputation. Moreso no reputation at all. So maybe violence wasn't the best idea after all. He probably shouldn't have gone to the kendo club either.
Why did he even enroll in school to begin with?
Curse him and making damn promises.
But he had other things to think about, too.
There were devils in town. And they wanted to meet with him?
He didn't really want to, though. But maybe... they could help me find what I'm after.
Still, it was devils. He'd rather not, if he could help it.
"Well well well." A new voice said, announcing their presence as two hands smacked onto Suk-chin's desk.
Finally getting dragged out of his thoughts, Suk-chin looked up.
A girl with brown hair in pigtails, and a pair of glasses was looking at him.
"Can I help you?"
"I can't believe I was sick yesterday. I missed all this?" The girl asked, looking him up and down. "I wanted to meet the new transfer."
Suk-chin got a rather ominous feeling about this girl.
"Ah, well nice to meet you. The name's Suk-chin. Now, if you'll excuse me I have somewhere to be." He lied. He really only wanted to leave and get away from his classmates.
He stood up from his desk. But apparently that was the wrong move.
Despite the fact that Suk-chin's face had moved up, the girl's eyes didn't follow.
"What... what are you looking at?" Suk-chin asked, confused. He looked down. "What are you looking at?" He repeated, still confused.
It took him a few seconds, but Suk-chin followed the girl's line of sight. "You-"
"Holy shit." The girl cursed, smirking. "Man. You ever get caught in a doorway with that thing?"
Suk-chin gaped.
"No, for real. Can that even fit in a person? You could poke an eye out with that."
All the surrounding girls started to blush.
Did I just... get sexually harassed?
...
Thank fucking god that's over.
Suk-chin was walking home. He was seriously regretting going to Kuoh Academy. And it was only his second day.
"Whatever." Suk-chin muttered. He was in town for a reason.
He didn't really think devils being in town would be a huge problem or anything. Even if it was annoying that they wanted to speak to him.
Not as annoying as the regular students at least.
"Damn, I really need a way to get those freaks away from me."
"Huh?"
Suk-chin paused. He turned his head, only to spot a familiar brown haired boy.
"Issei?"
"Suk-chin?"
"The hell are you doing here?" Suk-chin asked.
"This is how I get home. What are you doing here?"
"This is how I get home."
"Well you didn't come back this way yesterday."
"Yes I did. I-" Suk-chin paused as his eyes widened.
He went home in the same direction as Issei. But he had no idea. Since yesterday he came back home late.
Suk-chin's expression soured. "Whatever. Somehow, you're not the least tolerable person at Kuoh Academy."
Issei scowled. "Hey, I- wait. Isn't that a compliment?" His anger disappeared.
"Dumbass."
"Fuck off!"
Silence.
"So, uh..." Issei mumbled awkwardly. "I saw what happened in class before you left."
Suk-chin grumbled under his breath.
"Listen. I can sympathise with you." Issei nodded. "Aika Kiryuu is a dastardly witch."
"Oh, is that her name?"
"Yes. She has the ability to determine a man's exact size merely by looking. Regardless of clothing."
"That doesn't even make any sense."
"But it is real." Issei said solemnly. "And she uses her wicked powers to torment men everywhere!"
"Kinda like how you torment women everywhere?"
Issei faltered, before glaring at Suk-chin. He pointed at the boy. "You know what? Fuck you! I don't sympathise with you at all! From now on we are mortal enemies!"
Suk-chin rolled his eyes. "Oh boohoo." He turned back around and started walking away.
"Hey! Don't walk away from me!" Issei shouted, before running after him. "This is a declaration of war, you hear me! A declaration of war!"
"Yeah yeah, whatever you say."
"Bastard!"
"Um, excuse me?"
Both boys paused again. This time, it was a girl that had stopped them.
She was short, and had long black hair with purple eyes. She wore a red school uniform, something that wasn't recognized by either Suk-chin or Issei.
The girl was looking at Issei.
"You're Issei Hyoudou, right?" The girl asked him. Issei's eyes were wide, surprised that she could possibly be talking to him. He pointed at himself to emphasize this fact.
He did nod, however. Confirming that he was indeed Issei Hyoudou.
"If you don't mind me asking... are you... maybe... seeing anyone right now?" She asked nervously.
"Absolutely not." Issei answered.
"Anyone could have seen that coming." Suk-chin commented from the side.
"Shut up!" Issei hissed at him.
"Is that so? Then I'm glad." The girl smiled.
Issei made a face. "Oh, it makes you happy that I'm lonely?"
The girl's eyes widened. "Oh n-no! That's not what I meant at all!" She stuttered. "I- no." She stopped and took a deep breath to calm herself.
"My name is Yuuma Amano." She introduced herself. "You see, I've been watching you walk by here for a while now..."
Suk-chin blinked. "Wait what?"
"And you seem, I don't know... gentle..."
"Hold on, what was that last thing you said?"
"So, well... I was wondering if you, I don't know..." The girl mumbled nervously.
"Can we backtrack for a second?"
"I wanted to know if you wanted to be my boyfriend!"
Issei was stunned for a moment. "HUH!?" He pointed to himself again. "Me!?"
Yuuma nodded shyly, blushing. "Yes..."
"I- am I being ignored?" Suk-chin asked. "Can you two even hear me right now?"
"Of course!" Issei answered enthusiastically. "I'd love to!"
Yuuma smiled widely. "That's amazing! Then, would you like to go on a date? Maybe this saturday?"
"Yes!" Issei nodded.
"Hey! I'm talking to YOU!" Suk-chin shouted to no avail.
The two exchanged numbers, and Yuuma was off. Issei was in bliss. "This can't be real... am I... finally finding the beginnings of my harem at last?"
"You!" A strong force smacked Issei upside the head, snapping him out of his happy thoughts and back to reality.
"Hey man what the hell is wrong with you!?" Issei asked Suk-chin angrily, rubbing the back of his head.
"Me? What the hell is wrong with you?! It's like you were just in a..." Suk-chin trailed off, looking past Issei and at the girl who was still walking away.
When she was quite a distance away, she looked back. The corner of her eye was visible.
It was a gaze full of hatred and malice.
Directed at him.
"Trance." Suk-chin finished his thought.
He pondered for a moment.
"Issei, do you recognize that uniform from anywhere?"
Issei looked confused. "Huh? No. Not at all. Why?"
Suddenly serious, Suk-chin ran back through the entire interaction that had just occured.
He stood there for the longest time.
"I think something's wrong here."
Issei scoffed. "Oh yeah I bet you do! You must think everything's wrong with world, considering I have a girlfriend and you don't!"
His expression turned smug. "I guess I've won the war before it even began."
Suk-chin didn't respond to his provocation outwardly. Instead, he tried thinking of a way to word this in a way Issei would understand.
"Issei, have you ever peeped on any girls outside of school?" He asked as a start.
Issei cringed. "Uh.... noooooooo? ...Maybe... a few times?"
"Did you ever consider the possibility of some girl wanting revenge?"
Issei paled. "No, you don't think-"
"I think it's very possible." Suk-chin said.
But, Issei was still in denial. He shook his head. "No! You just can't accept the fact that a girl would be interested in me and not you! I know it! All of you people are the same!"
You people?
Suk-chin shook the thought off. "Look. Issei. You've never heard of this girl. You don't recognize the uniform. And she said she was 'watching' you for some time? Is that not at least a little bit suspicious?"
Issei thought about it for a second.
"...Maybe a little."
"Right? Okay. So this is what I'm offering you."
...
Saturday came along, and Issei was out of the house. Wearing his best clothes, he was waiting at a bus stop right outside Kuoh's shopping center.
I can't believe a girl really wants to go out with me. Issei though blissfully. Before his mood momentarily turned sour.
I can't believe a girl really wants to go out with me. He thought again, but more glumly. Suk-chin's words were still in his head.
It is a little suspicious... He thought. But, is having my location on really necessary? It can't be that big of a deal.
Yeah. He's just worried for nothing. Nothing bad will happen. I'm just gonna have an awesome time with a girl! Who totally wants me!
Issei grinned widely.
"Want a flyer?" A cute brown haired woman walked up to him, offering him a flyer. He instinctively grabbed one, and the woman walked away.
Confused, Issei took a look. "All of your wishes will come true?"
"So what, I can be the harem king at the snap of a finger?" It was a pretty silly thought, but Issei pocketed the flyer anyways.
Just in the nick of time, as Yuuma arrived only a few seconds later.
"Hey Issei!" The girl waved at him.
She's so cute! Issei thought while waving as casually as he could. Yeah. Absolutely nothing will go wrong today.
"Sorry. Did I make you wait long?" Yuuma asked. Issei waved his hand. "Not at all. I only got here a few minutes ago."
"That's a relief." Yuuma smiled. "Shall we get going?" Issei nodded. "Of course! Let's go."
As they walked off, Suk-chin - who was watching from a distance, sighed.
"It's kinda weird watching them from here." He said to himself. He had worn his gloves just in case.
A brown haired woman approached him, handing him a flyer.
"Hm?" He took a look at it, absentmindedly.
"All your wishes will come true?" He repeated, taking notice of the magic circle on the paper.
He scoffed. "Yeah right." He tossed it into the wind, walking away.
...
"Do you think this would look nice on me?" Yuuma asked, holding a dress in front of her.
"Huh? Oh, of course." Issei had barely taken a look at it.
Yuuma huffed. "You know, you're not being a very good boyfriend right now." That made Issei flinch. He immdiately clapped his hands together, and bowed his head. "I'm sorry! It would look amazing on you! All of the clothes here would!"
Yuuma kept a serious face for a few seconds, before giggling. "Relax. I'm only joking."
"Oh..." Issei faltered a little. He chucked nervously. "I knew that."
This only made Yuuma laugh more.
...
Issei watched in complete fascination as Yuuma absolutely devoured the burger in her hands.
She inhaled the food like she was a competitive eater.
Once she was done, she finally noticed Issei staring at her. His own food completely untouched as he was too busy watching her.
"What?"
Issei said nothing.
"...What?" Yuuma asked again, a bit more self-conscious this time.
"That was the most impressive thing I've ever seen in my life." Issei said seriously, giving a thumbs up.
Yuuma looked at him like he was crazy, before laughing.
...
"Oh look, the park!" Yuuma pointed out.
"You wanna take a walk through it?" Issei asked her, and she nodded.
The park sat in the center of the shopping district. It was a popular destination for families and... young couples.
Issei gulped.
The park was calm and quiet as they strolled through it.
There were a few people here and there, but it was largely empty.
They had been to several stores, had a nice lunch, went to a few more stores, and now they were taking a walk through a park.
Okay. So far, this date is going great!
"Oh, the center is just this way!" Yuuma exclaimed pointing a sign. Issei had his hands in his pockets.
"Let's head there!"
"Sure, whatever you waaant!" Yuuma grabbed onto Issei with a strong grip, yanking his arm out of his pocket.
He didn't notice something falling out of his pocket.
...
The sun was starting to go down, so they were bathed in a soft, comfortable glow.
Issei didn't know what was going through Yuuma's head right now. But he was very conscious of the girl walking next to him.
She's so... close.
Issei's hand brushed against Yuuma's hand slightly, and he tensed up. Yuuma said nothing, but he could see a coy smile on her face.
They walked in calm silence, until they reached the park's center, where a large water fountain stood.
Yuuma skipped ahead of Issei, standing near the fountain.
"You know, Issei. This was a really nice date." She said.
"Y-yeah. I had a lot of fun too." Issei replied.
"I'm really happy you agreed to be my boyfriend."
"I am too."
Yuuma turned around, looking at Issei with a bright expression. "So, there's one more thing I want. To commemorate this special occasion."
Oh my god. Is she... gonna ask for a kiss!?
"I need you to do me a favor, Issei."
"Of course! Anything!" Issei responded excitedly.
Yuuma smiled, and looked slightly downwards. Her hair partially covered her face.
"Would you die for me?"
Issei opened his mouth, before closing it. He blinked. "Uh... Could you maybe repeat that?" He stuck his finger in his ear. "I don't think I heard you right."
"I asked you if you would die for me."
Yuuma's voice was deeper than before. As opposed to the cute and bubbly voice she had before, it was now mature and alluring. Her gaze was now cold and cruel.
Issei could see Yuuma's eyes glow purple through her hair, and took involuntarily took a step back.
Yuuma cackled at Issei's growing fear. She was surrounded by a purple glow as she began to change.
Issei stared in shock as Yuuma grew taller, curvier, and her clothes had changed into a much more revealing bdsm outfit.
But the most surprising of all was the pair of black feathered wings that sprouted from her back.
"Oh, how delightful it feels for that putrid day to finally be over." 'Yuuma' groaned.
"Do you know how difficult it was to keep that act up?" She asked, floating above the fountain in a sitting posture. "Having to hang around a boring little boy like you was getting very tiring."
"You... you..." This was wrong. This was all wrong. A feeling of terror filled Issei as he stumbled back, falling on his ass.
She wanted him to die? But why? What was happening? What was he supposed to do? He wanted to run, but his legs wouldn't move.
Until he realized something.
M-my phone!
He scrambled, digging into his pocket. M-my location! Suk-chin was right! He can call the police, right!? I'll be okay!
But the sensation of dread Issei felt only intensified when he felt nothing inside his pocket.
"What..."
My phone... isn't there?
'Yuuma' smirked. "Missing something?"
"Don't you worry."
...
Elsewhere in the park, Suk-chin stared down at Issei's dropped phone. The couple nowhere to be seen.
I made sure your friend wouldn't be here to help you.
The destination Issei's location had given him was clearly sabotaged. But did he drop the phone himself? Or had something happened?
On cue, the phone started to ring. With no other option, Suk-chin picked the phone up and answered.
"It's really unfortunate for you, isn't it?" 'Yuuma' said from the other side of the phone. She spoke in her high-pitched tone, before going back to her real voice. "That cute little plan of yours fell apart before it could even start."
"Hah. What a bitch you are." Suk-chin replied with a smirk. "You know the whole time? Then wait for me there. It won't take me long to find you."
"Is that so? I'm sorry to tell you this but..."
"It'll take you longer than you might think."
Suk-chin looked up, and noticed the sky above him turn purple.
"You see, it was all a part of our plan for you to get involved."
Hearing some rustling behind him, Suk-chin turned his head.
From behind some nearby trees, three figures stepped out.
A man wearing a trenchcoat and a fedora. A tall woman with long blue hair also wearing a trenchcoat, and a short blonde girl dressed in gothic lolita attire.
All three of them sprouted a pair of black feathered wings from their backs.
"Our goal isn't only killing Issei Hyoudou..."
"But also killing you."
"You'll have to make it here quickly to save your friend." 'Yuuma' said. "But do you really think you can?"
"Really. What a bitch indeed..." Suk-chin sighed, dropping the phone.
"Good luck, Suk-chin Kang."
An evil glint appeared in Suk-chin's eyes as he stared the fallen angels down.
"There's only three of you?"
.
Okay. Second chapter. What're we thinking so far?
Third chapter out soon hopefully. Kinda busy the next ~2 days but hopefully out in less than a week.