Timeline – Volume 3
The Breasts of the Tennis Showdown!
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Jin Skyward's Soliloquy
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It happened on a certain day after the incident with Kokabiel. When the sweltering summer sun was beaming down on all of us. So we, the Occult Research Club sought shelter in our clubroom. Everyone was doing their own thing.
Rias was reading through some documents, Akeno sat beside me hugging my arm after pouring everyone some tea, Kiba and Gasper were playing shogi, Shirone and Asia were eating some snacks, and Xenovia was reading a book which was surprising. Ingvild wasn't here today. She was hanging out with her friends which was fine, but she did seem hesitant to leave, but I convinced her that she could. I really didn't know why though.
It feels like everyone's worried about me…I'm fine though, probably.
Normally, I would try to get involved in one of those groups. However, lately, I have been feeling tired…even though I quite literally cannot become tired. I don't know what's happening to me. I asked Cúntóir if it was some kind of illness or not, but she always gave me vague answers or flat out ignored me.
Suddenly, Rias stood up and we all stared at her. "I'm off to speak with Sona," she announced and looked at Akeno. "I'll be fine on my own, it shouldn't take too long." Then she left looking rather serious. I wonder what that was about?
I looked at Akeno and asked, "Any idea what that was about?" She hummed for a moment before shaking her head.
"Maybe President just wanted to speak with President Sona about something?" she said not really thinking about it and rubbing herself against me.
"…Maybe."
I didn't really give it much thought and shrugged it off. It wasn't unusual for Rias to do something like this, so I just took it in stride at this point. 'Haaa...so tired…I feel like I'm holding infinity above me constantly and the pressure is getting to me…'
"I don't get it…" Xenovia muttered while looking at her book. She put it down and looked at me, before asking, "How can both a human and a stork give babies?"
The room stopped what they were doing and slowly turned their attention to the power-idiot and we all just stared at her. She noticed this and panicked.
"I-I mean, l-like d-do the storks give birth and also humans give birth? B-because in this book it says humans give birth to babies, but also says that storks deliver them!" she said in a panic and waved the book around.
"Ufufu, would you like to see baby making in action, Xeno—"
Bonk~
"Stop…" I told her and she huffed. Everyone in the room laughed awkwardly at Akeno. They were already used to it, so they weren't that shocked by what she said.
Afterwards, Akeno and everyone else taught Xenovia how these things actually work. Although it feels like she should already know this…does the church not teach them these things? I mean they're part of the supernatural and they kill on the regular…
♦♦♦♦
"Rias is sure taking her time…" I murmured to myself, but they apparently heard me.
"It might take a little while longer. Do you want more tea, Jin?" Akeno asked while getting up. I agreed and she proceeded to heat up more water.
"Checkmate, I win."
"Hmm. Looks like I lost again. How many is that?"
Kiba and Xenovia were playing chess, and of course, Kiba was winning all of it. As of right now, Xenovia isn't exactly that smart, but in the future? Yes, yes she will, I mean she becomes the next Student Council President, and I doubt a stupid person could become one…I'm basing this off anime logic.
"…That's five straight losses for Xenovia," Shirone muttered as she spectated the whole thing.
"Tea, Gasper?" Akeno asked the cardboard box in the corner of the room.
"Y-yes please!" the cardboard box called back.
Yeah, he was hiding there, although I believe it was for other reasons than feeling nervous. As I previously mentioned, the sun was scorching today, and even the inside of the clubroom was feeling it, so to find some kind of shade and a cool place, Gasper retreated to his old and trusty cardboard box.
"Gya-suke, do you want me to put a temperature control function on that box?" I asked him.
"Y-you can?!" he asked rather excitedly and I nodded at his question. "Please do!"
So I walked over and did just that. It was swift and I sat back down in my seat just as quickly. However, the door suddenly opened and Rias came back in. She looked troubled.
"I'm back," Rias called as she entered the room.
She sat back down in her chair and looked at her desk before looking back at us, and then announced, "I have to submit a club activity report."
"I thought you already did that?" I questioned.
I thought she had gone and done that when she went to speak with Sona, I mean along with other things those two wanted to speak to each other about.
Rias tiredly sighed and shook her head. "That was our public-facing activity report, 'On the Relationship Between Devils and UFOs.' The problem is our real activity report as devils. Given all the incidents that have happened recently, I completely forgot about the submission deadline, and it had been moved up a little earlier than last year."
'Your activity report? Oh right…I tend to forget that this was just a front for us to do supernatural activities.' I nodded my head at what she said.
"Normally, as a pure-blood high-class devil, the President would be expected to attend a high school in the Underworld," Kiba began to explain. "She's received special permission to study here in Japan, but if she doesn't acquire all the necessary credits for the mandatory devil subjects, she'll be forced to return to the Underworld to complete her education."
That makes sense. In recent times thanks to the current Satans, reincarnated devils have been welcomed into the rankings a little easier than in older times since they do need to continue their species after all. But since Rias is a high-class and pure-blooded devil, it's a little more complicated for her.
"In President's case, she can acquire credits by making pacts with humans and researching different kinds of creatures and monsters here in Japan," Akeno added. "In truth, we the members of her peerage have been aiding her, which is why we've been permitted some degree of freedom when it comes to organizing our club activities."
Hmm. I already knew that, but hearing it with my own ears is kind of refreshing, but…I wonder what kind of creatures she'd found before she met me? The typical Japanese youkai? I know for a fact that there's a Kappa living in this town. He's around the outskirts of the town.
We've come across each other on a few occasions, but we haven't spoken to one another at all. We just stare at each other and then I or he leaves. We occasionally nod, but that rarely happens.
Rias then glanced at each of her family members. "That being the case, we're going to prepare another activity report to send to the Underworld. I want all of you (not including Jin) to investigate the creatures and monsters living in the area. As usual, we'll start by talking to the well-informed Kappa that resides in the swamp on the outskirts of town."
He lives in a swamp? I knew there was one, but I didn't think he resided in it. Don't Kappa normally live…under bridges or something? Or am I mistaking another youkai for it?
At this, Kiba raised his hand. "President, that kappa has recently returned to his hometown to take over his family's cucumber business."
"…He did, did he? I see. I suppose that is a more reliable career path than trying to become a rapper." Rias nodded in understanding.
"…Rapping? That Kappa was rapping?" I asked Kiba.
"There was a Kappa that ran away from home because he didn't want to take over the family cucumber business. He settled nearby, and he loved to rap music. I often visited to listen to his song, 'The Shirikodama Rhapsody'"
What a weird name.
Cúntóir: Answer: A shirikodama was supposed to be a mythical ball found inside the anus and the object of many Kappa's covetous desires.
'What kind of rhapsody is that?!' I shouted at her but she didn't say anything else. 'So you're just going to drop a fact like that and go silent…?'
"…The light of this city that dries my plate, this anger that I can't convey, I'll pluck your shirikodama right out from you—"
Shirone suddenly started to rap out some lyrics…
"Koneko was a big fan of his," Kiba stated.
Shirone smiled at me and nodded. I was vaguely aware of it, but didn't think she'd start to rap some of it. But that song did have some seriously unique lyrics…I guess that's because a Kappa wrote it?
Kiba continued to explain the bizarre life of this creature. "I heard his father was suffering from Alzheimer's, so he decided to go back to his home. His family uses an old-fashioned mystical farming method to cultivate cucumbers, and he wanted to help maintain that tradition."
Alzheimer's, huh? That's probably one of the worst ways to watch someone you love die. It's painful, slow, and there's no cure...yet, unless I do something about it. Should I offer it to the Kappa? I'll think about it.
"In any case, what about the Dullahan that set itself up in the abandoned mansion over in the fourth district?" Rias suggested.
"I thought the mansion was set to be demolished within the year? I've heard talk about it in the mall, supermarket and shopping district," I said to her. "Also, I didn't expect a Dullahan to be here. I've only heard about them being in Ireland or over mainly in Europe."
"No, it was meant to be, but was cancelled because we had found out that a Dullahan had moved there, and someone requested it too," Rias explained.
This time it was Xenovia who spoke. "Yes, they're mostly found in Europe. I've taken down a few of them in the past, although they did cause trouble."
As expected of a former practitioner of the Vatican, monster hunting was her job after all. Not too soon after speaking, Kiba placed a large book on the table.
"This is a monster encyclopedia. When you say the name of a creature, it opens to the correct page automatically. For example, Dullahan."
Immediately after Kiba finished speaking, the thick book opened by itself, flipping through its pages. The pages then came to a stop on one with an illustration of a headless horse rider, surrounded by paragraphs of text written in strange writing. Looking closer at it. It was devil text. Asia had come closer to it and was staring at it with interest.
"The Dullahan recently had a severe cervical hernia and has been admitted to a special hospital," Akeno said, reading over the material in front of her.
In this universe, many strange things happen on a daily basis. Be it my classmates being, well, weird, or the supernatural doing its usual things, but…how the hell can a Dullahan get a fucking hernia?
Foiled again, Rias exhaled with evident dejection. "I see. So the Dullahan won't be able to help, either. I hope it takes good care of its head."
From the looks of things, it sounds like Rias's regular informants were no good.
Very well. I stood up and everyone focused their attention on me, then I pointed at the cardboard box with our resident Dhampir inside of it. "How about this, Rias? You guys could write a report on a rare vampire-in-the-box. I've never heard of vampires that choose cardboard boxes over coffins."
"Jin-senpaiiiiiii!! Wh-what are you suggesting?!" the box shrieked back.
Ignoring his cries, I walked over to him and tapped his box. "You're a member of Rias' peerage, so you should be jumping at the opportunity to help out. What kind of container do you like? How comfortable is it in there? Do boxes from different manufacturers feel any different? Hell, maybe we should just transport you and your box to the Underworld and be done with it?"
"P-p-please m-mercy…! Waaaaaaah!!! Jin-senpai is going to ship me off!"
"A dhampir-in-the-box. Fresh from the Gremory farm."
However, she didn't seem that amused by my suggestion. "Alright, let's find another way to do this."
"Another…way…oh you mean her?" I asked.
Rias seemed a bit surprised but nodded. "Yes, her. Here in the High School division, someone has copious amounts of knowledge about monsters."
To the ones that didn't know—mostly Asia and Xenovia, they were confused by our exchange.
♦♦♦♦
Pa! Ta! Plock!
Tennis balls were being hit back and forth.
Rias and I had brought the rest of the club over to the tennis courts of Kuoh Academy. The person that we needed to speak with could be found here. Our showdown during that time wasn't too long ago, but I hope the wounds of that time were gone…I can only hope, that is.
But their skirts sure are short. At least they're wearing shorts or spats underneath them, so the massive number of leeches in this school won't get a free show. However, I doubt that would stop them from imagining things.
"Ara? Are you checking out the girls in the tennis club, Jin~?" Akeno asked beside me, hugging my arm a bit tighter than usual. Could she be jealous?
'I won't deny that seeing their thighs was something spectacular, but I won't say that to her,' I thought and shook my head. "No, I'm just looking for someone, you know that."
Apparently, they heard what she said and a few of them turned to look at me, but instead of disgust they just waved at us. I guess having a somewhat decent standing in this school can work wonders.
As a few girls started to call my name out, Rias suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me away. Akeno who had been hugging me, laughed at her master's reaction.
"Come along, Jin. We're going." Rias was resting her other hand on her forehead, clearly annoyed.
"Um, who might we be meeting?" Asia asked as everyone else followed after us.
Following Asia's question, Xenovia also asked, "Do they know that we're devils?"
I answered in her stead. "Yeah they do. This academy accepts students from a variety of backgrounds with close relationships to devils. As such, the person we're looking for now should already be aware that there are devils on campus."
"What Jin said is right…but I am curious as to where you heard that from…" she eyed me suspiciously.
"I have eyes and ears everywhere," I said with a shrug. We finally reached a bench and sat on it. I gave the seats up to the girls, so Kiba, Gasper and I stood beside them or behind the bench. This part of the campus had next to no other people, especially normal humans, so that's why we chose this place to meet.
After a bit of waiting, and Akeno moving away from the bench to cuddle with me while we stood there, we heard a horses' hooves hitting the ground and coming nearer to us.
"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho! Greetings, Rias! How strange to find you here! Welcome!"
A very haughty and energetic voice laughed. It belonged to a woman riding a horse. She had brown hair that was coiled in elegant spirals. Yes, this was—
Kiyome Abe, a fellow third-year student and the head of the Tennis Club that we went head-to-head with not too long ago. However, behind her was a headless armored knight and both Xenovia and Asia looked at her and the headless knight with curiosity.
"Neeeeiiiiiigh!"
The black horse let out a clamorous whinny. Its eyes glared at us with suspicion. Not only that, it also kept flaring its nose. Finally, Kiyome dismounted from it while muttering something to it to calm it down. The headless knight also stepped down from the horse.
"Oh-ho-ho. A fine stead, don't you think? The head of Mr. Smith, the Dullahan had to be hospitalized the other day, so I'm taking care of his horse," Kiyome said proudly.
A monster horse, huh? It definitely gave off a strange aura.
"And this is Mr. Smith's body."
The armored knight had no head, but bowed to us in a friendly manner. So this is a Dullahan, huh? It's my first time seeing it. I didn't get to see one when I visited the Faerie Kingdom back in Ireland. I wonder where they typically reside in…? Also, for some reason, Mr. Smith was carrying a watermelon under one arm.
"You know, it's against the rules to bring monsters to school," Rias chided Kiyome.
I'm pretty sure this is beyond those normal rules, Rias…
"While the body is in the hospital, the body can't act by itself. So I'm looking after it, along with the horse. But I thought it wasn't enough just to feed him every now and then, so I gave him a job! He's the Tennis Club's brand-new mascot, Honda the Headless! The watermelon is a substitute for his head. Perfect for summer, don't you think?"
That…that sounds idiotic, well, the watermelon and mascot part. The rest seemed reasonable enough, although I would have given him a better job than that…Rias should see reason here.
Rias, however, nodded in apparent acceptance. "A mascot? I suppose that's fair."
"Rias…are you sure? It's a literal headless knight and a monster horse…"
"That's not a problem," she said with conviction.
Alright then, I'll accept your decision. In any case, this is a matter between devils and monster tamer, and I have nothing to do with it. I'm just here along for the ride…
"The Student Council President said the same thing. She granted us special permission," Kiyome added.
Sona approved it? Now that's even more shocking…
[I can feel your enthusiasm, Partner.]
'Yeah, it's contagious, isn't it, Ddraig?' I said in a monotone voice.
[…]
"Eeek!! Honda!! Your armor is brilliant today!"
"A headless mascot is such an original idea! And he's so cuuuute!"
Suddenly a barrage of enthusiastic girls appeared just a bit behind the horse, and the Dullahan responded with a wave.
I was expecting him to be this popular…the type of admiration that most guys in this academy sought out for, but they were beaten by this Dullahan. Doesn't…doesn't this say a lot about the quality of guys in this school?
However, a few also waved and shouted at Kiba and me. Both of us waved back at them as a polite gesture.
After the short but strange exchange, the girls left and Kiyome turned to Rias. "Well then, Rias. What do you need?"
"I'm sorry to bother you, Kiyome Abe. I know you're busy managing the Tennis Club, but I was wondering whether you would let me interview you about your other job as a monster tamer. I would love to learn about some of the creatures you make use of."
"No," Kiyome refused point-blank. "Why should I have to tell you anything? You're a devil. I'm grateful to attend this school, but that doesn't have anything to do with this, does it? And from what I gather, you have ties to a wide range of industries, so there's no particular reason why you need to talk to me, is there?"
I was a bit irritated by her attitude, but what she said was understandable. She wasn't obligated to help them at all.
Undaunted, Rias continued calmly. "Are you sure you don't want to build ties with me?"
At this, Kiyome covered her mouth with her hand as she let out a boisterous laugh. "Oh-ho-ho-ho! You're very self-confident! It seems to me that dealing with you could be my detriment in the future! I want to keep a similar distance from the Student Council President. You can't be too careful when dealing with devils. Let your guard down and they'll pluck out your soul clean out!"
"…"
Rias wore a look of complete astonishment.
Is that how humans that involve themselves in the supernatural see devils in general? I can sort of understand, from someone who doesn't interact with them on a regular basis, you would put them as 'evil' wouldn't you? You do need to make pacts and things like that from what I read in the past, and also pay a price in exchange for their service.
Rias did her best to keep on smiling. "An agreement with a devil isn't such a serious thing these days, you know? I would usually just thank you by inviting you out to tea or a meal. Are you sure you want to refuse?"
Kiyome thought about it for a second before her lips curled into a nasty smile, as though she had realized something. "Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho. I just had an idea. It would be so boring to do this for free. How about a tennis showdown? Me and my monsters on one side and you and your Occult Research Club on the other. The loser will have to give the winner whatever they want, for free."
"Oh, that does sound interesting. I do like playing tennis, you know? In that case if we win, you will let me interview you for my report, I assume? And what do you want if you win?"
This surely has to be a revenge match for losing the tennis match during the ball tournament. She's out for revenge.
Kiyome's gaze turned to me and she grinned. "I've decided. If I win, I want you to lend me Jin. I've always wanted to examine a rare dragon, especially the [Welsh Dragon]. Also, since he's not part of your peerage, it shouldn't be a problem, correct? What do you say, Jin?"
"Absolu—"
"Fair enough, I don't mind."
"Jin?!" both Akeno and Rias scream at me in disbelief.
"No offense, but we won quite easily last time. I doubt anything will change this time around," I said to her.
"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho! I am aware I may not win against you, but it's another story for the other members that are chosen to participate~" she winked at me after saying that.
Rias looked like she wanted to protest, but I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. After a few seconds, she reluctantly agreed to it. "Very well, we accept your terms."
"Oh-ho-ho-ho! I beat you last time, Rias~ my mothers were made for this, and we will win~ Jin will be mine for a while and I will dote on him~"
"We will win," Rias said firmly as the two of them glared at each other.
I felt Akeno embrace me from behind. "I guess you'll have to train me, don't you~?"
"Of course, I'll train everyone here," I answered her back, but she seemed a little upset by that.
It's fine though, all we need to do is win this match and Rias will get her report done in a timely manner. But I need to train them a bit, so I'll be Spartan training them until the day of the match arrives.
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Nighttime
Skyward Household
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"You guys sure seem busy…" Natsume muttered as we were all in the living room discussing what was going to be happening in a few days.
"It's a matter of life and death, and before that happens we will train as much as we can," declared Rias and looked at me. "We will be heading out to train tonight, Jin. You can come if you want, but I will ask you to play the last match of the game to ensure we win or tie."
"Sure," I replied casually and brought Reni closer to me. "But I'll stay here, you guys can enjoy yourselves." I told them and Akeno huffed.
"Alright everyone, let's go!" Rias announced and teleported them away.
"Are you sure they'll be fine without you?" Reni asked from my arms.
"…Yeah, they'll be fine."
♦♦♦♦
A few days had passed and it was the day of the match.
"Oh-ho-ho-ho. I applaud you for actually showing up." Kiyome welcomed us onto the tennis court with a dauntless grin and a teasing remark.
Beyond the fence, various monsters stood staring at us. It seemed like they were the monsters that were serving Kiyome. She certainly has a lot of them. The Tennis Club's mascot, Honda waved our way, and I waved back at him.
"Kill them!!" Rias shouted, and the other members pumped their fists into the air.
'What kind of declaration was that…?'
"There will be two single matches and one doubles match. Whichever team wins two matches will be the victor. Rias and I are automatically confirmed as participants. The remaining players will be decided by drawing lots."
Kiyome had already prepared a raffle to decide the remaining participants. She certainly was prepared, but this also ensured that some of us might not actually participate. Did she rig it so I wouldn't be able to play? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she did.
According to her, anyone who drew blue would be assigned to play single matches. Those who drew red would play doubles.
"Singles."
"Me too."
It seems Akeno and Xenovia had both pulled a blue. I would have preferred to play singles, but this is fine.
"Doubles here."
Rias got a red one, so she's playing a double, huh? When I looked at Kiba and Shirone, I gestured for them to go ahead of me. I would go last then. However…both of them pulled a blue, so that means I'm—
"Double for me then, huh? We're partners then, Rias. Let's do our best."
Rias flashed a grin at me and discreetly (not really) pumped her fist. She was pumped and was already ready to win this. However, we might not get a chance since I did bring them into the [Pocket Dimension] not too long ago.
The first match was Akeno versus—a harpy.
"A harpy, huh? A winged creature…most harpies are female, you know? But I've heard that they can be born male too, although it's very rare," Rias explained.
Both of them stepped onto the court and faced each other. The harpy was carrying the racket with her wing and looked quite confident.
"Good luck, Akeno…" I cheered with all my might.
[Liar!!]
"…If you win, I'll take you out—"
Doom!
"Ufufu~ ara, ara~"
An ominous and terrifying aura covered Akeno's entire body as she squinted at the now terrified harpy. This…this will be quick…I gave her too good of an encouragement.
♦♦♦♦
"W-winner A-Akeno from the Occult Research Club…!"
The bout came to a quick end, with Akeno dominating the match with my encouragement. That was one victory for us and the next one was…Xenovia. If she wins the next one, then the rest of us don't need to do anything.
"I will be your opponent."
A woman with a human upper half, and the lower half of a snake slithered onto the court. Xenovia also joined her.
"A lamia?" I asked.
"Yes, another race mostly known for having only females," said Rias beside me.
I wonder if this will go the same way as Canon?
♦♦♦♦
Unfortunately, it did not…Xenovia won by a long shot. In canon, she struggled to keep up with the Lamia since she had the advantage of using her tail and it stretched across the entire court, so Xenovia struggled.
But since they're much stronger now, Xenovia just used her superior speed to catch up every time, and used a moderate amount of strength to win. In the end, the Lamia woman only got one point off Xenovia, and since we only needed to win twice…this competition ended quite quickly.
We were meant to face off against a pink ape, a yuki-onna named Christie and Kiyome. But we were spared that here, and also…I feel like if we won that match, Christie the yuki-onna that looked like a gorilla ape, would have fallen for me just like it did with Issei. So…Xenovia, thank you for sparing me that.
However, Kiyome did look disappointed by it though. She walked over to us and sighed.
"My team lost. I suppose I have no choice. I'll answer your interview questions," Kiyome muttered despondently.
The Occult Research Club cheered and Kiyome turned around and started to walk away, but I ran up to her.
"Hey," I called out to her and she turned around.
"Hmm? Jin, what can I do for you? Surely you're not here to rub it in my face?" she asked with confusion.
"No…anyway, if you're that curious about dragons then I don't mind answering questions for you on another free day or time for us."
Kiyome stared at me in amazement before looking awkwardly behind me. "O-Oh-ho-ho-ho. I-Is that so? Then I will thank you in advance, Jin. I will…" she muttered and started to pat herself down and pulled something out of her pocket. "My number…I will text you or call you through this."
I took the piece of paper from her and nodded. "Thanks, I will look forward to it then."
"H-hmph! You better look forward to it, Skyward!" she declared before walking away and 'ho-ho-ho-ing' to herself.
"What a strange girl," I muttered to myself.
Grip~ Grip~
""Jin?""
I heard both Akeno and Rias ask behind me in a somewhat threatening voice. I turned around to see them slightly annoyed.
"…What?" I asked.
"We did all that only for you to accept her deal in the end?" Rias and Akeno asked at the same time.
"My bad?"
Both of them sighed at me and dragged me away to celebrate.
♦♦♦♦
Timeline – Volume 4
Kiyome Abe of the Cancelled Arranged Marriage!
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Jin Skyward's Soliloquy
♦♦♦♦
It happened on a certain day when we were all relaxing in the club. I had come back from Asgard and finished my alliance with them just a few days ago. Our peace was interrupted when an all too familiar face barged into the clubroom.
Rias raised her eyebrows at the guest who came to visit us.
"Jin, I have a favor to ask you. Will you please allow me to borrow you for a bit?" she asked me, and only me. She wasn't even paying attention to anyone else in the room at this point.
The one to ask this question was none other than Kiyome Abe, the captain of the Tennis Club. Due to various reasons, our clubs transitioned from hostile to neutral-friendly. However, I believe the relationship between Rias and Kiyome is still a little strained, for whatever reason.
"May I know why?" I asked while getting up from Asia's lap pillow and sitting up.
She nods and sighed, "The truth is, my father will be returning from his travels and I want Jin to help me."
"You haven't explained at all," I said to her.
In truth, I do know what this is about, but I want her to say it to me out loud, and as well as everyone else present. The ones closest to me currently are Asia, Shirone, Akeno and Rose. So they defensively hugged me. Shirone who was beside me sat on my lap and leaned against my chest. Rose and Asia were beside me, and Akeno hugged my head with her chest.
"So please tell us what the problem is, Kiyome. A problem that needs Jin specifically?" Rias asked Kiyome seriously.
Kiyome sighed once more and relented. "My father is telling me to have a marriage meeting. As you can see, I'm still a high school student. I told him that he was rushing things, but he wouldn't listen to me. My father is the type of person who makes sure he 'follows through' whatever decision he makes. You helped Rias with her marriage before, didn't you? Please help me too," she concluded with a bow.
I wasn't expecting Kiyome of all people to bow, but here we are…however…it's finally time for that, huh? So I'll be going in pretending to be her boyfriend, but her father surely knows what kind of person I am.
[Harem God King Bastard.]
Yeah, something like that.
[He acknowledged it?!]
Kiba then said, "I see. Abe-senpai comes from a monster tamer household. This will mean that you will have an ancient and honorable origin and bloodline. So your parents decided to choose your groom for you, is that right?"
She nodded her head and said, "Yes, that's exactly right. As expected of Kiba-kun."
"So…you want Jin to interfere during the meeting, is that it?" Akeno asked.
Kiyome nodded her head, "Yes, I want Jin to act as my boyfriend. I have already informed my father that I have a boyfriend and that I don't want to have the marriage meeting. So he told me, if that's the case, then he is willing to cancel the arranged meeting under certain conditions. I just need him for a day…ararara? I feel like a lot of hostility is being thrown my way right now."
Kiyome took a step back as everyone, and I mean everyone, including Kiba and Gasper (for some reason) was blasting her with a lot of hostility. However, I have the final say in this, so—
"Sure thing. I don't mind, we still do need to meet up because we hadn't gotten time for that."
"Perfect, I will repay you in time, Jin," she said and left without doing her usual haughty laughter.
"Jin!" they all shouted at me at the same time.
"That's my name, don't wear it out."
Bonk! Bonk! Bonk! Squish~
I twisted around to look at the different sound and saw Akeno had grabbed my hand and forced me to forcefully grope her. 'What the hell?'
♦♦♦♦
Unlike in the canon short story, I came alone while Issei had the rest of the Occult Research Club join him. This is because I was requested as the Middleman, or did she request me personally? We never did talk about details, well apart from strangely enough, where she lived, and she didn't live too far away, or is my own perception of distance just skewed?
[Partner, we're here. You are literally not alone.]
'Leave me alone, you know what I meant…'
Of course, it took a lot of power to calm Reni down since she wanted to come with me. However, again, she calmed down after I promised her a few things. Sheesh, she has been very clingy lately, although I like it.
In front of me was a large western-style house. The garden is also huge, and from the looks and feel of it, Kiyome probably lives here by herself most of the time. That has to be lonely, right? Unless she has a bunch of monsters here with her all the time.
Even though we didn't speak 'details', we did speak a bit about herself. Like what was said back in the clubroom, both her parents are famous monster tamers, as such they are mostly out of the house and travelling. But when she thought her father had returned from work, she had this bomb dropped on her.
I finally pressed a button beside the door. It made a noise and after a few seconds the door opened revealing Kiyome, still in her 'casual-home' clothing. I had arrived a bit earlier than she expected it seemed.
"J-Jin? You're a bit early…" she muttered.
"Yeah, I was in the area, and decided to just come over. Unless you're not ready yet, then I can leave."
"No, it's fine, come in."
She welcomed me in and then guided me to the living room. The inside was quite expensive-looking, but not as lavish as the devil's home in the Underworld. However, by human standards, this would probably qualify you as 'rich'.
"Wait here, I'll be back in a bit," she said sternly and left.
So I sat down on the sofa and waited for her. As I looked around the room, there were all the usual items and pieces of furniture that you'd find in a home. However, there were a few photo frames of her with her family, and they looked quite happy. However, these photos were mostly taken when she was younger and nothing recent was here.
Well, as I wait for her, let's go over at what might happen. What Kiyome's dad wants to be done in order for this marriage to be annulled is…battle contests between monster tamers. Now, I'm no monster tamer, however, I do have my own…monsters you could say.
My shadows and Electa. I wonder if they'll let me use them if I say that I do have 'tamed monsters'? Well, I'll find out once it starts. The contest is divided into three stages: land, sea and sky. I think I can manage all of them with my current shadows, although…I am missing some.
But all I need to do is win twice and I'll save her from the arranged marriage. Its stakes are a lot lower than what Rias had to go through. However, I think it's still a big deal for Kiyome, so I'll take it as seriously for her.
"Ah, Jin…is something wrong?" Kiyome asked as she came back.
"Hmm? Oh nothing, I just have a few questions."
"What might they be?" she asked and sat down beside me.
So I told her of what I knew, and she was a bit surprised that I knew about the monster battles, but thought I just studied up on it, and so—
"Do you have your own…monsters? I have heard you had shadows, so…"
I nodded to her question and had Kaisel poke his head out of my shadow and she looked at him with a bit of surprise. "I have one for each event, so all I need to do is wait…of course, I'll have them hold back since I don't want anyone dying…"
"I-I see, so I won't need to lend you my monsters then."
"Yeah, no need to worry about that, Kiyome."
She got up and gestured for me to follow her. We passed through the previous hallway, through what seemed to be another living room, then we walked down another corridor connecting to another large western-style building and in that building was a large indoor pool. There seemed to be other rooms, but this may be the 'main' part of this building.
"You can wait over there. I will wait for my father to arrive and we can start," she said and gestured to an open table.
"Sure." I strolled over to the table and sat in the chair. I could feel a lot of monster auras around the home, but even more so here in this building.
♦♦♦♦
After a few minutes of waiting, Kiyome rushed over to me with a birdman. I'm pretty sure that his name was Takahashi, Takahashi Sky or something along those lines.
"Is something wrong?"
"My father will be here in around a minute. Please come with me to the garden," she said then grabbed my wrist before pulling me away.
I guess she wants me to greet him with her? I don't really mind, so I just went along with it."
"I am Takahashi, Kiyome Abe-sama's personal bodyguard. When I was younger, I had the special talent to forget things after taking three steps," he said proudly after introducing himself to me.
'Doesn't that just mean you're a birdbrain…?' I smiled wearily. "I'm Jin, a classmate of your master and temporary boyfriend."
We shook hands and started chatting about things until we reached the front garden, and the timing couldn't have been better, as a large wagon pulled up. The man on it had a weird—almost a dangerous atmosphere around him.
He wore a cape, helmet with horns, he also had the same brown hair as Kiyome, a strange mustache, wore a business suit and his eyes were glowing and he was staring sternly at me…?
"So you're the contemptuous brat that's dating my daughter?!" he bellowed out while getting off his wagon!
If I were any other guy right now, I'd be scared of this man. However, without missing a beat, Kiyome wrapped herself around my arm and looked her father dead in the eyes and said, "That's right, father. This is my boyfriend, Jin Skyward."
"Ho? So you are the famed Middleman and Red Dragon Emperor of this generation," he said and closed his eyes before opening them back up rather dramatically! "But that doesn't matter! Whether you were a God, I wouldn't care! You will need my approval first! I will test you to see if you are fit to be part of the Abe family!"
Flash!
As he said that, lightning flashed. Apparently the day had turned gloomy and this made it even more dramatic. I don't know if the world was bowing down to this man or something, but that timing was pretty cool.
♦♦♦♦
The first match was about to begin. We were brought over to a different part of the house. It was a large open space with grass. There were a few monsters around us, and even Honda who waved at me.
"The one I will be using…is this! Come out!"
Suddenly a large snow gorilla appeared, much, much larger than Christie. That thing's body is covered in scars. It certainly must have had its share of fights to get those.
"You know…that thing looks strangely like Christie," I said to Kiyome beside me.
She nodded and confirmed, "Yes, that's Christie's old sister, Stephanie."
"...…"
Holy shit, I forgot she had an older sister!
"She's also a maiden," she added.
I didn't need to know that either!
"I will be the arbiter then." Takahashi walked to the side and announced that.
"Bring out your monster, brat," her father said with a lot of intensity.
Let's see…this is the land battle then, right? Hmm, then I'll go with, "Tank, come out," I ordered him, and he came out of my shadow. A large shadow bear roared and faced Stephanie. He was much larger than Stephanie, and also had his own scars.
"Ho? Some sort of bear, huh? Hmph, this will be easy," he said quite smugly.
"Tank, take it easy, alright?" I told him and he nodded.
"Begin!" Takahashi shouted.
"Stephanie, do the drumming move!"
"Hokyooooooooon!"
Don! Don! Don!
Stephanie started to hit her chest repeatedly after she got her orders…this feels like a Pokémon battle, honestly.
"Yuki-onna's drumming has the ability to increase their attack power," Kiyome explained beside me.
"I see…Tank, wait."
Tank snorted at what he was seeing and Kiyome's dad, and probably Stephanie looked a bit insulted.
"Go, Stephanie! Freezing-death-punch-clobber attack!" Kiyome's father said…something?
What kind of attack name is that? However, Stephanie kept drumming with one fist and her other hand was encased in ice. She quickly arrived in front of Tank who was looking at the snow gorilla with amusement. Finally, Stephanie sent her punch towards Tank, who just took it.
Boom!
"Hah! You call yourself a tamer but you can't even—what?!" Kiyome's dad started to say something, but shouted instead out of shock.
Tank stood there without really moving, as she took the punch head-on, and didn't flinch. Hell…I think he's actually grinning at Stephanie.
"Tackle, lightly."
Boom!
Tank quickly charged forward and tackled Stephanie in the stomach sending the large gorilla backwards and crashing into the room's wall! Stephanie then went limp as half her body was stuck inside the wall.
"Steeeeephaniieeeeee!" He screamed and ran over to her in anguish.
"…She'll be fine, Tank held back by a lot," I reassured Kiyome beside me. "But if she needs medical attention, I can heal her."
"I see…" she looked relieved when I told her that.
Kiyome's dad finally pulled Stephanie out and she was unconscious. He looked up at me and glared. She didn't look that injured, and using [Observe] on her, she was mostly fine, just a bit of bruising from the Tank's initial hit and from hitting the wall.
I pointed at Stephanie and healed her. He looked a bit surprised but just grunted a thanks. He finally stood up and nodded.
"Very well, I acknowledge you're a powerful tamer, but! We still have two matches left!"
"Father, it will be only one if Jin wins the next one…"
"He will not!" He declared with a lot of confidence.
♦♦♦♦
We had arrived at the mountainside with no signs of other people. We did have our second match by the poolside, the sea battle...but I used Jima for it, and Kiyome's father used a shark...that literally died because according to him, the monster shark died since it stopped swimming.
I asked Cúntóir about it and certain shark species in fact DO DIE if they stop swimming. Those would be the great white sharks, whale sharks, hammerheads and mako sharks. If they stop any forward motion, they can die. The more you know, huh?
So I concluded that the monster shark was one of those, and unfortunately died. I offered to bring it back to life, but he declined by saying "He led a good life, rest now, old friend", but Kiyome told us that he only had that shark for around a year…
I decided to not have that count as a win, so it's still 1 win to me, and so we came here for the final match.
"Come out, my trusty birdie!" he shouted without a hint of embarrassment.
Suddenly a large and mysterious bird came out of the sky and landed beside him. It was red in color and looked quite intimidating.
"Both of us will have the sky battle in the sky while riding on top of our monsters," he declared.
"Sure…Kaisel."
Kaisel came out of my shadow and I hopped on his back. Both Kiyome and her dad seemed surprised.
"I-Is that a dragon?" he asked.
"No, it's a wyvern."
Takahashi looked at Kaisel with a weird sense of respect before nodding.
"Begin!" he shouted.
Both of us took to the skies! Kiyome's dad didn't waste any time and ordered his flying bird to attack us.
"Go! Great-bird-fireball-peck-peck attack!"
Again, what the hell is with these move names?! But Kaisel and I easily dodged the slow-moving fire attack, but he reacted as if we had dodged some kind of ultimate finisher move or something.
"If that's the case, then use the mega-pulsing-drill-beak attack!"
Kiyome's dad held on tight to the bird, and it started to fly towards us rather quickly. Its beak started to vibrate, and then the bird started to spin! From the looks of it, Kiyome's dad looked like he was going to puke! Don't use unnecessary moves that might make you sick or lose you dumb idiot!
Kaisel and I avoided the attack…I mean, it looked slow to us, but I guess to other regular tamers, it might have been fast…?
♦♦♦♦
"Gaaaoo…"
"Ugh…I feel sick…"
They landed on the ground. Both the human and the bird monster were tired and looked like they were about to puke. For the last 30 minutes they had been attacking us with the same 2 techniques and obviously all the fireballs and spinning had made them both tired and sick.
"Kaisel, hit the bird monster lightly with your tail." I ordered him, and Kaisel trotted over to the bird, hit it on the head and it passed out.
"W-winner, Jin Skyward-sama…" Takahashi muttered, dumbfounded by what had just happened.
Kiyome was watching from the side with a tired look, so I gave her a thumbs up and grinned at her. But she just huffed and turned away. Ara? Is she being a tsundere now?
♦♦♦♦
Once back in their home, Kiyome's dad turned to us.
"It is my loss…however, I do not believe your relationship is real. Kiyome, is he pretending to be your lover so you can get out of this arranged marriage?" he asked her.
"Of course our relationship is real, Father. Why would I fabricate a fake relationship? I told you when I was young that I would only marry the man I truly loved," she stated firmly. However, he still wasn't convinced.
"Prove it," he told her.
"E-excuse me…?"
"Prove to me you two are truly lovers," he repeated to her and looked at me.
"Sure thing," I said and moved closer to Kiyome as she turned red at me. "Sorry about this, Kiyome. You can hit me or hate me after," I whispered to her and captured her lips.
"Mmm…?!"
Kiyome—no, both her and her father were shocked by what I had just done. Kiyome struggled for a little bit, but eventually relented to it, closed her eyes and even kissed me back.
"…Um…" we heard her father mutter, but we kept on going. "T-that's enough, I understand that you two are genuinely in a relationship!!" he shouted a bit panicked.
Finally, I stopped the kiss and Kiyome looked at me with an unreadable expression, but it looked like she wanted more. But I turned to her dad and grinned. "That's enough proof, right?"
"Y-yes, I understand that you two are truly in a relationship, f-forgive me," he said while blushing and turning away. "I-I a-approve of this, Kiyome and will cancel the engagement. W-well I will go to the store since I forgot to do something…" he awkwardly said and left the home.
Hmm…was it that awkward to watch your own daughter make-out with his 'pretend' boyfriend?
'I would imagine so, Jin,' Rudra said to me.
'Eh, it is what it is,' I replied.
"Jin. Thank you for today. Thanks to you, the engagement was cancelled."
"No, it's fine, I'm glad I could help."
She was acting quite shy, I mean I did just kiss her.
"E-even if it was a sudden request from me, I was really happy that you fought valiantly for m-my sake. E-especially the last fight, the way y-you and K-Kaisel, was it? The way you two dodged many of father's ultimate finishing attacks, i-it was pretty cool."
She was wriggling a lot as she said this to me. Her face became redder by the minute, and she looked quite adorable like this. I mean it's a lot better than her usual haughty and all-mighty personality.
"I-If it's okay with you, we can have dinner some time in the future…?" she asked me meekly.
"Sure thing, let's talk about details through text." I didn't have a problem with that, and she seemed quite happy with it.
"Y-yes. Of course, you would feel honored to go on a dinner date with me, o-oh-ho-ho-ho!" she tried to play it off like I was the one to ask her that, but…
I grinned at her, "A date, huh?" After I repeated that she turned red and started to stutter on the spot. This repeated for the next few minutes until she basically kicked me out of her home.
♦♦♦♦
Timeline – Volume 5
Monster Tamer and the Nighttime Confession
♦♦♦♦
Kuoh Academy
Jin Skyward's Soliloquy
♦♦♦♦
"Grove Street, home. At least it was before I fucked everything up."
"…What are you even talking about?"
"Huh?"
It was lunch and I was on the rooftop of the school. I didn't even hear the door open and I saw Kiyome there. She was holding something as she crossed her arms.
"Oh hey, Kiyome. Need something from little ol' me?"
"Mmm." She thrust the item she was holding towards me and sat down beside me.
To my surprise, it was a lunchbox. I graciously accepted it and opened it. Kiyome sometimes makes me lunch. It only happens on occasion and it only started after I helped her cancel her engagement. She's been very friendly with me. It doesn't take an expert for someone to come to the conclusion that she likes me.
I mean, we did promise to go on a dinner date. But we haven't gotten around to doing that, one because of all the shit that happened, and two…she's just been way too shy every time I try to bring it up to her. Even now when I turn up to the tennis club, the other club members refer to me as 'her boyfriend' when I show up and she becomes furious and embarrassed.
"Thanks, and sorry about this. You know you don't need to do this…" I told her as I ate the lunch she gave me.
"I wanted to make it so just accept it," she huffed
I laughed at her and continued eating. "Yes, yes, Kiyome-sama. This is pretty tasty, like your past lunches."
"Of course! I am the one who made it after all, oh-ho-ho-ho-ho~" she did her usual haughty laugh but quieter and for not as long.
She then started to fidget as I kept eating, but she finally said something. "J-Jin!"
"…What?" I stopped eating to look at her. "Want a bite?" I asked her.
"N-no, that's not why I called your name…um…about that dinner date we promised each other a few months ago…" she shyly said.
"Ah, that…do you want to go on it soon? Tonight? Or even…you know, in a few days?"
She meekly nodded while blushing. 'Ara? How cute.' So I agreed with her. "Sure, why not? How about in three days? It'll be the weekend by then and we can meet up…how about around midday? We can have lunch and then go on a date before doing the dinner part," I suggested and kept on eating.
"O-okay…" she mumbled and held onto my shoulder.
Seeing her like this is always strange, but I don't mind the usual haughty Kiyome since that also has its own charm. I guess I prefer a mix of them? Haughty and shy Kiyome, I guess she is the typical 'tsundere' character type, huh? I guess she's slowly changing and stopping the 'tsun' part of her character, even if it does still show up from time to time.
So for the rest of lunch, we just sat there and chatted about mundane topics, occasionally talking about what I had been up to as the Middleman, and I also asked her about…
"Oh, actually…both my parents are coming home, um…before we go on the date, do you want to come to meet them? You're already acquainted with my father after all."
"Hmm? Oh yeah sure. On the same day or…?"
"A day before the date. My mother really wants to meet you since my father has been telling her how you beat him relatively easily in the monster battle. "My father is quite famous and is a renowned monster battler, you know?" she boasted.
I was not expecting that…so I can assume the same thing for her mother? I mean they're both experts, I know that much.
"Actually, I've been meaning to ask…what's your dad's name? And your mom's? He didn't exactly introduce himself last time we met," I asked her.
She also seemed equally surprised and nodded. "That is true. He did not tell you his name, did he? Well, his name is Lowell Abe, and my mother's name is Arlette Abe. Nevertheless, you will meet them soon enough…"
I stopped eating and looked at her. "Hmm, feels like I'm meeting my future in-laws then."
"Wha—"
Kiyome turned red after I said that, and I chuckled at her. We bantered back and forth after that, and just spent the rest of lunch up there.
♦♦♦♦
It was the day I was meant to meet both her parents. Waiting outside her home once again, I pushed the button and the doorbell rang. I heard loud footsteps approaching the door and it swung open to reveal a very nervous and red-faced Kiyome.
"Kiy—"
I didn't get to finish as she just pulled me into her home. But…for some reason she brought me up the stairs and shoved me into what I assumed was her room.
"Um is something wrong?"
"Jin…"
"Yes?"
Instead of answering me, she looked up and down. Before nodding to herself. "Jin, I think…you should dress a little more formal," she said to me.
"Formal…? Wait, is this a marriage inter—"
Bonk!
"No! M-My mother is just like that. I don't think my father cares all too much, but she—"
"Alright, alright, I get it," I told her and snapped my fingers. I changed into my 'peace conference' clothing, a plain black business-style suit. "Will this do?" I asked her.
However, she frowned, walked up to me and fixed my tie.
"I am universally known to be inept at doing those."
"You're hopeless…"
"But…you look good."
Kiyome was wearing a short white tank top, red shorts and slippers. When I said that to her, she blushed but continued to fix my tie for me.
"There," she said satisfied.
"Thanks, where's my kiss?" I asked her jokingly, but to my surprise, she stood on her tiptoes and gave me a peck on the lips, blushing furiously as she did so. "I did not expect that."
"Be grateful…just sit on my bed, I'll get changed."
"…I'll just close my eyes then—"
"You don't need to," she hurriedly said, and then pulled her top off…she was wearing a cute frilly white bra.
Shrugging, I enjoyed the free show I was getting. Maybe I was imagining things, but when she bent down, it felt like she swayed her hips a bit exaggeratedly while crouching down.
'Is she teasing me…?'
I didn't know, so I just stared at her intensely, and she kind of jolted and looked back at me with a 'stop staring at me like that' look, and I just shrugged. She sighed and continued to change normally after that.
♦♦♦♦
We were back in the living room, and were waiting for her parents. I wasn't too bothered by it, but Kiyome was basically panicking. That was until—
"Welcome back, Lowell-sama, Arlette-sama. Kiyome-sama and Jin-sama are in the living room."
We heard Takahashi in the hallway saying that to her parents, and then footsteps that were slowly approaching the room. Kiyome gripped my hand and when they finally got there, she bolted up, pulling me with her.
Her dad looked different, almost like he was sporting a fresher, more youthful look. He had shaved his weird mustache away, and had a goatee instead. He was also wearing different clothing. His chest was much more exposed now, and it looked like he was dressed in something a pirate would wear, a very fancy brown coat with red and gold.
On the other hand, Kiyome's mom, she wears a black Hat with White flowers on it, she is wearing a long floor length Black dress, and long white gloves, she has long white hair in a bun.
She was a lot tame-looking than her husband, who still had a stern look on him, but he changed that once he saw us.
"M-Mother, father, welcome home."
"Yes, we're back dear. We just had to stop by a store to buy some lunch," Kiyome's mother said, as she brought up a bag and a tasty smell came from it. "I thought why not have lunch together with Boyfriend-kun? Huhu."
She hands the bag of food to Takahashi and instructs him to get it ready. He quickly leaves and she walks over to me.
"Hmm~ so you're the famed Middleman and Dual Dragon Emperor…Kiyome, dear…good choice." Her mother gave her a thumbs up and Kiyome had a shocked look on her face.
"It's been some time, Jin."
"Likewise, Lowell."
We shook hands and he seemed a bit surprised that I knew his name, but he looked at Kiyome and I nodded.
"My, he already has your dad's approval. I can't wait for my grandkids~"
"M-mother!" Kiyome yelled at her mother in shock.
"Ufufu~ I'm just teasing you dear, come now, let us have lunch."
♦♦♦♦
Clank~ Clank~
"So you're planning on opening a restaurant, Jin-kun?" Arlette asked me.
"Yes I am, ma'am. It should be built after or during the time I graduate, and will be open for business as soon as college starts. I'll need to make fliers about the opening and also one for staff. I have a lot of work to do."
Lowell stopped eating and said to me, "You have your menu ready?"
"Partially, I only have a few items on it yet, for both dishes and refreshments. I have a copy if you want to see," I replied to him and he nodded, so I pulled out the small booklet from my [Inventory] and handed it to him.
"Hmm," he said as he read it and looked quite serious. Even Arlette walked over to have a peek at it.
I looked back at Kiyome and she gave me a weird look. "What?"
"You never told me about wanting to start a restaurant."
"I didn't? I thought it was common knowledge among those that are involved in the supernatural at our school?"
She gave me an unamused look, that basically said 'you didn't personally tell me'. Ah, I see…
"Uh, I guess you know now?"
"…"
She just sighed and played with her food, occasionally eating some. Around 4 minutes later, both of them finally finished reading through it. They whispered to each other as they checked it out.
"Are—"
I snapped my fingers and summoned one of the dishes I had created the night before. I kind of foresaw the meeting going in this direction, so I made one just in case. I told them that and they both laughed.
"Ara~? It seems Jin-kun is very prepared, then don't mind if we do~"
"Hmm. It's appreciated, Jin."
Both of them sampled the food I made. Even Takahashi and Kiyome tried it too. I had the girls try it the night before, so I was confident in it…although I suspect that they'll like anything I make at this point.
Even Kuroka said something along the lines of 'it's been years since we last ate anything you made', before Grayfia, Raiko and Inaie glared at her.
♦♦♦♦
Fwshh!!
"Drill-beak-of-soaring-skies attack!!!"
How the hell did it come to this?! I was on Kaisel's back again as her father had challenged me to another match. This time the bird monster he had seemed a lot stronger, although still no match for Kaisel.
Lowell shouted out another strange name, except the bird monster's beak shone and started to fire at us like bullets. In order to destroy the attacks, Kaisel simply flapped his wings.
"Tch!"
Apparently, he liked the food so much, he asked me to cook something in their kitchen…I did, and he got jealous and challenged me to another monster battle. I won the land and sea battles already, so I have 2 wins under my belt, and this is our final battle. We were back in the mountains again.
However, this time we did engage in a sea battle. He used some kind of turtle monster…it was very quick. I mean…he even said it himself, they were mostly known for transportation and free traveling in the sea, and not for fighting…
"Um, wing attack, I guess?"
Kaisel looked at me briefly a bit confused by the command. However, he flapped his wings so hard that he created two small tornadoes that pulled Lowell and his bird monster into them. By the time the attack had finished, they were both passed out.
They started to fall to the ground, but I caught them with telekinesis. I swear this man is a handful…he may come off as intimidating and maybe even scary to some, but he's just a doting man baby of a father…geez.
Clap~ Clap~
"Your wyvern is very strong, Jin-kun. Where did you find him?"
"Uh…that's a secret…"
I didn't exactly want to tell her, I mean would she even believe me if I said, 'Hey I just created this guy out of nothingness, and based him off a creature I read back in my previous life!'. I mean, she'd probably see me as psychotic. Although I'll need to tell Kiyome about who and what I really am sooner or later.
"Ara~ that's a shame. Let's go back now, your father is tired after all, Ufufu." She walked over and picked up Lowell…that's some strength she has.
'Actually…' I used [Observe] on both of them, and to my surprise, Arlette was low Ultimate-class and Lowell was in the middle of High-class. 'I guess the wife runs the family then…'
"Let's leave, and stop checking out my mother."
"Huh? Wait no, I wasn't—"
"Yeah, yeah…let's go."
She didn't let me explain and we headed back to her home.
♦♦♦♦
A few hours later
♦♦♦♦
I had been in their home for a few hours. Lowell woke up not too soon after and he started acting normally. They said they were going to be out again, but wanted to check on all of Kiyome's monsters that she has under her control, and as well as just doing a general check-up on the house and their daughter.
It was already nighttime and they were about to go off on another business trip again, and we were preparing to see them off. If this is how her life is, then it's pretty lonely. However, she also has a lot of monsters to take care of so I doubt she's that bothered by it.
"Make sure to lock up at night, okay? Don't forget to brush your teeth before heading to sleep! Oh and make sure to—"
Arlette rambled on and on about some things that Kiyome should do and she just nodded along. I guess this is their typical behavior so I just stood by her not saying anything. However, I did notice that Lowell had been staring at me quite intensely since we've been here for the last few minutes. I wonder if he wants to say something to me?
"And that should be it," Arlette said, and turned to her husband. "Do you have anything to say, dear?"
He closed his eyes, and thought about it for a moment before opening them back up and looking at me. He reached out and put a hand on my shoulder and said with all seriousness, "I leave our daughter in your hands, Jin. But please don't make any grandchildren yet. I think it would be more appropriate once both of you are done with college."
Doom!
"…"
"…"
"I think so too, dear~! Try not to get too wild while we're away, okay~?" said Arlette and winked at us before they both walked away.
"Wha—?!"
No words could come out of her mouth as Kiyome stood there red and in shock. She had been shocked way too many times today. Will she be okay for tomorrow…? I turned to her and touched her shoulder too.
"I agree with them."
Bonk!!!
"Don't agree with them!"
"…So you want to be pregnant before we graduate college?"
Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!
"That's not the point!"
She began to lash out at me, even though she didn't use any force, as she was just too embarrassed at the moment. I also wanted to play along with what they said, though I think there was a hint of seriousness to their words…but I won't mention that yet.
♦♦♦♦
Next day
♦♦♦♦
"I might be too early," I muttered to myself.
I had been waiting for around 30 minutes now. In all honesty, I was out to check out if any newly released volumes of the light novels of this world were out, but unfortunately, they were not. I was also buying it for the others who were interested. They also know that I'm planning to go out with Kiyome today.
"You're quite early…"
I heard a voice mutter to my left and I turned to see it was Kiyome.
"…"
"W-what?"
Kiyome was wearing a cute and frilly white smock, a pink yoke skirt, and brown bow sandals. To put it simply—
"You look cute," I told her.
"C-compliments won't get you anywhere, come on already…!"
She grabbed my arm and dragged me away. She was clearly happy with the compliment. Jeez be more honest with yourself…
♦♦♦♦
After we had lunch, we walked around Kuoh. I had an idea of where to take her tonight, and I adjusted that place to be open a little later…a big event you could say. Normally they're only open from 9 in the morning until 6 in the evening. However, today they'll be hosting a small 'event' of sorts, and they'll be open until midnight, so we can take our time getting there.
I personally think it'll be worthwhile, I mean…I hope so, I don't know if Kiyome is a big fan of flowers or gardens, but…it's worth a shot.
"Your mind is somewhere else. Are you thinking of another woman during our date?" she asked with suspicion.
I smiled wearily, "No, I'm not. I was just thinking about the place where we'd end our date. After dinner, we'll go there," I explained to her.
"Hmm…" she still looked at me suspiciously, but then hugged my arm. "Let's go to that then!"
I looked at where she was pointing at and it's some kind of large pet shot. Once we got closer to it. It had a sign saying we could play with the animals inside. They were mostly cats and dogs though. Nothing more exotic.
We entered the shop and Kiyome quickly strolled over to the staff and they started talking to one another. They seemed to know each other. One of them was a female and the other was a guy. Kiyome pointed at me and the female smiled at me while the guy scowled.
[Partner.]
'Hmm? What's up Ddraig?'
[He hateeeeeeees yoooouuu.]
'What the hell? Did Happy Dragneel take over you?'
He just cackled at me and fell silent. I shook my head and joined Kiyome as she hugged my arm and brought me to the area where we could interact and play with the animals. Apart from liking her own monsters, she seems to be fond of animals in general.
She started to play with the cats and dogs that ran up to her. They were meowing, purring barking and cuddling up to her. Since I could understand animal speech, I listened in to some of them.
'Big sis Kiyokiyo is back!'
'I want her attention!'
'Move! It's my turn!'
Most of them were normal—wholesome, even, but…
'Haaa…haaa…she's back….!'
'Sheeee smeeeeeeeeeeeells niiiiiceeeee!!'
Some were very…questionable. But they were animals so I wouldn't do anything…
[Gee, I wonder what a certain Dual Dragon did to a creature (dog) named Snuffles, a few months back?]
'Shut up, Ddraig.'
I felt someone pull on my hand and it was Kiyome as she indicated for me to join her. I sighed and sat down. A few of them were weary but eventually came over to me and I started to pet and play with them. They quickly warmed up to me, however, the more perverted animals stayed with Kiyome.
However, I felt a lot of animosity directed at me by a certain staff member. I ignored it but he wasn't exactly subtle about it. As I sat there, his head would pop out every now and again. In any case, Kiyome was painfully unaware of it. So, I strained my ears and listened to the staff members' conversation.
[I told you she had a boyfriend. Give up, Arata.]
[No! What the hell? I've been spoiling her every time she comes here, and she never noticed?! Nah, nah, hell nah! I'm asking her out before they leave!]
[Are you crazy?! You clearly saw her hug him! Women don't do that to just any man. They have to like him first! Also, just because you were kind to her doesn't mean she owes you anything!]
[Don't care, I'm asking her before they leave.]
"Jin, is something wrong?" Kiyome asked me.
"Huh? Oh no, it's nothing…"
I started to pet the little kittens that had been climbing over me, but she didn't seem convinced. So I relented after she kept pestering me about it.
"So—"
I told her about the conversation I just heard. I added that I accidentally 'overheard' it, and she frowned after hearing it. She didn't look too happy now.
"I thought he was being overly considerate, but I thought that was because we loved animals...hmm...what do you think I should do?" she asked me.
Normally, we would already have an answer, but—no, the look she's giving me is that she already knows what to say. It looks like she just wants me to tell her she shouldn't accept the confession or whatever the hell comes out of his mouth before we leave.
So I looked her straight in the eyes and said, "I got your parents' approval. Don't leave my side, Kiyome."
'Holy shiiiit!! Did you hear that?! Was that a proposal from the big human?' A cat screamed.
'Nyaaaaaa!! I finally got to witness one! I can die happily…'
'Nyanet! Marry me!'
A sudden confession between cats?! I looked at the critters and the two cats started to rub their heads against each other. Did she accept?!
'Nooo!!!'
'I can't smell her anymore!! Nooo!!'
The other side…the perverted ones, weren't all that excited. However, Kiyome blushed quite hard while looking at me. She didn't give a verbal answer, but meekly nodded her head. For a few more minutes, we played with the animals and enjoyed ourselves.
'I should ask the girls if they want a pet or something…oh right, I should take them to the familiar forest soon, maybe have Asia and Xenovia get familiars too…'
♦♦♦♦
We finally left the play area, and the guy looked quite serious and determined. The female staff member looked rather nervous as she kept staring at me, Kiyome and the guy called Arata. He finally walked up to us. Even though Kiyome was clearly hugging my arm, he only stared at her.
"Ki—"
"Can I help you, Arata-san? I'm on a date with my…fiancé, and we'd like to get going…" she said to him rather 'innocently'…
[Holy crap, she's going scorched earth! Shatter that guy's heart, baby!!]
'You're way too happy about this…'
[Woooooooooo!!]
The guy looked like he had shattered, and shook his head. "N-no, I was just wondering if you two enjoyed yourselves and if you wanted your usual."
She smiled at him and shook her head. "No, we're fine, but thank you. Now if you'll excuse us." She gestured for him to move and he did.
I glanced at the female employee before leaving and now she looked relieved and horrified. After we left, I immediately heard the man screaming. Rest in peace, my guy.
♦♦♦♦
After that, we spent our time in Kuoh at different spots I've taken others on dates before. The aquarium, where I heard many of the fish making fun of the humans walking around and calling us stupid. While I was tempted to scare them, Kiyome saw my look and stopped me.
The amusement park where I didn't get a chance to take the Sitri sisters out on the date, but it's fine…I'll do that with Sona in the future. Nothing much happened there except for the same thing with Lavinia during our first date there.
She got hit on, she told them to eat dirt, and actually made one eat it by body slamming them to the ground. I had gone to the bathroom to relieve myself, so when I got back, one guy was on the ground foaming at the mouth.
The day was slowly coming to an end, and the sun was setting. As a change of pace, we were having dinner at the most expensive place in Kuoh. It was a restaurant at the very top of the mall and while it may not be 'super fancy' by other restaurant standards, to the small town of Kuoh, it was.
"Hey Jin, where do you plan on taking me after this?" she asked me after swallowing her food.
"Hmm, well, we're heading to the Tochigi Prefecture in the Kanto Region of Honshu. More specifically, Ashikaga to see—"
Bam!
Kiyome suddenly got up, slammed the table with her hands and she stared at me with a lot of excitement. She practically had stars in her eyes and the people near us that heard her suddenly getting up stared at her.
"Really?" she asked a bit unsure.
I nodded, "Yeah…?"
She then sat down and nearly choked as she started to quickly eat her food. Well at least I got confirmation that she likes flowers, or she just likes that place? I didn't see anything in her home that indicated that she was fond of flowers, or had been there before…I'll just wait for her to say something.
"Calm down, the place won't close until midnight."
"Huh? I thought they—"
"I did something and they're hosting an event so…don't worry about it."
After hearing that, Kiyome calmed down her quick-paced eating and ate moderately, well, as moderately as she could.
♦♦♦♦
Tochigi Prefecture
Ashikaga
♦♦♦♦
Before we teleported here, I made us invisible, since I knew the entire park would be crowded. I also wanted to get to the front of the line. Therefore, with a bit of magic I made that happen. I also undid our invisibility before walking into the crowd. I had booked tickets for us before the date started, so all I had to do was show the staff it and we got in.
"It hasn't changed much…" Kiyome muttered to herself.
I chose not to say anything and let her explore for a bit. We had walked into what seemed to be a large souvenir shop, and there were a lot of items around us, and a few tables and chairs. The automatic door that led into the actual Flower Park also had a lot of chairs and tables. I would guess they're part of the small shops and food stands there.
After looking around the place, and buying a few items, Kiyome came back over to me as I had been standing in the same place just watching over her.
"They're selling wisteria necklaces," she said and showed me.
I touched it and gave it the enchantments the rings have, and also added a glowing effect to it. "Want me to put it on for you?" I asked her, and she agreed. So I took it from her and did just that. "Let's go then," I said and offered her my hand.
She happily took it and intertwined our fingers. I was a bit surprised and she tilted her head at me.
"Have you been here before?" I asked her as we walked through the automatic doors.
"Yeah, when I was 12 years old. My parents took an entire month off work and we just visited a lot of places in the world, and we visited this place during Christmas, and they had LED lights to—"
Click! Shing!
As she was about to finish, many LED lights suddenly turned on and Kiyome's eyes widened before looking back at me. I just grinned at her in return. In fact, the entire place shone brightly as many trees, and other places were illuminated, brightening it up tremendously.
"You were saying?"
"T-there's a place I want to bring you!" she nearly shouted and squeezed my hand.
"Lead the way, Kiyome-sama~!"
♦♦♦♦
As we made our way to the spot she wanted to go to, we came across many parker goers, and we overheard them saying that they were here for the event.
"What event is currently on, Jin?" she asked a little confused.
"Well, it's a pre-Christmas event that will run for the next few months until, well, you know, Christmas arrives. They won't be open until midnight every day, their staff would die at that rate, however, today they will be. After that, it will be twice a month, and then two days before and after Christmas, and it will stay open until midnight," I explained to her.
She nodded along and started to increase her pace. Many people passed by or walked with us as we walked through the park. With an abundance of flowers and plants, the place was quite beautiful. It reminded me of the date I had with Shigune in Hawaii.
We also passed by many places with the famed wisteria flower I had seen so many times in anime. However, we eventually arrived at the spot where Kiyome wanted to go, and it seemed to be near the middle of the park and was near a large wisteria tree.
Cúntóir: Answer: This tree is around 160 years old. It's one of the oldest living wisteria trees currently in Japan. However, there is one in Takamagahara that is more than 2000+ years old.
'Wait what? Where is it specifically?'
Cúntóir: Answer: I would suggest asking Amaterasu, or the friends you made there…I wouldn't want to spoil that, Aaron.
'Alright then…'
But…maybe I should take Rias there? I mean to propose to her…she does love Japan, and maybe proposing to her under one of the oldest wisteria trees would mean a lot to her. Eh, I'll think about it more later…
"When I first saw this I was so amazed, but even now…it's still stunning, especially at night," muttered Kiyome as she kept on looking at the tree with nostalgia filled eyes. She then looked back at me and said, "Thank you for bringing me here. Even if you didn't know its importance to me, it still means a lot to me."
After saying that, she shivered a bit since a bit of cold wind hit us. So I discreetly summoned a coat and wrapped it around her.
"Thank you…"
We stayed there for a couple more minutes before moving away to explore the Flower Park.
♦♦♦♦
A few hours later
♦♦♦♦
Kiyome led me around the park, showing me various areas and explaining some facts she knew about it. However, as time passed, fewer and fewer people were in the park. Currently, it was around 11:15 P.M. so our time there was coming to a close.
I wanted to—
"Jin?"
She stopped and held my hand in place. I looked around us and we were on a bridge, not too far away from the Ashikaga no Fuji, or the 160-year-old wisteria tree.
"Is something wrong? Do you want to leave? We are nearing the end of—"
She didn't let me finish and was the one to kiss me this time. She stood on her tiptoes and pulled me down by wrapping her arms around my neck. I didn't mind this and kissed her back. The area around us was silent. Not even the sound of cicadas was present which was kind of rare.
"Fuaaah…"
She finally let me go and let out a satisfied sigh. She looked at me blushing but then said, "I love you…but I'm not powerful like the rest of the women around you, I don't really stand out like others, I only have my monster taming and my temporary status of captain of the tennis club, even then…I'll have to pass that down after we graduate. I don't have much now that I think about it," she finished and stepped back.
"My personality isn't even that remarkable, is it? I acted like that towards everyone, and it pushed away many, and the ones that stayed…they could barely stand me. Maybe my club members are just tolerating me because of my status as captain?" she asked herself and sighed.
It felt like she was just telling me everything she had been bottling up over the years. I stood there and listened.
"…Sometimes I think my own monsters I tamed don't even like me. It makes me question my own abilities, but even then—ah…"
She had her back turned to me, so I walked up behind her and hugged her. "I don't know where this is coming from but I saw a very different Kiyome Abe, you know? Even if we only interacted a handful of times, I saw you very differently. You were and are a confident and gentle person," I told her.
"You're kind to your monsters and they love and respect that about you. You know what to do when they're injured, sick or if they need something else in their life. You help your juniors and fellow seniors in your club. I've heard a few of them saying very positive things behind your back, you know? I think you're just being a bit pessimistic right now, but you're a pretty incredible person, even without the power of my lovers, Kiyome."
I turned her around and grinned at her. "And hey, if you do move into my home, I can just create a new area for your monsters to stay in and get stronger, habitats that are perfectly suited for them. Doing something like that is pretty easy for me."
She got a bit teary-eyed and nodded. "Mmm…" she muttered and kissed me again, but quickly broke it off. "Um...please let me be with you," she asked again rather shyly.
"Of course, I already promised your folks. I don't wanna go back on my promise to them, or the one I told you earlier in the pet shop."
"Mmm…"
After a few more minutes of hugging, we finally left for home.
♦♦♦♦
Kuoh
Abe Household
♦♦♦♦
"I-I'll hold you to that, Jin."
"About the moving in part? Sure, just let me know when you want to. But I feel like I'll be busy pretty soon, so it might take a while," I told her.
"I'm fine with waiting."
I nodded and we shared another quick kiss before I left for home. I glanced back at her home as she watched me leave. I discreetly added an Omniversal barrier and seals around her home, just in case. I think today ended well.
♦♦♦♦
Check the chapter comments to see images of certain characters.