Chess and Fluff

Skills were expensive. While the changes to my Sexual Stats had been relatively cheap before, only costing as little as a hundred LP per Rank, it took three hundred to get the two skills that I used to clean myself with. The amount needed to get past the A rank as well increased all the way to a thousand and I had only obtained three and a half thousand LP from the bathroom incident. Well, that was quite a lot all things considered, but even then…

Well, I needed skills and it was unlikely that I would manage to find all the possible hidden requirements to unlock individual ones, however that needed to happen… Probably a lot of repetition and intention, as these things usually go. As such, for the time being, I decided to skip out on further increasing my Sexual Stats and just focused on getting stronger in preparation, confident that the Logs will let me keep pace with class.

…Well, I had the intention of getting stronger, but… I ended up with just one skill because of how expensive it was, consuming the three thousand and leaving me with pocket change.

[[Intersect of Yin-Yang Lv.1/10] – An ability possessed by all humans to switch their own nature. If you wish to learn this, discard this at once. If you wish to save this, forget this at once. Yearning and regret are two sides of the same coin. Just like life and death. If you want this to live, you must kill it at once. If you wish to keep this, lose it at once. Blessings and loss are two sides of the same coin. Just like the relationship between a man and a woman]

With a simple breath, I was more or less convinced that I had made the right choice. Rather than just activating the skill that I already had, it seemed to be a sufficient trigger to activate this one as well. I felt some confidence fill me, a lack of embarrassment and all that. At this point, I either had to get over the problem of finding out how to get certain skills the normal way or… Do more things with Melusine and Tamamo.

Aika among others was also on the list but… I was pretty sure those two would prefer it to be with them. Aika and the others were far more casual anyway. Akeno, Rias, Koneko and so on… The girls of canon were not ones I would budge on, even for Tamamo, but these sorts of casual hookups… With a breath, the intersection flipped again. It would hurt Tamamo, probably, if I were to pursue them.

Of course, I chose to believe I would not deny or run away if they went after me instead! But to settle for bronze when I had gold just seemed wasteful and Tamamo would probably be very, very, upset. So better not to try things with them yet. Probably. I would have to see what the future would hold.

On the other hand, as the hours passed I ended up flipping again just in case before putting a certain plan that hours of boredom and paying attention to classes put in my head. 'Hey, Osakabehime?'

'How do you know my name?!'

—I had no answer. 'Hey, Osakabehime? You're a shut-in, right? How good are you at chess? If not enough, can you start up a game against a bot on the highest difficulty? Depending on how things go, I might need your help.' All things considered, this was probably a very, very, bad idea for various reasons. But with the flip, I found myself less concerned about the future and… Well, living more in the present.

o.O.o.O.o

Sona liked the peaceful days. Peaceful, normal, standard, was good. Predictable had more or less been on the list of words as well until she met… Them.

As much as she disliked her sister's antics, the perverted misadventures and the results that followed them were much worse. Well, no, a part of that was wrong. There was never any actual result that reached her. For all their antics, no one actually came to complain in a way that could have directly allowed for a threat of expulsion. Not a single frightened girl. They were harmless and just did things from a distance and never actually touched anyone directly.

Her hands were, metaphorically, tied as a result. She couldn't do anything about it from her position other than try the most accepted method of directly warning them but… They had gotten literal, physical, beatings so a verbal attack wouldn't really do much, she figured. They were being punished and contained by their supposed-to-be victims and things could more or less stay that way, without causing more paperwork.

Still, they had broken her liking for the predictable because their antics were predictable. Until Thursday at least. Hyoudou had changed very suddenly and became more… Passive among other things. She was pretty sure she heard Rias mumbling about him earlier today, but she hadn't gotten the chance to confirm if the few words about him suddenly getting a lot stronger had any basis or not.

The day was peaceful and Hyoudou wasn't predictable which was actually a good thing. "Good afternoon." She nearly did a spit take however when the boy in question just suddenly showed up, bold enough to enter without being invited yet decent enough to have at least knocked thrice before entering.

She considered getting rid of the drink anyway, suddenly concerned that her sister might have spiked it with aphrodisiacs again due to the sudden reaction she got just from being in his direct presence. Even from a few feet apart, she could… Feel him in a way she hadn't really felt anyone in a while. Compared to her sister or Sirzechs, or even some other powerful individuals he didn't seem all that much, but she had more or less gotten used to them and expected them.

Hyoudou however was like getting a sudden slap in the face or even sucker punched out of nowhere. "I um…" Oh right she hadn't even greeted him as a result, but he continued anyway. "Heard that you liked chess. So I was wondering if you'd like to play me. Of course, with a condition. The winner can ask anything they want from the loser."

…what low budget porn did he get that from? "No." She chose to go with a short and simple answer.

Hyoudou however seemed… Relieved in some way? "Ah… Alright then. Just knowing that you think I have a chance to win is good enough for me." …what? He bowed respectfully a little and started to head back out.

It was an obvious trap. He wouldn't have challenged her if he didn't have a plan… Even if he was Hyoudou Issei… He had something hidden up his metaphorical sleeve… Yet all of it faded away in terms of importance as he struck at her pride. He thought she was chickening out? It wasn't the first time someone tried to bait her into making a mistake like that, but somehow having it come from his mouth just… Offended her more.

"Wait." None of this was a first time. It wasn't the first time someone tried to make her slip up and it wasn't the first time someone tried to win by cheating in some way. It likely wouldn't be the last time either. She had beaten all of them and put them back in their place. "One match." If he thought he was being clever, she would show him how much of a mistake he was making and then she'll make him regret making the bet that he had made.

Anything? She could hardly expect him to hold up his end of the deal normally, but when making a deal, a bet, with a Devil, there are certain ways to ensure obedience, ways he doesn't even have to be aware of. She could force him to abandon his ways, maybe even become a decent person. She could even add him to her peerage after she won.

o.O.o.O.o

…she lost. No matter how many times she looked at the board, no matter how many plans and steps she tried to make, they all ended in defeat. Meanwhile he wasn't even bothered about it, almost as if he wasn't even aware of it. The entire game he looked like he had no actual idea what he was doing and even now he was more or less staring wide eyed at the board as if not aware that he would win in only a few more moves.

If he makes enough mistakes, she might be able to get a draw, but there was no conceivable way in which she could turn this situation into a win.

There hadn't been anything she could detect. No spells cast, no Sacred Gear activated, no obvious telepathy that she could pick up on that would have allowed him to communicate with someone on the outside. In the first place, this very room was made in a way to prevent such long range communications with some exceptions. It was a preventive measure against her sister, but she was still somehow managing.

Hyoudou should not have been able to manage the same way. He was not someone with sufficient magical knowledge to accomplish such a feat… Unless someone else was… But even then, even as she played and did her best to win, to show him that whatever trap he had thought he had set would fail… She was the one who failed against what seemed like simply being out skilled and outplayed.

There were no signs of cheating and even assuming he had powerful allies on the outside was grasping at straws to try and explain away the fact that she lost. So instead of continuing the line of thought, she made the final moves, making her defeat as painless and short as she could manage it. She had no idea what exactly he had planned for her, but it would not be pleasant or likely to keep her decency.

The way his face lit up when he actually realized he won was a bit fun, that much she could admit as she waited for the inevitable depraved order. He made a bet, after all, and the rules demanded that she obey it. It was not really a compulsion and she could, in theory, break the rules but then what? If word goes out it could be even more damaging to her reputation than whatever he ends up asking of her.

"Want a rematch? Double or nothing."

"…huh?"

"Double or nothing. If you win, no one owes anything, but if I win, you have to do two things."

…maybe she had just lost because she got too arrogant. "Deal." Calming herself down, she prepared to go at this cold, calculating and logical. She would not lose again.

o.O.o.O.o

I hadn't actually expected it to work this well. Considering that Sona bet her single status on chess, refusing to marry anyone who couldn't beat her at it, who isn't smarter than her, I had thought that she would have casually been challenging every Chess AI in the world on the highest difficulty to further hone her skills or something.

Yet here I was, pretty sure I was winning? I was just communicating with Tamamo… Who had somehow managed to find Osakabehime and kick her off whatever computer they had found in the Moon Cell to do it from… I had no idea how they had even gotten into the Moon Cell without me, but that was a mystery I could try and solve later. Come to think of it, the Moon Cell having the absolute best in Chess AI made sense…

Either way, I was just communicating with Tamamo and we went at it move by move. I had no actual vision into the future nor did I plan any moves ahead of time. Sona made a move, I told it to Tamamo who replicated it, the Chess AI then made the next move, which I replicated then Sona made a move and so on. The whole time, I was quite concerned as Sona might even be able to turn things around.

Doing this actually netted me a [Chess] skill and leveled it up to five. Right now, in what I was pretty sure were the closing stages of the second game, I actually started considering everything properly again. The Student Council room was… Professional. The sort of classical office look which did not really leave a lot of things to be distracted by, but just watching Sona as she was deep in thought, probably trying to figure out how to win, seemed weird.

This was… Probably not the best idea, all things considered. But it was something that could be done and as such it was something that was being done. In the present, here and now, even past the worry I had about her turning the tables and winning, it was actually pretty fun, but it could have long term consequences I was not fully sure if I was in any state to get to the bottom of. Sona was not a bad looking girl, Devil, by any means, but pursuing her… Was not exactly high on my to-do list.

Her sister on the other hand… Serafall seemed like a difficult individual to keep pace with, but also the fun sort of person that rarely caused boring moments as long as she could manage them. Still, ending up with Sona wouldn't have been the worst option as there was certainly a cuteness factor even in the serious nature and presence she had to herself. The fact remained however that I needed to stick to Rias to keep the World safe.

Being friends with both of them, three with Serafall, wouldn't really be bad and this way I probably had a bit of an in with Serafall even if it might complicate things toward Rias. Especially considering that I technically did win the chess match against Sona which probably made me one of the few possible ones she could get engaged to. I did not want to pretend to know politics, but I was pretty sure that at least a fake engagement would be for everyone's benefit in some way.

Serafall wouldn't have to worry about stranger guys pursuing Sona, Sona wouldn't have to worry about someone who she doesn't like trying to pull something and we could probably just break it off when it becomes useless. That sort of thing. It was quite likely that I was wrong and it was not especially likely that they would actually go through with such a thing, but it was probably a possibility, wasn't it?

For the time being, I was happy in my current situation with Tamamo and Melusine. Getting a further Fiancé this early would probably just intensify Tamamo's attempts to prove herself the superior wife… Or she wouldn't even get competitive and just be upset at me and make me feel bad in general. As useful as the new skill to flip my personality was, I was not certain that I could manage getting guilt tripped like that as either side…

"…Checkmate." Saying I 'mated' her felt a bit inappropriate, but well… The second victory was achieved. She was clearly having trouble accepting her first defeat and an idea had popped into my head. The multiple choice prompt hadn't shown up then and it wasn't showing up now either. She was quite upset even now but it was… Less than when she had lost the first time.

She sighed in resignation. "So it is…" We hadn't really talked during the matches. "So. What is it you want?"

One option that had popped into my head was a city wide brainwashing spell to eliminate my bad reputation. That, however, might be a bad idea, so instead. "…Your phone number."

"…huh?" I surprised her again, apparently. It was a bit cute, how she blinked in surprised confusion.

I did my best to smile wholesomely. "The first thing is your phone number… The second… Well, you're probably expecting it of me, so let's just go with… A topless picture." Her expression began to shift. "Of course, I won't show anyone, don't worry. I have no reason to try and blackmail you. But. At some point, preferably within this year, I want you to send me a picture of yourself topless."

She started shaking a little in restrained emotion. The other part… Was entirely unnecessary normally, but something in me was more or less screaming at me to make the request… Well, it would probably get me some more LP so it was constructive lewdness, if such a thing can even exist. The whole goal of the bet was to try and get her to agree to play a game with the phone number being something I considered a simple enough request.

Simple enough until the fact that I offered her a double or nothing rematch at which point I had to choose something else as well. I considered just asking her to flash me as a decent enough alternative. Asking for something sexual like a handjob or a blowjob felt too dubious to go through with as she probably wouldn't like doing it so why force her? Not that I hadn't entertained the idea for some time. Somehow just imagining the scenario had given me some additional LP back then.

The decision I came to however was a simple matter of… Curiosity, as considered and manifested by the flip side. The bet was for a topless picture, but technically, she didn't have to actually reveal anything as long as she wasn't wearing anything on her top. So what sort of thing would she go with? An arm over her breasts hiding the important bits? Leaned over, elbows on her legs and holding her phone to hide her face while her arms obscure her chest?

Just a quick and simple snap, showing her entire, raw, upper body? Cosplay? Something done after exercise or a shower which leaves her with a sort of glisten? Would she make it so only her upper body was seen and not her lower body? There were simply so many options and the unknown made it somehow more exciting, even more so with the fact that it didn't have to be immediate. It could be later today, it could be in a few months.

Depending on how things develop, she might actually end up attracted to me in some way. It might not make all that much sense to expect such a thing, but this was a harem sort of setting wasn't it? So if she did somehow develop feelings for me and try to be more than friends, she could actually, fully willingly, send me a picture with this being used as an excuse. I had eight months, more or less, to find out just what we end up as.

However, I was probably hyping up the possibilities to myself so much, letting my imagination wonder, that I would be disappointed with the end result, so I decided to move away from those thoughts for the time being.

"F-Fine…" She agreed and we exchanged numbers. I gave her another smile before heading out of the room properly. It really was surprisingly effective to imply my victory was certain with her refusing to challenge me…

[Event Complete!

+3 Charisma

+2 Luck

+10 Intelligence]

Oh… Useful.

o.O.o.O.o

The school day had already been ending when I had challenged Sona and it quickly finished off after that. The game against Sona had netted me some additional LP, but it wasn't enough to really buy anything of note. As such, I made a stop on my way home, not feeling Tamamo at my side and hoping that that meant she was home herself and as such that this would be more or less a surprise.

"Welcome home~" She greeted me with a smile that was not… Particularly knowing. Not that I was certain in being able to recognize one of those. What I did more or less recognize was that Osaka was nursing a bump on her head. That was… Probably the result of chess. Sorry, Neethime, I will try to make it up to you later. "Oh? You bought something?"

Oh right, it's not much of a surprise if I just hold the bag in my hands this openly… "I have, yes." And thus, the bag was reached into and I pulled out… A brush. I went to a pet store and asked for the best. Tamamo pretty much immediately understood the implication and jumped from her seating position to her feet, then on the bed with her tail swaying here and there is obvious excitement.

Her fluffy, fluffy, tail. I was a cat lover and found it quite fun to just put my face against them and nuzzle up when no one else was looking and her tail had been giving me the same sort of inviting vibes, aside for the usual mematic sort of 'Touch Fluffy Tail'.

[>[Touch Fluffy Tail]

[Touch Fluffy Tail]

[Touch Fluffy Tail]]

Apparently the system heard me, so I touched fluffy tail. It felt repetitive to continue calling it fluffy, but it was indeed very soft and nice to the touch. Somehow warm as well, around the center of it as I ran my hand through and along it, distracted for the time being by doing so. Tamamo certainly didn't seem to mind, Melusine hadn't popped out yet and Osaka was busy playing some game on the tablet she had pulled out of somewhere which certainly wasn't mine.

It had to come to an end eventually however. The brush was an excuse I apparently did not need, but it was here now and I would use it anyway, gently and with as much confidence as I could manage. I did not have all that much practice with this sort of thing, but decided to go along with my gut. The thoughts of inadequacy however vanished gradually when faced with the fact it was nice. All of it was nice. The feeling in my hand, the just barely noticeable sounds on Tamamo enjoying it as well, the smooth movement of the brush… Even the mostly ignored notifications of LP being gained.

"Do you… Use different… You know? Products? On the tail or is it natural?" Eventually I hadn't been able to just keep up the silence and tried to start a conversation. I was not good with silence and was even worse at conversations in the past… But it ended up mostly carried by Tamamo anyway as she talked about how it was mostly magic, leading into a conversation about her past in which she seemed to have mostly forgotten about the fact she was supposed to be hiding her name.

She hadn't actually dropped her name, but she did talk about her life in general and how she took care of her actual hair since that did not seem to be obeying the same rules as her tail. I was pretty sure I ended up promising to take her shopping for related products, but for the most part my contribution was an occasional comment that barely contributed anything as not to be completely quiet while focusing on enjoying the tail and brushing as much of it as I could instead of just one side.

Eventually, the conversation had ended and the simple, gentle, moment with the light of the setting sun flooding into the room to illuminate us. Well, Osaka was also there and being respectfully quiet. Melusine had also popped out at some point but I only realized that a few minutes after the fact.

A notification had come up that the other Trigger was generated and with that, the second floor of the Arena had opened up… But I had already technically won the first round so I wasn't worried about winning and there were still two days after today within which I could hopefully get the second Trigger. As such, the plan was to try and get into Ascension when this was done.

That… Was a risky move that could end up with me seriously hurt or even killed. As such, this was a way to further calm my nerves as much as I could as well as try to get some additional LP. So far, both parts were working really well and I felt a proper smile on my face.

My hand was still sinking into the soft fur of the tail as I held it gently and with the respect that should be given to a divine being, even if Tamamo wasn't acting as one right now. I almost wanted to fully lean in, hug the tail and fall asleep using it as a pillow.

Tamamo whined when I stopped, having done what I considered enough and deciding to end it now before it just gets excessive. With that done, I started to steel myself for the journey, more or less wiggling my body away, my legs numb already from sitting in the same position for too long.

—Only for Melusine to suddenly put a comb in my hand when I was sitting on the edge of the bed, more or less jumping into my lap due to my position. "Do me now." Why did that sound lewd…

…she didn't have a tail, but she did have hair to be brushed… I gave it a quick run through with my hand, finding it to be… Strangely soft and slick? I half-expected some strange junk or something to be present due to running into things at a high altitude, but it really was clean.

"…wait, you didn't steal this, did you?" I realized that she was gone for quite some time and hadn't explained where or why she was.

"......No." The silence did not really convince me. Well, the comb looked normal enough, so it should be fine. A few more minutes of delay wouldn't hurt excessively…

My thoughts also continued in various directions. I could more or less feel Tamamo pouting pretty hard at this development, the sun had already set and it was that strange point where it's not quite dark enough that we had to turn the lights on, yet it was dark without a doubt.

Even so, this was… Nice. It was still very nice even it the general feeling and setting was different…

Her hair was combed differently and there was less of it. I was not even sure if there was much point to… Grooming, the word was, wasn't it? Either one's hair or tail, but well… It wasn't bad either. They were close and I liked that. They liked it too.

Maybe, just maybe… Everything will be fine.