Chapter 206 — Cashing In A Reward

Yuki

“And Buchou is dealing with all of this now, as our [King],” Issei murmured.

He looked at the rest of us and his gaze turned more determined.

“Guys, we need to resolve ourselves to help Buchou out more during our Rating Games!”

“You mean be more resolved to abandon our comrades if we need to, right?” Yuuto asked.

Issei nodded.

“L-Let’s help Buchou w-win!” Gasper-kun said with a mouth full of food.

“It will be difficult to stomach abandoning someone if there is a chance to save them,” Xenovia said. 

“You’re right, but a Rating Game isn’t a normal fight. In a real battle, we would do everything we could to ensure that everyone survives,” I said,” In a Rating Game, only Buchou matters. Anyone lost will still be fine afterwards, but if Buchou goes down, we lose.”

“Exactly!” Issei said with a grin. “So let’s fight our hardest for Buchou, and if we fall, we should do so with a smile on our face. If we can make things easier on Buchou, it will allow her to focus on leading us to the best of her ability.”

“You say that now Ise, but what about when you face female opponents?” Azazel-sensei asked. “Your Dress Break and Pailingual are known to many already, and people are aware of your lecherous nature. That’s something that can be used against you. If a half-naked woman appeared in front of you, what would you do?”

“My eyes would be all over them!” Issei immediately replied.

Azazel-sevsei sighed and put a hand over his face.

“It’s useless. This kid will definitely lose against anyone with a halfway decent strategy.”

“You do know that you have been encouraging that behavior from him, right?” I asked.

“That's beside the point,” Azazel-sensei said, waving me off.

I shook my head and finished my onigiri. 

I stood and looked at Yuuto.

“Yuuto-san, would you like to spar when you’re done eating?”

“Sure, I’m pretty much done. We can have a match and then Ise-kun and Xenovia can have one,” she replied.

“Before you go, I have one more thing for you guys,” Azazel-sensei said.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out four items.

He tossed one to Yuuto and then handed the last two to Issei. 

I held up what he had tossed me and realized it was a small figure of my character, Darkness Witch Talon.

It was standing in a pose like it was firing a spell and there was a magic circle in one of its hands with a clear lightning bolt attached to it

I glanced at Yuuto and saw she had a figure of her character, Darkness Knight Fang.

Issei was holding figures of the Oppai Dragon and Switch Princess. 

“It was decided that the Oppai Dragon show would partner with an Underworld fast food chain and give these toys out with each kid meal. Each toy does something and says lines from the show. Yuuto’s toy’s sword lights up, Yuki’s toy’s magic circle lights up, and your toy’s booster lights up, Ise,” Azazel-sensei said

I inspected the toy and found a button on its back.

After I pressed it the toy let out an evil-sounding chuckle and the lightning bolt extending from its hand lit up.

At least there wasn’t anything strange about it.

“But what about Buchou’s?” Issei asked

Azazel-sensei grinned widely.

“Rias’s toy is a bit different, you see, to get it to do its gimmick you have to push on its chest.”

Issei looked from him to the toy.

He hesitantly pressed the toy’s breast with a finger.

The toy let out a strange cry.

Issei quickly looked at Azazel-sensei.

“This is amazing! It will definitely be a hit!”

“Right? Even Sirches was impressed by it! I’m enjoying the things I get to come up with for your tokusatsu show!”

Azazel-sensei grinned at each other.

“Can we go spar now? I asked. 

Azazel-sensei’s face turned serious at my question.

“Not yet. I’ve got something to ask of you and Ise.”

He turned to Xenovia, Yuuto, and Gasper-kun.

“Why don’t the three of you start a spar without these two? I need them for a minute.”

“Sure thing, sensei,” Yuuto said. “Let’s go to Xenovia. Gasper-kun, you can be the referee again.”

“R-Right!” Gasper-kun called out as he followed after Yuuto and Xenovia.

After the three of them were a decent distance away, Azazel-sensei spoke again. 

“I want the two of you to look out for Akeno. You two probably understand that Akeno hates Barakiel. And with him around she won’t listen to me either. So I’d like the two of you to watch over her.”

“Of course,” Issei replied. “But I don’t fully understand the situation with Akeno-san and Baraqiel-san.”

“I understand most of it from Akeno’s side, but why do you want us to look after her? More specifically, why me?”

“Akeno cares about the two of you in a different way than the rest of Rias’s peerage,” Azazel-sensei replied casually.

That made me frown.

What Azazel-senpai meant by Akeno caring for Issei made sense to me.

But I wasn’t wholly sure what that meant with her regarding me.

Was it only her interest in teasing me and pushing my buttons, or was it more?

Azazel-sensei continued as I mulled it over.

“Regarding the whole story, I’m not the person to ask. As the Governor of the Fallen Angels, if you hear it from me, it will sound biased towards Fallen Angels. If you hear it from Akeno, like I suspect Yuki did, you’ll hear the story warped by hatred and pain. The people to hear it from are Sirzechs or Grayfia. That would be the least unbiased version.”

I stiffed slightly at the mention of his name, but forced myself to take a breath.

“I think that hearing it from Akeno-san is enough for me,” I said.

I trusted Akeno more than anyone outside of our peerage.

And just because Sirzechs-sama was apparently trying to make amends didn’t mean I would be seeking him out to talk.

Azazel-sensei raised his eyebrow at me.

“Even if her version isn’t correct? If it will only keep her apart from her father?”

I nodded.

“If Akeno-san doesn’t want anything to do with her father, and he hasn’t given her a good reason that she should, then I’ll support her. If she chooses to accept him, and he deserves it, I’ll support her then as well. But until I see a reason that Baraqiel-san should be let back into her life, I’ll only see it from Akeno-san’s point of view.”

Azazel-sensei frowned.

“It was my fault that Baraqiel wasn’t there when he needed to be.”

Issei looked back and forth between us with a look of confusion.

“And he is only now trying to reach out to his daughter after years without contact,” I replied plainly. “Even if he isn’t to blame, as Akeno-san says, he still failed her as a father.”

Azazel-sensei watched me for a moment, and I stared back unblinking.

He sighed and shook his head.

“Just please look out for her. There is a part of Akeno that is emotionally weak. I’m sure the two of you have noticed it by now after living with her for a while. She portrays herself as a cool and elegant onee-sama but she hides herself behind that mask. And I’ve noticed that it slips more around the two of you. So if she shows that side again, I’d like you to do something about it when that happens.”

I narrowed my eyes at him after he finished speaking.

“What does ‘do something about it’ mean?” Issei murmured. 

Azazel-sensei grinned at him.

“It will test your ability as a man, Ise. Or as a woman in Yuki’s case… maybe. Either way, you’ll figure it out.”

I gave him an annoyed look.

I understood that Azazel-sensei was trying to help Baraqiel-san and Akeno reconnect, but I wasn’t happy that he was trying to have us help.

“The last thing I wanted to talk about is Juggernaut Drive,” Azazel-sensei said. 

“Don’t worry sensei, I won’t use it. I know that if I did it would kill me,” Issei said.

“Good, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about. I’m thinking of looking at the power of the Sekiryuutei from a different perspective.”

“What do you mean, sensei?” I asked.

“The reason that your mind was affected while you were in Juggernaut Drive was because of the thoughts and negative feelings of the previous users of the [Boost Gear],” Azazel-sensei said. “Those thoughts and feelings were trapped within the [Boosted Gear] as each previous user died and left portions of their pain, grief, and grudges behind. They’ve formed a curse that will let the previous users control you to cause you to rampage as the Sacred Gear drains away your life force.”

“I detected the curse when he used the ability, but it is too old and powerful for me to do anything about,” I said.

“I really don’t know that much about my Sacred Gear…” Issei muttered.

“From the accounts I’ve read, those close to the Sekiryuutei have had unfortunate ends due to the curse and the intense negative feelings around it. But if you manage to eliminate that curse, you may be able to attain a new power that rivals Juggernaut Drive without trimming down your life force,” Azazel-sensei said. “And there are two ways we can go about removing the curse. The first,” Azazel-sensei said, holding up a finger. “Is to have you, Ise, enter the consciousness of the Sacred Gear and try to get the wills of the previous users to release their negative feelings.”

“So there are parts of the previous users still in my Sacred Gear, and I’d have to figure out how to put them to rest in order to create a safe version of Juggernaut Drive?” Issei asked, looking concerned. “W-What is the second option?”

“Ddraig can help you with the first method, so don’t sound so nervous.” Azazel-sensei, said, then held up a second finger. “The second option is for Yuki to work to remove the curse externally.”

I thought for a moment.

The curse I detected while Issei was in that dragonioid form while he rampaged was powerful.

I could tell that it was something far above my current capabilities to easily deal with.

But I may be able to help at least.

“I don’t think that I can remove the curse on my own,” I said. “But, I can slowly work to remove it from the [Boosted Gear]. Similar to how Koenko-chan will slowly work to heal your life force. We can use both options to remove the curse from Issei-san’s Sacred Gear.”

“That’s great! So you’ll weaken it and I’ll try to put them to rest,” Issei said with a smile.

Then he paused and glanced at me. 

“D-Does that mean you’ll need to wear a special outfit and do something to me like Akeno-San does with dispersince the energy in my Dragon hand, or Koneko-chan does with her Ki healing?”

“No,” I said and watched him sag in disappointment. “I’ll just need access to the gem on your gauntlet. And if you're going to be like that, I can handle your energy dispersion treatments as well.”

“No! The way Akeno-San and Buchou do it is amazing! Yours just hurts!”

“Then don’t push your luck.”

Azazel-sensei chuckled. 

“That sounds like a plan. Ise, I believe in your chances. Every past Sekiryuutei was devoured by their own power. Your talent is the lowest of any Sekiryuutei, but your growth has been the most interesting. You’ve achieved Balance Breaker and broke out of a vessel state due to oppai. I think you can get used to your power and continue to grow in your own way. And with Yuki helping you, you’ll be able to overcome the curse in your Sacred Gear.”

I didn’t appreciate Azazel-sensei mentioning how Issei used breasts to grow and then saying I’d help him.

I still would help, but I didn’t like how his pep talk sounded.

I would need to observe the curse more closely, and after that, I would be able to come up with a plan of how to approach it.

“Come on, Yuki-san. I’m ready to have another spar!” Issei said before rushing off to join the others.

“Thank you, for helping him,” Azazel-sensei said as I moved to follow after him.

I nodded and he turned and left.

_______________________________

Later that evening, Xenovia and I walked into the living room in time to relax a bit before dinner.

After sparring had finished up, Yuuto, Xenovia, and I had bathed together.

Xenovia had held up her end of our bet and combed my tails for me as we soaked in the bath.

The three of us chatted about our spars and our next opponents for the young Devil Rating Games.

It had been relaxing.

And now, I was sitting next to Koneko on one of the couches in the living room as more people showed up before we had dinner.

Rias and Akeno were talking on the other couch.

Irina, Asia, and Xenovia sat by the coffee table, playing cards.

And Yuuto was sitting in an armchair quietly relaxing. 

We were still waiting on Gasper-kun and Issei before we could start dinner.

I watched Akeno talk to Rias.

She seemed back to her normal self right now, but I’m sure that if Barakiel-San or guarding Odin-sama were brought up she would immediately be on edge.

Akeno seemed to notice me watching her.

She glanced at me with a soft smile on her face before going back to her conversation with Rias as if nothing had happened.

Her typical smile and demeanor immediately switched back to her usual self as she spoke.

I frowned slightly as I was reminded of what Azazel-sensei had said, about how Akeno cared for Issei and me.

I knew that she liked to tease me and would let it get more physical in hopes that she could pull a reaction out of me, but that’s all I thought it was.

To me, it was just Akeno having fun.

Messing with someone and after finding an interesting reaction, seeing how far she could push it.

But Azazel-sensei seemed to have implied that it was something more than that.

Even if it was, it didn’t really matter.

She was interested in Issei, that’s all that mattered.

She would end up with him and hopefully be happy.

There wasn’t really a world where Akeno would be interested in me over him, and if she somehow was, it wouldn’t go anywhere.

“…What’s wrong, senpai?” Koneko asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

I looked away from Akeno and Rias and towards her.

“Nothing, just thinking about something that Azazel-sensei told me,” I replied. 

“…You looked upset. Was it something about Baraqiel-san?”

“Something like that. I’m probably just overthinking it honestly.”

Koneko stood from her seat beside me and then moved and sat herself sideways on my lap.

I instinctively moved my arms to hold her and I draped one of my tails over her lap.

I paused at how casual and normal the movements felt.

I was so used to Koneko sitting close to, or on me.

She had made herself a constant presence in my life since we had come back from the Underworld after the Sitri Rating Game.

“Is something else wrong, senpai?” She asked

I watched her for a moment before shaking my head.

“No. There’s just a lot on my mind right now.”

“…If you want to talk about it, I’m always here for you, senpai.”

“Thank you, Koneko-chan,” I said as I moved a hand to rub her ears.

She immediately leaned into me and let out a quiet rumbling sound from her chest.

“Nyan~” She murmured.

I couldn’t help but smile at her.

“Hey! I thought no one was allowed to touch your kitty ears, Koneko-chan!” Asia shouted while pointing at us.

She stood from her seat and was scowling while puffing out her cheeks in anger.

It looked more adorable than intimidating.

“…Everyone but Yuki-senpai, nyan,” Koneko replied as I continued to pet her head.

“That’s not fair! I want to pet her too!” Asia pouted.

“Koneko-chan and Yuki-san have always been close, Asia-san, so don’t feel bad. Maybe eventually, she’ll let you pet her too,” Yuuto said.

Koneko glanced at Asia.

“…Maybe.”

Asia sat back down by the coffee table with a defeated look on her face.

“Ara, and they sleep in the same room as well. I wonder if there is any other ‘petting’ going on in Yuki-chan’s room as well,” Akeno said.

I frowned at her as she grinned at us.

“And while I hate to break up the two of you being cute together, I think that it’s time for me to cash in my reward,” Akeno said as she walked up to me.

“Reward? Like Ise-kun taking Akeno-san on a date?” Irina asked.

“Exactly, Irina-chan,” Akeno replied. “But instead of a date Yuki-chan offered to let me sleep in her room with her. So tonight, Yuki-chan and I are going to be enjoying some quality time alone between the sheets.”

Irina blushed as she looked between the two of us.

Yuuto chuckled.

Xenovia watched us curiously. 

And Koenko glared at Akeno, but didn’t object to her request.

I let out a sigh.

“Fine, but it’s only sleeping in the same bed. That’s all.”

“Of course, Yuki-chan. Unless you change your mind later,” Akeno said before turning to walk back to her seat.

I watched her go as I realized that it was likely going to be a stressful night.