A Devil’s Temptation(Whitebrand & Tigra9)

[tigra9]

Lena shrugged “hey ignoring those quirks of his spell casting can’t deny he is still a good mage” she looked watching taki stomping the stray who spawned but soon lost the ability to fight back or even escape as it just kept being stomped on

Lena soon walked over “Taki stop!” She called as she walked over to the stray who was now just laying there barely breathing

“Don’t… give… mercy…” the stray coughed out between ragged breaths, his ribs had to be broken at this point and it was a wonder his head remained intact too.

“I have no intentions of doing so, I just wanted to ask, are you proud you killed your master? Killed your fellow servants?”

The stray let out a labored brief laugh sound “master… deserved fate… servants helped… make me suffer… deserved death… thousand times…”

Lena exhaled standing “I see” she looked at taki “one quick punch to his head Taki, do it in one blow” she commented walking over to the staff and lifting it undoing the fog barrier as her rook finished off the stray, like all strays once it was dead it’s body began to dissolve into energy that disappeared, there was no after life for devil souls and this remained true for reincarnated ones “let’s go back then”

Once the fog had thinned enough Mikleo came running over “finally! I missed all the action again!” He pouted but quickly ducked the attempted strike to his head with his own staff “I swear I didn’t cast any sort of teleportation spell and my spell creation was accurate… ow”

Lena after he dodged her first casual swing waited for him to speak then flicked her wrist hitting him in the back with the staff head “apparently you messed up a letter in the formula for you to be forced out of the barrier again” she finally let her bishop take his staff and put a hand on her hip as a magic circle began to form below her glowing silver, it was a return teleport circle to take them back to their base.

Once everyone was standing on it though taki would need to shrink back Lena finished the activation and teleported them, they would appear inside a room of the old school building, in appearance it looked like it had been built over a hundred years ago and still maintained a wood paneling that had all sorts of occult marks and items placed here and there mostly for show, all the furniture was Victorian styled and there was two couches lining either side of a rectangle wooden coffee table and at the far end of it was a large desk. There was a counter with some small cabinets underneath it on the right side of the room and a tea set on it for making tea was still out but Lena would walk around to sit at the desk after closing the blinds of the window set on the wall behind the desk, a candle stand with five candles on the coffee table lighting up automatically “with that the stray devil subjugation is done, everyone you may relax until it is time for our devil jobs” Lena told them before opening the drawer of her dresser and pulling out her school work pile setting it on the desk and getting to work though she asked mei to fix her some tea.

Lois walked over and plopped onto one of the couches “ahh… my favorite part of the day” she let out an exhausted exhale “homework…” she commented clear sarcasm in her voice

Mikleo sat down on the other couch in his usual seat “wanna do mine? Since we share the same teachers”

“Hell no Mik!” Lois shot back without hesitation

[Whitebrand]

Taki was the sort of girl that didn't have a poker face. She looked very troubled as she stared down at her stained dress and shoes. Her arms were still bleeding but not a much.

"I need to change," she said. "The blood. Um...I hope that we have extra uniforms if I have to do this more often."

Mei have Lena a look that said "Do you want to handle this or should I?"

[tigra9]

Lena looked up and then stood walking over to taki as her green armor appeared and she held up her hands which began glowing to heal the wounds “we have plenty of extra uniforms but yours in particular are difficult to reproduce so we have less of yours then the rest of us” all of Taki’s uniforms required the thread to be enchanted to change size with taki “for your first fight you did fairly well… but the assault at the end was a bit much.” Lena looked down at where she was healing as she spoke “do the most with the least effort. It’s fine to get emotional while fighting but keep that fighting spirit restrained. If you can take down a foe with a single punch then use that single punch…” she looked up at Taki’s face “not countless stomps of your foot”

With the healing being done fairly quickly Lena deactivated her sacred gear and walked back to her desk sitting down “now to shower and change but leave your clothing in the cubby it will be fixed up later” with that she got back to doing her homework.

Around that time a girl would be sitting in a tree at the park having watched the devils fight but she sighed “to bad I didn’t get to see their leader fight… but so that’s the devils that own this town right now huh? Well I doubt they will interfere with me and my target” a smile and lick of her lips occurred “first mission in a long time where my target was so handsome, guess I’ll have some fun before I’m done” she stood up on the branch, the darkness had hid her figure and face well but as a few leaves fell in front of her she disappeared with no signs she had been there

[Whitebrand]

"Was at true?" Taki asked. "That he was tortured? By his King? Was there nothing that could have been done to keep that from happening?"

Mei saw the problem immediately.

"I don't know," she admitted. "Devils are usually smart enough to care for their pieces properly. They depend on them after all. That doesn't mean abuse can't happen.

"Its equally likely that he convinced himself that he was being abused to aleve the guilt of what he did. One thing about Strays is that they are universally mad."

Taki still didn't look happy. Mei didn't blame her. The implications of a Stray would be frightening.

"What we did to him was a mercy, Taki," Mei said. "Regardless of how he came to be that way. I can promise that nothing like what happened to him will happen to you. Lena and I have a much of a duty to you a you do to us."

She looked to Lena for support.

[tigra9]

Lena frowned “it was a mercy, strays lose their reason when they change so whatever their goals might have been or what they did it for will be lost, as for being abused by his master… I have to admit it could very well be true” she shrugged “devils that care deeply for their servants like my family are on the rare side, the younger generations are a bit more open about taking care of their servants but there are always those that don’t give a damn… if your servant you have to obey them and accept anything they do to you simply because your theirs” she shook her head “there is no point in worrying about it taki, if a stray appears it’s our duty to kill them, it’s just a job for us to clean up our own kinds messes”

[Whitebrand]

"Its a mess that shouldn't be made in the first place," Taki said as she left the room.

"I have to admit I can't really argue the point," Mei admitted. "Sometimes the wrong people have too much power."

Mei stretched, catlike.

"Homework time," she said.

Across town, the American student was also settling in to deal with his homework woes.

[tigra9]

“Really? Perhaps from you all who were not born devils ones that don’t care about their servants are the ‘wrong people’ but with some exceptions that constitutes 95% of devil nobility” Lena commented after taki left the room looking at mei “of course as you should remember form the history you were taught mei the devils still left are more moderate natured and actually willing to make servants for the sake of regrowing our numbers”

Lois frowned “can we… drop this subject Buchou? It may be the truth but it’s still a hard one to listen too”

Lena looked at Lois and smiled “your right, then that’s all, no more speaking about it let’s all get our homework done before it’s time for our real job” with that she settled into doing her homework, Lena was the first to finish and had them pulled out another sheet and began working on it, mei would be aware this was a monthly report. In order for them to be allowed to attend school in the human world one of the conditions was that Lena and mei had to once a month send in reports to the school they had attended in the underworld, in their case the subject was on Japanese yokai and what they learned hence the in school cover being an occult research club.

*****

The next day when classes started Stephen would find a letter in his locker, it didn’t have a name and used a plain white envelope with the only message being written in Japanese “please come meet me under the Sakura tree after school —secret admirer”

Taru adjusted his glasses having seen the letter fall from the shoe locker though he let Stephen read it and frowned tears flowing down like some anime “damn it I knew it would remain a possibility but to think you would get a love confession!!”

[Whitebrand]

Stephen read the letter with no small amount of excitement. Was this really happening?

"I thought this was an anime-only kind of thing," he said aloud.

The writing was very neat and the characters quite small, as though the writer had been trying to keep her note a secret. It seemed real enough.

While it was true that he had an eye for the girls, his kind-of-accidental presence a bit too close to the girl' s locker room plus his friendship with these two oddballs had probably given him a bad reputation among the opposite sex. On the other hand, maybe his record-setting time on the track had gotten someone's attention.

He reminded himself that he would have to hold himself back a bit more in phys-ed. If he excelled too well people might get suspicious about where he had gotten his skills. His...unconventional upbringing did not need to be grist for the rumor mill.

Still, he read and reread the letter all day whenever he wasn't in class. A girl. A real girl. Had noticed him. Just like out of some kind of manga story. God, he hoped she was cute.

Despite everything he had been taught about deception and stealth, he arrived at the cherry tree in record time. He had to really work to keep his excitement under control. He found himself sweating a little.

[tigra9]

When he arrived there would be girl standing under the tree, she was wearing their uniform and her back was to Stephen, she had lovely long Raven black hair that reached her thighs, it swayed a little in the breeze and she pulled a hand up to press her hair on the side down, but as she heard his approach she turned to look at him and smiled, her skin looked a little paler then average and she had bright purple eyes, clearly she was Japanese and while she didn’t compare at all to Vladilena she was still a petite but wonderful beauty that could make most men’s heart skip a beat “Ah, you got my letter this morning?” She asked and stepped closer to him a faint blush on her cheeks before she leaned in, she was shorter then Stephen but not by much “hey would you…” she looked down and away briefly before looking back up at him halfway “like to go out?” She asked clearly a bit embarrassed.

Meanwhile deep in her thoughts she was not at all embarrassed, after all this wasn’t the first time she drew in her target like this, rather she was trained so well not a single sign let on her true nature ‘this guy is the holder of that thing and a key target of those humans? You are really overselling him Azazel-sama’

[Whitebrand]

"Um...wow! I mean...absolutely!"

All the lessons his parents had ground into him about how little to trust and the warnings about the traps people might lay were shoved aside in the face of the girl's beauty. He had expected a girl pretty much average in all respects due to the laws of probability. His lecherous buddies would have strokes.

"Um...where would you like to go? What would you like to do? Um...movies? Shopping? Uh...hanging out?"

His words stumbled all over one another as he tried to get his feet back under him. He took a deep breath.

"Ah...since you had the courage to approach me, you have the honor of choosing the venue," he said. That sounded a lot better. He hoped. "Ah...there's a new Marvelous movie out now. If yopu like superheroes. Or are you into romantic comedies?"

He completely forgot to include the light American accent in his Japanese. Most Japanese tended to get a little nervous if a foreigner spoke their language too well. The results of an insular culture.

[tigra9]

The girl internally sweatdropped ‘this boy… is stupid’ all her thoughts watching him flounder were summed up like that

Outwardly she pulled back and put a hand to her mouth “ah, I’m sorry I didn’t even give you my name yet did I?” She took a step back and did a Japanese greeting “my name is Mikoto Kusanagi” Stephen would recognize that name, and now hearing it would cause his mind to click that she was in the same year but the classroom next door to his though he didn’t know much else as she then looked at him “but umm… since it would be our first date… do you… do you mind if we have it Saturday? I-I don’t really like American movies, I prefer anime ones to be honest” she said making sure to add in looking away and then back at him to add in to the shy character she was portraying “but umm… just going to see a movie only would be rather boring so maybe you could surprise me for the rest? I heard the shopping mall downtown recently opened an extra large theater next to it and some of my favorite stores are there too” she put her hands behind her back but then quickly turned as a female voice was heard calling her name “ah! Sorry that’s my friend, umm I can meet you at the theater next to the mall at 10 am, would… would that be ok?”

*****

Unknown to both Stephen and Mikoto a boy would be laying on the roof, today was a day off from club so the members weren’t gathering until after sunset but the boy with his hood pulled up frowned, he had been using magic to strengthen his hearing so he could eavesdrop but hearing all that he had he couldn’t help but let out a sigh “well this is gonna be something to explain to Buchou, a fallen angel sneaking in among the student body, making everyone think she has been here for the start, and her target is that foreign boy?” He looked at the sky “finally got to have a few hours before I go to the classroom and here I go getting handed extra work”

[Whitebrand]

"Um...there's a beautiful Studio Ghibli movie coming out tomorrow," he said quickly. "Miyazaki is big in America so...how about that? Then we check out the East Mall and...um...there's a nice ramen place..."

He was casting around frantically for ideas. He really hadn't anticipated a real girl on a real date so he wasn't properly prepared. He'd half expected it to be a prank or something. The reality of a date left him flustered.

Inside him, something was stirring. Properly awakening at last by his developing adulthood and his fantasies coming partly true.

"Um...Mikoto Kusanagi...that's a pretty name," he said lamely. "Not crude like Stephen Harner."

[tigra9]

Mikoto giggled a little “it’s only tuesday, let’s meet up Saturday alright? Don’t forget 10 am at the theater beside the mall” with that she waved and ran off not forgetting to keep a blush on her face. Once out of Stephens sight around a corner she slowed her jog to a slow walk then a stop and looked back with a frown “guess he is gonna be a boring one, oh well sometimes playing with the boring ones can be entertaining too” she shook her head before leaving

*****

Mikleo for his part would go to the clubroom, he knew Lena and mei would be there even though it wasn’t in session, the pair always had some work to do it seemed like, but once there he entered “Buchou, Fuku-Buchou we have something of a problem”

Lena who had been sitting at her desk discussing with Mei about a notice they had gotten from the school in the underworld looked when Mikleo entered “what’s the problem?” She asked setting the paper down turning her full attention to him

Mikleo walked over and stood in front of the desk the two girls were behind laying down a folder he had been holding “a fallen angel has infiltrated the school as a student, no official document but she messed with people’s minds to make them believe she has always been here. I paid close attention to her wondering what her objective might be and surprisingly she gave me a pretty big clue right away” he looked at the folder “she called that student out to the Sakura tree in the back and asked him out on a date”

Lena tilted her head listening calmly then opening the folder and narrowed her eyes as she saw the American boy “really? Any clue why she might be targeting him?”

Mikleo shrugged “not yet, I couldn’t get any closer then the school roof and I barely managed a remote listening circle without being noticed, the date is supposed to happen Saturday at 10 am with them meeting up at the theater outside the mall”

[Whitebrand]

Mei glanced at the young man's file.

"Athletic...decent grades...and a persistent ogler of girls. Socially clumsy. He must have been very lonely growing up to crave so much attention from us."

She examined his picture a bit more.

"Pretty eyes," she said. "Hazel. Almost gold."

"What should we do?" Taki asked.

[tigra9]

Lena hmmed “I’ve crossed paths with him once, Windam you think what we sensed was?”

“Without a doubt my lady” Windam spoke up from the gem under Lena’s clothes “it felt like the sensation of being near a dormant sacred gear… though what kind it is I can’t determine even with myself and Selece deliberating and analyzing it”

Lena nodded “alright then” her silver eyes scanned the document “he is in Lois’s class isn’t he? We will have her pay attention to him from here on, Saturday I will have my familiar monitor from a distance and we will act from there, everyone will be on standby”

Mikleo nodded “understood Buchou” he had noticed taki there when he entered but said nothing to her and now looked at her “maybe we should try giving him another love confession to mess with him” he grinned looking back but froze and bowed his head when his eyes arrived on Lena again “no it was merely a joke, I apologize”

Lena had looked up when Mikleo started saying his joke and glared at him with a mad look on Lena’s face

[Whitebrand]

Mei smiled at Lena's annoyance.

"I could do that," she teased. "I could string him along for weeks."

Taki tilted her head.

"What is our stance with the Fallen?"

[tigra9]

Lena looked at mei with an annoyed tilt of her eyebrow but she let out a sigh when the fallen angel was brought up “nothing… we will do absolutely nothing with the fallen angel so long as they do not act against the peace agreement we currently have between the devils and fallen angels.” She leaned back in her chair she hated how tricky it was to handle matters that ended up involving angels or fallen angels, thankfully the angels gave less problems then the fallen ones did on the standing agreement the daytime belonged to the angels to act in so devils and fallen angels could only act freely once the sun had set.

Lois who finally entered the clubroom stopped looking around seeing everyone in such a serious mood “uh… did I miss something?”

[Whitebrand]

"Just talking about boys," Mei said lightly. She squeezed Lena's shoulders affectionately. "A boy in your class, actually. We're trying to decide who gets him."

She giggled.

[tigra9]

Lena at this point finally spoke calmly now that she was in front of everyone “mei, enough” she said it in a firm no more jokes tone before explaining it to Lois “seems a fallen angel has approached one of the boys from your class, we don’t know much about him besides what’s in his file though, and the possibility he has a sacred gear, his name is Stephen Harner”

Lois tilted her head concerned by what mei said but soon as Lena spoke she understood it was a joke and then walked over sitting down on the couch while she listened to Lena and when Lois heard the name she got an aggravated expression “oh… the perverted gaijin” she rolled her eyes “he has two human friends in the class, their all the boys of the class and they tend to talk about girls even during it, one of them even openly tells the others when he has gotten a new ‘item’ for the three to watch together” she rolled her eyes again “the third is perhaps the most subdued but he carries a camera around for photos and we girls end up having to be on constant guard for peepholes because of those three” she crossed her arms and looked at mei “you wouldn’t want him Fuku-Buchou, I hear his favorite type are cat girls… to a rather unhealthy degree”

Lena listened to all that Lois had said and hmmed looking at his sheet again noting his grade average, everything was about average of what you’d expect for an American that’s only been in Japan a few years but the physical education was low, rather, wasn’t it too low? He looked fit enough that his pe class should also be average or a little higher then average “what about him in physical education? Surely he doesn’t sit it out does he?”

Lois looked back “they can’t… he always places around the middle or lower in physical activities but… it’s strange…” she furrowed her brow “the worse he places for the activity the happier he seems to be” Lena and mei knew Lois who had to hold back to not give herself away usually placed in the top 10 especially in track activities, she was a Knight after all, leg strength was her specialty

[Whitebrand]

"It's so low-to-average...I'm starting to wonder. Some sort of deceit?" Mei wondered aloud. "On paper he looks average but look at his build. Weight. Not a scrap of fat on him. He should be excelling in something...but why?"

"Maybe we should dig into his personal history?" Taki suggested tentatively.

"Good idea," Mei agreed. "I can do that. No one will question me looking into it."