High School DxD: Fox of Ill Omen

Issei

I made eye contact with Buchou as I flailed in the air.

I was falling towards the women’s bath as I saw Azazel-sensei giving a thumbs up from the men’s bath and Gasper looked like he was panicking while grabbing Azazel-sensei’s arm.

The world became water.

One second Azazel-sensei had been talking to me about touching girls breasts and giving me advice about it in the men’s bath.

Then he noticed that I was watching the wall that divided the men’s and women’s baths while thinking about wanting to peek.

He mentioned that peeking was for second rate perverts and when I asked what was for first rate he shouted mixed bathing, then grabbed my arm and hurled me into the air.

Now I hit the water hard enough to lose all breath.

I came up choking.

“What the hell!?”

I sputtered and gasped for air before looking around me and froze. 

The girls surrounded me.

All of them were nude.

My nose immediately began to bleed, as despite the brutal method of it, I had landed in heaven.

Buchou.

Akeno-san.

Asia.

Xenovia.

Yuuto-san.

Koneko-chan.

Yuki-san.

All in the girls’ outdoor bath were staring at me.

I had landed right in the middle of it.

I stared at Akeno-san, who was sitting in Yuki-chan’s lap for some reason.

For one second, nobody moved.

My hands shot up instinctively.

“W-Wait! This isn’t my fault! Azazel-sensei threw me in here!”

That part, at least, was true.

I wasn’t upset that I was in the girl’s bath, but I didn’t want to be punished for being here.

It actually wasn't my fault.

I didn’t know if I would try and kill Azazel-sensei later, or thank him.

It depended on if I survived the next thirty seconds.

I braced for the attack.

The screaming.

For spells to be launched at me.

The destruction.

Instead, it was only quiet.

Then Yuki-san moved Akeno-san off of her lap and into the water next to her.

Akeno-san looked at her with a pout as she was moved.

Yuki-san straightened  herself once Akeno was off of her.

Her tails slipped in front of herself to cover her body before I saw anything, and her expression flattened so cleanly it was almost terrifying.

Buchou was flushed red.

Asia was somehow redder.

Xenovia looked at me like I had ruined something with my timing.

Yuuto-san had grabbed a towel to cover herself and wouldn’t look at me as she flushed lightly.

Koneko-chan was staring at Yuki-san.

She was frowning at her and looked annoyed.

It was the first thing I had seen of her besides her being closed off, but I don’t think this was an improvement.

The atmosphere around the girls was off.

They looked flustered by the fact that I had landed in their bath.

But that wasn’t all.

Akeno-san’s breathing looked slightly uneven.

Xenovia was looking at Yuki-san and Akeno-san with interest.

Buchou looked embarrassed for some reason.

Koneko-chan was upset.

And Yuki-san looked too composed.

That was the first thing that made my panic pause.

Her fox ears were visible and right now they were angled in a way that made her look a fraction too alert.

Her silver tails were held more tightly than usual, and they shifted in front of her as she used them to cover herself.

Akeno-san and Yuki-san didn’t look like two people who had simply been chatting in a bath until I fell on them, and everyone else was acting off too.

It looked like I had interrupted something.

I didn’t understand what it had been, but it was obvious something was going on

I looked from one to the other.

“What happened?”

Three voices answered at once.

“Nothing,” Buchou said.

“Just some fun,” Akeno-san said.

“Nothing,” Yuki said.

All three had different levels of composure.

Buchou’s voice sounded strained and defensive.

Akeno-san was much smoother, but not smooth enough.

Yuki-san’s was the flattest of the three, which somehow made it sound the least convincing.

The bath went quiet again.

“So, was it nothing, or something fun?” I asked.

“You see, Yuki-chan had misunderstood something she overheard at school, and made an assumption that turned out to be wrong.” Akeno-san said.

Buchou gave Akeno-san a look.

Yuki-san glanced at her but didn’t change her expression.

“So, once she mentioned it while we were talking in the bath, we had to clear up her confusion around it.” Akeno-san said.

“And that’s why you were on Yuki-san’s lap?” I asked, still confused. “But what was it that she didn’t get?”

Akeno-san smiled at me but didn’t explain further. 

I looked at Buchou and the others for an answer, but no one seemed to want to tell me.

“But I think what is more important, Ise-kun, is that you’ve made your way into our bath. Maybe we should punish you for that.”

I felt myself start to sweat as I glanced around.

“Well, like I said, it’s Azazel-sensei’s fault, not mine. I had nothing to do with it.”

“Ara, but you’re the one staring at all of us. You’ve even made poor Yuuto-chan cover up because of it.” Akeno-san said with a dangerous smile.

“And you haven’t left yet.” Yuki-san said coolly.

Then Koneko-chan spoke.

“…Pervert-senpai.”

I pointed at myself weakly. “I said I got thrown in here!”

She looked at me another second.

Then turned her head toward Yuki-san with a light glare.

“Also pervert-senpai.”

The bath fell silent again.

I blinked.

I looked at Yuki-san.

Then at Koneko-chan.

Then back at Yuki-san.

“Eh?” I muttered dumbly.

Yuki-san exhaled once through her nose and said, with the kind of tired dignity only she could make look natural while naked in a bath.

“I’m mostly at fault for what happened.” she said, tiredly.

That explained nothing and only made me more confused.

My brain immediately started trying to put all of the pieces together.

“Did something happen like what happened at the pool, with the oil?”

Akeno-san’s smile thinned slightly.

“Kind of,” Xenovia-san answered. “Akeno was teasing Yuki over her misunderstanding. But then Yuki started to—“

“Yes Issei-san,” Yuki-san said, cutting off Xenovia. “It was like that. Akeno-san was teasing me over my slip up and I got… fed up and decided to tease her back.”

Yuki-san’s calm cracked and she looked slightly embarrassed as she spoke.

That didn’t explain everything, but at least I knew the general idea of what happened.

“Ara, do you not enjoy my attention Yuki-chan?” Akeno-san asked while pretending to pout. “I certainly enjoyed it when you gave me yours.”

Akeno-san looked less caught off guard than she had when I landed and seemed to be acting like normal again.

Before Yuki-san could respond, Koneko-chan spoke.

“Should we leave to give you and Akeno-senpai privacy, Yuki-senpai?”

Her voice sounded very flat.

I couldn’t tell if it was because she had been acting off since arriving in the Underworld, or something else.

Yuki-san looked confused by Koneko-chan’s question.

“Ara, ara,” Akeno-san muttered with a growing smile.

She slid closer to Yuki-san so their sides were pressed together.

Yuki-san raised an eyebrow at her.

“Is there a reason that Yuki-chan and I can’t spend time together and enjoy some skinship Koneko-chan?” Akeno said.

Koneko-chan looked down into the water instead of meeting Akeno-san’s smug gaze or Yuki-san’s questioning one.

She muttered something quietly to herself and her cheeks flushed lightly.

Then, as I was about to ask another question Buchou moved.

She crossed the water toward me fast enough that I barely had time to process it before she wrapped her arms around one of mine.

Her breasts pressed into my side as she moved her closer.

My nose gushed blood again.

“B-Buchou!?” I asked.

She hugged me tightly, crimson hair damp against my shoulder, and glared over at Akeno-san with a smug, superior look.

“Since you’ll be busy with your skinship with Yuki-chan, I’ll be taking Ise so that I can help him wash himself.”

Buchou started to drag me away from the others until Akeno-san got up from her spot next to Yuki-san before moving closer and grabbed my other arm.

“But Buchou, I think that I should comfort poor Ise-kun after that terrible fall. I think Yuki-chan will understand.” She said.

“Please bother him instead of me.” Yuki-san said.

Akeno-san glanced at her for a moment before pressing into my side as she hugged my arm into her breasts.

“Akeno! Let go of him!” Buchou said. “I’m the reason that he’s trained his body, so it belongs to me!”

“No way. I want to be able to enjoy my time with Ise-kun in the hot springs. I won’t give him up to you.”

Now I had both of them against me.

Arguing over me.

I take back every bad thing I’ve thought or said about Azazel-sensei.

I felt their breasts squish against me as I was pulled back and forth like a toy. 

Asia’s face was scarlet enough that I thought she might start steaming.

“I-Ise-san are you alright? Your nose is bleeding a lot.” She said.

Xenovia folded her arms. “He appears to be enduring it.”

“I’m fine, Asia.” I said giving a thumbs up.

Yuuto-san coughed once into her hand and looked away.

“I’m glad that Ise-san is alright, but I’d like to spend time in the hot spring with him too…” Asia said with a sigh.

“If Buchou and Akeno are going after Issei, we don’t have much of a chance, Asia. We can only sit back and watch.”

Both Akeno-san and Buchou pushed towards each other, squeezing me between them.

They glared at each other around me.

“Akeno, you can go back to playing with Yuki! Ise and I are going to go wash each other, and you’re getting in the way.” Buchou said.

“I think you’re being selfish, Rias. If you’re too possessive, you'll make Ise-kun upset.” Akeno replied.

“I’m not being possessive! You’re the one trying to steal him!”

Yuuto-san tried to stop their fighting.

“Akeno-san, Buchou, I think that—“

“Stay out of it!” They yelled together.

I glanced at Koneko-chan then.

Normally she would have said something about me being a ‘pervert’ or ‘gross’ by now.

Instead she had sunk down into the water so that her mouth and nose were below the surface.

She was blowing bubbles as she looked glumly at the water.

She would occasionally glance towards Yuki-san before looking back at the water. 

Her face would occasionally turn pink as well.

I started to wonder what was wrong with her as the edges of her vision went dark for a moment.

I stumbled as Buchou pulled me closer to her.

That caused Akeno-san and Buchou to stop for a moment.

“Ise?”

“Ise-kun? What’s wrong?”

I shook my head to try and clear it.

“I… I’m alright. I-I just feel… light headed.”

I saw Asia move towards me while looking panicked as my vision tilted before everything went dark.

Yuki

After Issei passed out in the bath we all moved into the house to have dinner and then head to bed early before our first day of training.

During dinner Akeno was acting like nothing had happened in the bath and Koneko would glance at Akeno and I when she thought no one was looking.

I still didn’t get a chance to speak to Koneko as she left to head to her room immediately after dinner. 

Normally that would be the perfect time to talk, but she didn’t respond when I knocked or called out to her.

I even tried the door and it was locked, so I went to my own room to get ready for bed.

Now it was late enough that the residence had finally gone quiet.

Or as quiet as a residence full of servants and a peerage of high schoolers could be.

I sat on the edge of my bed for a while after changing, hair half-dry, tails spread loosely behind me and over the blanket, thinking about Koneko and what had happened with Akeno in the bath.

Like Issei had put it, what happened had been just like the time at the pool.

Akeno had poked and prodded at me. 

And I reacted by pushing back. 

A bit too far. 

Then Issei had fallen into the water, and I was able to stop myself from acting further on impulse.

I had wanted to tease her back and when I saw the surprised look on her face at the change of pace, I could help but want to bully her.

Akeno loved to tease and poke and drag reactions out of people, so it made it so much more interesting when she was the one flustered and uncertain. 

It made it hard to resist the urge to turn her teasing back on her, especially with how easily physical contact and close proximity affected her when she wasn’t the one leading it.

She liked to act mature and provocative, but she was just as innocent as Asia was sometimes.

It was somewhat cute.

There was also how Koneko had seemed upset at my suggestion to help Rias practice kissing and then she had called me a pervert after Issei arrived in the bath.

I had complained about that to Azazel-sensei, but he just shrugged like it wasn’t his fault.

Koneko had glared at Akeno and I.

But after Akeno had asked her if there was an issue Koneko had seemed to deflate.

The two of us were close, but I don’t know why she was so bothered by it.

Maybe it was because I was acting in a way that she would have insulted Issei for.

I sighed as I leaned back in bed.

I rolled on my side as I tried to get comfortable enough to sleep.

That should have been the end of my day.

Instead, my mind kept circling back to the moment right before the interruption.

Akeno on my lap.

My tails around her and she flushed and didn’t know what to do.

The look on her face when she finally stopped speaking and simply stared.

I rubbed one hand over my eyes.

Troublesome.

A knock came at my door.

It was soft.

Hesitant enough that I almost thought I’d imagined it.

Then another that was noticeably louder.

I stood, crossed the room, and opened it.

Rias stood outside.

Her hand was still half-raised as if to knock again.

For one brief second, neither of us spoke.

Then she said, too quickly, “Can I come in?”

That was enough to tell me this was not a casual visit.

I stepped aside. “Yes.”

She came in at once, then stopped just far enough into the room that leaving the door open would have been awkward.

I closed it. 

When I turned back, she was standing in the middle of the space with her arms folded too tightly and her face faintly pink as she awkwardly looked around my room.

“What happened?” I asked.

That was apparently not the question she had expected me to ask. 

Rias looked at me, opened her mouth, then closed it again.

I waited.

Eventually she looked away and said, with visible effort, “You were serious earlier, weren’t you?”

I frowned. “About what?”

That made her blush deepen.

“In the bath.”

Oh.

“About practicing with a friend?” I asked, just in case my mind had jumped to the wrong thing.

Her voice was smaller when she replied. “… yes, that.”

I stared at her for a second, then gave a small, cautious nod.

“Yes.”

She looked at me again very quickly, as if checking whether I would take it back.

When I didn’t, she began speaking too fast.

“I don’t mean that I—I’m not here because I think—” She stopped, visibly annoyed with herself, then started again. “I only mean that if you were serious, then I…”

She pressed one hand to her forehead.

This was difficult enough to watch that I found myself wanting to rescue her from it.

Instead, I waited for her to gather herself. 

Rias took a breath.

“I just need to be better,” she said, finally forcing the words into order. “At kissing. At things like that.” Her face reddened further. “There’s already too much competition around Issei, and Akeno keeps…” She made a frustrated noise. “And I just—if I’m bad at it, then like you said, I could get better at it.”

Her explanation was still rushed and haphazard due to embarrassment, but it made it clear.

She was worried about something regarding Issei and after hearing my confusion about norms in the human world, decided that I could help.

She wanted an advantage.

Or perhaps she wanted not to feel behind on something.

That was easier to understand and it sounded like Rias in a way.

She had a mean competitive streak and normally was patient and calm, but when it came to Issei, she could panic or act rashly.

So her deciding that my misunderstanding could be an opportunity made some sense.

She continued muttering as she tried to explain herself.

Her voice had gone soft enough that I had to pay closer attention to make out the last pieces.

“...and I’d rather not let Akeno get ahead of me if I can help it.”

There it was.

Competition.

Safer than many other reasons she might have had.

Then her eyes lifted to mine again, and the confidence she had borrowed from the explanation almost vanished.

“If you really were serious,” she said, more quietly now, “would you actually be alright with it?”

“I thought that it wasn’t something that we should be doing? Everyone seems to agree that it wasn’t something normal between friends.” I said while frowning.

“Well yes, but, I think that you were right about it.” She paused to take a breath. “If both of us agree that it is strictly platonic, and we both agree that it’s fine to do, then it isn’t an issue, right?”

“I understand that Buchou, but I don’t think you should do this rashly.”

“Yuki, I trust you, and I know that you’re trying to help me, but I need your help with this. Could we try?”

I looked to the ground and thought it over again.

She wanted my help, and it was something practical and useful between friends.

I looked up to Rias and hesitated before I replied.

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