Chapter 7: Baka Taka!
Chapter 7: Baka Taka!
"Murayama, would you mind not staring at our guests so intensely?" After their discussion, Tsubaki, Akeno, and Takauji had returned to the living room.
Both of them received a surprising invitation from Takauji to dine with him, but neither of them were nearly as shocked as Murayama by his show of hospitality.
Her cut-throat, obnoxiously narcissistic, nearly friendless brother had two top-tier beauties come to their house solely to meet with him, spend a concerning amount of time alone with him in his room, and to top it all off—he was now cooking for them!
And he was making their mother's Udon of all dishes! Something he only did when he was in an exceptionally good mood, or more accurately whenever he gained a point over Souna Shitori.
Or as Tsubaki had informed him, Sona Sitri.
"I'm not staring," she insisted while still clearly being suspicious of all three of them.
How could she not? Something was very clearly amiss, and she fully intended to figure out precisely what had transpired in his bedroom.
Her gaze first landed on Tsubaki.
Come on Murayama, it's time to put your detective skills to the test. Shinra-senpai's clothes don't seem to show any signs of creasing, and by the looks of things I think it's safe to assume that they remained on the whole time.
She then looked at Akeno.
There's light creasing on the front side of her uniform! And her ponytail isn't as pristine as it was when she first entered, the current positioning of which would suggest vertical movement!
And finally, she fixed her examining stare onto her brother.
The front and back of his clothes are creased! Especially the back! Her eyes widened, a lightning bolt of realization crashing into her scalp. D-Don't tell me… Shinra-senpai was watching in the corner room while they were doing the deed?!
It was clearly the only reasonable deduction one could make, a deduction that gave her information she wasn't entirely sure she knew what to do with.
Tsubaki leaned toward Akeno, murmuring something in her ear. "...Akeno," as it would appear—Murayama wasn't the only one who had a shocking piece of information descend upon them.
"I know," Akeno replied. During their little show and tell of one another's abilities, a truly unbelievable piece of information regarding Takauji had come to light.
He could wield the Darkness Element.
He, a human, could wield Darkness.
Not a Vampire, not a rare Youkai, and most certainly not a Legendary Evil Dragon.
But a flesh and blood human, and possibly even the only living human mage to have awakened that element.
He was a specimen the Magician's Council would go completely ballistic over, which is why it was crucial that Takauji's element was kept strictly confidential.
Kuoh was protected by the fact that it was under Devil oversight at the moment, which meant an organization like the Golden Dawn or Grauzauberer couldn't just waltz in and grab him as they pleased.
Moreover, Magicians and Devils had a unique relationship that both sides would prefer to maintain, as valuable as Takauji might be, no one was worth tarnishing their entire ability to cooperate with one another over.
Even so, if it was possible to avoid any pressure whatsoever—then that was the ideal situation. That way there wouldn't be a third-party contender when the two women in charge of Kuoh made their move to rope him to their side—something neither Akeno nor Tsubaki doubted would happen when they reported back about what they had uncovered.
The only problem being, that they would somehow need to make the most self-absorbed creature on the planet agree to collaborate with them.
"Here," he set down three hot bowls of Udon in front of each of them with a satisfied smile on his face. More appreciative of his own culinary expertise rather than the kind gesture of serving dinner to his guests.
Still… to think that Devils have invented a method that can turn others into their kind. A "peerage", I believe Himejima-san called it? I'd love to get my hands on those "Evil Pieces" and study them myself…
He hummed to himself, allowing his thoughts to wander while cleaning his cooking utensils.
It's obvious to me now that they came here on a scouting trip, which will probably result in Sh— I mean Sitri-san and Gremory-san trying to recruit me as a peerage member soon.
He still didn't understand why Sona's alias had been relegated to adding a single letter in her first and last name, finding it a display of simple-mindedness unbefitting of the person he deemed his rival.
Offering them my servitude would be counterproductive to my duty of establishing my superiority, so I doubt I'll accept. However… I am still interested in hearing each of them out. I'd like to know more about Gremory-san, and especially your true face—Sona.
Murayama aggressively slurped her broth while staring at her brother, who was clearly in a much more chipper mood than usual.
Shameless… You're even more shameless than before! Baka Taka! That's what you are! Damn womanizer!
"Allow me to help," Akeno approached him after she finished her food in a surprisingly short amount of time. Offering to help clean the dishes alongside him.
"How kind," he replied knowingly. Fully aware that she was trying to make him as amiable to her, and by proxy Rias Gremory as possible. But choosing not to call her out on it.
I don't particularly hate people who are forward with their desires, there's a reason I tolerate Hairo after all. They both side-eyed each other while they were cleaning, the meaning of which was once again misinterpreted by Murayama. However, unless your master can make the same impression on me—what you're doing now won't amount to much.
"...Tomorrow," she hesitated. "Will you meet with Rias? I know you don't have much of a relationship with her unlike Sona, but I still think you should at least hear what she has to say."
"I'll meet with her, and I'll also meet with Sitri-san." His reply left her half-pleased and half-disappointed. "But that's all I'll do, I'll hear whatever it is they wish to tell me, but I won't promise anything more than that."
"Then that's all I'll ask for," she nodded, knowing that there wouldn't be any use in trying to push him any further.
Once dinner concluded, he saw both Tsubaki and Akeno at the door, waving them goodbye as he looked forward to what the world had in store for him the following day.
"Mom raised you better than this," he heard his sister's voice admonish from behind, her arms folded and her brows furrowed.
"I'm not sure what you're talking about," he shrugged.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about! You three-timing womanizing scoundrel!"
He stood still with an innocent look on his face, proceeding to scratch his head. "I'm seriously not sure what you're talking about, also—shouldn't you be more focused on your own love life right now? Or rather, your lack of it."
"Y-Y-Y-You—!" Her face turned red like a tomato, left at a complete loss for words as he calmly returned to his bedroom.
"Goodnight."
I should probably just work on increasing my Mana for tonight, but I'll just continue until midnight this time. I'm going to need to save my energy for tomorrow.
He sat down cross-legged, cleared in his mind, and got to work.
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(AN: Issei's Raynare incident has not happened yet, so just keep that in mind as you read.)
Kuoh Academy had been separated into two sections, the new schoolhouse, where all of the current study body went about their lessons and extracurricular activities—and the old schoolhouse, that was supposed to have been decommissioned after the revitalization from an all girl's school to a co-ed one.
From glancing at the exterior alone, one would assume that the old schoolhouse no longer served any purpose. With bricks falling off the roof, vines creeping up the concrete walling, and moss infecting the base of the schoolhouse's infrastructure.
But in truth, the place was still active. Utilized by one singular club that very few people knew was even still operational, the Occult Research Club.
In spite of its shoddy exterior, the interior of the abandoned schoolhouse was nothing short of extravagant. Taking the form of a wood-paneled room with victorian-style couches and chairs spanning across the walls, composed only of the finest fabrics and woods one could procure.
And to top it all off, there was even an entire section reserved for bathing and showering. The quality of which was akin to what you'd expect from a luxury suite.
Click!
The clubroom's door opened, Akeno stepping inside shortly after the final bell had rung.
"Where is he?" The woman sitting at the only desk in the room asked, looking over Akeno's sides just to check if there was another figure with her.
She was a beautiful woman blessed with a voluptuous, busty figure. Her eyes a deep oceanic blue, and her hair a bleeding crimson like a red spider lily, reaching down all the way to her waist.
She was none other than Rias Gremory, the "King" of her peerage, and president of the Occult Research Club.
"No clue," Akeno shrugged. "He's in Sona's class, so it's probable that she got to him first."
Curse you Lady Luck! Rias almost felt tempted to slam her desk.
"Good grief, It's awfully bold of you to assume that Sitri-san can call me to her side whenever she pleases."
Everyone in the room turned to the window near Rias' desk, the fact that the voice they had just heard was emianting from there of all places shocking each of them.
And on top of that, the voice wasn't even coming from a human.
It was a crow! A talking crow! With a rather deep and eloquent voice.
"Akeno! A crow just talked to me!" Rias jolted up in her seat, wondering if a stray familiar had somehow found its way to her window.
"That's—"
"Good evening, Gremory-san." The deep-voiced crow continued, cutting off Akeno. "My name is Ashikaga Takauji, Himejima-san here has informed me that you would like to meet with me."
"...You're Ashikaga-san?" She said with a clear level of disbelief.
"I did tell you that he could shapeshift," Akeno added, recalling the report she had given regarding Takauji's abilities the day prior—or at least the extent of what she had seen from him.
However, she had only witnessed his Tabby-Taka transformation, not his current Crow-Taka form that he was currently displaying.
Learning how to fly is proving to be quite challenging, but with my intellect it shouldn't take long before I master it.
His Mana had been raised from 20 to 34 last night, which ended up granting him a new passive ability, as well as a nice increase in the amount of MP he could store.
[(Dark) Drain: Consume a portion of your target's MP relative to the amount of damage inflicted on them by a Dark Element Skill.]
"Indeed," he flapped his wings and landed on the center of Rias' desk, taking a moment to survey the room with his avian eyes.
His sharp gaze first landed on the petite, white-haired girl snacking on a box of cookies on the couch. "I remember you, I had a feeling that the insane strength you wielded wasn't something achieved through human parameters."
There was only enough room for one Hairo.
"And you," there was one more figure in the room, one that he hadn't interacted with before. A handsome young man with short blonde hair, blue eyes, and a mole underneath the left one. "You must be Yuuto Kiba."
"...Yes, that's me." He replied awkwardly, not sure how to feel about talking to a crow.
"In that case," Takauji hopped over to Rias' pen holder, picking one up with his beak and tearing off a piece of paper with his talons.
"Uhh… What are you doing?" Rias asked, watching as he wrote down a sequence of numbers while holding a pen in his beak.
"Just being a good wingman," he looked up at her. "Get it? Wingman. I have wings, and I'm being a wingman."
"..."
"You have no sense of humor, how unfortunate." He flew with the piece of paper in his beak, perching himself on Kiba's shoulders, holding it out towards him.
"...Ashikaga-senpai, what exactly is this?"
"That's my sister, Murayama's number. You're going out on a date with her this weekend, so make sure you message her on time."
"...I am?"
"Yes."
"Do I get a say in this?"
"No."
"Oh…"
━━━━
"Good evening, Miss Tamayo." — Crowzen Sosuke.
If you couldn't tell already, I am having a LOT of fun with Takauji's shapeshift ability, and I'm really happy that I decided to add it in. So expect to see a lot more cool transformations as the series goes on.
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