Chapter 6: My Stage

Chapter 6: My Stage

In order to have ample privacy for their discussion, the three of them had retired to Takauji's bedroom. Which as one would imagine, left quite the impression on Murayama—feeding into her delusions rather than quelling them.

"I hope this is as urgent as you two say it is, because I'm going to have to deal with a rather bothersome misconception my sister's going to have from now on."

He breathed a heavy groan, confident that the rumors his sister would inevitably spread were bound to spread like wildfire throughout Kuoh Academy.

She's probably already messaging her friends in the Kendo Club about this as we speak. If he had supernatural hearing, then he'd most definitely be hearing the sound of her vigorously typing away on her phone.

"Ufufu~ Maybe it doesn't have to be a misconception~" Akeno said in an alluring tone of voice, sitting down next to him on his bedside, purposefully shuffling closer.

"Akeno!" Tsubaki called her name in an admonishing manner.

"What? We're in a man's bedroom aren't we? A little fun here and there is always good for the spirit," she leaned against Takauji. "Don't you think?"

"I think it'd be nice if you could hurry up and tell me what you're here for, I have to cook dinner soon."

"Oh? I do love me a man that can handle a stove," although she maintained her seductive air, his lack of reaction left her fairly disappointed. It wouldn't kill you to be a little excited, unless you're just playing cool to make me come on to you even harder.

Tsubaki cleared her throat, getting their attention. "Since Akeno refuses to take this matter seriously, I'll do it in her stead." She looked at him intently, "Ashikaga-san. Something about you has changed recently hasn't it?"

He folded his arms, "You tell me. You're the ones who approached me."

Sona had a feeling he'd act like this, she sighed inwardly. "Alright, if you insist on feigning ignorance then forgive me if I choose to be a little blunt." She reclined, adopting a less tolerant demeanor. "The objects I'm sensing in your backyard, they're imbued with Mana, or more accurately—your Mana."

He tilted his head to one side and smiled, "Objects your sensing? Someone's been watching a bit too many cartoons haven't they?"

"There's no use in hiding it," Akeno chimed in. "Every human possesses a certain amount of Mana, but the difference between dormant and awakened Mana is clear as day to us Devils."

You're rushing it, Tsubaki silently disapproved of Akeno's exceptionally forward approach.

She leaned in and took a whiff of the air around him, her face only a few millimeters away from his cheek. "As it would seem, you've been using your Mana pretty frequently. Could it be that you've already signed with an organization in such a short span of time?"

Slow down! Ashikaga-san's paranoia is clearly at an all time high right now! If you set him off then neither of us will be able to make him sit down and talk with us!

As much as she wanted to scold Akeno verbally, Tsubaki understood that doing so would make them appear unprepared and at evident odds with one another. Hence lowering their image in his eyes, and making it harder to negotiate.

The absolute worst thing they could do at the moment, was make it seem as if they weren't on the same page with each other.

He shook his head, "This is all clearly part of some sort of inside joke between the two of you. But I'm afraid I'm a little preoccupied to be wasting time entertaining it," he stood up, moving towards the door in a clear effort to leave.

You're terrifyingly good at keeping your composure Ashikaga-san, I'll give you that. Akeno wore a mischievous smile. Unfortunately for you, I happen to be just as exceptional at breaking it.

Tsubaki gasped, watching as Akeno grabbed him by the hand and pinned him to his bed. Leaving him more shocked at Akeno's monstrous strength in spite of the lack of muscle on her frame, than the fact that he was being straddled in his own house by a woman he had just met.

"I don't know how you've already gotten to a stage where you can control your Mana in such a short amount of time. However, if you're at a point where you're capable of something like enhancing objects with Mana—you should also be capable of something like sensing objects and people with it. So go ahead, try it on me."

Their gazes remained fixated on one another, her soft, supple breasts squishing against his torso like memory foam as she patiently waited for a response.

"What's wrong? Is having a woman top you too much for you to handle? Mr. Ice-Man." She shuffled around simply to drive the sensation further in, becoming increasingly more determined to get him to break character the more he tried to maintain it.

"...You're really not human," when he used Mana Sense on Akeno, it didn't even remotely feel the same as when he did it on Murayama. There was some kind of—energy, flowing through her. One that wasn't the same as his ice-cold Mana, but rather one that was far hotter, and more intense in nature.

He turned to Tsubaki, whose face had turned beet-red from witnessing the intimate spectacle that was occurring before her. A spectacle which she believed both participants were treating far too lightly.

"Nor are you," his face started to contort, as if his mind wasn't sure what kind of emotion it wanted to convey.

"Fufu~ I already told you, didn't I? We're Devils." She smiled, the warm breath from her words hitching against his face. "Terrible, fiendish, deceptive Devils who pin men on their backs without a second thought. Although, you don't seem to be complaining about it very much."

Eventually, his face figured itself out.

Excitement.

Pure, unadulterated excitement that stemmed from a lifetime of boredom.

And that emotion was clear as day for Akeno whose face was only a few millimeters away from turning Tsubaki into an involuntary voyeur.

I had a feeling you weren't the plain old bland stoic type, I'm glad that my efforts revealed that wasn't the case. I think you're going to be a lot more fun than that, I don't know any men who can remain completely self-absorbed in their own train of thought while having such an alluring woman as myself straddling them.

"Show me," he requested with a distinct glimmer in his eyes.

"You might want to be a little more specific," she reached for her collar and gave it a slight tug. Making her cleavage semi-visible for a brief moment. "Unless you're alright with leaving it up to my interpretation?"

But his demeanor didn't shift in the slightest. "Show me what makes you a Devil."

"As you wish." A fluttering sound followed, greeting him with the sight of two, pointy, bat-like wings that had sprouted out from Akeno's waist, each of which were roughly about a meter in length.

…Fascinating! He reached out to touch them without a second thought, fully entranced by what he was witnessing.

"...H-Hey! Those are… Hnggghhh… S-Senstive…"

She let out a faint whine, gently biting her finger and flinching under the sensation of him shamelessly caressing her wings, hardly noticing the fact that her body was starting to heat up.

The edges are rigid and sharp, I could probably end up cutting my finger if I'm not careful. But the interior is akin to a soft membrane, and it covers a lot more surface area to make it more aerodynamic.

"What about you?" He asked Tsubaki.

"...I'm not letting you touch them alright?"

She was still struggling to wrap her head around how what was supposed to be a formal meeting, had turned into her being a third-wheel to Akeno and Takauji getting frisky with one another.

Nonetheless, she allowed her wings to protrude from her waist just like Akeno.

"Is that all?" If you heard the word "Devil", then it wasn't unreasonable for one to expect a lot more than just wings.

Akeno mouthed a bemused giggle, "What were you hoping for? Horns? Red skin? Maybe a pitchfork tail?"

"I'm just finding it hard to believe that Devils look so—human." And that wasn't the only question he had.

Where did they come from? Why were they here? Were they all over Japan? Were they just in Kuoh? What were their powers? His mind raced like a Formula 1 car, not sure which of these questions he wanted to ask first.

"Well, some of us were originally human."

"What does that mean—" She put her finger on his lips, swiftly shushing him.

"You've gotten an answer, now it's your turn to give us one in return." She reached for his desk, grabbing a pencil that had been enhanced with his Mana. "Which organization taught you to do this?"

He shrugged. "I didn't even know something like an organization existed until you mentioned it just now."

"Uh-huh." She narrowed her eyes in an accusatory manner, the same sentiment emanating from Tsubaki.

"I'm being serious," he raised his hands. "I'm not sure what else to tell you."

"Human magic requires a deep understanding of complex equations and formulas to utilize, and you expect me to believe you figured out how to enhance objects with Mana on the same day that you awakened your Mana? With no outside help whatsoever?"

"Yeah, I'm the smartest person alive. Of course I'd be capable of that much."

Tsubaki sighed, "He genuinely believes that by the way."

You could debate who was better at what between him and Souna all you liked, but in a contest of ego? She wasn't even in the same league as him.

"I don't need to believe it, such a simple fact has no need for faith."

…He actually just said that with a straight face. Akeno was rarely ever left speechless, but Takauji had in fact—just left her speechless. Granted… You'd probably need that much confidence to willingly compete with Sona while being a normal human.

"...You seriously figured it out on your own?" She almost hesitated to ask.

"That—" He grinned, "—and more."

"Show me," she returned his phrase back at him.

"How about this, I'll show you one ability for every one you show me. Deal?"

"Sure."

Why do I feel like I'm being ignored throughout this conversation? This was supposed to be a genuine discussion about how Kuoh is being managed, and what Ashikaga-san's place will be in all this—not a show and tell!

Unfortunately for her, Akeno and Takauji appeared to have secluded themselves within their own little bubble. Also… isn't it about time you got off him?

"But before we start, there's something I'd like to ask. Earlier, you said that human magic requires complex calculations and equations to utilize. Would it be safe to assume that you're implying it isn't the case for Devils?"

"Good observation. First of all, what we Devil's use to harness our abilities isn't the same as the Mana you use. It's something called Demonic Power, which uses one's sense of imagination to create spells instead of their calculative ability."

…Well that's not very fair.

"However, the most important factor for us isn't our sense of imagination—but rather the quantity of Demonic Power we have, since it's what's responsible for deciding the scale and intensity of our abilities."

"That's quite the advantage you have on humanity." He still planned on asking her what she meant when said that some of them used to be human.

"It's not as simple as you make it sound, raising our Demonic Power takes a great deal of talent and effort." With much more emphasis on the talent part, some Devils could be born at the apex of their species after all. "Now then, I think it's time for you to show me what else you can do."

"Alright," he glanced at the orange ribbon that was holding Akeno's ponytail together. "This one's called Projection." He opened his palm, particles of Mana coming together and effortlessly replicating her hair ornament.

Both Tsubaki and Akeno exchanged a thoroughly shocked glance, finding out that he could already enhance objects with his Mana was one thing.

But creating an object seemingly out of nowhere? That was just plain lunacy.

…No one's helping you? As if I'm going to believe that after this, Tsubaki scoffed inwardly. Who did this ego-maniac think he was fooling?

"It's more limited than it looks, I can only project things that are either awfully simplistic like the ribbon I just created. Or things that I actually understand the composition of," he proceeded to project one of the kitchen knives he had used for his throwing practice earlier.

…Still, the fact that you're capable of actual magecraft at all is nothing short of astonishing. Teacher or not, as he had hoped—Akeno had been thoroughly impressed, inflating his ego even further.

"I also can't maintain my projections forever, they progressively drain my Mana the longer I try to keep them manifested." He beamed, soaking in the shock emanating from both of them. "Your turn."

"My specialty lies in elemental manipulation," different constructs started to form around her fingertips; an ice cube, a sphere of water, a wisp of fire, and a chunk of soil. "And amongst the elements I'm capable of wielding, this is the one I'm most proficient with."

Lightning erupted from her hand, the bright-yellow sparks she was generating illuminated his face, only an inch or two away from his skin.

Yet, he didn't flinch. Not a twitch of the eye, not a quiver of the lip—nothing. He just stared at her lightning with an almost childish sense of wonder and awe, probably uncaring of the fact that it could burn his face even if he just shuffled around a little.

And during that moment, only one thought ran through his mind.

The stage for me to display my brilliance—has grown larger.

───

(Ignore my yapping if you didn't read the original.)

Even though I think having Takauji do antagonistic things for no reason whatsoever is stupid, that doesn't mean I'm completely against having him act as more of a "heel" if you know what I mean.

In short, if there's an actually good, understandable reason for it that makes the story more interesting, I'll move forward with it. But if there's no good reason for me to put it in, I won't.

If you're a fan of the series and want to read ahead, as well as support me go ahead and check me out on my p*treon. 

p*treon.com/Accel14 (Up to 15 Advance Chapters are avaliable as of now.) 

I also have a discord if you want to come and chat there.

Code: wNzT9AEsaz