Issei
Seiza on damp ground should be illegal.
That was the first thing I thought.
The second thing I thought was that death might actually be kinder than the look on Buchou’s face.
Sona-kaichou stood beside her with the same calm, merciless dignity she always had, glasses glinting faintly in the evening light.
Buchou stood with her arms folded, red hair moving in the wind, eyes fixed on the three of us kneeling in front of them.
Me.
Koneko-chan.
Kusari-san.
Saji was farther to the side, kneeling in exactly the sort of doomed posture a man gets when he realizes his best future outcome is “survives to regret this.”
“You were trying to destroy the Excalibur blades….. You three…”
The park was quiet except for the evening wind and the sound of my own guilt trying to crawl out through my skin.
Buchou spoke to me first.
“You acted without permission.”
“Yes,” I said.
“You involved another peerage.”
“Yes.”
“You approached the Church girls in secret, negotiated behind my back, and provoked a confrontation with Freed again.”
“…Yes.”
Every answer made me feel dumber.
Which was fair.
“So Yuuto went after Valper?”
“Yes, she followed Xenovia and Irina. She should call us if something happens…. hopefully.”
“Do you actually think Yuuto would call with how she’s been acting?”
“…..No.”
Buchou’s gaze shifted to Koneko-chan.
“And you.”
Koneko-chan didn’t lower her eyes. “…Yes.”
“Why did you do this?”
“….I don’t want Yuuto-senpai to leave….”
Buchou looks sad rather than angry.
Then Buchou looked at Kusari.
Kusari had gone very still.
Too still.
Her back was straight, hands folded perfectly in her lap, expression composed enough that someone who didn’t know her might have mistaken it for calm. I knew better now.
That was not calm.
It looked like controlled acceptance someone used and they thought punishment had already been decided and all that remained was to endure it correctly.
She wasn’t looking Buchou in the eye. Her gaze was lowered, focusing on the ground at Buchou’s feet.
“I was in the wrong, Buchou,” she said quietly. “I should have informed you. I did not. Please punish me as you see fit.”
Hearing Kusari-san speak that way gave me a cold feeling in my gut. .
Buchou saw it too.
I knew she saw it because her face changed just slightly—not softer, exactly. Sharper. More attentive.
Koneko-chan noticed it even faster.
“Kusari-senpai wanted to tell you.”m
Buchou looked at Koneko-chan.
Koneko-chan kept her eyes on Buchou, not on me, not on Kusari.
“I stopped her,” she said. “She said telling you made more sense. I asked her to come anyway.”
Saji made a tiny, doomed sound from where he knelt, probably because hearing Koneko-chan calmly redirect part of the blame made him realize Sona-kaichou was not about to become more merciful now that she heard that.
Koneko-chan went on.
“She helped because I asked personally. Not because she thought Issei-senpai’s plan was good.”
That hurts Koneko-chan.
It was a decent plan….
Buchou’s eyes shifted back to Kusari-san.
Kusari-san’s posture stayed rigid, but I saw the smallest change in the line of her shoulders when Koneko-chan spoke for her.
Not relief. Something closer to being caught standing in the wrong place and not knowing whether that would help or hurt.
“……You three do realize that what you did could have created consequences for the whole world of Devils. You understand that, right?”
“Yes.”
“……Yes.”
“Yes, Buchou.”
Koneko-chan and I nodded our heads at the same time.
Kusari-san continued to stare ahead without moving at all.
I had made my plan while thinking that there was a bit of danger involved. So the scale that Buchou explained was far greater than I had realized
“I apologize Buchou.”
“I’m sorry Buchou.”
“……I’m sorry Buchou.”
There was a loud smack to the side and Saji cried out in pain
“Looks like you need to reflect on your behaviour.”
“Uwa! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Please forgive me Kaichou!”
“No. 1000 spankings.”
Saji was bent over Sona-kaichou’s knee and was being spanked repeatedly.
Kaichou’s hand was coated in demonic energy as she struck him.
Saji, I will remember your sacrifice.
Your dream of marrying Kaichou is far off.
I looked back to Buchou as she began to speak again.
“I sent my familiar to search for Yuuto. Once she is found we will gather with the rest of the club members and go to her. I will decide what to do after that. Understood?
Let’s go to her with the rest of the club members when he is found. We will decide what to do from there. Okay?”
“Yes.”
“……Yes.”
“Yes Buchou.”
Kusari-san, Koneko-chan, and I replied to Buchou’s words.
Buchou moved closer while noting how Kusari-san became more stiff while still staring ahead.
She smiled at us warmly.
Ah, I can feel her kindness. I’m glad I’m her servant. To have a kind master like her.
“Uwaaaa! Kaichouuu! Why cant we act like them?! They ended everything on a good note!"
“They are them. We are us.”
Saji cried out to Kaichou, who responded before resuming her spankings.
“Now for your punishments.”
Buchou looked to each of us. Her gaze seemed concerned when she looked to Kusari-san.
Kusari-san’s reply was immediate. Her voice was too calm.
“Yes Bucho-
Koneko-chan bowed her head and cut off Kusari-san.
“Please put Kusari-senpai’s punishment on me.”
That snapped my head up.
“Koneko-chan—”
“Quiet,” she said without looking at me.
I shut up instantly.
Kusari-san didn’t move or speak.
She kept her gaze lowered like she would accept whatever punishment Buchou chose without complaint.
Buchou was silent for a few moments.
Then she exhaled.
“Koneko,” she said, voice low and level, “you are not in a position to claim the right to distribute my discipline for me.”
“…Yes Buchou.”
“However,” Buchou continued, and this time her eyes rested on Kusari-san again, “I agree that the shape of blame is not simple here.”
Kusari lowered her head a fraction further. “Buchou—”
“Stay still,” Buchou said.
Kusari obeyed at once.
Too quickly.
Her whole body froze in response to Buchou’s command.
I could barely tell she was still breathing.
I saw it. Koneko-chan saw it. Buchou definitely saw it. The whole thing made the air feel a little tighter.
Then Buchou stepped forward.
“Koneko.”
Koneko-chan remained perfectly kneeling.
“Yes.”
“Come here,” Buchou said.
Koneko-chan nodded once.
Buchou had Koneko-chan kneel over her knee.
Buchou….you aren’t really going to spank us?
…Right?
Buchou’s palm struck Koneko-chan’s backside.
Just once.
Not soft enough to be nothing. Not cruel enough to be real pain.
More symbol than punishment.
Koneko-chan flinched barely at all.
“For asking your [King] to allow you to carry your burden and someone else’s.” Rias said warmly.
Saji looked at me with betrayal blazing in his eyes.
I looked back with sympathy and a slight smugness.
Buchou moved to Kusari-san.
She seemed to somehow make herself even smaller under Buchou’s gaze.
“Kusari.”
“Yes, Buchou.”
Kusari began to stand to receive her punishment.
Until Buchou stopped her.
“That won’t be necessary, Kusari.” Buchou put her hand on her shoulder, before removing it when Kusari-san flinched under the contact.
Kusari-san had tried to prevent herself from showing it but it still happened.
Her eyes were still dull and lowered, staring at the ground. As if she would be punished more for looking at Buchou directly.
Buchou looked both concerned and saddened from her reaction.
“Kusari, I’m not going to punish you. You were going to tell me about Issei’s reckless plan and the only reason you didn’t is because Koneko asked you not to. If that’s true then you were the responsible one of the group.”
“But I-I…..I understand Buchou.”
Kusari looked up as if confused that she wasn’t going to be physically punished.
I don’t think she did understand why Buchou wasn’t punishing her.
Because now Buchou’s attention shifted.
To me.
Her crimson aura had already covered one hand.
“Oh no,” I said before I could stop myself.
Buchou’s smile was beautiful.
Warm.
Dangerous.
“Now then, Ise.”
I swallowed. “Buchou, in my defense—”
“In your defense,” she said, still smiling, “you came up with a secret plan, involved another peerage, negotiated with the Church without permission, got ambushed by Freed again, and forced everyone else to come clean up after you.”
“When you say it like that, it sounds bad.”
“It is bad.”
“That’s really unfair phrasing.”
Buchou’s smile widened.
“Kneel properly.”
I did.
Immediately.
Because I wanted to live.
I could still hear Saji was crrying out in pain from his own punishment.
Then Buchou rested a hand on my shoulder.
“Show me your bottom.”
I looked back over my shoulder in genuine betrayal. “Buchou…”
“It’s a master’s responsibility to punish servants when needed. You’ll get 1000 spanks.”
“But Koneko only got one….”
“You’re right. Maybe I should give you the rest of hers too!”
And then her hand came down.
I saw white.
Pain shot through my entire lower body and up into my spine like my ass was on fire.
“BUCHOU!”
Saji, crying openly two meters away under Sona-kaichou’s merciless discipline, found time to shout, “Serves you right, Hyoudou!”
“I hate you!”
Buchou didn’t stop.
Of course she didn’t.
Each strike came with enough force to make me understand, in the most literal possible way, just how deeply she disapproved of me being a reckless idiot.
And the worst part?
Part of me was still absurdly, hopelessly, shamefully aware that being punished by Buchou was a problem in more than one direction.
I hated myself.
Koneko-chan watched without pity.
Kusari-san still hadn’t moved, but she looked away after the third hit, which somehow made it feel more embarrassing than if she’d stared.
By the time Buchou finished, my soul had separated from my body and was hovering somewhere above the park reconsidering every choice that brought me here.
I collapsed forward.
“My ass,” I whimpered into the grass, “is dead.”
Buchou sighed and crouched beside me.
Then, to my complete shock, she pulled me upright and into a hug.
Warm.
Soft.
Smelling faintly of expensive soap and the cool outdoors.
“Koneko too,” she said quietly.
Koneko-chan blinked, then moved closer. Buchou drew her in with her free arm.
For one weird, painful, warm moment, the three of us were gathered against her.
“…You really are foolish children,” Buchou murmured, hand moving once through my hair before she patted Koneko-chan’s head too. “You make me worry far too much.”
Kusari-san sat just a little apart from that warmth, still composed, still too carefully composed.
Buchou noticed. I knew she did.
But she didn’t pull her in.
I thought I understood why.
Forcing that kind of closeness on Kusari-sanafter the way she had accepted punishment would have made it something else. Something too much like being claimed. Buchou knew that.
So instead she looked at her and said, softer, “Next time, tell me.”
Kusari lowered her gaze. “Yes, Buchou.”
Koneko-chan, still half under Buchou’s arm, said flatly, “I’ll still ask.”
Buchou laughed.
“One disaster at a time.”
To the side, Saji was still being spanked by Sona-kaichou with no sign of mercy in sight.
“Kaichouuu!” he cried. “They ended! Why are you still hitting me!?”
“Rias is quick,” Sona-Kaichou said coolly. “I want to make sure you understand.”
Another smack.
Saji’s soul left his body in a visible arc.
I would have laughed if my own ass had not still been on fire.
That night, Buchou, Asia, and I slept together again.
Which sounds more impressive than it was.
Because the reality of sleeping beside two unbelievably beautiful women when one of them was Buchou and the other was Asia was that my life turned into a test of endurance.
Buchou was close enough that I could feel her warmth even when she wasn’t touching me.
Asia was on my other side, breathing softly, innocent enough to make that closeness even more dangerous.
And, because my brain was cruel, every time I closed my eyes the evening replayed itself.
Buchou’s punishment.
Then what happened once we got home.
Asia decided to make dinner. Only she thought that it was a Japanese custom to only wear the apron.
She said that Kiryuu had told her and Kusari had questioned it but ultimately didn’t disagree with her.
Either Kusari was helping torture me again, or it was another one of those odd things she didn’t catch as not a normal thing.
It was always weird when she didn’t catch things like that considering how smart and collected she normally seemed.
But what was worse than Asia naked in an apron was Buchou deciding it was a competition.
She came back only wearing an apron that was far to small to cover everything.
My Dad walked in and nearly died at the sight.
Now, I lay there between them and thought, My life is a warzone.
Then the pressure hit.
It slammed into the room like a wall of black, ancient malice.
Buchou was up before I fully woke.
Asia shot upright beside me with a gasp.
I almost fell out of bed trying to move fast enough.
“What—”
Buchou was already at the window, looking down.
Her voice dropped.
“That bastard priest.”
I joined her at once and looked down into the night.
Freed stood below, staring up at the house with that same diseased grin on his face.
He looked delighted.
Which meant things were about to get worse.
“Freed!” I snapped.
He spread his arms wide. “Good evening! Lovely night for murder, right!?”
Asia made a frightened sound behind us.
Buchou moved first, power already gathering around her as she headed for the door.
I pulled clothes on fast enough to qualify as a miracle and followed.
Asia came too, of course she did, because would walk into danger rather than stay behind while someone else she cared about was threatened.
The night air outside felt wrong.
Heavy.
Freed was not the source of it.
Not really.
We knew that the second we faced him.
Because above him, black wings spread across the sky.
Ten of them.
A silhouette hovered in the darkness like some monstrous angel that had long ago chosen the wrong side and stopped apologizing for it. He carried something in one hand.
Or someone.
Freed laughed and pointed up.
“My boss finally made time to come say hello!”
Buchou’s whole body tensed.
Then the figure descended just enough for moonlight to catch the face.
Beautiful.
Cold.
Ancient.
And smiling with the kind of joy that only battle maniacs or monsters wear honestly.
“Nice to meet you,” he said, voice carrying through the night as if the whole town existed only to hear him. “I am one of the leaders of the Fallen Angels, Kokabiel.”
My blood froze.
Even I knew that name.
Crap.
This was bad on a level I had not prepared for.
Buchou stepped forward, chin lifting.
“And my name is Rias Gremory,” she said. “I’ll add one more thing. We and the House of Gremory are one of the closest to the Maou, and furthest from them. If you came to discuss politics with me, then this is useless.”
Kokabiel laughed.
“Politics? No.” He raised the body in his hand slightly. “This is a gift.”
Then he threw it.
At me.
I caught without thinking.
The body hit my arms limp and warm and far too light.
Brown hair.
Blood.
“……Irina!?”
Asia cried out behind me.
Irina was covered in wounds, breathing shallowly, whole body limp with pain and exhaustion.
There was blood at her sleeves, at her side, across one leg. She was alive. Barely. That much I could tell. Barely.
“Asia!”
“I know!”
She was beside me an instant later, green healing light already spilling from her hands over Irina’s body.
Freed watched with disgusting amusement.
Kokabiel hovered above us like the whole scene was entertainment.
Buchou’s voice cut upward.
“Why have you come here?”
Kokabiel spread his wings wider.
“I’ll be rampaging across this town and turn Kuoh Academy to ruins. That will bring Sirzechs here, won’t it.”
“If you provoke the Devils like that, then another Great War will be ignited.”
“Exactly! Stealing Excalibur didn’t work out as I hoped it would, so if I destroy the territory of Sirzechs’s sister it would start the war instead!”
The words hit like a blow.
War.
That was what he wanted.
Not swords. Not revenge. Not even only chaos.
War.
Between Angels, Fallen Angels, and Devils all over again.
Buchou’s expression hardened into something I had only seen a few times before. Not noble poise. Not everyday authority.
True fury.
“You’re insane. The battles will kill an untold number of people.”
Kokabiel laughed in delight.
“Yes! Exactly! Azazel and the other leaders of the Grigori have no interest in war and are only interested in studying and playing with their toys.” He glanced at me for a moment as he mentioned sacred gears. “What I truly desire is battle! Conflict! I never wanted the war to end in the first place. So if I make a large enough issue to get Sirzechs involved, then this town, Kuoh, is the perfect spot! The home of two Maou’s sisters!”
He was insane.
Completely.
Freed, delighted, held up his swords in excitement.
One in each hand.
More at his sides.
“My crazy boss is the best! He’s gotten me so many Excalibur-chans too! I’ve got the fast one, the scary one, the invisible one, and now I’ve got the rope one from the Church brat! I’m invincible! I’m the best!”
Excalibur Rapidly. Excalibur Nightmare. Excalibur Transparency. And Mimic stolen from Irina.
Too many.
Far too many.
And he laughed like a child showing off stolen toys.
Buchou stepped forward, despite how outmatched we were.
“And what does Valper Galilei have to do with this?”
Buchou stared up at Kokibel with all the composure of a true noble Devil.
“Valper’s holy sword research speaks for himself. He is the reason Freed here is able to wield a holy sword at all. I had my suspicions of him at first but he has proved his worth.”
Kokabiel mentioned Valper too, and that was the last little piece of rot settling into place. Kokabiel, Valper, Freed, the Excaliburs, Yuuto’s past, Irina bleeding in my arms.
Every part of the mess was finally touching.
Then the flash bomb came, because Freed always seemed to leave with one.
White light exploded.
I shut my eyes too late.
By the time my sight returned, Freed and Kokabiel were gone.
Buchou didn’t waste a second.
“Ise,” she said. “We’re going to the school.”
“Yes!”
I handed Irina carefully into Asia’s support as we moved, my heart already pounding with the next truth forming in it.
This was no longer a secret hunt.
No longer a private grudge.
No longer even just an Excalibur problem.
This was the threat of war on our doorstep.
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