High School DxD: Fox of Ill Omen

Yuki

I was sitting with Koneko while watching Xenovia-san lose at shogun to Yuuto yet again. 

She was far too simple and direct with her strategy of pushing straight in without setting any traps or distractions.

It always ended up with her hemorrhaging pieces as Yuuto sat back and let her throw away her pieces one at a time.

And that’s what she was in the middle of doing now.

It had been a few days since Azazel-sensei had informed us that he was going to be the club’s advisor and help train us.

Things were finally settling back into a normal routine after the summit between the Three Great Powers concluded.

The main change was Gasper-kun being more present with the group, even if he was still hiding in his box, and no one was calling me Kusari any more. 

They, mainly Issei, still slipped up and called me by that name occasionally but it was happening less and less. 

And just like Rias had said, Sona-Kaichou had changed my name in the school.

They had made it easier by using magic to manipulate the memories of the Humans in the school so that they would think that I was always Shiramine Yuki.

It was a bit overkill, but Rias assured me that it was necessary and that it would be fine. 

I let out a content sigh as I looked away from the game as Xenovia-san lost yet another piece.

Yuuto was giving Xenovia-san an awkward smile as it looked like she was going to be winning her fifth game in a row.

Xenovia-san had insisted that Yuuto not hold back in their game, but I don’t think Yuuto would have anyways.

She was surprisingly competitive. 

Koneko sat next to me lazily watching the game as she ate her snacks.

Akeno was preparing more tea.

Gasper-kun was watching the shogun game from his box.

Rias had gone to meet with Sona-Kaichou some time ago and still wasn’t back yet.

Asia was sitting next to Issei who was reading a book.

That normally would be odd enough, but he was reading a dictionary for some reason.

His brows were drawn in while his mouth moved faintly as he muttered quietly to himself. 

Asia leaned over to look at what he was reading.

I turned my ears towards them.

“Ise-san,” she asked gently, “what are you looking up?”

He answered without looking up from the book. 

“The origin of the word oppai.”

Asia blinked.

Then blinked again.

“…O-Oppai?”

Issei looked up at her and spoke far too seriously for what was being discussed.

“You see, there are a couple theories about the origin of the word. There is the thought that it was a shortening of a phrase and another that it came from the ancient Korean language. It’s fascinating isn’t it Asia?”

“Ummm, it is Ise-san, but maybe it  just came from a sound that babies made when they were hungry.”

“Asia, please don’t encourage him.” I cut in, trying to end his nonsense.

“Hey!” Issei said, turning to me. “I was researching something important!”

I leveled a dull look at him.

“You are reading a dictionary to investigate breasts.” I replied. 

“I-I think maybe Ise-san was only curious,” Asia offered quickly. “Words are interesting sometimes.”

“Asia, you really don’t need to defend him. It only encourages him more.” I said.

“You sound like Kiryuu! I’m just looking into my interests!” Issei defended himself

“By talking to Asia about oppai?” I asked raising a brow.

He stopped and glanced at Asia, who was looking slightly nervously at the two of us.

I could see him realize that he had probably been about to say something perverted to the innocent and sweet Asia before I had joined the conversation.

He looked at the door.

“Buchou sure is taking a while to get back from the student council room.” He stiffly said.

I shook my head but let him change the topic. 

Asia, sweetly, tried to help him anyway.

“Y-yeah! She and Sona-kaichou might be discussing something serious,” she said.

Akeno came over with a tray of tea before I could reply

“There’s no point, Yuki-chan,” she said, smiling as she set cups down. “Ise-kun’s shamelessness won’t go away no matter how hard you try. It’s like a weed.”

“…Pervert-senpai…” Koneko muttered, still watching the shogun game while munching on a cookie. 

“You weren’t even a part of the conversation Koneko-chan!” Issei complained.

Akeno laughed, and Asia relaxed a little with it.

Issei grumbled something about everyone being against him, then accepted the tea anyway.

At the table in front of me, Yuuto had one hand near the shogi board and Xenovia was frowning at it like she expected her pieces to become more obedient through force of will alone.

“…And it’s my win again.” she said. “That makes five.”

Xenovia narrowed her eyes. “I am learning.”

“You’re too direct with your approach Xenovia-san” I said. “You can’t power your way through the game. It’s more about subtlety and planning.”

“I see….. would you be able to help me practice playing Yuki?” Xenovia asked, looking away from the board and to me.

I blinked, not expecting her request.

“Sure, Xenovia-san. But we can play chess. It’s probably more familiar to you and I prefer it over shogi.”

“Very well, thank you Yuki.”

“How sweet.” Akeno said before tilting her head toward the box next to the couch.”

“Would you also like some green tea, Gasper-kun?”

A small voice came from inside. “T-Thank you very much…!”

Gasper-kun still refused to leave his box when able, but he was out of his room.

It was good for him to be around people he could trust.

The door opened before Issei could begin harassing Gasper into coming out of his box again.

Rias stepped in with the look of someone who had already dealt with too much paper work already

“I’m back.”

Everyone began to move into their normal spots for a club meeting.

Rias moved to her desk and Akeno moved to stand next to her.

Gasper-kin’s box was already in his spot.

Asia and Issei sat next to Yuuto on one of the couches. 

Xenovia-san stood next to the couch and leaned against the armrest.

I my spot had shifted from standing near the window to the couch next to Koneko.

It had started after she had been told of my plan for the fight against Kokabiel.

She had begun leading me to the couch to sit with her when meetings started and I decided that it wasn’t a good idea to fight it.

Rias sighed after setting down the folder in her hands.

“I have to submit another club activity report.”

Issei looked confused. “Didn’t you just turn one in?”

“The actual club report, yes. The problem is the one that needs to go to the Underworld.” She pressed two fingers briefly to her forehead. “Between everything that has happened lately, I forgot the deadline was moved up.”

Issei tilted his head, obviously confused.

“You see, since Buchou is a pure Devil she is required to attend schooling in the Underworld. The school is specifically for teaching High-class Devils.” Akeno explained. “Buchou was able to get special privileges to attend school here in Japan instead, but she still has to do the course work for the Underworld school as well.”

“And in Buchou’s case, she can attain credits for those courses by making pacts with humans and researching monsters, Youkai, and other creatures in the human world and submitting reports on them.”

Rias had that expression she wore when she was sorting through too many options and rejecting them one by one.

At last she said, “I’ll need to create a report to send to the Underworld. So as usual, we should ask the kappa living near the swamp outside town.”

Yuuto lifted one hand.

“Bucho, he returned to his family. He said he was taking over their cucumber cultivation.”

Rias paused.

Then gave a short nod.  “That may be a more stable future than trying to make a career out of rapping.”

I turned my head.

“What?”

“Yeah what Yuki-san said” Issei said

Then I looked back at Rias. “The Kappa you go to when gathering information for your reports, is a rapper?”

Yuuto, entirely too calm for someone confirming the existence of that sentence, said, “He left home because he didn’t want to inherit the family business. He was chasing his dreams. Koneko-chan and I like his songs.”

“…They were catchy,” Koneko said. 

Issei and I looked at each other.

We were the only ones who thought it was strange apparently.

“It sounded like his father became ill so he returned home.” Yuuto continued. “His family wanted to continue their traditions they used to grow cucumbers.”

When the kappa option died, Rias moved on immediately.

“Then we’ll need to ask the dullahan in the old mansion in the east of town.”.

“What’s a dullahan?” Issei asked.

Xenovia, pleased to know something specific and useful for once, answered him first. “A headless knight. They ride on large, monstrous horses while carrying their severed heads. I’ve defeated a few myself.”

“What is one doing here,” I asked, “instead of in Europe?”

Xenovia turned to Yuuto, who shrugged.

That was as much explanation as I was going to get.

Akeno had been checking another document and now glanced up with a sympathetic smile that suggested the answer would not improve.

“The dullahan can’t help anyway,” she said. “He’s currently hospitalized.”

Issei frowned. “Hospitalized?”

“With a hernia,” Akeno said.

“Apparently his head is what’s being treated.” Yuuto added. 

“What?” I asked again

Akeno was laughing quietly to herself.

“It doesn’t matter, but that means that we can’t go to the Dullahan for help.”

I was still trying to arrange the image of a hospitalized severed head in any shape that made sense.

Then I noticed Issei looking at me.

It was the kind of look he got right before a terrible idea.

I narrowed my eyes at him with suspicion.

“What?”

He pointed. “Couldn’t we just do the report on you?”

I leaned back in my chair a little.

“No.”

“You’re literally a youkai.”

“And I’d rather not be the subject of anyone’s research paper.”

He opened his mouth.

I kept going before he could try again.

“If Rias-Buchou runs out of other options then she can write about me.”

Issei, apparently unwilling to give up on volunteering others as research subjects, pointed at the box next.

“Then what about a rare vampire who lives in a cardboard box?”

The box squealed in horror.

Rias closed her eyes.

I looked at Gasper-kun’s box, then at Issei.

“Don’t pick on Gasper-kun.”

“Its to help Buchou, not to bully him,” he said.

“Sure it isn’t.”

He leaned toward the box.

“So Gasper, as a cardboard box Vampire, do you prefer a certain tayo of card board? Does the size of the box matter? Do you have a favorite cardboard manufacturer? Can we ship you in your box somewhere?”

Gaspe-kun dissolved into panicked whimpering.

“Uwaaa! Don’t send me through the mail!”

Rias sighed.

“That's enough Ise. I know someone else we can use to get information for the report.”

Issei stopped poking Gasper-kind cardboard box and looked at Rias.

“You do?”

“Yes, there is someone at the school I can talk with.” Rias said. “There is a human that is very knowledgeable about monsters that I can talk with.”

“A human?” I asked.

Rias nodded.

It was interesting to know that there were humans at the school that were aware of the supernatural world.

I wanted to know who they were.

Apparently, I was not alone.

“They should be at the tennis courts at this time of day. I’ll head there now.

Rias rose from her desk and moved towards the door. 

Issei and I moved to follow. 

Rias looked at us and gave the smallest sigh, one she did not bother making severe.

“You all want to come?

I glanced back to see that Yuuto and Koneko had also moved to come with us.

“I’m interested in this special human.” I said.

“Same.” Issei added.

“I figured I could help you out with the report, Buchou,” Yuuto said, glancing at Issei.

Koneko only said, “I’m going.”

That was apparently, answer enough.

I hid my fox traits as we left the club room.

_________________________________________

The tennis club was active, and from the fence came the constant sound of balls being struck in rapid, rhythmic succession.

Issei, naturally, got distracted immediately.

Girls’ tennis uniforms had apparently captured his attention the moment we arrived.

He lingered behind the fence, peering in with a lecherous expression on his face.

Then one of the girls saw him.

“It’s the beast, Hyoudou!”

The reaction spread down the fence line fast enough to be almost impressive.

He got booed.

By multiple girls.

“Shut up!” Issei shouted “I'm just looking so it should be fine!”

“We don’t want to be watched by you! It feels dirty!”

“Don’t look at me! Keep the wild beast away from me!”

“Kiba-san is here! Protect us Kiba-san!”

The girls shouted in disgust and fear at Issei.

I looked at Yuuto.

“Are you going to protect them from the beast, Yuuto-san?”

She chuckled and gave me an awkward smile.

“I seem to have a fan club of some of the girls at the school. I’ve been told I’m ’dashing’ and other things like that before. Someone must have heard me refer to myself as Buchou’s [Knight] as that’s now my image at the school.”

I had definitely seen and heard girls getting excited over Yuuto before.

Her athletic build and calm and collected personality made her popular.

I looked at Issei who was grinding his teeth in frustration.

“You continue to have a gift for angering the girls in our school.”

“That’s not fair,” he said. “I didn’t even do anything yet.”

Koneko looked at him flatly. “…Perv.”

Yuuto, kinder but no less honest, said, “You kind of earned the reputation, Ise-kun.”

He stared at her as in betrayal.

“You too, Yuuto-san?”

She gave him a small, apologetic smile. “I know you better than others, but you’re called a member of the perverted trio for a reason.”

Issei slumped in defeat.

“Hurry up, you four.” Rias called out.

We continued on and sat on one of the benches near the court and waited.

“So Buchou, does this person know we are  Devils?” Issei asked while we waited.

“They should.” Rias replied. “The school takes in humans from special backgrounds. So the school should have informed them of us when they were admitted.”

It was interesting that humans were being trusted with information that there were Devils present in this school.

I heard hoofbeats before I saw them.

Then the tennis club captain, Abe Kiyome, arrived riding a large horse with the cheerful confidence of someone who had decided ordinary school rules were beneath her.

“Ohohoho! Hello there Rias-san! It’s rare to see you here!”

She dismounted, laughing grandly, and behind her came the body of a dullahan in armor, carrying a watermelon where its head should have been and moving with a concerning amount of grace.

I looked at the watermelon.

I disliked this.

Abe-senpai ran a hand along the horse’s face to calm it.

“It’s quite the horse, isn’t it?” She asked. “When Mr Smith’s head was injured I was asked to take care of his horse and Mr. Smith’s body. Dullahan sure are interesting beings.”

The Dullahan body bowed to us.

I glanced at the girls of the tennis club, but none of them seemed to care about the massive horse or headless knight.

“Abe-san, you know that you can’t bring monsters onto the school campus.” Rias said. “It’s against the academy’s rules.”

“Well I needed to take care of Mr Smith’s body as well, and since it can act on its own I gave him the task of being our mascot. This is the tennis club's mascot character "Headless Honda-kun”! The watermelon give it a summer theme.”

“The headless knight is the mascot?” Issei asked.

“Hmm… well it can’t be helped if it’s your mascot.” Rias said while nodding.

This was somehow accepted.

“Thats what Kaichou said when I told her!” Abe-senpai said 

Apparently by Sona-Kaichou too.

I turned slowly toward Yuuto. “How is Buchou accepting this?”

Yuuto looked toward the fence where several girls had been walking past the tennis court before spotting the Dullahan body and were now squealing about Honda-kun.

She looked at me and said, very calmly, “If Kaichou approved it, it likely fell within school tolerances.”

Koneko, who had already accepted the inevitable, tugged lightly at my sleeve.

“Buchou likes mascots,” she said.

I looked at her.

“Give up.”

That, annoyingly, explained enough that I did.

The girls cheering for the Dullahan mascot noticed Issei and started to berate him.

He looked crushed.

That improved my mood more than it should have.

“So, Rias-san.” Abe-senpai said. “What did you need to speak with me about?”

“I’m sorry to bother you, but could you answer some questions for me as a beast tamer? I am putting together some research and would appreciate it if you told me about the monsters and Youkai you have.”

Abe-senpai’s answer was immediate.

“No. While I appreciate being allowed to go to this school, I have no interest in forming any connections with Devils. You should be able to talk with someone besides me right?”

“There must be something that I could interest you with?” Rias asked.

Abe-senpai’s eyes drifted to me.

The look changed as soon as she focused.

Interested in a concerning way.

“Abe-san?” Rias asked. 

“I wouldn’t mind trading information for a chance to work with Kitsune. They’re typically hard to get your hands on with their illusions and shapeshifting.”

Abe-senpai tilted her head like a collector examining a thing through glass.

I disliked it more each second.

Issei, trying to help said, “If you’re curious about monsters and stuff, maybe Yuki-san could do some devil work for you or answer—”

“No,” Rias and Koneko each said at almost the same time.

Both of them were looking at Abe coldly.

Rias’s smile remained perfectly polite and entirely unwelcoming.

“Yuki-chan is one of my servants,” she said. “That sort of arrangement will not be necessary.”

Koneko added, with complete bluntness, “She’s not a pet.”

Abe laughed softly as though we were overreacting.

She looked from Rias to Koneko and then back to me, still intrigued enough to make the skin between my shoulders tighten.

“Fine,” she said. “Then I don’t think we will be able to work out a deal. After all, I need to be careful around your mind or I might get my soul taken away.”

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