High School DxD: Fox of Ill Omen

Akeno

Everyone seemed to sit up straighter after Yuki-chan told us that she had attacked Asia-chan.

My teasing smile immediately dropped from my face.

Any thoughts I had of teasing Asia-chan over her outburst or trying to figure out what had happened between Rias and Yuki-chan vanished.

Rias sighed and placed a hand over her temple.

“Yuki, that is not how this conversation should have started. Why would you say that?”

“Because it's true, I don’t want to try and sugar coat this, especially if I am going to ask for help from them.” Yuki-chan replied, calmly.

“It wasn’t your fault Yuki!” Asia-chan said. “You were practicing and I interrupted while you weren't in full control of yourself. I don't want you to blame yourself like this!”

I leaned forward my seat.

“What is going on, and why does it sound like Yuki-chan went berserk and attacked Asia-chan?” I said coolly, looking from Yuki-chan and Asia-chan to Rias.

Rias nodded and took the lead.

“Right. I will start at the beginning, like I had planned, so you can understand why it happened in the first place,” Rias paused for a moment before continuing. “Yuki’s teacher, Mireia Paimon, came up with the idea for Yuki to create an ability that would allow her to bypass part of the backlash of her spells. This has been the focus of her training since the beginning. Yuki and Mireia-san worked together to create a state that Yuki would be able to enter where her seal's disruption would be lessened. They succeeded,” Rias looked at Yuki. “But there were drawbacks to her new ability. While in this state, her mind is affected. She acts more in line with her Kitsune nature. Her inhibitions lower, her impulses become harder to control, and she can be more… aggressive.”

That sounded like it could be very interesting.

I could also see exactly how it could be a problem.

“Is that all true Yuki-chan?” I asked.

“It is,” she replied. “Since I’ve been able to enter the state I have been training to overcome the effect it has on me. The longer that I am in it, the worse it affects me. I become able to act much more freely in a fight, but I also run the risk of losing myself as I do. There are also physical changes, but they are minor and only last while I am in the ability.”

Koneko-chan looked at Yuki-chan.

“Why didn't you tell us sooner, Yuki-senpai?”

Koneko-chan looked more concerned than upset at not being told sooner.

“Everyone had their own training to focus on and I didn't want to distract any of you with worrying details of mine. I realized that I was wrong to do so, as Asia walked into my training room while I was practicing and was unaware of the risks of being around me.” Yuki-chan said, while looking down at the table. “In hind sight, it was rather foolish of me not to immediately warn you all.”

So that’s what happened.

Asia walked into a room with an unstable version of Yuki-chan and she attacked her before stopping herself.

“And that’s why we are having this discussion,” Rias said, bringing our attention back to herself. “I wanted to take this time to inform all of you about Yuki’s new ability, the danger of it, and what happened to Asia. She was not hurt by Yuki, I want that to be clear. Yuki will not act in a way to try and harm us while in that state, but she still restrained Asia and held her down without being in full control of herself.”

Asia-chan’s face flushed at Rias’s description.

Yuki-chan’s face twisted with guilt.

It seemed like a bad time to poke at her and ask if she could do the same to me.

I’d wait until she wasn’t upset about it before I teased her over this.

“…So is the plan for Yuki-senpai to continue isolating herself while training until she learns to control it?” Koneko-chan asked. 

“That is the other thing I wanted to talk about. How she trains her ability,” Rias replied, then looked at Yuki-chan. “Yuki, did you discuss my idea for training with Mireia-san?”

Yuki-chan nodded.

“Yes, she thought that it was a good idea and approved of us trying it after my normal training session with her in the morning. She referred to the idea as desensitizing training.” Yuki-chan finished with a small huff.

She seemed fond of her new teacher.

“Good. Then that gives me more confidence with my plan,” Rias said. “Akeno, Koneko, I’d like the two of you to assist with Yuki’s training of her new ability. I will be present as well. We will help her train in an environment where she will have to deal with the effects of her state while we are present and interacting with her. We can also use this time for our own training and sparring as well.”

I glanced at Yuki-chan who was watching Koneko-chan and I.

She seemed to be not entirely convinced that this was the best idea.

She probably was still worried after what happened with Asia-chan.

“I’ll help.” Koneko-chan said immediately.

“You should thin—“ Yuki-chan started but was cut off by Koneko-chan.

“I want to help, Yuki-senpai. I understand you’re worried, but it will be fine. Like Buchou said, we can go about this the right way. You helped me face myself and now I’m more comfortable with my Nekomata powers. I want to help you too.”

I raised my brow at that.

Apparently Yuki-chan and Koneko-chan had a heart to heart.

And seeing how immediately Koneko/chan was volunteering to help, it seemed to have gone very well.

If Koneko-chan hadn’t realized she had a crush on Yuki-chan by now, then I’d be surprised.

“I’ll help too,” I said, grinning at Koneko-chan. “I don’t want to give Koneko-chan all the fun of playing with Yuki-chan after all.”

Koneko-chan gave me a small glare and Rias rolled her eyes at my comment.

“Very well. Then we will meet at the out building that Yuki had been using to practice in, tomorrow. We will start her ‘desensitizing’ training, as Mireia-san put it.” Rias said. 

“I-It sounds like m-my Hikikomori escape plan that Azazel-sensei m-made me!” Gasper-kun added.

That made Yuki-chan smile.

“You’re right, Gasper-kun,” Yuki-chan said. “It sounds like our training will be similar from now on.”

I couldn’t help but smile as Gasper-kun’s mood visibly brightened after that.

Yuki-chan always went out of way to make sure that she was sweet to him.

I don’t know if it was because she saw some similarities in their pasts, because he was sealed away, or because she was worried for her Kohai.

But she was always patient and kind to him, not that Gasper-kun deserved anything less. 

He was a good child and deserved to be treated well.

“U-ummm… would you want my help w-with your training too, Yuki-senpai?” He asked, seeming slightly more confident. “It wouldn’t hurt to have more people t-there, a-and I could use my Sacred Gear to stop you, if you wanted.” 

“That’s a great suggestion, Gasper,” Rias said. “I had debated it, but I didn’t want to push you into helping while you already had your training to focus on, but if you’re willing I think it’s a good idea.” She looked at Yuki-chan. “What do you think, Yuki? We could also include Asia, for her healing, if she’d be up for it. And more people present should put you more at ease if something goes wrong, right?”

“I would be happy to help!” Asia-chan said with a warm smile. “If you're sparring someone might get hurt. If I’m there I can make sure everyone is alright.”

Yuki-chan looked conflicted for a moment before sighing.

“I’m still worried that this isn’t the best idea, but if you are all offering to help me, then turning you away would be a poor decision,” she looked around the table at us. “I don’t want to harm or frighten any of you. My Malediction’s Embrace state is unstable and I don’t know how this will go, but thank you all for wanting to help me.” 

The name of her new ability was ominous and a bit theatrical, but it fit her.

She was our slightly mysterious curse casting Kitsune, and considering how she had named her other spells, I think she was leaning into that image a little bit.

Dinner wrapped up quickly after that.

Each of us had already finished most of our meals and we chatted for a bit longer about Yuki-chan’s new ability and our joint training for tomorrow.

Rias suggested we move to a larger space since our group gained two more people with Asia-chan and Gasper-kun volunteering themselves to help.

I headed to my room while thinking of how the training would go.

Hopefully it would go well, but either way I would get to see something interesting from Yuki-chan and have some more things to tease her about.

And if it meant that I would need to focus less on my training of my Fallen Angel side, then that was a good thing as well. 

_________________________________________

Koneko

The next day, we met after our individual training in one of the rooms of the estate that had been modified for training.

The room had been emptied out for us.

Most of the furniture had been removed.

A large rug had been rolled away and was now sitting by the wall, leaving the polished floor bare only to then be covered by training mats.

The room was large enough for sparing and for others to still train on their own.

A few sets of dumbbells had been brought in for Asia-senpai’s and Gya-kun’s strength training.

A round table with enough chairs for all of us sat near the corner of the room.

Buchou’s papers had already been placed on it.

And the couches that were in the room were pushed back so that you could sit and watch the training mats.

Yuki-senpai, Asia-senpai, and Gya-kun were already there when I arrived.

Asia-senpai was looking at their weights and talking to Gya-kun, who looked worn out from his training earlier in the day. 

Asia-senpai spotted me as I came in and gave me a small wave and a warm smile before her eyes locked into my car ears.

I had decided that if everyone here knew, and I was trying to work on my Nekomata powers, then there was no real reason to hide them.

And if it made me happy that Yuki-senpai seemed to like seeing them and had said we matched, that was just a coincidence, and didn’t factor into my decision at all.

I walked up to Yuki-senpai, who was sitting on one of the couches. 

“…Are you ready, senpai?” I asked.

She let out a small sigh.

“Hello, Koneko-chan,” She said as I sat on the couch with her. “I supposed I am. I’m just worried that something will happen and I’ll do something to one of you that I can’t take back.”

“We know that it’s your ability, Yuki-senpai. It’s like you told me before. Your power is a tool, it’s what you do with it that’s important. And you are trying to get stronger so you can fight with us, and protect us, right?”

She frowned slightly.

“I am, but it’s more complicated than that. This isn’t a new sword that Yuuto-san needs to learn how to swing properly, or a technique to heal someone that Asia needs to practice. This is an ability that changes how I act and think. If I can’t control it, it’s not me who gets hurt, it’s one of you,” she said with concern. Then more quietly, “And the way I act is still me at the base of it, it’s just amplifying the parts of me I suppress or know not to act on.”

I scooted closer to her and took one of her hands in mind.

“I understand having instincts like that. It might not be as severe, but I have my own Nekomata instincts too. And you said it yourself it’s things you normally wouldn’t act on. Everyone has stray thoughts and things we think but know we wouldn’t do. It will be fine, senpai.” I gave her hand a small squeeze as I finished my small speech.

She looked at me with a wry smile. 

“Thank you, Koneko-chan. I’m just too worried about this.”

“…no problem,” I said as I let go of her hand. 

We sat in silence for a few minutes until Buchou and Akeno-senpai came into the room followed by a small team of servants who were carrying something.

“Sorry for the delay, we had to get a few more things for our training.” Buchou said.

“We had to make sure our little catnhad a scratching post to play with,”  Akeno-senpai said with a grin.

I shot her a glare to let her know I would hit her if she started to make more cat jokes.

She only grinned wider. 

The servants sent down some targets near one wall and a heavy looking wooden dummy near the training mats.

Seeing the interested looks from us, Buchou explained.

“The targets are for Akeno to practice her lighting and the dummy is for Koneko-chan to practice using her Senjutsu.”

I stared at the dummy as the servants left the room.

It looked sturdy enough for me to try and use my Touki with.

I had been practicing with my Ki manipulation and had managed to cover my hands with Touki so far.

Buchou clapped her hands together once.

“Alright, I'll let you all know what the plan is for training today,” She said as we gathered together in front of her. “Asia and Gasper, you’ll be working on physical training. Akeno, you’ll be focusing on using your Fallen Angel powers with your lighting. Be sure to activate the sound dampening formation by your targets. Koneko, like I said before, use your Senjutsu while you practice your strikes on the dummy. I will be studying my notes and strategies from Rating Games and occasionally joining Asia and Gasper in physical training.”

Buchou looked across us once to make sure there were no issues.

“That leaves you, Yuki,” she continued. “You will sit on one of the couches, away from the others and enter your ability for as long as you can. I’m hoping that being around others and the activities going on will help your training.”

“That’s all she’ll be doing?” Asia-senpai asked.

“We are starting slow. If the day goes well, we can finish up with Yuki sparring against someone while in her state, but only if she’s comfortable with it.”

 Buchou looked at Yuki-senpai as she spoke.

She gave Buchou a small nod.

“Good. Then let’s get started.”

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