Unbounded Voice Chapter 2

Edited by: Priapus

Still processing my unexpected situation while lying on my bed, I stare at the ceiling of my apartment in pure silence, not sure what’s going on. I’ve just woken up from the best sleep I’ve ever had in both lives, but that’s not what’s confusing me. Because I still remember what happened clearly, and I’m pretty sure I got shot like three times.

I died. Or I should’ve, unless heaven is actually just my apartment. And whatever that was with Alduin was just a fever dream before my actual demise. But it’s pretty weird how I’m left naked save my underwear, because I don’t remember stripping. Unless that dickhead did something to my corpse.

I may not know him well, but I wouldn’t put it beneath him. He looked psychotic enough, honestly.

I slowly sit up and look down at the bullet wound, or where it should’ve been. Nothing. Not even a scar. Was it a dream? Couldn’t be. I clearly remember being shot, and there’s some semblance of phantom pain still flaring up every time I think about it. I don’t think dreams can have that strong an effect.

Unless I’m actually, genuinely insane, and all of this— everything that’s been happening never really happened, and I’m in some mental asylum somewhere. Oh man, that would ruin my day. I hope that’s not the case.

“No way.” I scoff to myself. “Can’t be true.”

Clearly, I didn’t actually die. What really happened was that when I passed out, I unlocked the superpower I knew I always had, healed up for reasons currently unknown to me, and beat the ever living shit out of that idiot. God, if only I were conscious to see it. I’m sure I Fus Ro Dah’d him so hard I sent him to China. Assuming Alduin was a real thing I saw. And I bet it is.

Come on, why would he, of all things, show up in a dream? Yeah, I miss playing Skyrim, but it’s not like Alduin was the coolest villain in the series. His lore is amazing, but he was lackluster in the actual game. He definitely wasn’t my favorite.

So he has to have something to do with me being here, even if I think it’s bizarre. Why is he related to this world? Also, wasn’t he going to get purified or something? That’s why the Last Dragonborn doesn’t absorb his soul at the end. He was taken back to get his corruption rinsed off by Daddy Akatosh for refusing to do what he was born to do.

Or I guess that’s what’s supposed to happen. I don’t think locking him up in some random guy in not-nirn is gonna make him learn his lesson. I mean, he looked pretty fucking pissed in that cage of his. Not that I care. Unless he can affect me or take control of my body. Then I’d rather avoid making him angry.

But if he could take control, then why hadn’t he? Unless… it was him that beat the shit out of that psycho? That would explain a lot. Maybe he was the one who healed me, too, for some reason. Perhaps we’re intrinsically linked, and if I die, he dies too and goes back to Akatosh. And that’s why he didn’t kill me.

Like my very own Kurama, but unlike Kurama, he’s an irredeemable bastard whom I’m never going to befriend. So more Sukuna, I guess.

I’m making a lot of assumptions, but it would all make sense.

I hope someone will explain to me what happened, though.

As I decide to get off my bed, I turn my head to the side and finally notice the woman lying next to me. Long and bright red hair and a figure that seems unnaturally voluptuous. A toned belly, huge tits, and ass that made it increasingly difficult to keep my eyes off her. She looks peaceful, her chest rising with every quiet breath she takes, and had I not been equal parts shocked and terrified that a random stranger was sleeping next to me, I would’ve tried to avoid waking her up.

Unfortunately for her, that’s not what happened as I reflexively kick her off the bed, making her hit her head on the corner of a nearby nightstand and fall on the floor with a cry of surprise and pain.

“Ow!” She hisses, rubbing her head as she looks at me, bemused. “What did you do that for?! That hurt, you jerk!”

“Who the fuck are you?!” I call out. “Get the fuck out of my house!”

The girl, whom I now recognize as one of the persons of interest in Kuoh Academy, scowls.

“It’s me, stupid.” She argues, recomposing herself. “Don’t you remember?”

I blink.

“No?” I reply. “Remember what? I remember being shot and then…”

The red-haired woman looks at me in annoyance, still rubbing her head.

“And then what do you think happened?”

“My plan worked, obviously.”

Seeing my grin, she looks at me in utter confusion.

“What plan?” She asks. “You mean you planned this?”

“Yes.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Yes, I did. See, I know I’m no ordinary person. I know I have power deep within me waiting to be unleashed.” I respond. 

“W-what?”

“So I used the opportunity to unleash it.” I continue. “I may have been knocked out, but I probably got up and kicked his ass afterwards.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” She questions, staring at me like I said something crazy. “Are you insane?”

“Tell me I’m wrong?” I challenge her.

“Yes, you’re wrong.” She insists. “You’re VERY wrong, actually.”

“Then by all means, tell me what really happened? I bet you—”

“You died.” She answers bluntly, cutting me off. “You were killed. You bled out on the sidewalk and died. I showed up and scared him off. And when I tried to help you, it was already too late.”

Hearing that — and seeing her — slowly jogs my memories. Actually, yeah, I do remember a strange flash of red and black, and I remember her asking me a hilariously stupid question before I passed out. But death? That’s dumb. Unless this is heaven, which it probably isn’t, then I didn’t die. Somehow, I managed to survive.

“If I were killed, genius, then how come I’m still alive?” I smugly point out. “Don’t you know that people die when they’re killed?”

“Because I revived you.” She sighs. She already looks like she’s sick of my shit.

“Oh.” I blink. “…Huh. I guess that makes sense.”

I mean… that’s one way to explain what actually happened, right? I died, went into whatever that Sovngarde-looking place was, and then came back to life. I guess this also explains why I’m here and healed. Getting my superpowers working is one thing, but walking back to my apartment while unconscious seems a bit too far-fetched.

Huh…

So I did die, after all. I honestly don’t know how to feel about this. Well, I guess I’m pretty happy that I’m alive again. I’m glad. Throwing my life away because I was convinced my superpowers would save me would’ve sucked balls.

I still have a lot of questions.

“Doesn’t really explain why you were sleeping naked next to me.”

“You needed healing.” She answers, crossing her arms below her breasts. The bounce on those is immaculate. “As you’re a devil in my peerage, I’m able to transfer my magic when embracing you to restore you to health.”

“And you need to be naked for this?”

“Yes.” She confirms with a nod.

I mean, I’m not complaining, but she could’ve just said she wanted to feel me up. Or cuddle. I wouldn’t have felt offended.

…Wait a minute—

“Hold on, what are you talking about? Devil?” I look down at myself, then back at her. Eyes. Not tits. “I’m human.”

“Not anymore. You’ve been reincarnated into a devil.” She explains, standing up and spreading a pair of bat wings that magically appeared on her back. “Like me. Though I was born one.”

Oh, damn.

Sidenote: Even though her wings are pretty cool, it’s starting to be VERY hard not to stare at her fantastic pair of tits, and it’s certainly not helping that she’s not covering herself up.

As the shock of the reveal very quickly passes, I feel myself smirking widely. 

“I fucking KNEW it. I knew you weren’t human.” I point at her. “You thought you could hide from me? I’m not so easy to trick. I know better.”

The girl rolls her eyes, looking unimpressed with me.

“Congratulations. You were right.” She says. “I hope it was worth it, because now you’re stuck with me for a very long time.”

That makes me pause.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Because I revived you, you aren’t just a devil. You’re now bound to me as a member of my peerage.” She explains further, her wings disappearing just as magically. Right, that word again. “From now on, you belong to me.”

I take a moment to process her words before replying.

“So like, a slave?”

“Wha— no! Not like that! I don’t dare to take away your agency!” She vehemently denies. “Goodness, I must’ve phrased it terribly. It’s not slavery, I promise. I-I mean, yes, you do work for me—”

“That’s slavery, lady, cuz I don’t remember signing any contracts.”

“It’s not!” She insists, growing a little flustered. She then quickly recomposes herself. “Peerages are a lot more like teams. We get to compete against other peerages to see who's better. It’s fun. And I treat mine like family. I swear.”

“That’s cool and all, but I’ve never agreed to anything like this.”

“I-I guess that’s true…”

She looks at me a little uncomfortably, and I can see the guilt on her face. The girl shifts awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with me. But honestly? I’m not really mad about this. This reaction kind of proves that she’s not being malicious in any way. Also, I almost wasted my life away because I got ahead of myself, and she brought me back.

So why would I be mad at her? Whatever this peerage thing is, I’ll take her word for it. Also, if I’m stuck with her, then my mission was a success, because I’ve finally found my way to the secret world I’ve been looking for this whole time. I may have died, but I got what I wanted, and now I’m back in the living world as a devil. I’m not gonna complain about that.

By the way, entirely unrelated, but I would bark if she tells me to.

“Well, you were dead, so…”

“Yeah, I know. I’m just messing with you.” I chuckle. “I mean, I kinda owe you my life now. I’d take becoming a devil over dying. So, thanks.”

For the first time since this conversation started, the girl smiles, almost in relief.

“You’re welcome.” She says, offering me a handshake. “I’ve just realized I’ve not given you my name yet. I’m Rias Gremory.”

“Felix Evans,” I introduce myself properly, taking her hand. “…You mind if you put on something now? I like the show and all, but I’m really struggling here.”

“Oh.” She blinks, looks down at my erection poking my boxers, and giggles. “Sorry, sorry. I’m somewhat of a nudist, so I tend to forget about my state of undress. And how ‘exciting’ it might be to men.”

“I’m more surprised at your lack of shame, if anything.”

Rias just shrugs and walks away, picking up her clothes from the floor. At least she’s wearing panties? My brain says that. My dick cries ‘goddamn it’.

“Get dressed. We’re going to my school.” She tells me as she starts to put on her clothes. “I need to introduce you to the rest of my peerage. And to explain what your life as a devil will be like from now on.”

“Sounds good to me.”

As Rias puts on her skirt while I begin wearing my own clothes, she looks at me and points at my crotch.

“I won’t mind if you want to take care of that first.” She tells me. “I can wait for you outside.”

“Eh, it’ll go away on its own.” I wave it off.

I’m way too excited about this peerage and devil stuff to be jacking off right now. Finally, to be fully immersed in this fantastic world of demons, dragons, and magic. I’ve been praying for this day to arrive. My adventure starts now.

“If you say so…”

This is gonna be so good.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The walk with Rias to Kuoh Academy had been pretty quiet for the most part. We shared a couple of words here and there, but most of the questions regarding this ‘Supernatural,’ as she called it, were answered with ‘be patient.’ I guess she wants to tell me everything after I’ve properly met the rest of the peerage.

‘Peerage.’ That’s a strange choice for a word. She said it’s a ‘team’ of some sort, and I believe her, but that doesn’t feel like it’s the whole truth. The word kinda gives me a weird… aristocrat-y vibe, and she does give the feel that she’s nobility of some kind.

And as it turns out, she’s a very important person. Apparently, she is nobility. Of the few questions she actually answered, one of them was about her origins. A devil of clan Gremory, one of the highest ranking in the underworld. Rias is the heiress, the next head of that clan. Huge position, I imagine. More importantly, though, hell exists, and it’s not all fire and brimstone where sinners suffer for all eternity, but a dimension like Earth is with its own culture and people.

There are also countless other species, not just devils. Angels, Fallen Angels, and nearly every race and god from every mythology that existed since the dawn of time. She didn’t really get too deep into explaining what roles these other races have, but knowing they exist is enough to make my head spin. In a good way.

So demons, or devils, are just another intelligent species? That’s cool as fuck. This world is just getting better and better. God, I’m so glad I reincarnated. Whomever decided to plop me in here for one reason or another, I’m forever in your debt.

To be honest, considering my powerset, I wouldn’t have minded reincarnating in the Elder Scrolls universe, either. If anything, it would’ve been a lot more exciting, but I would think I ultimately like this place better. Mainly because we’re in the modern age, and it would take me a long ass time to get used to Viking Land.

Also, I know way too much about Skyrim. This place, though? Not so much. A couple of things, like the protagonist having a gauntlet power thing that screamed ‘Boost’, but overall, that’s about it. The thrill of discovering new things and encountering awesome events isn’t ruined by bullshit knowledge I picked up because I was addicted to a show or video game.

I don’t want an easy life. I want an exciting one, and I don’t care if I have to struggle for it.

As we take another turn, moving away from the shade, the light of the sun hits me directly in the face and makes me wince. I put my arm over my head, a bit puzzled by how weirdly irritating the sun feels on my skin. It’s not painful. It’s just extra annoying today for some reason.

Rias notices my discomfort and speaks up.

“Devils prefer the night. That’s why the sun feels like this.” She explains.

“Really?” I raise an eyebrow. “I guess that makes sense, though. You know, demonic creatures and all that.”

“Yes. Exactly.” She nods. “Don’t worry, though. Once you grow stronger, that feeling disappears completely.”

“That so…” I murmur. “And how do I do that?”

“By training, of course.”

“Like, combat training?”

“Yes,” Rias confirms. Aw, that’s fucking awesome. “Mostly magic for a lot of us, but in your case, it’s different.”

“Is it?” I blink. “Wait, don’t tell me I can’t do magic?”

“No, no. You can do magic.” She giggles. “But you have something else. Something special.”

I quickly catch on to what she’s trying to say.

“You know about Alduin?”

Rias pauses, blinks, and glances at me in confusion.

“Who?”

“Uh…”

“Ah, I think I understand. You must’ve met the spirit that resides within your Sacred Gear in the short moment you were dead.” She hums. “Alduin, hmm? Very interesting. I’ve never heard of them before. I suppose we can discuss it more in depth later, though.”

Instead of inquiring further, I decide to be patient as she’d kindly asked me to and remain quiet. Okay, she doesn’t know about him, but whatever this is— this ‘Sacred Gear’ thing, has to be the superpower I had this whole time. Just… Alduin, instead of whatever the protagonist had in the original story.

If she doesn’t know about him, and I do, then it would be tough to explain how I’ve come up with the knowledge. Unless I use the out she’d inadvertently given me by pretending that Alduin himself was the one who told me about everything, and he didn’t just instantly kick me out the moment he saw a glimpse of me.

Like fuck me, I didn’t know I was that ugly. What an asshole.

While on our way to wherever she’s taking me, we pass by a couple of Kuoh Academy students, who gossip among themselves as they see me walking with Rias. Two things I immediately notice are how clearly I can hear them despite their quiet whispers, and how they’re all taking in English, for some reason.

Kuoh Academy is an international school, so I understand that most students here are very educated, and although it is dominated by Japanese students, I see many other ethnicities there. It’s still bizarre that every single one of them speaks English. Fluent English, too. I don’t even hear an accent.

Are they flexing on me or something? Piss off. Let me be monolingual in peace.

At some point, though, we go off course and end up walking through the woods on the other side of the school. I’m a little creeped out at first ‘cause this is the perfect place to commit a murder, but why would she murder me if she revived me in the first place? That wouldn’t make much sense.

Eventually, we find ourselves in front of a big and old building. At least on the outside. On the inside? Looks like it’s regularly cleaned, and it doesn’t really look like a school. More like a big mansion of some kind.

“Woah.”

“Impressed?” Rias asks.

“Very. What’s this place?”

“The school’s abandoned dormitory. It never got demolished, so our school club started using it.” She says. “This building works as our base of operation, hideout, hangout spot— whatever you prefer to call it, really.”

“All of this?” I whistle. “Dayum. You got an army in there? How big is this peerage?”

“You’ll see.” She smiles, taking my hand. “Everyone is right here. I’m sure they’re excited to meet you.”

She leads me through the Victorian-style corridors of the building, and I assumed we’d pass by at least a couple of her peerage members, but we didn’t. Huh, I guess not many members after all? The place is very empty. I don’t even hear anything.

Rias takes me to one of the rooms. A well-decorated living room from the looks of it, with a long dinner table on one side, a giant 8k TV next to a sofa and chairs on another, a kitchen in the corner, a couple of other doors, and finally, a giant fucking demonic circle. 

A few people are waiting for us inside— two girls and one boy. Besides the violent midget with white hair who spares me a glance before returning to her phone, I don’t recognize the other two. The other girl, who seems to be making tea in the kitchen, has long black hair styled in a ponytail, a figure that rivals the redhead next to me, and purple eyes. The boy sitting on the sofa next to the pipsqueak has blue eyes and blond hair, like me, and a mole underneath his left eye.

…No one else. That’s it? Just those three? Huh. I expected a lot more than that. Not that I’m complaining, of course. I’m just surprised, that's all.

“Sorry, I’m late,” Rias says, closing the door behind us.

“I was wondering what made you so,” The woman I don’t recognize replies, glancing at me before smiling. “Though, I suppose I understand. I wouldn’t want to get out of bed with a handsome man like him by my side either~”

Oh. Well, that’s very flattering.

“Very funny.” Rias rolls her eyes. “But as it turns out, the wound he suffered was quite lethal, even after I reincarnated him. He almost didn’t make it.”

So I almost died again without even realizing it. That’s reassuring to hear.

“Anyway. This is Felix Evans. Our newest member,” Rias introduces me to them. “Felix, these are your new comrades and, hopefully, friends.”

The first one to approach me is the boy, who gives me a polite smile as he offers his hand.

“This is Yuuto Kiba. My Knight.” She says as I take his hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Felix.”

“Knight, huh?” I snort, firmly shaking his hand. “Well, you’re missing the shining armor, but you definitely got the looks for it.”

“Haha, thank you.” Yuuto chuckles, letting go of me. “That’s kind of you to say.”

Once he steps aside, the black-haired lady approaches me next.

“Akeno Himejima,” Rias introduces her. “She’s my Queen.”

As I’m about to extend my hand, she bows deeply, making me freeze up a bit at her breasts bouncing. I didn’t know it was possible, but I think hers are even bigger than Rias’. Damn. Devil women are built different.

“It’s a pleasure, Mr. Evans.” She says. “It’s good to finally have a new face around.”

“Pleasure’s all mine,” I respond. “And just Felix is fine.”

“If you insist.” Her smile widens.

“For sure. I like it when things are casual.” I nod. “Also, what’s this about being a Queen? Are you royalty?”

“Oh, no. Not at all~” Akeno laughs. “It’s more… my role in the peerage.”

I blink.

“I don’t think I follow.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll explain everything. Come on, take a seat over there.” Rias points at the dinner table.

As I, Rias, and Yuuto each take our seats, she starts.

“You know chess, right?” Rias suddenly asks, making me nod.

“What about it?”

“It’s what peerages are based on. High-class devils are given something called the Evil Pieces, which is what I used to reincarnate or recruit others into my peerage. I, as the leader, take the position of ‘King.’ Knights like Kiba are the speedsters of the team. Koneko, the rude girl who hasn’t bothered to get up from the sofa to introduce herself yet,” Rias threw the midget a glare, making her sigh and get up. “Is the ‘Rook,’ focusing more on physical strength. Bishops are mostly magicians, while Queens like Akeno have the benefits of all pieces.”

The pipsqueak, phone still in hand, comes up to me as soon as Rias finishes her explanation.

“Koneko Toujou.” She mumbles tonelessly.

Before turning around and going back to her sofa, not bothering to sit with us at all.

Rude is understating it. I guess she’s holding a grudge. I don’t know what for. Every time I called her names, she kicked my ass in return. If anything, I should be the one with a grudge here. I suffered more than a couple of words that might’ve hurt my feelings.

Fortunately for her, I’m a friendly and reasonable man.

“Right…” I ignore her for now and glance back at Rias with a grin. “So you got your knight, rook, and queen. I guess that makes me the Bishop, right? That’s cool.”

“Actually, you’re the pawn.”

“Fuck.”

I hear Koneko snort in amusement at my misfortune. Bitch.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, you know,” Rias says. “After all, you took all eight pawns I had.”

“And that’s impressive?”

“Indeed. It means you have a very, very powerful Sacred Gear. Likely a Longinus-class, in fact.” She explains before elaborating further. “Sacred Gears are powerful artifacts randomly granted to humans upon birth. They’re made by God to give humanity a fighting chance against the supernatural races.”

For some reason, hearing ‘God’ made me wince in pain. 

“Like… God from the bible?” I wince again. “Ow. What the hell was that?”

“Well, you’re a devil now. Hearing his name — or any verse from the bible — will make you feel discomfort.” Yuuto tells me. “It’ll stop once you grow powerful enough.”

I guess that makes sense? Being hurt by the mention of God, anyhow.

Huh. Thinking of him doesn’t hurt.

“Here you go,” Akeno says, giving each of us a warm cup of tea before taking a seat next to Rias.

“Now—” Rias clasps her hands. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but I need to know everything you’ve learned when you were in your Sacred Gear’s pocket realm first.”

I think she’s talking about that Sovngarde-like place I was in when I met Alduin.

“Right, well, not much.” I lie.

“You talked about an ‘Alduin,’” She reminds me.

“Yeah, that’s what he called himself,” I reply. “Huge dragon. Black scales, red eyes. Kept in place by a lot of chains in a cage.”

“A black dragon called Alduin.” Yuuto murmurs, a hand on his chin. “I don’t believe I’ve heard of anything like it before. Quite an odd name.”

“Anything else?” Rias asks again. “Do you know what type of power he uses?”

Okay, to explain the thu’um while not making them think I know too much…

“Uh, yeah, um…” I pause, trying to come up with something. “He screamed very loudly?”

“Screamed?” Akeno parrots.

“Yeah. Felt like the power was in his voice.” I answer, adding in another lie. “He said a few words that shook the whole mountain range we were at.”

What he actually did was use his mist shout, and none of the destructive ones. ‘Ven Mul Riik,’ I think.

“Hmm. A powerful voice…” Yuuto hums. “Perhaps some sort of sound magic?”

“Seems like it.” Rias nods in agreement. None of them looks suspicious, thankfully. “Fascinating. A sound-elemental dragon. I’ve never seen or heard of it before.”

“And if he cost you eight pawns, then he must be very powerful,” Akeno added. “I wonder how we’ve never heard of this Alduin or his Sacred Gear.”

“Do you remember any of the words he said?” Rias asks again.

“A couple.” I nod.

“Wonderful.” She smiles. “Hopefully, you’ll be able to recreate these sound spells during training. That should help us understand what we’re working with.”

Speaking of, that’s what I’m really excited about. Getting to flex the Thu’um on the unwashed masses— now that’s what I call my well-deserved canon event. Not too much flexing though. Otherwise, they’re gonna start asking difficult questions.

“When do we start, by the way?” I question.

“Training? Today.” She answers. “We’ll have ample time to explore your powers after school.”

“After school?” I raise an eyebrow. “Wait, you mean you being students here is not a front?”

“No? Why would it be?” Rias blinks.

“You’re willingly going to school.”

“Yes.”

“You do homework and stuff.”

“Yes. Is that a problem?”

“No, not really. I’m just baffled. You guys are devils. Actual devils from the underworld.” I point out. “You have magic and shit. Don’t you have other things you do for fun? Why the hell would you go to a regular human school? Am I the only one who thinks that’s really boring?”

Actually, what do devils do for fun, anyway? I hope they don’t go around taking souls and stuff. I don’t think I’d have the stomach for it.

The three devils pause, look at each other, then smile at me in amusement.

“You may think it’s boring, but we don’t,” Rias replies. “We think it’s fun.”

“Unlike you, Felix, our childhoods weren’t what we’d call ‘regular’,” Akeno tells me. “Going to school wasn’t something we all had the privilege of enjoying.”

“Ah…” I wince. “That makes sense. Never thought of it that way. That’s my bad.” 

“There’s nothing to apologize for. Understandably, that’s how you view it, considering your upbringing,” Yuuto adds. He’s nice. “Believe me when I say that we’re glad that you’ve led a normal childhood.”

As normal as being reborn could be, anyway. Then again, my second life was as normal as my first one. Until now, that is. Or wait, I guess this is my third life now? And you know what they say. Third time’s the charm.

Dying again would genuinely piss me off.

“To be honest, this is all just a glorified holiday. At least for me.” Rias admits. “Sure, I have to study, do assignments and homework, but ultimately, that’s nothing compared to what I have to do when I’m older. I’m the heiress of the Gremory family. I have a lot of responsibilities. After I graduate, it’s back to the status quo, so I want to have fun here while I still can.”

“Hey, you made your point.” I concede. “I see how some might find appeal in schools. I don’t, personally, but I’m not going to poke fun at you for it.”

“Ah, that’s a shame. I thought to introduce you as a transfer student now that you’re one of mine. I won’t force you, though.” She says just as her phone starts beeping. As she checks it out, she gets off her chair. “Well, we should be going. Class is about to start.”

“Wait, what about me?” I ask while Yuuto and Akeno follow her to the door. “What should I do?”

“Whatever you want.” Rias shrugs. “Take a walk, go home, wait here. You’re free to do whatever. Just make sure to be here at four for the training, alright?”

“Yeah, sure.” I nod. Not like I have anything to do. That’s why I asked.

“Great.” She smiles. “We’ll see you later today, then.”

Once they leave and close the door behind them, I lean back on my chair and exhale. I kinda hoped she’d give me something to do. I mean, I don’t have to go around town looking for weird stuff now that I finally got what I wanted. I’m part of a supernatural group, so now I just have to wait for my adventures to find me, rather than go looking for them.

Or, I guess I can check out that abandoned chapel? I still remember that psychopath who killed me talking about it, so he has to be hiding in there, and I gotta say, I’d do a lot to get the chance to cave his face in. Nobody kills me and gets away with it.

On the other hand, charging in alone like that is probably not a good idea. Sure, I have fucking ALDUIN in my back pocket, but unless I can shout…

Staring at the ceiling, I frown to myself in thought. Maybe…

I breathe in, remembering what Arngeir said. I have to hear the words within myself before I can project them into a Thu’um. I have to comprehend them. Understand them. I may not be a Dragonborn, but Alduin wouldn’t be there if I couldn’t use his understanding of the Dragon Language.

I breathe out. Unrelenting Force was the first shout you learn in the game, so it should be the easiest to understand. I still remember the meaning of each word in English, too. Force. Balance. Push. I just have to feel it.

I inhale deeply, taking in as much air as I can, and then…

“FUS RO DAH!” I shout as loud as I can.

…But no immensely powerful wave of force coming out of my mouth and taking a chunk out of the building with it. Nothing happens, and I quickly realize how fucking stupid I am to try to use the full shout inside a building. I mean, a ‘Fus’ would’ve been enough. Why didn’t I try that? Now I’m glad it didn’t work.

“Why are you yelling?”

I glance at Koneko, who is peeking at me from the sofa. Despite her utterly blank expression, I can see a mixture of confusion and annoyance.

“Was just trying to see if I can do what Alduin did.”

“Inside?” She asks. “Are you dumb?”

“Maybe.”

At my casual response, Koneko says nothing else, stares at me like I’m a lunatic for a couple of seconds, then goes back to her phone.

“What are you still doing here, anyway?” I ask. “Don’t you have class to get to?”

She ignores me, making me sigh.

I guess I can practice outside? I think there’s a big backyard safe enough for me to test out a couple of shouts. At least one word and not full shouts. And definitely no Fire Breath. That would get out of hand very quickly.

Or I can try to bother her— I mean, get to know her better, because she hates my fucking guts, and that’s no good. Definitely a surefire way to undermine the whole team dynamic we’re supposed to have. Can’t have that when we’re probably gonna get into a lot of life-or-death situations.

There’s the risk of her beating me up again, but I’m not afraid of a few scratches and bruises. I died twice. Besides, I like to think of myself as a charming individual, and I’m sure a simple dialogue between us will make her realize that, too.

So what’s the worst that could happen?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

– Koneko –

Although she had never vocally expressed it, she had never been a big fan of school like the rest of Rias’ peerage. She’d never pursued nor cared about a ‘normal human life’ and found it boring. Sure, it had been nice at first, but she had quickly grown tired of it once she realized what was expected of her. Learning things was fun, but only when she wasn’t forced to learn.

Why did she have to write pointless essays and do homework and assignments that wouldn’t benefit her in any way? It wasn’t like Koneko ever planned to get a job in the human world. Her place was in the underworld by Rias’ side. And even if she had to find work here on earth, someone with her skill set would be perfect as a security guard or an athlete.

Of course, Koneko understood Rias’ point of view, and she didn’t care what her King did as long as she was happy. If she wanted to be a normal student, then so be it. Koneko just didn’t personally care about doing good here.

So her indifference reflected on her performance at Kuoh Academy. Koneko barely ever studied, only for the necessary exams, and put in the bare minimum effort on her homework. She even had a little thing going with a few of her contractors, where they’d pay her for cosplaying and photoshoots by doing her assignments for her.

She tended to skip a class or two here and there, mostly because she couldn’t be bothered. She did just enough to pass and not get held back a year. Not that she would’ve cared about that, either. The only reason Koneko didn’t drop out was because she knew it would make Rias sad, and she didn’t want to see Rias sad.

Besides, this time she had a good reason to skip first period. First of all, she hated chemistry, and more importantly, a new episode of one of her favorite anime just dropped. Koneko had to watch it now before some idiot online spoiled it because they were too dumb to tag their post properly. It happened more than once.

Unfortunately—

“So what do you like to do for fun?”

Koneko resisted the urge to groan.

He was still here and still talking about stupid things. Couldn’t he just leave and do something else? Why was he pretending that they were friends now? Had he forgotten how rude he’d been every time she’d had to kick him out of school grounds? Yes, maybe it was very childish of her to hold a grudge, but perhaps he should’ve thought about it before calling her mean things.

It wasn’t like she’d started it, either. The first time Koneko had been sent to make him leave, she was relatively polite about it. She very respectfully told him to leave, making up a reason that he was making the students feel unsafe, and while he’d done so at first, he’d kept coming back. Dozens of times. He simply didn’t give up.

At some point, Koneko had gotten sick of him and had only started to ‘attack’ him once he’d started refusing to walk away. That was when he’d begun calling her names. Midget, pipsqueak, dwarf, gnome. Almost all of it was targeted at her height and stature. And although she wouldn’t admit it to anyone, a few of them genuinely pissed her off. So what if she looked small? What was wrong with that?

So maybe she did enjoy kicking his butt every once in a while, but it was all his fault that it had gotten to this point in the first place. Koneko was simply doing her job. He’d been the one being rude and annoying about it.

Of course, even so, Koneko didn’t think he deserved to die, even though it was his fault for getting into a fight with a stray exorcist, but she seriously didn’t know what Rias was thinking by reincarnating him. She thought he was annoying, too, so what exactly was her boss thinking was going to happen? Now, he’d gone from annoyingly staring at them from afar to annoyingly asking them too many questions.

Rias was too nice, sometimes. It was doubtful she even knew about his Sacred Gear before deciding to save him.

“Any fun devil activities?” He asked. “Special magic sports you can show me?”

Koneko ignored him, internally cursing her supernatural sense of hearing. She could hear him even through her earphones.

“You probably have your own neat sports, too, right?” He said. ”Like maybe magic football or magic hockey.”

Once again, Koneko said nothing, trying to watch her anime in peace.

“What’s it like being a devil, anyway?” He kept on yapping. “Personally, I don’t feel any different. Other than the sun feeling a bit too bright. But you’ve been around longer.”

“Be quiet,” Koneko responded tonelessly, not even sparing him a glance. “You’re bothering me.”

If it had been in her hands, she would’ve kicked him out of the clubroom. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the right. She needed to play nice as this place belonged to all of them, not just her.

“Okay, that’s a little rude.” He replied. “But you know what? I get it. You don’t like me, and that’s fine.”

So he was aware.

“After all, you and I started off on the wrong foot.” He added. “You know, with the whole calling you names and saying I’d make you regret messing with me. Kind of sounds like a threat in hindsight.”

Koneko paused her anime and decided to look at him this time. He had gotten off his chair, sitting near her on the sofa. What was he trying to do?

“But we’re on the same side now, right?” He reminded her. “So, shouldn’t we try to get along?”

Koneko kept staring at him for a few moments, her eyes narrowing. He gave her a disarming smile, clearly hoping she’d agree, and although she admittedly did, she thought he was being suspicious.

Eventually, she returned to her show, making him sigh in mild frustration. Despite this, he kept being nice.

“How about we start over? I take back everything I said about you, and I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings in any way.” He apologized, which quite surprised her. “I’m Felix. It’s great to finally talk to the person who kept kicking my ass the past couple of months.”

Koneko glanced at his hand, extended toward her for a handshake, then she stared at his face. She studied expression for a few moments, knowing that, even though she didn’t like him at all, he was right. Koneko couldn’t be selfish right now.

They were on the same side, and with their King being invested in Rating Games and aiming to be the champion one day, they had to get along and be a proper peerage and team. If not for herself, then at least for Rias. Besides, he apologized to her. That helped his case a lot.

Eventually, Koneko took his hand and shook it, making Felix smile.

“Great. Glad you could see it my way.” He said, glancing at her phone’s screen. “So what are you watching?”

Koneko’s eyes narrowed and quickly hid her phone away, but before she could tell him off for staring, he spoke again.

“Wait, is that the new season of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure?”

Koneko stopped, her frown dropping as she looked at Felix in genuine surprise.

“You know Jojo?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “I haven’t caught up yet, though. Still halfway through part four.”

Koneko remained quiet for a few more seconds before following up with another question.

“What do you think of it?”

“It’s amazing.” He answered. “One of the best things I’ve ever watched.”

“What’s your favorite part so far?”

“Part two. Easy.” He said. “Stands are cool and all, but Joseph is such a fun protagonist compared to Jotaro and Josuke.”

Now, hold on a minute. Perhaps Koneko had treated him too harshly. She hadn't expected him to know about Jojo, much less like part two. That was a very valid opinion she could respect. He also hadn’t given her the impression that he watched anime, so to say she was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement.

But she had to be sure. This could be a fluke. He could be another Rias.

“What’s your favorite anime?”

“To be honest, I haven’t watched a lot. Like fifteen at most.” He answered, crossing his arms and humming. “But I really liked Vinland Saga. Goated show. I liked almost everything about it. Immaculate character development.”

Koneko perked up. It wasn’t a fluke.

“It’s so good.” Koneko agreed.

“That ‘I have no enemies’ scene.” He said. “It’s just peak fiction, isn’t it?”

“It is.” She nodded. “It made me want to read the manga.”

“Same, honestly. And I usually prefer to wait for anime adaptations.”

All of a sudden, Koneko didn’t find him so bothersome anymore. Finally, someone else who could appreciate good anime. Someone with good taste. Someone she could actually talk to about her favorite shows.

It was so depressing being the only person who enjoyed anime. Sort of. Kiba never got into it, and Akeno preferred naughty romance novels. Gasper liked anime, too, yes, but he was holed up in his room the whole time, so what was the point?

As for Rias…

Well, her favorite anime of all time was Solo Leveling.

There had to be a slur for people like that.

“What are you watching right now?”

“Besides Jojo? Not much.” Felix shrugged.

“Then…” Koneko paused.

“Yeah?”

She hesitated, feeling a little awkward. Just a few minutes ago, every word he’d uttered was irritating to her, but all he’d had to do to make her forget all about it was talk about anime a little bit. It was embarrassing.

But he didn’t seem to think so. If anything, he looked just as happy as she was to find common ground with her. So maybe it wasn’t so weird. Koneko still felt like she owed him an apology, though.

“Um… I’m sorry I was being rude to you before.” She apologized. “And for beating you up.”

“It’s fiiine.” He waved it off with a roll of his eyes. “I already put it behind me. Letting bygones be bygones and all that.”

She was glad he didn’t seem to take it to heart. Not her rudeness or previous ass-kickings. As awkward as it still was, his agreeable attitude helped her muster enough courage to ask him something.

“…Then, do you want to watch something together?”

“Yeah, sure. Why not? I got nothing to do until Rias comes back.” He nodded. “What do you have in mind?”

Originally, Koneko had only planned to skip the first period, finishing a couple of episodes before running back to catch the rest of her classes.

But maybe skipping all of today was fine.