Chapter 70 — The Witch in the Hallway

Kusari

I had decided Xenovia should not be allowed to carry anything smaller than a textbook without supervision.

Maybe anything larger too.

Rumors must have already spread about what she did in our class because I was getting more looks than usual.

I had yet another rumor floating around about me related to Issei. 

I didn’t particularly mind rumors being spread about me, as long as it didn’t cause me to be bothered by strangers more than before.

I didn’t quite understand how the rumor mill worked here in the Human World, or more specifically at Kuoh Academy.

I understood exactly how rumors worked and were used in the Underworld.

They were tools.

Information against an opponent.

Leverage against a friend.

They were dirty truths and convienient lies that were gathered by agents and servants alike.

They were something that could be sold and bought to ruin the right person.

Here they were entertainment.

Yes, sometimes they were used maliciously to ruin someone.

But most of the time they were simply snippets of conversations or stories of events that people told their friends for fun.

They were talked and joked about and then forgotten when the next entertaining thing happened.

It was a strange change of pace and one I didn’t wxactly know how to adjust to fully.

That was part of what made normal school life tiring.

The little things that I was still figuring out. 

That and anything to do with Issei.

He must have left the classroom the moment the bell rang since he left without waiting for Asia.

I could hardly blame him with how much he was being hounded by the student in our class over the statue of Rias he had made. 

I had wound up only realizing it was lunch time due to Asia and Kiryuu-san coming to get me from my desk.

By the time I left the class room they were already out of sight.

The hallway outside was crowded with visitors and students and teachers all pretending this was a normal school day.

The classroom visit day made Kuoh feel cramped and congested.

Parents moved with their children or wandered aimlessly.

Middle school students stared at the classrooms and the high school students attending the school.

By the time I reached the vending machines, Issei and Asia had already found Rias and Akeno.

There was no sign of Kiryuu-san or Xenovia-san.

Rias was holding the statue.

She seemed as impressed as the rest of our class had been and very pleased that Issei had modeled a figure of her.

It was very detailed.

Far too detailed.

Akeno was enjoying herself.

That much was obvious even before she spoke.

“Ara, ara. You really have seen a lot of Buchou’s body haven’t you Ise-kun? Or is it from her letting you touch her?”

Asia reacted immediately. “D-Don’t say that!”

Rias, only half a heartbeat behind her, added, “Akeno.”

Her tone was not truly angry.

A little embarrassed. A little warning. More exasperated than anything else.

Akeno only smiled wider.

“Maybe Ise-kun should make one of me? But I’d have to let him see and touch my body. I guess I’ll have to let him. What do you think, Kusari-chan?”

Akeno grinned at me, clearly enjoying how flustered Issei was getting and how annoyed Rias was as well.

Her smile became a bit softer when she looked at me.

She was still trying to tell me everything was fine.

I searched her face for anything that would tell me that something was wrong for a moment before responding.

“I’ve already had enough of Issei-san’s antics for today. You’re more than free to him and Rias-Buchou on your own.”

Akeno’s grin grew at my response.

“Ara, that’s no fun Kusari-chan. But I guess that means Ise-kun will have to focus only on me then. What do you think, Ise-kun? Does that sound alright to you?”

He nervously glanced between each of us.

“Ah, w-well, I don’t know Akeno-san…”

That should have been the whole scene: Akeno teasing, Asia flustering, Issei collapsing, Rias acting annoyed while secretly pleased he had sculpted her body from memory that precisely.

Instead, Rias looked at me.

It was that look again.

The one that had started after the pool.

Bright at the edges. A little too focused.

Almost the same look she used when Akeno pushed too deliberately at Issei in front of her.

Something faintly competitive and faintly possessive under all the rest.

I did not understand why she kept turning it on me.

I had my suspicions.

I disliked all of them.

Before I could spend too long on it, Yuuto joined us, and the moment shifted into something more ordinary.

She took in the statue, Issei’s expression, Asia’s distress, Rias’s possessive annoyance, and Akeno’s amusement in one glance and somehow still managed to look composed.

“Should I ask,” she said mildly, “or would I regret knowing?”

“Definitely regret,” I said.

Yuuto’s mouth moved very slightly.

There was a brief run of conversation after that. 

Akeno continued to tease, Rias tried to look stern while the statue was still in her hands, Issei wavering between embarrassment, shame, and pride, Asia did her best to save him from both Rias and Akeno.

Yuuto and I stood to the side and quietly watched their noise.

Finally Issei asked a question that made me go still. 

“So Buchou, did your bother really come today?” He asked Rias.

She sighed and sent me a short glance, probably realizing how I would react to the topic.

“Sadly, yes. Both he and my father came today.”

Issei noticed the awkward and slightly tense atmosphere his question created shifted the topic quickly.

“Ah, well…. Yuuto-san did you come to get something to drink from the vending machines?”

“No actually, I heard that there was someone dressed in cosplay taking photos with people so I thought I’d see what it was about. I just happened to run into you here.”

Then the noise farther down the corridor began to intrude on all of it.

Camera shutters.

Male voices.

A cluster of attention dense enough to draw even our group toward it.

Yuuto was the first to identify the source. “That must be the ‘witch’ doing the photography event.”

Everyone seemed at least slightly interested.

That was enough to redirect all of us.

The corridor ahead was crowded enough that it took effort to see over the shoulders of the gathered students and visitors.

By the time we reached the edge of the group, enough of the scene had come into view that even Issei stopped thinking about Rias’s statue.

A girl in a magical-girl costume stood in the middle of the hall, posing with complete confidence while cameras flashed around her.

The outfit was obviously designed for fanservice with how tight it was on her body.

It was made to catch the eye from every angle, and she wore it with the ease of someone who had never once doubted she deserved to be looked at.

She was beautiful.

More than that, she was practiced.

A normal human girl in a costume should have had some stiffness somewhere in the shoulders, the legs, the staging of the body.

This one did not.

Every tilt and turn was too natural, too fluid, too intentionally polished.

Then I looked at Rias.

Her expression had changed completely.

Whatever strange, competitive edge and curiosity at the rumors of a ‘witch’ taking photos at our school in her gaze before was gone now.

She was staring ahead in genuine disbelief and recognition.

That told me more than anything else.

Saji-san arrived next like a man charging toward his own doom.

“Alright! All of you will need to disperse! Stop taking photos and get out of here!” He shouted, trying to clear away the crowd.

A few other members of the student council showed up and helped him clear out the crowd.

The crowd scattered under student-council members annoyed gazes soon after that, leaving behind only our group, Saji-san’s group, and the girl herself.

He then turned to the girl dressed in the costume.

“And you! Why are you wearing something like that at this school? You’re not a student, so if you’re one of the parents then you’ll need to change into something more appropriate.”

“But I can't change clothes! This is my uniform☆,” the girl replied brightly.

She struck a few poses at the confused and irritated Saji-san.

The hair on my neck stood up.

This wasn’t some random woman cosplaying as a magical girl at their child’s school.

She was definitely much more than that.

I could not feel her clearly yet.

I wasn’t confident that I would be able to look at her with my Veil Sight without being noticed.

Someone who could hide themselves that cleanly in a school hallway while dressed like that was not someone I wanted to underestimate.

Then Saji-san finally noticed our group.

“Ah, Rias-senpai. I was just guiding Maou-sama and your father. They’re right behind me.”

The air shifted.

Sona-san arrived.

Then Sirzechs-sama.

Then Rias’s father.

And the instant Sirzechs-sama stepped into view, my body betrayed me.

It happened fast.

Too fast.

My shoulders aligned.

My breathing changed.

My gaze dipped slightly.

The easy little looseness I had managed to build up over the last few days vanished in a single pulse.

My expression flattened before I could think about fixing it. 

Every part of me wanted to become smaller, cleaner, less likely to invite notice.

The older habits returned so quickly it made me feel ill.

I knew that the reaction wasn’t necessary at the point.

Sirzechs-sama likely did not care how presentable or small I made myself in his presence.

But I did it on reflex.

It had been trained into me to the point that I would likely never break the habit of reacting this way near him.

I would always think of the rank and danger of those above me, and what might happen if I stood wrong, spoke wrong, or attracted too much attention.

Rias noticed.

So did Issei and Akeno. 

Rias’s gaze cooled slightly the second she saw what Sirzechs-sama’s presence did to me.

Whatever sharp, jealous thing had lived in it before broke apart immediately into something alarm first, then a tightly controlled concern that she hid as quickly as she could in front of everyone else.

Issei was more obvious with the concerned glance he sent at me before returning his attention to Sirzechs-sama and the others.

Akeno was much more subtle. Her smile shrank slightly before aiming back with more of an edge to it.

She looked like she was thinking of multiple ways she could make Sirzechs-sama regret arriving in front of us.

And because I saw that they had all noticed my reaction immediately I felt more exposed in a way I hated.

Even if they were my friends and the closest people to me I didn’t want them to notice this.

Then the costumed girl moved.

Or rather, launched herself.

“Sona-chan!! There you are☆,” 

She clung to Sona-san with impossible enthusiasm, calling her by a childish nickname and making Sona look exactly as resigned as a person could be while being publicly attacked by affection.

Rias explained for our benefit in a voice that sounded almost normal again.

“That is Serafall Leviathan-sama. One of the Four Maou and Sona’s Onee-sama. And yes she dresses like this quite a lot.”

Issei made a loud, confused noise.

As if he could not comprehend that not only was the strict and serious Sona-Kaichou’s sister dressed in a magical girl cosplay, but she was also a Maou in magical girl cosplay. 

That, more than anything else, made the scene feel absurd enough that I could almost breathe again.

Serafall Leviathan smiled brightly at his reaction.

Then she looked at Rias and the rest of us.

Her eyes stopped on me

Only for a second the first time.

Then back again.

Longer.

The expression did not leave her face.

Something underneath it changed.

Recognition.

Her gaze lingered just a fraction too long.

I was a somewhat known figure in small circles of the underworld.

Either she may have recognized me from the rumors of me in peerages and the number I had been a part of.

Or it was older rumors. 

The ones from when I first became a Devil and what my first [King] had done to my village afterwards. 

That was more than I was ready to explain right now.

It would be much easier if she only knew what Sirzechs-sama had told Rias and the others about me. 

I lowered my eyes slightly, carefully.

Respectful enough to be impossible to fault.

Not submissive. Not challenging either.

I knew the look she gave me.

She knew something.

But not enough to say anything with certainty.

But enough to remember later.

I disliked that immediately.

Sirzechs-sama, of course, ignored the interaction entirely.

“Ah, Serafall. I shouldn’t be surprised to see you here considering your precious Sona-chan is here too.”

There were half of the four Maous present and they were spending their time visiting a high school to see their sisters.

It was both ridiculous and concerning that half the leaders of the Devils were doing something so mundane.

Sona endured her sisters affection.

Sirzechs looked amused in that easy, impossible way of his.

Serafall sparkled while crushing her sister with a hug.

Then Rias spoke up.

“Serafall-sama, it’s been too long.”

“Ara, Rias-chan☆. Long time no see~☆. How has my Sona-chan’s best friend been?”

Rias looked slightly flustered by how Serafall-sama was staying in her magical girl character.

“W-Well I’ve been good. Thank you for asking. So you came for Sona’s class visit as well then?

“Yeah☆! But Sona-chan was really mean about it! She didn’t tell me about today at all! I was so shocked that this Onee-chan almost attacked Heaven☆.”

There was a pause as we all stared at her after that ridiculous comment.

Then Rias decided to change the subject quickly.

“Ise, introduce yourself.”

“Ah, yes! I am Hyoudou Issei and a pawn of Rias Gremory. It’s a pleasure to meet you Maou-sama.”

“Nice to meet you Hyoudou-kun☆. I am the Maou Serafall Leviathan. But just call me Levia-tan☆.” Serafall-sama answered before turning to Sirzechs-sama

“Hey, Sirzechs-chan. This boy is the rumoured Dragon-kun, right?”

“Yes, he’s the current Sekiryuuti, Hyoudou Issei-kun.” Sirzechs-sama replies.

She turned to Rias’s father next.

“Well hello Uncle Gremory.”

“Yes, Serafall-dono. This is another… interesting outfit you have on. Don’t you think it’s a bit… off for a Maou to wear?”

“Ara, uncle☆. Did Rias-chan not tell you? This outfit is actually quite popular in this country, you know?”

“Oh, I didn’t know. It seems that I was unaware of Japanese fashions.”

“Hahaha, Otou-ue, don’t believe Serafall so easily.”  Sirzechs-sama told him. 

And beside all of that, I stood very still and tried not to let my reaction show any more than it already had.

It was difficult.

Not because Sirzechs-sama was speaking to me directly this time.

Because the person holding my leash was in the same room as me again. 

Issei awkwardly rubbed the back of his head before speaking.

“Ummmm, Buchou…while she seems nice, Serafall-sama is…”

He looked like he wasn’t sure how much he should say.

Rias sighed.

“It hadn’t come up, so I didn’t want to mention it, but all four of the current Maou are all rather amicable in private.” She paused and glanced at her brother. “For the most part at least. But they also have…. strong personalities as well.”

I looked back over at one of the Maou.

“Sona-chan, what’s wrong? Your whole face has gone red. We haven’t seen each other in a while, can’t you act a little more happy about seeing me. You should be calling out to me excitedly, and then I would call back to you! And then, we would embrace in a Yuri way and show our love to each other!”

Sona-Kaichou looked like she wanted the school to collapse down on her.

“O-Onee-sama. I am going to completely ignore that last part, but I am the Student Council President at this school. It doesn’t matter if you’re my relatives, Onee-sama’s behaviour is too much. I especially can’t approve of that outfit.”

“No way, Sona-chan! Sona-chan doesn’t know that her onee-chan is admired as the Magical girl by the Underworld! With this uniform and my magic wand, I erase Angels and Fallen Angels ☆.”

“Onee-sama, you can’t be serious. If my onee-sama, the Maou, were to fight Angels, and Fallen Angels then the country would be destroyed many times over.”

Besides their concerning topic of conversation the two of them seemed to get along well enough.

Sona-san appeared to be embarrassed by her older sister’s affection and attention, and Serafall-sama seemed to hold deep affection for her little sister.

Perhaps too deep of affection.

Suddenly Sona-Kaichou cried out.

“Uuh, I can’t bear it!”

She looked close to tears from embarrassment as she rushed away.

“Wait, Sona-chan! Why are you leaving your Onee-chan behind!?”

Serafall-sama ran after her.

“Please don’t follow me!”

“Noooooo! You can’t abandon your Onee-chan! So-taaan!”

Serafall-fall disappeared around a corner while shouting. 

“I have asked you so many times not to add ‘tan’!”

I could only faintly hear Sona-Kaichou chastising her sister as she ran.

Then Sirzechs-sama spoke.

“Serafall and Sona-chan are quiet close aren’t they Ria-tan?”

She quickly turned to him.

“Onion-sama, do not call me that. Please.”

Sirzechs-sama simply smiled wider at her words.

“No way, Ria-tan. I still remember how you used to follow me everywhere calling out ‘Onii-sama, Onii-sama!’ Are you at the age where you want to avoid family now?”

Rias pouted slightly.

“Geez, Onii-sama! I’m not a child anymore. Can’t you remember that?”

There was a flash of light as Rias’s Otou-sama took a photo of her pouting.

“Thats a great photo, Rias. I’m glad I’m able to see you still bickering with your brother. Your mother wished she could be here so I’ll have to take enough photos so that she will be satisfied.” He said..

“Otou-sama! Geez!”

It was strange watching Rias interact with her family in a normal manner.

It was more strange to see Sirzechs-sama pouting at the fact that his little sister wouldn’t let him use pet names for her.

Then Issei’s parents arrived.

“Oh, hi there, Asia and Ise!”

“O-Otou-san.”

“Hello Otou-san, Okaa-san!”

Issei and Asia greeted them with visibly different levels of enthusiasm. 

“Hyoudou Issei-kun, are those people your parents?” Rias’s father asked

“Y-Yes, they’re my parents.”

“I see.”

Rias’s father moved to stand in front of Issei’s parents.

“Nice to meet you. I am Rias’s father.”

He extended a hand to the now nervous looking Hyoudous. 

“Y-you are, I uh, thank you! Ah, um, I meant, I am Hyoudou Issei’s father! It’s been a pleasure to welcome Rias into our home!”

Issei’s father sounded like he was reporting to an angry manager.

“ Thank you for taking care of Rias. I thought to come greet you, but Sirzechs and I were busy with work, so I wasn’t able to find an opportunity to do so. It seems this occasion was blessed by good luck. It’s an honour to meet you today.”

“”I-it’s wonderful to finally meet you. My husband and I have been looking forward to greeting you properly.”

“Yes, well I would to talk at a more quiet place. This place is a bit conspicuous. Above all, our children are embarrassed, right?”

Rias’s father gestured to Yuuto. 

“Kiba-chan.”

“Yes.”

“Sorry, but could you lead us to a more quiet place?”

“Of course. Please follow me.”

Yuuto bowed to the group and prepared to lead the do parents away.

“Well then Rias, Hyoudou Issei-kun. I’ll come back after talking to the the Hyoudous for a bit. Sirzechs, can I leave the rest to you?”

“Yes, Otou-ue.”

Issei’s parents and Rias’s father were led away by Yuuto. 

““Rias.” Sirzechs-sama said. 

“What is it, Onii-sama?”

“There’s a few things I would like to talk t you about. Sorry Ise-kun, Asia-chan, and Lusari-chan, but I’ll be stealing my little sister for a while. Akeno-chan would you come with us?.”

“Yes.” Akeno answered.

The three of them turned and left.

Issei, Asia, and I were left alone in the hall.

With Sirzechs-sama gone I could finally breathe.

Sirzechs had not spoken to m until I was mentioned before he left.

And I had still reacted the same way I had every time he was in the same room as me.

“We should probably head back  to our class?” Issei said.

“Yes.” Asia replied.

I nodded in response, still watching the hallway Sirzechs-sama, Akeno, and Rias had disappeared down.

I was being noticed by too many powerful people.

Sirzechs-sama had allowed me to stay near his sister but there were stipulations.

I was constantly watched, had orders that none of the peerage knew of, and had been threatened into silence

Now Serafall Leviathan was looking at me as if I was a familiar rumor she had heard of once.

I was worried which rumor it was, or if it was one of the stories of my past.

It shouldn’t change anything with my understanding with Sirzechs-sama.

But it may open up old wounds that I wasn’t sure how to face.