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| - "..." "...?" "Yep. I know." "Wait, you know?" "Kah, kah. If we're sharing secrets, then I'll tell you mine. It won't change a thing if I end up in the futon, so better say that once and for all." I said, also crossing my arms and smiling devilishly, as she backed away a little. She's the heiress of the Aim clan of demons in the underworld, an extinct one at that, too. Kah, kah! She doesn't know half the problems she has to face now! "The truth is... My real name is not Amano Ryuusei. I'm actually Sorento Vortigern, from the noble Vortigern house, the same house that protected the King since the Arthurian eras!" "What...?" She said in shock. Of course she would be shocked! "But... I never heard of that name before! I don't even think the current Arthurian order knows about it." "It's because... My clan was exterminated a few centuries ago. Because of a lie and the fear from our dragonic powers and dragon tamer abilities, the wicked Devils accused us of betrayal against the King, making us be hunted down, one by one. My father, a magician from that clan, sent me and my sister to a normal family in order to protect us, but they found us, and burned down our house and family, taking her with them. If it wasn't for my old man Dangar, my uncle from my mother's side, I would've been killed. Since then, I've training and training under my Uncle Dangar's tutelage, vowing to one day to find my sister... And clean the name of my clan." "..." "...?" "Huh... Interesting." She said, in a rather bored tone now. Hey, what gives?! I just shared my heart with her! How can she be so insensitive! Typical of a devil, indeed! Instead, she came closer, on her all-four, and sniffed my face with a straight face. I was taken back a little, and she just sighed. "Huuuuh~, your scent is unremarkable, and I don't feel any greater presence from you. I wonder if you're lying to me?" "Kah, kah. Maybe my powers are so strong, miserable Devils like yourself can't feel my presence, like a two-dimensional being that can't understand or feel a three-dimensional being." I said with a hint of pride in my voice, and totally not staring at her exposed cleavage that my view was handing to me. No sir. She sighed and pulled herself back on her seat, crossing her arms and putting herself in a lotus position. Everything is going so fast in this place, I'm surprised that Neither of us is circling around in confusion. Maybe it's my dragon heritage and her position as a devil. "But don't worry, I've decided that I'm not going to kill you. I was going to chase after Rias Gremory, another one I assume is a devil, but maybe you, who has the same objectives as me, can work just as fine." "Ah, Gremory-dono, right? Yes, she's a devil, of high-class at that too. The Gremory clan is one of the most powerful clans in the demon world. How I envy them~." So I was right. miss Rias Gremory is a devil, a high-ranked one at that too! Like always, my nose was right. She made a faint smile and puffed her chest up. "So... Do you want a partnership? You and me, kiddo. Buddies, the heiress of the extinct clan and the sole survivor of the dragon family, together. That indeed would be quite an exquisite Romantic story for us." "Indeed, that would be a once-in-a-lifetime Romance. Even with my hate for Devils, I guess we can work together. Kah, kah." I laughed due to the absurdness and irony of the situation. Me, the one who lost all thanks to the Devils, working now with one? I wonder what my father and grandfather would think if there were still alive. Whatever, the more allies I get, the more plausible my chances of finding my sister will be, since that, in twelve years of training and search, I got nothing. I shrugged with a grin, and extended a hand for her. "Very well, Lunamaria Aim, of the Aim clan of the 72 pillars, I accept your condition to work with me. I hope we can be useful and assist one another in our quest to fulfill our objectives." "..." "..." "..." "Sigh. Let's help each other and reach our dreams together." I sighed to her inability to understand proper and composite language, as she gave an exclamation in realization, and I wondered about her true identity. I wonder if she's just a chunni with that kind of imagination. But her wings are real, as I can attest by touch. In the end, we shook hands, and shared a smile with each other. "So... Are we girlfriend and boyfriend?" She asked, an innocent tone on her voice yet a small blush tinting her cheeks. I laughed at a thought. "Don't be foolish, Lunamaria Aim. We're just workin together to a common goal. We don't need those frivolities or level of intimacy, we're just... Partners." Kah, kah. The boyfriend of a devil, what a disgrace I would bring to my family and lineage. What I admit is that Lunamaria Aim is indeed a gorgeous young woman. Her tomboyish charm giving the best air about her, but even so, I mustn't give in. Devils were suppose to have attractive bodies in order to lure weak-hearted humans into their grasp. However, that won't work on me, I've already trained to counter this kind of thing. She might seem a little sad about it, but only because I escaped her hands for a nail. Huh, still, it kinda bothers me how disappointed she looks. "But we can pretend we're just these. I won't be too bad, after all." "Yay. My first boyfriend. That should be fun." I sighed a laugh to her antics. Now, I have a devil as a lover, that should be interesting. "Also... I don't mind you calling me Tsukihi-san. My parents says it fits me the best." "Eh, as you wish." And as such, since our little secret-Sharing and bonding time are over, we resumed our game of chess like nothing happened. I end up so concentrated that even forgot what we were talking about. In the end, after one more pawn gone, we settled the game in a draw, as there were only two kings on the board for each side. Huh, maybe I was underestimating her intelligence as a whole. However, it's already this late, and so we can't play again. In the end, we came to a single conclusion to deal with our draw... And so we laid together in Luna's bed, under the blanket against the cold spring night, facing the ceiling and saying nothing. Isn't that great? I finally got an ally in my quest to save my dear little sister. Even if she's a devil, in the end, we got a common goal, so for now, we must work together as a team. I'll deal with her as soon as we accomplish that. But again, having her as a lover maybe won't be too bad... After all, I'm already half-dragon... Nah. I'll probably kill her the moment we part ways. Yeah... ... ... Morning came to us through a sunlight coming from the half-opened window, but before I knew it best, I figured I was alone on the bed, with no signs of miss Lunamaria around. I yawned a little, scratched my eyes and came out of the bed, stretching myself for the new day that came earlier for me. It has been a while since I last slept in such comfortable bed. It even feels like I haven't slept for quite some time. "Lunam-... I mean, Tsukihi-san? Are you here?" I asked out loud, waiting for an answer. It came soon after as she slid the door open, wearing now her Kuoh academy uniform and stretching herself a little, smelling like flowers. Good shampoo, I guess. "There you are." "Yep, here I am. Don't you also want to take a bath? The water is warm on the right spot." She said to me, picking the towel around her neck to dry her face. I shrugged to that offer. "Heh, sorry, But I can only take baths back in my house, due to the high temperature off he water. I would freeze to death if I bath in anything else!" I proudly said, as her face changed to a semi-bored, semi-impressed. "Oh, okay. Let's go eat some breakfast, then." "Sounds lovely." She smiled back, picking the handle of her paper door to slide it open. However, what happened next surprised even me: by the other side of the door, there was an entire platoon of butlers and maids, all dressed-up appropriately and lined up in front of us. They all bowed and said 'good morning, milady' in unison, now taking their places by the wall to open some space through the corridor. Impressive, but somehow expected of a clan of Devils, even if they're extinct by now. I followed her by the corridor of servants, and soon enough, I reached another room a few meters away from the room. This time, it was a kitchen with the dining room, where a man and a woman were drinking and eating breakfast on a table. The man had spiky and wild blue hair with a furious cowlick on top of his head, fair skin with several scars on his manly face, wearing a pink suit that matched with his tsurime eyes. The woman, on the other hand, had long and wavy grey hair and orange soft eyes. She was wearing a black nurse outfit and serving coffee at the table, sitting there soon after to accompany the older male. Are they... Lunamaria's parents? "My, oh my. Look, darling. Our little Daughter brought a boy with her. Isn't that cute?" The female said with a soft, cutesy voice that could easily tame the wildest of beasts with just words, as I could feel myself soothing with it. The man, however, spoke in a laugh stronger than thunder, which made my instincts say he was dangerous, really dangerous. "Isn't that so? It seems that your lovely charms has been passed down to her! Hohohoh!" The man laughed as he pulled his wife in a embrace full of kisses. I dunno why, but I averted my eyes to that scene, as Tsukihi-san picked a buttered toast and her pack and kissed each one of them on the cheek. "Right, right. Mama, papa, I'll be going now with... Ryuusei-kun to school. See ya later." She said waving them a goodbye and passing beside me, leaving me alone with both. I can smell them from here, they're Devils as well, and by the strong scent from them, very powerful ones at that. The aura alone is making me uneasy for being outnumbered, not to mention the high number of servants they have, but I guess they also know about me, and if they try to attack us, we both lose. Instead, I picked my pack and was ready to take off. "So, I'll be also taking my leave." I said back, turning around and ready to take the first step away from them. The faster I get out of here, the better. "See you... Around, mr. And mrs. Tsukih-..." "Amano-kun...?" "Eh...?" But before I could even take the first step, that same soothing voice called for me. I instinctively turned around to answer that, but then, I silenced myself as that woman was just a few centimeters away from me! How... How can she be so fast?! It even scared me. I was ready to do whatever it would take to save myself, but in the end, she only handed me a pink lunchbox, and another blue one. "Our Matsuri-chan forgot her lunch. Since you're still here, maybe you can make us a favor and deliver that to her? Pretty please? Have a heart." She said, I noticing that her calm voice turned into something more malicious and cold, as I felt threatened. Gulping hard, I picked both of them. "Sure. Leave it to me. But... How about the other one?" "This one's for you, silly." And suddenly, the mood lifted to the normal breeze of the season of spring. It didn't stop me to feel uncomfortable. How powerful are they to be able to change with such ease? Maybe I'm not that prepared to face mature demons. With that in mind, I simply nodded and walked away from the room, following the line of butlers and maids to find the exit; where Tsukihi-san, or Lunamaria Aim, was waiting for me. "What take you so long?" She asked, walking beside me through the road to Kuoh. I said nothing, only handed her the pink lunchbox, which she gasped in realization. "Oh, what a fool I made of myself. I just forgot my lunchbox again." "Your mother even made one for me. She's much polite for a devil." I said, hanging the blue lunchbox out for her too see. "But she could also made it out of fear. I know I'm a dragon myself, but a spar between me and them would be... Messy." "Uh-huh, uh-huh. You're totally right, Ryuusei-kun." She said. Which reminds me... I never said my fake surname to her mother. Devils, they can even reach minds. Dangerous even when don't know better. I yawned a little more, and turned to her. "Say, Tsukihi-san, do you have any siblings?" I asked, out of curiosity, she already know I have at least a missing sister and all, but in order for us to continue our threat of trust and bond, maybe looking a little more into her background can help me either strengthen our bond or get rid of them if things get out of control. She turned to me. "I have... Two brothers. Older brothers who works under the Astaroth clan back in the underworld." She said nonchalantly, picking now another book from her pack, another one of those red-covered ones, and beginning her read on them, probably to ignore me. "They're okay in being servants, but we aren't. I'm just taking some... Rest here in the human world for us to plan our debut back in Demon society." "Kah, kah. Similar to myself. It's really funny when you think about it." I said with a grin and with my arms crossed, as she side-looked at me and we continued to walk to Kuoh. Coincidences, I don't actually believe them. Everything in this universe has a reason, and to discard that... Now that everything is falling on the right places, there's no way for me to deny any of this. Kah, kah. Life is funny, after all. "Now, now, that's something funny to think about it. People will also think we're a couple like that. Maybe destiny is what is at. I have the feeling we're gonna get along just fine." "Huh, but they say opposites attract." "I'm not a magnet, Tsukihi-san." "Fair point." And she laughed under her book. I think I blushed to that, maybe such disguise won't be so bad to get used to after all. And so we resumed our little walk. Birds were chirping, the sky was pure blue with some friendly clouds, people walking around ignorant of anything major that is walking just besides them. I even saw some of my classmates walking out of the school ground. Huh, how curious. Never thought president Shitori would allow such thing in her territory. However, things became clearer to me as we reached our destination and stopped at Kuoh's gates... They were closed... Oh, right. Weekend... Silly me... "Oh, I forgot. Weekend." I said with a sigh. "Oh, I forgot also. Weekend." She repeated after me, also sighing and putting her book back on her pack. Oh, great, now what? Oh wait, I forgot again. Weekend. Maybe I should call my adoptive parents and type that I'm okay. When I was about to do it, however, Tsukihi-san took a step and sniffed the air, walking towards the gate and hanging herself on it. "Wait. Ryuusei-kun... I smell... Something inside." "Something inside? Don't you mean the janitor? Or the staff of the school?" I asked her. I dunno why get so work up about something that's probably mundane. After all, besides me and Gremory, I doubt that there's something more in Kuoh, however, Tsukihi-san again proved me wrong as she turned to me and blinked once. "No... By this particular smell... I can definitely say... It's not a human or a devil... But a ghoul." "A ghoul... The flesh-eating zombies from Babylonic tales? Here, in Japan, and in Kuoh? Hardly Possible." I laughed it off. I mean, such kind of demon here, in Japan? In Kuoh? Hardly believable if you think about it. Unless it's one of those new breeds of demons, those new kinds of creatures that are increasingly growing by the pass of time, I doubt a genuine ghoul is lurking around Kuoh. As I daydreamed, Tsukihi-san had already unfold her wings to jump by the other side of the gates. "Hey! Tsukihi-san, what are you doing?" "I'm going to see that ghoul. It's smell is really strong, and it'll probably be hunt down by either Gremory or the pigeons. I'll take a look before that happens." She said, hanging herself now from the other side of the gate and looking at me with a smile. Huh, she's already betraying me even without a day of our recently forged alliance. I should just let her die by the hands of the said ghoul, but as a dragon, a man of words, descendant of the great Clan of the Vortigern, I can't let a princess like her go alone in such dark and eerie place. And so, gathering enough strength in my legs, I jumped and crossed the gates with the boost, landing by the other side of it a few steps further from Tsukihi-san. She wide her eyes in awe as she turned around. "Wow, that was impressive." "Child's play to someone like me." I proudly declared taking my way inside, her following me soon after. "Now, let's take a look at this ghoul..." "Huh~... Okay." She simply answered. Once inside of Kuoh once we broke the lock and passed the security system, that was none, we took our way to the third floor, diligently following her nose passing around the different classrooms and general doors. A ghoul, eh? Not many stories depicting them as the good guys, so I have to be careful to both protect myself and Tsukihi-san and avoid destroying the school as a whole. "By the way, Ryuusei-kun... Didn't you say that an appearance of a ghoul around this area was... Highly improbable? What's with that change of hearts?" She asked midway through. We didn't stop, but our pace diminished considerably after that. I hummed a tune for a while, and after that, the answer came... "Seriously? Morbid curiosity. If there's a ghoul around, I won't let this one pass." I simply said. She dismissed that with a simple shrug. "Huh~... You're a guy with a weak heart, Ryuusei-kun. Changing ideas like you change your clothes in the morning. This will lead to your downfall one day." was she threatening me? No, that was just maybe a one-off joke. Still, I felt the urge to strangle her with my bare hands in a second. No, not now. "What can I say? I'm half-human, anyway. Part of me is kind of hypocrite. I believe... What I want to believe. What better fits my condition and desire, and not always what I need to." "Fair point." She turned around and smiled. Huh, fair point after fair point, maybe I'm answering things the way she wanted. Huh, he do think alike. After that, we again came down to the usual silence, and not longer after, she stopped in one particular door, with a particular board on top of it: "the school journal room." "Huh, do you really think a ghoul is in there?" "You ask to many questions, Ryuusei-kun. We're still to young to keep doing that before anything at all." "Huh... Fair point." "Heheh... Isn't it?" And so, we shared one more laugh, and then, with a smooth swift of the door, the school journal club revealed itself to us. A large room full of archives, boards, cardboard boxes, chairs and piles and piles of paper. Nothing less of what you'd expect from a regular journal club. However, that was something completely wrong and abnormal about it: on the floor, there was several ripped and bitten pictures and photos of happy people and beautiful places. Not a single clean spot without those. Moreover, in front of us all, by the Windows and drawing a beautiful landscape on the whiteboard with atomic pens, there was a slender, curvilious and busty young woman wearing also Kuoh's uniform, of short and smooth silver hair and rainbow-colored ponytail, and pale skin by the color of her drawing hand. When we took the first step, she stopped her drawing. "Oh, I was waiting for you. Devil and human." She said, putting the pens back on their places and turning her head in a SHAFT turn, revealing her pretty face with red eyes and, shock, black sclerae, as she munched a photo of a beautiful couple between her teeth. "Do you two... Have any business with little ol'me, de gozaru?" "Yes, just... Morbid curiosity." Tsukihi-san said with a straight face, flashing her eyes to me in deadly irony. I simply ahrugged with a grin, and soon we returned our gaze to the ghoul girl in front of us. "My name is... Lunamaria Aim, and this is my partner, Sorento Vortigern. Maybe we can chat a little about your condition here, miss Ghoul. First, you can give us your name." "A partnership, eh? Sounds interesting." She said, picking again her pens to finish drawing. In the end, the board was now a dWing of a beautiful garden of red roses and white lilies. "My name? Well, you can call me..." Itoshiki Karen, the ghoul. Nice to meet you, de gozaru...
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