Chapter-4
"Oh not this again grandma!" Akane whined as she saw another one of those dreadful fish scrolls lying on the table, surrounded by decontamination seals. She'd been hoping grandmother would have her do something different for training today, it was always Kenjutsu followed by Medical Ninjutsu "I've been doing these basics for years now, can we do
anything that doesn't involve
Iryō Ninjutsu for a change?" she begged her grandmother who was sitting on a tree stump behind the table, contently smoking her pipe.
"You doing this for years does not change the fact that you are often careless and sloppy when you are operating. Iryō Ninjutsu is a field that demands precision, precision which you lack, remember the case from last week, that fish died while you were operating on it" her grandmother calmly stated and gave her pipe another pull.
"But it was so small, and you put even smaller cuts on its organs, and then you asked me to fix the internal bleeding. How was I supposed to do that?" she asked her grandmother as she crossed her arms and took a seat at the table.
"How? By precise use of Iryō Ninjutsu, obviously." Her grandmother replied "While you can deal with any normal-sized wounds or cuts you tend to miss the minute detail cuts and injuries that I've left behind. That is something you need to work on and perfect" she stated.
"Can you at least teach me another fire style Jutsu? I mean come on, I saw Jutsu scrolls gathering nothing but dust downstairs in the library" She begged her grandmother finally
"Now what use would that be off? You are supposed to be a healer, teaching you more fire style jutsu is pointless, the ones you already know plus your Kenjutsu training are more than enough. Now get to work, I even left small ounces of poison in them for you to remove" She said making Akane sigh in disappointment "Well at least that'll be a little bit fun" she replied dejectedly
"That's the spirit. There's more than a couple of fish inside the scroll, after you're done with them come back home, I'll have lunch ready for you. Oh by the way, isn't Irina supposed to pay us a visit today? " Her grandmother asked
"Yeah, her dad will drop her off here within an hour" She replied as she picked up a bowl of water, gently placing it on the table beside the scroll.
"I guess I'll make lunch for her as well," her Grandmother said before leaving Akane alone beside the lake in the forestry area behind their family shrine.
"Might as well get on with it" she mumbled to herself as she released the first fish out from the scroll. She placed both hands on the damned thing to keep it from moving and started the diagnostic process of the jutsu. She focused "
find the injuries, check for the poison, remove it first then heal all of its injuries, I got this"
Time started flying by as she got to work on her scaly patient. She worked with practised ease drilled in her by constant repetition it wasn't exactly as boring as healing a fish might sound, but she'd take learning techniques with more… pizzazz over it any day of the week.
As she was wrapping up the healing process for the first fish, she heard some noises coming from the area where her family's shrine stood. "
Strange," she thought to herself, people went there only during festivals. She decided to go check where the noises were coming from before coming back to heal the rest of the fishes.
The noises got louder the closer she got, when she finally reached the shrine the noises stopped. She looked around trying to find the source, after a moment of searching she zeroed on a trial of blood "Maybe some animal got hurt?" She might get a chance to heal something that wasn't a fish for a change! Not wanting to waste any more time she quickly followed the trail of blood, it did not lead to an animal.
"Grandma??!!" Akane exclaimed as she saw her grandmother, covered in blood and leaning against a tree for support. Her… her right arm was missing at the elbow, she was bleeding heavily from the stump! Akane rushed towards her, she needed to stop the bleeding! "Grandma are you all right!?" her grandmother just stood there, there wasn't any life left in her eyes. Fearing the worst she checked her heartbeat, thank god it was still there. She was alive, she was even holding her sword Masamune in her left hand, though the scabbard was nowhere to be seen.
Akane tried calling out to her a few more times, but to no avail, she tried to make her grandmother lay on the ground, but she wouldn't budge. The healing process would have to be performed with her grandma standing, which meant she had no way of healing any of the injuries above the waistline, her grandma was much taller than her. She desperately focused on stopping the bleeding of her grandmother's stump and prayed that she hasn't lost too much blood.
She was still trying to stop the bleeding, her hands and sleeves soaked in blood, when she heard a sharp sound behind her. With great speed and force something slashed above her head, wood started snapping as she heard something fall to the ground next to her.
When Akane's gaze travelled downwards, a suffocating sense of dread and terror passed through her, grandmother's head was slowly rolling away staining the forest floor red. It happened so fast she couldn't even react. She felt dizzy, a pressure that refused to let up descended on her entire being. Her mouth was left wide open, she started hyperventilating, the air felt like molten metal in her lungs. A burning sensation was taking over her eyesight as she looked away from the head. Her eyes filled with horror as she saw a figure standing before her, holding up a black blade, smiling maniacally at her.
"AHHHHHHHHHH-
Akane's Apartment
7:22 AM
"-HHHHHHHHHHH" She woke up screaming, her onyx eyes were gone again, and in their place, the intricate patterns of red and black were now present. She was frantically looking around her bedroom while taking deep breaths to calm herself down as the cell phone's alarm kept ringing in the background. She took one more deep breath, held it in for five seconds and exhaled slowly. Calmed down, she moved to turn off the alarm and noticed a message left from Azazel. The message showed a few plane tickets and some text under the picture."Hmm, this could help out if I were to catch them at the airport" She said to herself after reading it.
She got out of bed and quickly moved to pick a card out of her battle deck, soon a scroll appeared in place, she opened it on a part which showed several seals. She bit her thumb in the usual place, a small bit of skin paler than the rest of the finger, hard enough to draw just the right amount of blood for drawing seals. A couple of hand sings and a "
Blood Clone Jutsu" vocalization later, and her clone appeared in front of her with a little puff of smoke. The only difference between the two was their attire, her clone was wearing her usual day clothes, while she was still in her shorts, covered in bandages from waist up.
"What the hell happened to you?" Akane's clone asked as her eyes swept over the bandages curiously.
"It's a long story which is not important at the moment," She said and went to retrieve the glasses from Azazel as well as some other equipment her clone might need for the mission.
"You need to follow a group of fallen angels who should arrive at Haneda Airport within an hour, don't let them notice you, obviously" She handed her clone the glasses as well as a wireless in-ear receiver. "Use this to take pictures of them, there's a button at the side of the frame that lets you take pictures, give me updates on the radio on regular intervals. You have enough chakra to perform a few D to C level Genjutsu if needs be" Her clone put on the glasses, made sure the receiver was concealed, and in an instant vacated the apartment through the balcony.
"
Hmmm looks like I'll have to make more almost ready clones this weekend," She thought to herself as she looked at the scroll "
Only one seal left". After Warping the scroll up and placing its card back in her battle deck she left for her washroom to freshen up and start getting ready for her first day at school.
After finishing up with the morning routine she put on the uniform provided for her by the Kuoh Academy. She had to look her best. Well, the best one could wearing a school uniform and no makeup, she'd rather not attract unwanted attention with her appearance. She chuckled slightly, considering her goal was to draw the eye of the Devil population of Kuoh Academy maybe she
was trying to attract attention some would describe as unwanted. Once more checking the school uniform for any creases she gave herself one last look in the mirror, '
you can do everything right, but the smallest misstep, the tiniest mistake, can undo all your hard work' her grandmother used to tell her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath "All right, time to go", she opened her eyes, onyx spheres stared back at her from the mirror. She picked her bag up and went out the front door. After closing up she started heading towards the academy at a steady pace.
Even if she didn't know the exact location of the academy, she could easily find her way there just by following other teens wearing school uniforms just like hers. Many of her fellow students travelled towards the academy's destination on foot or by bicycle.
Akane was walking amongst a crowd that consisted of mostly girls with only a few boys in-between, she's heard Kuoh used to be an all-girls private school before it went co-ed, so the boys to girl's ratio was understandable.
She still couldn't believe that the Devils in charge of Kuoh used the academy as their headquarters. It
really wasn't in the Devils' style. She expected a club or a pub or even some lounge, a place with privacy that allows them to operate without interruption. A school, while being a good location to scout out future members for their peerages, really left them much too open to the public. Akane wondered how beings that were defined by their immense amounts of power, and inhuman beauty, managed to blend in among bundles of self-loathing and insecurities commonly referred to as high school students. It was easy to spot both Devils, and the Fallen due to their ethereal beauty, it made any stealth operations in the human world especially tricky for them to pull off. While studying this phenomenon, she came upon a rumor about the current Lucifer's wife, supposedly she was so beautiful that she had to wear a special veil to hide her looks while she was out, even amongst the Devils as it tended to cause… problems.
"
Hmmm, maybe they're working there as teachers? It could work as a cover for a devil who's looking for potential recruits," She thought to herself. "
Though they could as well be posing as students but why would the Gremory and Sitri heiresses waste time in a human academy?, normal human education is nothing compared to what pure-blooded devils are taught well before they are even given their Evil pieces"
"
I've reached Haneda airport waiting for the targets to arrive. Over" Her clone's voice informed her on the radio.
"Roger" Akane replied, making sure to keep her voice down. Her placement in the crowd made it difficult to spot her, still, she noticed a girl with white hair and hazel eyes staring at her blankly, absentmindedly eating a bar of chocolate. She was sitting on a bench under the shade of some trees beside the entrance of the school building, she didn't fill out her school uniform like most other girls "
small or is petite more accurate?" she thought to herself "
Probably a first year".
The girl was a devil for sure, but there was something else going on with her. There was something… different about the girl, and it made Akane curious, curious enough to check what it was. With a slight surge of chakra to her eyes, they turned red, and the three tomoe's started spinning as she studied her body. It seemed the girl noticed what was going on, she tensed, and became a bit alert.
Akane chuckled slightly as her eyes turned back to normal. While her eyes couldn't check every minute detail of someone's physiology, they could give her a general idea of how it functioned, and If she focused enough she could even glimpse the furnace of power inside every person. The girl before her was... well, apparently a Neko Youkai before she got reincarnated as a devil, her chakra system, as well as the subtle illusion she used to hide her ears, were clear signs of that. She's never had an encounter with a Youkai before, mostly because they never really left their territory of
Ribāsu Kyoto. But now that she had one right in front of her, she very much would want to try and coax her into giving her knowledge of Senjutsu. Maybe a mutual exchange of knowledge like she did with Azazel? Though Akane very much doubted the girl would be interested in studying her bloodline, still, she had things to offer that no Youkai in good conscious would refuse.
The sound of the school bell brought her out of her musings. She was late and she needed to meet her homeroom teacher before she could start school. She quickly rushed inside the school building paying no attention to the girl who by now had been approached by a beautiful young woman with a voluptuous figure, very long black hair and violet eyes.
"So, what do you think Koneko," Akeno asked her as she took out a paper bag and passed it to Koneko, the Youkai took a whiff of the bags' contents, quickly grabbed it out of her friend's hands and started munching down on its sweet contents.
"I don't like her" Koneko graciously gave her insight, she had to show gratitude for the sugary offering somehow.
"Of course you don't" Akeno replied with a knowing smile "You don't like anything new, Kiba and I still have scars from all the scratches you gave us when you joined the peerage" she said with a giggle and tried to take one of the chocolates out of the bag only to be stopped by a hiss coming from Koneko.
Seeing Koneko's antics, Akeno could only shake her head in amusement "Come on, go to your class, you shouldn't be late for homeroom twice in a row" Akeno told her before leaving
Haneda Airport
Akane's clone was sitting at a café with her disguise and the glasses on, sipping on a cup of coffee, the café gave an overview over every exit in the airport which made its location an ideal place for her goal. It was a good thing they had disguises with IDs and credit cards ready on hand for missions like this. Acquiring them was quite expensive and a major pain in the ass, but once you've got them and use them responsibly they can last you a lifetime.
"
These glasses are truly amazing..." she thought to herself as she looked through the files of the Fallen, she took another sip of coffee and let out a content hum.
She still found it hard to believe that a Coup d'état amongst the Fallen Angels might now be a real possibility. Amongst the three factions, the Fallen were the easy-going bunch, always enjoying the best of both worlds.
Their position was stable compared to Angels and Devils, the Fallen could breed with humans, they didn't need things like the Evil Pieces system, or Brave Saints to recoup their losses after the Great War. When a Fallen and a human have children the offspring will generally be capable of match its Fallen parent's power, Devils, on the other hand, had to avoid such unions altogether to save the bloodline from… thinning. Add to that the gestation periods of hybrid Fallen versus pure blood Fallen and you have a force to be reckoned with, and an explanation as to how a splinter group like the Fallen could rival the might of Haven and Underworld.
An alert on her glasses drew her attention towards four individuals who looked like they have just arrived, it was her Fallen targets "The Targets have arrived at the airport three females, one male Fallen Angels. Over" she gave Akane an update as she got up from her seat and started following them from a safe distance.
"
Roger" Akane acknowledged her message on the radio, her clone saw her quarry getting into a cab. "
I can get a cab myself, but the traffic might cause me to lose them, it's best I follow them on foot," she thought to herself and started following the cab
Meanwhile at Kuoh Academy
Akane stood outside of the classroom, waiting for her homeroom teacher to call her in to politely introduce herself to the rest of the class. Japan was a land of proper interactions like that, and whether she wanted to or not she had to adhere to its customs. It was bizarre really, giving away personal data to a group of total strangers? In a normal school, you only get to know another person's name if you asked them for it head-on or if you were paying attention during attendance. At least that's how it was in her previous one…
"You can come in now" Her Homeroom called her inside, while entering she noticed that among 40 students, only a dozen of them were male.
"A girl again! We could have used another guy in our class"
"Yeah the ones we have are either perverts or on their way to becoming one"
The girls mumbled amongst themselves "Hey doesn't it feel like we've seen her somewhere before?" that last comment genuinely made her flinch.
The teacher waited another second before telling her to introduce herself
Akane nodded to her teacher before giving a hopefully respectful bow to her new classmates "Hello, my name is Akane Orimura. I hope we get along."She introduced herself
She expected a couple of questions but was not prepared for the verbal equivalent of a battering ram she got instead. "Where are you from? ", "What's with the accent?" "What's with the glove on your arm?" It made her grimace a bit in annoyance. She didn't enjoy being the centre of attention, but hopefully, her fellow students will let her blend in with the rest of the faceless masses at Kuoh Academy after she satiates their curiosity.
Thankfully the questions were quickly quelled by the sound of a loud slam as her homeroom teacher slammed his book on the podium "Okay Okay, calm down, you can ask Orimura-san all of your questions during the break. But for now, we need to get our class started" he turned towards her and said "You can take the seat next to Kiryuu-san" he pointed towards the empty seat.
Akane turned her head towards a girl with green eyes and brown hair done up in twin braids on each side of her face, the girl sported a pair of pink glasses with unusually large ovals. Nodding once, she leaned down to pick up her bag and moved towards her seat all the while trying to tune out all the murmuring around her. Once she took her seat the teacher started the class.
Lunch Time
Akane's Classroom
"Pssst, hey Issei, what do you think about the new emo-chick in our class huh? Can't say we've ever had that type in school before" Matsuda asked Issei in a hushed tone, Akane was still in the classroom, talking to a couple of students who wanted to introduce themselves.
"Now that you mention it, Koneko-Chan is more stoic, and Sona-Senpai is more strict than emo" Motohama added though they didn't get a reply from Issei who was sitting still on his seat, a small frown present on his face.
"Yo, Issei!" Matsuda gave him a light slap to the back of the head, "You with us man?" he asked in an annoyed tone
"Ah, sorry guys, I spaced out a little" he apologized while rubbing his head "What were we talking about?"
"The new girl in our class duh, what do you think about Orimura-san?" Motohama asked curious about his thoughts on the girl
"Well, she's another addition to Kuoh's long list of beautiful girls, but there's also something… familiar about her, I feel like I kind of know her, but can't point out from where, what about you guys?" Issei replied sneaking a glance at Akane.
"Maybe she was an idol or a model? Can't say I've ever seen her before" Matsuda replied
"No way she was any of those. If she was, I would have known trust me" Motohama shot down Matsuda's theory while adjusting his glasses.
"You're right pervs, but she did use to live here" Another voice added from behind them, when the boys turned around they saw Aika Kiryuu standing there with a smirk on her face.
"
Aika" Motohama hissed, instantly on guard in the presence of a rare female pervert "Weren't you supposed to give Orimura-san a tour of the entire school? Shouldn't you two be leaving, like right now?" Motohama Asked her
"Yeah I was gonna do that but Tomoe from the student council told me that Souna-senpai would be sending some firstie to give Orimura-san a tour" Aika replied as she grabbed a chair and took a seat in front of Issei's table
"Erh, umm, Orimura-san used to live here? How come I've never seen her before?" Motohama wondered while trying to hide his unease
"You couldn't have, You moved to Kuoh after she left to study abroad. But you should've been able to remember her Issei" Aika said "She used to hang out a lot with your neighbour Irina" she added
"Oh yeah, I guess she did live here," Issei said to himself "and um thanks for the info, I guess" he replied to Aika and turned to his friends "Anyway, guys, where do you want to hang out after school? I was thinking my place, I got my hands on a DVD of Shiniest Robotan Alisa and Neighbour's Thulu Tentacly sec-"
Line break
"
The cab has stopped in front of Arisaka hotel. All the targets are entering the building with their luggage at the moment" Her clone's report went through the radio
"Well, at least we know where they'll be staying. Find out in which room, and book a room right next to them, you will be staying there until this mission is complete. I'll send another clone, you can divide the work between yourselves," Akane muttered the instructions to her clone in the middle of physics class
"
You won't be joining us?" Her clone asked
"No, I'm afraid it will be too risky and might blow the cover you need for the mission. It's best you two handle the stakeout yourself while I handle the situation here at the academy" Akane replied
"
Roger Over and out" her clone acknowledged her message
Akane sighed while she was looking out the class' window, admiring the academy grounds. She was wondering when the Devils will come to escort her. It wasn't a surprise when Kiryuu-san informed her she won't be giving her the school tour, the student council president will send someone to do that instead. Nothing out of the ordinary there, giving the tour of the entire academy was one of their responsibilities. She just hoped they'd come faster and save her from this physics lecture, seriously, she felt like Argus Panoptes being talked to death by Hermes.
Fortunately for Akane, her ticket out of class had just arrived as the vice president of the student council, Tsubaki Shinra entered the classroom "Akane Orimura" she called her out
"Yes" Akane answered getting up from the seat
"Souna-Kaichou would like to see you. If it is not a big problem, can she leave the class early Tsushima-Sensei?" She asked her physics teacher who responded with a nod "Sure sure, Orimura you can leave"
"Thank you Tushima-Sensei," the vice president gave him a nod and turned to Akane" If you would follow me" Akane grabbed her bag, thanked the teacher, and exited the classroom with the vice president
"Fuku taichō-san are you by any chance part of the Shinra-clan?" Akane asked her while the vice president guided her towards their destination.
Tsubaki gave her a side glance before replying "Yes I am, Why do you ask?"
"Nothing, it's just… it is surprising to see a member of one of the noble houses of Kyoto being employed by a devil" Akane replied, curious about her story though she didn't get an answer from Tsubaki who just stayed silent as they moved towards their destination.
Arisaka Hotel
Clone Akane had been sitting in a very crowded waiting lounge of the hotel waiting for her targets to get keys for their room form the looks of things a few rooms were going through a cleaning process. The entire time they've been sitting there none of them had uttered a single syllable out of their mouths, even the midget Mittelt was quite even though Akane could clearly read the expression of annoyance on her face.
The files of Information that Azazel's glasses provided on her targets contained pretty much everything she needed to know of their background, their mission success rate, parentage as well as how many sets of wings each of them had.
Mittelt was the youngest in the group and as such the weakest of the group with only two sets of wings, following her was Dohnaseek and Kalawarner with four sets each respectively. Fallen angels with four sets were akin to younger officers in the Fallen's power structure, ideal second in commands and mostly in charge of smaller missions. Things wouldn't have looked out of the ordinary if only the three of them were there but the presence of Raynare was making the entire thing smell fishy.
Raynare, the leader of the group, was a fallen with five sets of wings, a set away from being a Seraph. Fallen Angels like her were considered to be elites. Rookie fallen were encouraged to pursue that rank as unlike the Seraph rank it was actually achievable for every fallen. A small mission like this was way below her paygrade. Files did mention that she was being reprimanded for the failure of her last mission. What was even stranger was the location of Raynare's mission, sending a powerhouse like her could be perceived as a provocative move towards the Underworld. It was bad enough that two prominent members of 72 Pillars were in charge of the territory but then you factor in who their older siblings are and you have a recipe for a clusterfucks of gargantuan proportions.
"
Maybe her mother pulled some strings to get her on the mission?" She thought to herself as she saw one of the hotel staff distributing the key cards for their rooms.
"We have taken a room under Shinonono and Huang" Akane saw Raynare ask for their keys from the staff member
"Of course miss let me check it for you" The staff member said to himself as he looked through the names in the list he was given "Oh, here you go, miss," he picked out two key cards from the bundle and gave them to Raynare "We hope your stay at Arisaka hotel will be pleasant" Raynare gave him a dazzling smile "Thank you and I'm sure there will be lots of things for us to do here" without waiting for his response she turned her bright smile disappearing in an instant now replaced with that certain feeling you get when a bug just wasted your time with his existence. With the keys to their rooms finally, in their hands, Akane saw them leaving the Lounge.
With them gone Akane Got up from her seat and moved towards the staff member "Would you be so kind and tell me the room numbers of Shinonono and Huang" Akane asked the staff member gently tapping 10,000 yen note on her lips.
His gaze travelled to the note and a hungry look came over his face. She stealthily passed him the note, he looked at it before sneaking the note inside his pocket "Shinonono is staying at room 345 and Huang.." he paused looking at her pointedly, with an eye roll she took out another 10,000 yen note and repeated her previous action "..is staying at 346" he finished and left unceremoniously as if nothing just happened
"
I think we gonna need to book both room 344 and 347 just to be safe. Who knows which room they might use to discuss their plans" she thought as she moved towards the reception counter
"Welcome to Arisaka. What can I do for you?" The receptionist asked all fake smiles
Akane lowered her glasses revealing her red eyes and immediately put the receptionist under her compulsion "Please book room number 344 under Nagisa Aoi and Room 347 under Shizuma Hanazono"
The receptionist's eyes dilated as she nodded dumbly and started the registration for the rooms "How long would you be staying with us?" she asked in a blanc emotionless tone
"Maybe for a month or so" She replied as she passed the credit card that was made under the name Shizuma Hanazono
"Room 347 has been booked under Shizuma Hanazono but Room number 344 will not be available for a week" She informed her as she gave her the keycard
"Hmm, can you move the occupants to another room?"
"I can try" she replied as she picked the reception phone
"Here give that to me" Akane took the phone from the receptionist's hands
"Hello?" Somebody replied at the other side
"Hello, am I speaking to room 344?" Akane asked, trying to sound professional
"Yes?" The person replied
"Good afternoon I am.." Akane adjusted the receptionist name tag to read her name "Tamao Suzumi. Sir, we have been receiving complains about seepage from the room directly below you. Our plumber staff has found one of the pipes from your room is leaking water downstairs. So we have to move you to a new room in order to stop the seepage" Akane Informed him
"Ohhh ok do you have a room ready?" the person asked
Akane covered up the receiver "Do you have a similar room ready?" She asked "Yes Room 450 is empty," was the receptionist response
"Yes sir we have room 450 ready for you. why don't you pack up your luggage we will send you the key card to 450 immediately" Akane told him
"Sure sure" The person replied
"Again we are terribly sorry for the inconvenience sir,"
"Ehhh d-don't worry about it, I'll just get my luggage ready good bye-" she opened her mouth to respond "Tetsuo get your shit we're moving to anoth-" and it looks like he just ended the connection
"Well Now that room 344 is empty please book it under Nagisa Aoi and keep the key card she will be arriving later on" Akane Instructed the receptionist who nodded and booked the room as well as completed the money transaction before returning her the credit card
Akane snapped her fingers and soon receptionist's eyes turned back to normal she shook her head a little and looked at Akane "Please enjoy your stay here Hanazono-sama"
"Eiji please go to room 344 and give this keycard of room 450 to them and transfer their luggage to the same room" Akane heard the receptionist inform a staff member
"
Sharingan's Genjutsu ability may be handy but I think I should avoid using it, after all who knows how long this mission might last," the Clone thought to herself as she waited for the lift
Occult Research Club Building
Shinra-san eventually led her to a school building that was notably isolated from the rest of the academy, they had to cross the sports ground to reach it. White paint, black roof, two storeys high with a clock tower at the top, a fancy building all things considered, and all the trees and vines gave it somewhat of a mystical vibe.
It may have looked normal-ish on the outside but once they entered, she felt magic, magic everywhere. Lock seals, scanning seals, guard seals, seals on seals on seals. This place was overflowing with magical energy, perfect spot for a devil's headquarters. "
In other words they know I'm here already, and they can lock this place up in an instant"
Once inside, they were greeted by a handsome boy with short blond hair. His brilliant smile reached his eyes when he greeted the vice president "Ahh Shinra-senpai, welcome, we have been waiting for you"
Akane was amused to see Tsubaki blush slightly while trying to hold her stoic expression. She looked towards him "
I'm sure I've seen his face somewhere," she thought to herself
"And you must be Orimura-san, please come on in" He invited her inside
He led them farther into the building, Akane noticed the interior was filled with Victorian-style furniture an wood paneling. They stopped in front of a door and the boy gave it a light tap "Ah, Kiba, come in come in" He opened the door for her and Tsubaki "After you," he said with a smile. Once she entered she was greeted with the sight of Gremory and Sitri heiresses. Little sisters to the most powerful beings in the Underworld were sitting on Victorian couches opposite to each other.
"Orimura-san please take a seat" Gremory heiress pointed her towards the empty sofa placed in front of her
"Ah thank you" Akane replied taking her seat
"Well it's good to see that True Cross teaches their Exorcists to be polite, even to a supposed enemy" the Sitri heiress stated her voice strict and firm
Akane shrugged the comment off with a wave of her hand "Please Sitri-san, times have changed. That's sort of an old notion you are harbouring there" Akane replied
"Yes, they may very well have changed, but not enough to ignore an Exorcist, an Exorcist of the True Cross no less, roaming around in a Devil's territory freely. Rules are there for a reason Orimura-san" the Sitri heiress growled out.
"
Looks like they found out about the stray" Akane thought to herself in Annoyance. It seems like it was too much to expect the devils to be thankful to her for taking care of that mess.
"Hey, I am following every rule here. It's not my fault you couldn't be bothered to take care of a stray demon in
your territory that I was forced to take down" Akane replied in annoyance as she took out the chess piece she had collected from the stray and thrown it to the Sitri heiress
Sona caught the piece in her hands. The mention of a stray demon caught everyone's attention
"A stray demon? What are you talking about?" Sona asked her in confusion, while Rias took the Evil piece off her hands and gave it a quick look over
"What were you talking about?" Akane shot back, now confused as she assumed they were angry about her hunting in their territory.
"Ok ok let's calm down for a moment" Rias tried to diffuse the situation "Orimura-san let me apologize in Sona's place. She's always been a stickler for rules" Rias said with a nervous smile "But please can you tell us more about this stray you encountered?"
"Wait, you two really did not know about this stray? " Akane asked them in a surprised tone
"No, we did not. Generally, we're informed ASAP when a stray enters our territory. But we didn't get anything for the past week" Rias replied, "Was this stray causing a big problem?" She asked in an apologetic tone, seemingly a little guilty about her and her peerage's absence.
"Honey, You have no idea how much of a pain in the arse he was" Akane replied before continuing "It's a good thing I caught him early otherwise he would have been a disaster" she added as she saw a familiar-looking young woman with long hair tied in an Orange ribbon placing a cup of tea in front of her. "Thank you" she got a smile and a soft laugh in reply
"Where and when did you encounter this stray?" Sona asked
Akane took a sip of her tea and responded "Hmm, I would say around 10:50 PM last night. I found the Stray demon on a construction site near Kuoh cemetery. I did not approach him till 11:15 Pm as I was waiting for you two to come with your Peerages and deal with him" Akane informed them
"Sona, I did hear reports about some construction site worker going missing last night on the local news channel. Police have started investigating" Tsubaki informed her Master
"Well, they aren't going to find anything, I don't know about any other workers, but the security guard was taken inside the Purgatorio to be used for a Qliphoth. By the time I arrived to destroy the blood fruit he was a dry husk.
"Looks like I'll have to deal with that later," Rias said as she massaged her head
"So he had already eaten a blood fruit before he came there," Sona asked Akane for confirmation
"Yeah, you might want to keep an eye on any missing person reports near Kuoh. You might want to cover that up as well" Sona gave her a nod
"What threat level do you think this stray falls under?" Rias asked Akane
"Can't say for sure" she replied
"Please elaborate," Sona asked
"Well, I have hunted many demons, stray demons, and stray devils alike, so I sort of know what to expect when I fight them. The stray I fought was a wrath demon they are fast and hit like a truck but this one fought like a moron, his attacks too open and easy to dodge" Akane explained
"So, a low C or high D rank?" Kiba piped in
"No" Akane shook her head "Stray demons of D and lower C rank tend to die instantly after being hit by even a weak light spell. I blasted him at point-blank range with a light spell that should have been enough to kill a B or even A rank demon, he didn't seem that bothered by it. When I used fire, it burned him up for sure, but it didn't kill him, that calls for an A rank. Here's the best part, I cut off his head, and he just gets up and keeps on fighting, even though his fucking
head's missing."
"How'd you kill it then?" Rias asked
"I was forced to use one of my family's techniques based on our bloodline. That got the job done though I lost consciousness after that. When I woke up I was the only one there with that evil piece lying beside me" Akane replied, pointing towards the chess piece
"Now I'm curious, can you tell me more about this ah 'family technique'?" Rias asked intrigued, she was certain her
Power of Destruction would have been enough to deal with the stray but if Akane Orimura had a bloodline like that she might be a highly valuable ally to the Gremory
"Well, how about I tell you about it sometime later when we have more time" Akane offered
"Of course, don't feel pressured on my behalf" Rias said smiling
Rias' gaze swept over everyone assembled in the occult club "Well, I guess that covers everything we needed to know" She turned to Akeno "We might have to inform Lord Beelzebub about what happened"
"But that still does not explain why are you here with your fellow stray exorcists" Sona asked, her strict voice back
"Hate to break it to you Sitri but I'm not an Exorcist. We're trained a little different at True Cross, we don't take our Vows until the end of our training. I left one year before mine was complete" Akane explained it to her
"So you do not know any of them?" Sona asked
"No, the only exorcist I knew were my teachers at the academy and let me assure you none of them would ever go rogue" Royal Devils, the Fallen, and now stray exorcists all converging on Kuoh. She'll have to keep an ear out for any information.
"So, why are you here?" Rias asked her
Akane smiled a little at the question "Why am I here? Well I was going to offer one of you my services" She snuck a glance at Rias, failing miserably to hide a smirk slowly forming on her face
"You are not offering us your services for selfless reasons are you?" Sona said, her voice dryer than her sense of humor
"The reasons are strictly selfish my dear. You see, I'm at a point that my human body has reached its limit, it can't grow any further. And I am in no way satisfied with what my human body is capable of. I know I can develop further; my
bloodline can develop further. That's the reason I came to you two" She studied their expressions
"I offer you my Service, my body and my bloodline, in return you make me a Devil. A win-win situation don't you think" Akane said with a smile
She noticed that every person in the room was now looking at Rias intently. "
Looks like both heiresses made a deal about who potentially gets me even before I came here. Oh, How charming"
"I accept your offer," Rias said getting up from her seat "Let's see how many pieces I have to sacrifice in order to make you a Devil. Orimura-san , please give me your hand " She offered Rias her right arm
Rias took her hand and made a small cut, deep enough for blood to slowly trickle out. It divided itself into three parts that soon started forming into shapes of chess pieces.
Even Koneko who had been busy this entire time munching down her chocolates was looking intently as the chess pieces were taking form.
The result was something that Rias was dreading since the moment she saw Akane's blood divide into three parts, but even she did not think Akane's price would be this high.
Sona, on the other hand, could not help but smirk at the result. She was regretting agreeing to let Rias have Orimura but now after the results, it simply wasn't possible for Akane to join Rias' peerage and with that, the deal between them was now void. And she had a candidate in mind that would be perfect for Akane.
After all, not many Devils had pieces that were worth 3 Queens
Author note:- The art for the cover is done by the lovely https://www.reddit.com/user/GjaPetronas
Beta Reader:- Polkxe