Chapter 141 — Frozen In Indecision

Koneko

Kuroka-neesama and Yuki-senpai faced off against each other.

The dark aura surrounding Nee-sama swelled as she leaned forward and lowered her stance further. 

Bikou shouted something from above, his voice lost in the crashing sounds of his fight with Tannin.

Rias and Issei were behind me, and I knew they were talking, but after the first few exchanges of the fight it was hard to pay attention to anything for long besides Yuki-senpai and Nee-sama.

I glanced back and saw Issei-senpai animatedly talking to Buchou, who looked both confused and flustered.

I was going to see what the issue was but then I heard Yuki-senpai and Kuroka-neesama clash.

I quickly turned back towards them.

Yuki-senpai was already on the defensive as she dodged Nee-sama’s attacks and tried to counter attack.

She Misstepped away and I saw her clutch her previously injured side.

It looked like Nee-sama had slashed her with the claws she had formed from her malicious Ki.

Yuki-senpai fired another Baleful Bolt at Nee-sama, but she was flagging.

The injuries Nee-sama had inflicted and the poison mist were starting to wear her down.

“Why don’t you make this quicker and just stay put for me fox-chan?” Kuroka-neesama asked as Yuki-senpai barely escaped another attack as she blinked away.

She glanced at me before dodging one of Yuki-senpai’s spells.

“Maybe after I kill you Shirone will give up on the other two and come with me. I'll make sure it’s painful-nyan~ That will motivate Shirone to quit being foolish.”

Yuki-senpai let out a shout of pain as Nee-sama struck her and she was sent tumbling across the ground and into a tree.

I looked away and turned towards Buchou and Issei-senpai.

They needed to finish whatever they were doing so that Issei-senpai could help Yuki-senpai.

I froze when I saw them. 

It took me a moment to comprehend, but Bucho was facing Issei-senpai with the top of her dress pulled down.

“Do it quickly! This is embarrassing!” Buchou hissed at him.

Issei-senpai was staring at her breasts with blood running from his nose and look of intense, lecherous focus. 

Buchou’s face was bright red and she turned away from him as she exposed her breasts further.

When she turned her head she made eye contact with me and somehow turned even more dead while also looking mortified.

I felt a vein bulge in my forehead.

“…What are you doing?” I asked.

My voice was completely flat.

I was furious.

“I realized that what I need to reach my Balance Breaker is to poke Buchou’s nipples.” He replied without looking away from Buchou’s chest, as if what he said had made any sense.

I slowly looked at Buchou.

“…And you went along with that?” I asked her.

“W-well he explained i-it to me with more detail than that. If it helps him obtain his Balance Breaker so that he can fight Kuroka and help Yuki, then it’s fine!” She said, rushing to get the words out.

She sounded like she wanted to crawl under a rock as she tried to make it sound less embarrassing and ridiculous than it was.

I stared at both of them.

I turned back to the fight and saw Yuki-senpai launch a volley of cursed bolts at Kuroka-nee-sama, causing her to put up a barrier.

The spells were deflected and Yuki-senpai used Misstep to appear inside Nee-sama’s barrier.

She snarled as she tackled her while placing a Still Mark behind her.

The two of them passed through the mark and then crashed through a tree before tumbling across the ground and splitting apart to continue fighting.

I turned back to Buchou and saw that she had seen the fight as well.

Yuki-senpai was currently fighting to buy Issei-senpai time he needed, and Buchou had apparently decided the correct answer to the crisis was taking her breasts out in the middle of the forest while Issei-senpai stared at them like they contained all of life’s mysteries.

I had just cried in front of them.

I had given Issei-senpai heartfelt motivation based on what Yuki-senpai had told me when she encouraged me to accept the part of myself that I hated and was afraid of for so long.

I looked from Rias’s chest, to Issei-senpai’s face, back to Rias, then back to Issei-senpai.

Buchou at least had the decency to look ashamed.

But Issei-senpai just stared from one breast to the other.

I regretted, very deeply and very immediately, having had a touching moment with him earlier at all.

“…If this is what you need, then why aren’t you just doing it?” I asked, feeling too defeated to muster any of the anger I felt into my voice.

“I have a serious issue….. I-I don't know which one to poke first!” He shouted, looking panicked.

“…what?”

_________________________________________

Issei

Yuki-san was incredible.

That was what I thought after Buchou had spoken to her right before she threw herself at Kuroka.

Kuroka mentioned that Koneko-chan had managed to remove some of the effects of the poison in Yuki-san, but not all of it.

Yuki-san definitely wasn’t as strong as Kuroka, and she was still suffering from the poison Kuroka had deployed, but she was going to buy me the time I needed to explain to Buchou and then do what I needed to obtain my Balance Breaker.

The clearing ahead of us had become like a scene from a dark dream.

There were illusions being torn apart, cursed lighting and bullets of demonic power flying.

And two darkly colored Youkai trying to defeat the other, with spells and claws.

Yuki-san seemed to be holding her own, but I could tell that she was acting a bit sluggish.

I needed to hurry.

I looked back to Buchou.

As soon as she had finished talking to Yuki-san and then saying something to Koneko-chan, she came right to me and asked what I needed.

She looked at me with complete confidence and trust.

I hoped that wouldn’t turn into anger and her deciding to smack me once she heard what I needed..

I let out a breath as I started to explain.

“Ddriag told me that I need to create a dramatic change in myself if I want to obtain my Balance Breaker. He told me that my Sacred Gear is at a crossroads where one route leads to a normal growth in strength and the other is a Balance Breaker, which is why I couldn’t activate the Boosted Gear before,” I said quickly. “Tannin-ossan and Azazel-sensei both said that my training on the mountain was to put me in a state of life or death in order to achieve a state of emotion that would cause me to break through. But it didn’t work for me. I have been thinking this whole time of what I could do to enter that state that would allow me to achieve it, and after hearing Koneko-chan talk about my powers—“

I was cut off by a loud crash and a shriek of pain.

Buchou and I turned and saw that Yuki-san had managed to land a hit with one of her spells on Kuroka.

“I think that’s enough playing around,” Kuroka said after glancing at the wound and then focusing back on Yuki-san.

The dark aura around her began to solidify around as claws appeared on her hands.

It looked like a more twisted version of the white aura that Koneko-chan was using to ward off the effects of the poison mist.

Buchou looked back at me as Kuroka and Yuki-san began to move again.

“Ise. Just tell me what you need me to do. We don’t have time for explanations.” Buchou said.

She was right.

I had already wasted too much time trying to make it sound reasonable.

I would just go for it.

“I need to poke your breasts,” I said.

She stared at me for a few seconds. 

Buchou went bright red immediately.

“What?”

“It’s what I need to do in order to reach the state that I can achieve my Balance Breaker.” I replied seriously.

Buchou stared.

She glanced at the fight between Kuroka and Yuki-san, and then at Koneko-chan who was watching them with tightly clenched fists. 

Her face somehow got even redder.

“You’re saying,” she said tightly, “that in order for you to attain Balance Breaker, I have to expose myself in the middle of this forest and let you touch my breasts.”

“Yes.”

She let out a breath, before looking more determined. 

“I understand. If this is what it takes for you to achieve the shift you need, then I can help…”

Even though I was the one asking, I was still shocked that she agreed.

“A-are you sure? Is it alright for me to poke them?” I asked, suddenly much more nervous about this. 

Buchou nodded as she pulled down the front of her dress to expose herself to me.

I stared at her breasts and immediately felt my nose bleed.

Buchou looked even more flustered as I stared at her.

“Do it quickly!” Buchou hissed at me as she turned away. “This is embarrassing!” 

Then I heard Koneko-chan speak in a dull voice.

“…What are you doing?”

“I realized that what I need to reach my Balance Breaker is to poke Buchou’s nipples.” I replied without looking away from Buchou’s breasts.

“…And you went along with that?” Koneko-chan asked Buchou, but I was more focused on what to do next.

I stopped paying attention to their conversation.

I lifted my hands

I glanced from one breast to the other.

I heard the sound of a thrashing and a tree collapsing, but I was completely focused on the oppai in front of me.

But I didn’t know what to do next.

I was brought out of my concentration by Koneko-chan talking to me. 

“…If this is what you need, then why aren’t you just doing it?” 

“I have a serious issue….” I quickly said. “I-I don't know which one to poke first!”

It was quiet for a moment before Koneko-chan spoke.

“…what?” She asked in a quiet, bewildered tone.

I looked up and realized that the fighting around us had stopped.

Tannin-ossan and Biko were both flying above us, but had stopped exchanging blows and instead were staring at Buchou and I.

Kuroka stared in confusion and let a spell she had formed to attack Yuki-san fade.

And Yuki-san had stopped as she was getting herself up off the ground.

She even came out of her ability as she stared at us.

“What are you doing down there!?” Tannin-ossan roared from above.

Ossan was my mentor during my training, he could help me out.

“Tannin-ossan, I need your advice about poking Buchou’s nipples!” I shouted.

He was silent at my question.

Then Tannin-ossan roared back, “What kind of advice is that!?”

Bikou burst out laughing so hard I thought he was going to fall off his cloud.

Kuroka glanced at Koneko-chan like she would be able to explain, but Koneko-chan just covered her face.

Yuki-san got up fully and looked at me, then Buchou, then Buchou’s exposed breasts.

“I really shouldn’t be surprised,” she said in a tired voice. “The moment Issei-san said he had a plan, I should have assumed it would be something like this.”.

Then, she muttered to herself much more quietly.

“Maybe I shouldn’t feel as bad about what happened with Rias.”

I blinked and turned toward her.

“What do you mean by—”

“Stop talking and do it!” Buchou snapped.

I jumped and snapped my attention back to her. 

I stared at her breasts again and realized I still didn’t know what to do.

“Ossan!” I shouted upward. “Serious question!

Tannin-ossan, still baffled, roared back, “What!?”

“Right or left? Which one should I poke first!?”

Bikou nearly choked to death laughing.

“You idiot! It doesn’t matter! Just do it already!” Tannin-ossan shouted.

“No, it matters a lot!” I shouted back. “This is important! This is to trigger my Balance Breaker! I have to do it right, so I can’t poke the wrong one first!”

Buchou made a sound like she wanted to bury her head in the ground in embarrassment.

She still held her dress down for me though

Kuroka was holding a hand over her mouth now.

Yuki-san had one hand over her eyes.

I pointed upward accusingly at Tannin-ossan.

“You don’t understand! Right and left aren’t the same thing!”

“I understand that you’re a fool!”

“You’re not helping!”

I looked at Buchou, realizing that she might be able to tell me.

“Buchou! What should I do?!”

She glared at me while still bright red and trembling in embarrassment.

“Just poke both of them you idiot! I don’t care, just do it!” She snapped.

I stared at her with an open mouth.

I can’t believe that I hadn’t realized that sooner.

Buchou was a genius.

I pointed my index fingers at her chest and lined myself up to make sure that I didn’t screw it up.

My body was in terrible shape.

Kuroka had beaten me down, but right now, I felt full of energy.

I stepped forward and extended my arms. 

And then I drove both fingers forward.

_________________________________________

Yuki

Issei extended his arms and poked both of Rias’s nipples with an expression that was far too serious for what was happening.

His nose bled and Rias let out a small cry that was half surprise and half moan.

I stared at them and wondered where exactly things had gone wrong enough for this to have happened.

Then Issei straightened up quickly as if he had been shocked.

[You’ve done it! You’ve really managed to obtain your Balance Breaker!] Ddraig shouted, excited enough to say it aloud instead of only to Issei. 

The gem on Issei’s gauntlet shone with a brilliant red light.

A red aura surrounded Issei.

It blew away the mist, leaves and the debris left from my fight with Kuroka. 

“Balance Breaker! [Boosted Gear Scale Mail]!” Issei shouted as red armor formed around him

The power radiating off of him spiked, causing a small crater to form around him. 

“This is the power I have achieved from poking my master's breasts!” He shouted after the armor fully formed.

I had moved back over to Rias and Koneko by that point.

I gave Rias a look.

“This is entirely your fault.”

“W-what are you talking about?” She asked, still red and flustered.

“Issei-san’s a perverted idiot and I don't think that will ever change, but you’re enabling him to act this way. So I’m blaming you.”

Rias opened and closed her mouth, but didn’t seem to be able to reply.

I turned to watch Issei again.

Koneko-chan spoke in the flattest voice I had ever heard from her.

“…Issei-senpai is the worst.”

I nodded.

Issei turned towards her.

“You’re a lewd Sekiryuutei….” She muttered.

Issei slouched slightly before turning towards Kuroka and Biko.

He started to talk to Ddraig again, but I could only hear his side of the conversation.

Koneko came up to me then.

“Are you alright, Yuki-senpai?” She asked as she started to check on my injuries.

“I’ll be fine. Most of my injuries are superficial. I'm lucky that your sister seemed much more interested in playing around than actually fighting me. She is as strong as you said, and if she had taken the fight seriously, I don’t think I would have lasted nearly as long as I did.” I replied.

“…I’m just glad you're alright. I’ll see what I can do right now to heal you.”

Koneko placed her hands on my side and began to move her Ki over me.

I let out a small hiss of pain before relaxing as she slowly healed the damage.

“I’m sorry Yuki, Koneko,” Rias said as she bowed to us.

She had fixed her dress and looked far more composed now.

Her ears were still slightly red though, probably due to the fact that everyone here had seen her breasts and what Issei did.

“For exposing yourself to us?” I asked in a dull tone.

“N-No! I’m sorry for manipulating you like that when you entered your ability Yuki, and I’m sorry for involving you in it Koneko. I won’t do it again.” She said seriously.

I sighed.

“I understand parts of why you did it Buchou, but I do not appreciate being treated as a weapon to be pointed at someone. As long as you understand that and won’t do it again, then we are fine.”

“Of course. Thank you Yuki.” Rias said before turning to Koneko.

“…. don’t do it again.” She murmured.

Rias nodded. 

“...I mean it. Don’t treat Yuki-senpai like a tool.” Koneko said with more heat in her voice.

“I won’t. I promise.”

“Well, now that Ise has his Balance Breaker, we should be able to fight Kuroka and Biko off. The three of us can join him and Tannin and—“

Rias was cut off as Issei fired a huge demonic power bullet at Kuroka and Biko.

It missed and when it landed in the distance there was a deafening explosion and the clearing shook from the shockwave.

“….I think Issei-senpai has it handled, Buchou.”

Rias stared with her mouth agape and I simply nodded in agreement with Koneko.