Chapter 9: Meeting.
Chapter nine.
''… Let me get this straight then.'' Sona Sitri clasped her hands, her attitude revealing nothing on the exterior on how she felt about the newest report she had been given. However on the inside, things weren't so calm like her demeanor suggested.
Disciplining Saji while making sure he understood the importance of taking his new life as a Devil with seriousness had not been time consuming enough, now she had just got another mess thrown at her hands that required an immediate solution.
''You were following Akemi Aikawa around.'' Sona began, taking a long look at Tsubasa Yura who gave a quick and nervous nod in response. The Sitri Heir massaged her temples, he had ordered her that much so up to that point her subordinate had been doing nothing but to follow her instructions. ''Then, a few hours after that he started walking straight towards an abandoned building.''
''Remembering the talks about an increased number of Strays around Kuoh we had in our last reunion and the condition of the buildings itself; you decided it was dangerous for him and so after going inside, made the call to get him out of there.'' Again, another quick nod was all the response she got.
''While doing that however, you got ambushed and captured, and ended up having to get saved by him, who did so while making use of some strange powers.'' The Students Council president carried on, each sentence sounding dumber and dumber to her. ''… Then, he somehow got injured during his short fight, and after dropping him in his house, you left.''
''T-that's the gist of it, yes.'' Tsubasa felt like the dumbest person on Earth at the time, it just dawned on her just how much she had fucked up.
It was not just the fact that her master was looking at her with an unreadable look, but the fact that even she now was realizing how dumb it had been to leave him alone in his current condition, even more so considering she had been saved.
''We will talk about this later.'' The situation was too complex for Sona to make a decision, there were a lot of things that needed to be considered, both in favor and against how her Rook had acted. ''Both about the decisions you made and their consequences, but right now…''
''You will heal him.'' A new order was issued, this was her mess after all so it was only fair she was the one tasked with fixing it. Her resolute gaze directed at her subordinate made it clear that her decision was non-negotiable. ''Don't come back until he's recovered.''
''Y-you mean…'' Tsubasa could feel the heat rising to her face, her otherwise pale skin now colored with a red and bright blush.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
''… Huh.'' With a loud 'thump' sound, the figure of Ms Aikawa fell to the ground, a single slash of Book of the End saving him from what would have been an impossible talk, one where he would have been made to give explanations I could not provide to her.
Akemi was feeling light-headed, so light-headed in fact that he had almost feared he was about to miss her when slashing towards her, but now that the deal was done he could rest at last.
There was still the issue of the broken ankle that would need to be addressed whenever his 'mother' noticed it, but for now at least it was not an issue. What was an issue though was the fact that he was still bleeding and had to somehow climb up the stairs to the second floor with one foot.
Akemi took a step towards the stairs, leaning on the left wall while taking the next one. It helped him keep his balance and avoid falling face first into the floor; with that and the mental fortitude to push through the pain that each movement generated on him, he managed to climb around half of them in three minutes.
That however was the farthest he would get; it had been more and more difficult for him remain awake with every second that passed, the light-headedness and numbness that assaulted him dominating over his will at last and making him fall unconscious mid-climb.
He hit the stairs with force, though the pain was almost negligible when compared to his other injuries, and before he even managed to comprehend what was happening, the world of dreams claimed him for the next several hours.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I felt the heat of some rays of sun escaping through the curtains, the pleasing feeling of the Sun's warmth touching my skin not discouraging me from restarting my sleep. I had not even bothered to take a single look around the room, I was feeling too good to face the real world right now.
"... Mnhn." I mumbled, some incoherent sounds coming out my lips, confused as I was feeling, I felt comfortable for the first time since I had arrived here. I wasn't feeling disorientated, I wasn't feeling pain, I wasn't feeling anxious... Whatever this was, it wasn't a bad feeling.
The birds chirping, the warmth of the Sun and the comfiness of resting in the softest bed I had ever laid on... It almost made me feel sad I couldn't experience this sensation forever. Memories of what had happened before this were scarce at best, but again, I did not care.
There was also this nice smell, I was sure I had smelt something similar not too long ago... What was it again? Some sort of perfume, perhaps? It could be, but where had I...
I raised my gaze in a quick, almost mechanical motion, my eyes now open in realization while making a half-turn in bed to face the source of this smell.
"..." I watched in disbelief with my mouth hanging half open at the sight that greeted me, a sight that although I had imagined a few times, I did not expect for all that imagination to become a part of reality.
Strands of blue hair fell on top of my left arm, the same left arm that looked to be wrapped around the person whom that beautiful hair belonged to. Naked as the day she was born, her feminine figure that had had remained hidden behind her school uniform was now on full display for me and me alone.
This was Tsubasa Yura sleeping in peace right next to me; almost looking like we had cuddled together; her relaxed facial expressions making me question how the hell had this situation came to be.
I gulped, looking down from her face towards her naked figure. Was it wrong to look? Maybe, but I couldn't resist. The first thing that got my attention was how soft her skin felt, I could tell that much with my arm wrapped around her waist; it was quite surprising given that this was someone that behaved like a tomboy most of the time, it looked like she took good care of her skin.
My gaze traveled down again, this time focusing on her round shapely breasts; neither too big nor too small, I was almost tempted to test if her pair was the perfect size for my hands. The fast increase of my heartbeat was irrefutable proof that this erotic view was having a little more impact on me than I would have liked to admit.
It was a shame I couldn't see her ass given our positioning and the blanket that covered us from our waist down. I had a feeling that she had some nice cake, and I kind of wanted to take a good look, just to be sure I was in the right, of course!
"... Ngh." A sweet moan almost lazy in nature got me panicking, feeling Tsubasa's body stretching made it all too evident she was about to wake up. The soft sounds escaping her lips coming out as a deep purring, it almost got me to relax. Key word is 'almost'.
Would she beat the shit out of me? She had been rather gentle and kind in her limited interactions with me so it could be I had just a misconception about her personality, but if that wasn't the case... Fuck it, I wasn't about to get beaten into submission for no reason, I was going to hit back!
Tsubasa stirred, her figure moving just a little closer to me; her blue eyes that matched her hair in colour fluttering open. Fuck, even when waking up she managed to look cute.
"Mmg." She yawned, her consciousness coming back to her at last; our gazes meeting mid-yawn.
"..."
"..." Silence, the same awkward silence that one would expect two people that knew almost nothing about the other would experience when waking up naked next to each other.
"... Morning." I offered, taking it upon me to be the first one to break the silence. Yeah, that was bad; I wasn't prepared at all for this kind of situation. It was all too bizarre.
"I-I..." I feared Tsubasa might have just ended up becoming a tomato in front of me, her skin now painted in pure red thanks to her blushing; it made quite an interesting contrast with her blue hair. "I c-can e-explain! It's not what it looks like!"
Now that was an unexpected reaction; whatever little preconception I had about her persona now shattering into pieces. She was not angry, so that could only be a good thing, right?
"I think I understand, actually." I really did! I mean I was a handsome guy and I had quite a nice personality, so... "Auch!"
"It's not that, you idiot!" Tsubasa pulled my cheek, her blush still very much present; had she just read my mind!? What sort of magic was this?
"... It isn't?" I questioned, the blue haired girl starting to cover herself up with a blanket to hide her naked figure from my gaze. A shame, really.
"L-look just... Just try and w-walk!" Tsubasa almost screamed at me, though again I didn't think she sounded mad, if anything, she was nervous. With her words however I had noticed an important detail, something that I should have noticed before.
It should be obvious now but I prided myself in having a great tolerance to pain, but that was not to the extent of being able to act like nothing happened while having a broken ankle. Right now though, I was feeling better than ever.
I stood up almost acting on an instinct, whatever little modesty I had left leaving me when the blanket that covered me from the waist down fell to the floor.
"... Huh." I stepped on the floor right next to the blanket, and I was pleased to see that I could take a step just fine with both legs.
'That's a great ankle right there!' I thought. 'Takes a step like no problem.'
I tried adding a little more weight on it, but again, an injury that would take me in normal circumstances at the very least five weeks to recover from was gone in a single night... But how?
I could kind of guess it had something to do with both of us being naked, and I did remember Rias doing something similar with Issei, but I had assumed that sort of thing worked just in devils.
"... You did this, then?" It was a rhetorical question. It was obvious that she had healed me, I was not sure why though. Was this so she didn't feel indebted with me? Or was it an order?
"P-pu..." I turned towards her, throwing a questioning glance at her. Tsubasa however looked like a broken record, repeating again and again those two letters.
"Pu?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.
"P-PUT SOME PANTS ON!"
"Oh." Whoops.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
"My bad, my bad!" I apologized for the third time. I had been a little too focused on the miraculous recovery of my broken ankle to care that much about the fact I too had been naked at the time.
It had been a few minutes since she had screamed and we had used that time to get us both partially dressed, me with some pants on and Tsubasa still in her undies.
Why was she still in her underwear, you ask? Well, because I told her I would not be talking if she got dressed back! Yes, I am a shithead. I will do better in the future, I promise.
"Is this enough?" Tsubasa asked, still red with shame. Her stuttering was under control now though, it looked like some of her confidence had been brought back the moment she got to at least cover herself a little.
"Mhm." I mused, giving a look of appraisal at her figure. ''I wouldn't mind a little spin…''
''Not happening.'' Yura replied in an instant, her categorical denial managing to steal a chuckle from me.
''Alright, alright.'' I said, giving up on the idea for now at least. Who knew, I might get lucky and get a second shot later on if I played my cards right. ''You said something about a meeting, no? I'm assuming that meeting has something to do with your King?''
''… This still doesn't make sense to me.'' Tsubasa commented, it was clear that she was talking about the conversation we held last night. I had answered a few minor questions after she had replied to the ones I had for her.
It was nothing of much importance, most of them were about the knowledge I had about devils and how things worked for them.
''It shouldn't be possible for a normal human to know that much about us…!'' Tsubasa finished voicing her thoughts, but all I offered in response was a sly smile; I had no plans in ever sharing that information, which was one of the few secrets I was going to take with me to the grave. ''… You are coming, then? It will be just my King and someone else.''
''Rias?'' I inquired, given the fact that both of them were best friends I was quite confident in that guess.
It could also be Tsubaki but I couldn't find a proper reason for having her there other than the fact we both knew each other, but in that case Saji would be a better choice since I had interacted more with him.
''How in the hell did you…?'' Shaking her head, Tsubasa decided it was not worth the headache. ''You know what, it doesn't matter. Yes, it's her.''
''You said it would be tonight, right…? I mean, it sounds good to me.'' I replied, a meeting with both of them was what I had been looking for all along. I could imagine there would be a few trick questions asked here and there to reveal something important but I was determined to meet them despite that. ''However, on one condition.''
Chances are with the whole discovering of new powers and fighting supernatural monsters I might have overlooked to mention this little detail, but I had gotten myself a little gift around a week ago.
''I want your number.'' I declared, picking up the new phone and giving it to her.
Who knew what she would end up doing after the meeting, it was possible that Tsubasa would start to avoid me because of shame or some other dumb reason; given what had transpired in this last twenty four hours between us two… You know, a man can dream!
''… Alright.'' Tsubasa answered after a few seconds of silence, that blush that was becoming almost common in her face when we both talked showing up once again. You would think that exchanging numbers would be far easier for her given she was standing in her underwear in front of me!
. . . . . . . . . .
You would think a pair of hotties would have a lot to do on a saturday night, but given I was about to have a meeting with two of the three most popular girls in the entire school, it didn't seem like that was the case.
I walked through the long hall in the second floor of the school building, looking left a right for a signal that hinted at the location of the Student Council's office, but so far luck didn't seem to be on my side.
''It should be right around… Here?'' I muttered, I kind of reminded walking next to some place that looked kind of important right around where I was now. If I recalled correctly, I should turn left and… Bingo!
The entrance door looked too big for it to lead to a classroom, and the teachers resting room was in the first floor, so I was confident I had arrived at the right location at last.
Pushing the door open, I couldn't help but feel like whatever was said during this reunion would be vital on having them look at me in a good or bad light, so I needed to tread with care if I really wanted to one day have them consider me an ally.
The moment the door was pushed open, I was greeted with the sight of two beautiful teenage girls looking towards me, our gazes meeting for a brief moment.
''… You have got something nice going on here!'' I complimented Sona, it was clear that both she and her best friend outright owned the school, otherwise a Students Council room could never look this fancy. ''Not a fan of the red carpets, but not bad!''
Sona was sitting behind her desk, her elbows resting on the table with her hands clasped together; it was obvious her attitude about the situation was 'strictly business' and nothing more than that.
Rias looked to be the complete opposite of her friend, standing up right next to her desk, she waved at me and offered a polite smile to me the moment I entered.
It's those nice little details that make it all the more easier to pick a side when the time comes for me to do so. I'm not a fan of authoritative figures and having stuff too organized; you ought to have noticed this by now but I like to improvise a lot. That alone made it clear that Sona was not a good fit for me, at least for now.
Rias on the other hand… Well, this meeting was about to decide if we indeed could make something work out; if not then I would need to look to expand the list of candidates a little further. Fallen Angels felt like a good fit too!
End of chapter nine.
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