I shudder to think what would have happened if we hadn’t caught on to the skeletons starting to slowly reform themselves and just merrily gone off to school giving them the whole day to do who knows what kind of mischief.
But luckily we did notice, and the reformation process was pretty easy to disrupt, and then solved more thoroughly by the expedient of Kaori making one of her black holes to condense them all into big bone ball.
The bone ball then had its gravity zeroed out, and I got to have the pleasure of hurling it straight up with all my strength outside the apartment.
It fucking vanished.
Felt like one of those overpowered superhero types just tossing a troublesome enemy into the sun.
I don’t know if it’ll actually fall into the sun, but even if the skeletons manage to reform themselves from that state, they’re gonna do it somewhere in deep space so it’s very much not my problem any longer.
“And that’s the end of that story!” I theatrically dust my hands off afterwards.
Neither Kaori nor Saeko laugh, but I still feel good about myself.
I probably won’t use it as a catchphrase though.
From there it’s a typical school day.
I regretfully tell Akeno that Elizabeth Bathory is not in fact a good singer, but she takes in stride.
Also I still wear my glasses, because while enhancing my vision isn’t particularly draining on the ero-battery, it does require a level of constant mental effort that’s kind of distracting.
Maybe something I can train with to get more used to in my own time, but while I’m trying to study I let it slide.
It being Saturday school lets out early, and we head to the anime club after our last class where we can eat our crappy boxed lunches and actually watch some anime.
I haven’t watched anything in a few days, my life’s been so busy!
While catching up on current shows would be nice, I had thought carefully about picking something good for Kaori and Saeko’s benefit.
Something occult-themed for Kaori’s sensibilities?
Maybe something with lots of swordplay and violence to appeal to Saeko?
No, no, no.
I should have confidence in my preferred medium.
There’s no need to pander like that.
Instead I put on Drill Break: Heaven Piercer.
Only the greatest anime of all time!
I love this.
Watching anime in the club room, using the projector like it’s our own private cinema.
Saeko and I are both sitting on the floor rather than on the seats, as even watching anime can turn into training if you do it under increased gravity, but I don’t want to destroy any more furniture in here.
We pause after the first episode to discuss it a little, as is anime club tradition.
Media literacy is important!
Fortunately both girls seem willing to engage.
Kaori really liked the use of colour when they finally emerged onto the surface, Saeko has already figured out that Brian is the true hero and that Kenshiro only exists to propel him forward, but she’s interested in the romantic tension between him and Gogo.
I just hope my face doesn’t give anything away, I need to see her honest reaction when he dies, it’s gonna be so good!
We’re just about to start on the second episode when there’s a knock on the door and a, “I’m coming in,” before just like at the start of the week Tsubaki Shinra lets herself into my domain.
Last time I was just a sad sack pondering over my dildo statue, but today is different, today the anime club can stand proud!
“Hey Shinra,” I greet her, standing up with a bit of effort against the excess force trying to pin me to the ground.
“Got that contract from the president?” “Yes…” she still gives me a weird look though, and asks, “Are you alright, though?” Little surprised to hear concern from her, but I figure she probably saw my struggle to get on my feet and assumed I’m even more unhealthy than I look.
“Oh yeah, it’s fine.
Gravity training,” I explain.
“For the tournament.
If I can move like this, I’ll be unstoppable under earth’s normal gravity!” There was no real need to specify ‘earth’ there, but it just sounds cooler, doesn’t it?
“It’s no substitute for proper exercise and training, but it does make for a good supplement.
Like wearing weighted clothing,” Saeko adds as she stands up with her own effort and nods in greeting.
“Shinra-san.” “Busujima-san,” she returns it politely before refocusing on me.
“I’m curious what your intentions are in this tournament anyway.
Not to be rude, but I don’t think you have a chance of winning, and even if you did, what would you even do with the prize?” “No offence taken,” I say easily.
I’ve seen her fight, I can understand why she wouldn’t think us in the same league.
“But don’t underestimate us.
We beat a stray devil last night.” And a whole bunch of skeletons this morning.
“As to what I’d do if I win?
I figure I’d be a ceremonial monarch, like the Emperor.
Just let Rias and Sitri keep actually running things, really I’m just in it because I want to be involved now I’ve gotten a foot in the supernatural world.” She absorbs my answer and with a deadpan stare through her glasses says, “You definitely won’t win with a weak justification like that.” “Oh you are so gonna have egg on your face if Nanael wins with her justification,” I fire back, feeling very clever, all the more so at how flat-footed Shinra looks by it.
“Well… ahem… whatever one might say, at least she’s passionate…” she says weakly.
I’m passionate too!
About tournament arcs!
“Anyway!” she thrusts out a sheaf of paper towards me, “Here’s the contract the president drafted for you.
Come back with any changes so she can finalise things and get moving on testing your medicine.
The sooner the better.” With that she sees herself out, and you don’t have to tell me twice.
I need money!
The three of us take a break from anime to read over the contract.
Even if none of us are lawyers, six eyes are better than two.
Basically signs over exclusive rights for Sitri Pharmaceuticals to use as they wish in perpetuity, in exchange I get a percentage from every unit sold.
It’s pretty much what I asked for yesterday.
Thing is, Shonoclactrase isn’t a cure.
It’s a treatment.
Like taking insulin if you have diabetes.
So there is gonna be a lot of this stuff sold.
Forever.
We do some quick research on my laptop and then math it out a little.
Even with the rather small percentage I’m getting for having invented this miracle medicine, running the numbers against Japan’s population demographics and comparing it with the wholesale prices of other common medicines… I’m gonna be a billionaire.
Shit, it’s not just Japan, this’ll get sold worldwide.
“Jiro-kun, you understand I’m more interested in magic than material wealth, right?” Kaori says as we stare at the number of zeros on the calculator after our quick bout of math.
“Well even so this would make my panties drop for you if they hadn’t already.” “You little gold-digging bitch,” I say with a strained laugh, reaching up to poke her in the air.
“As a man being able to provide is your responsibility and pride,” Saeko says in her own gentle approval from my side.
“Well done, Jiro-kun.
But you should take care not to be swindled by those who would take advantage of you for your wealth.” I’m feeling a bit giddy.
There’s an unreality to seeing the numbers that somehow hits harder than all the crazy magic stuff that’s been going on in my life lately.
Anime has prepared me for the mental conceptualisation of supernatural adventures.
But living as one of the 0.1%?
What the fuck.
“Well, it’ll take time to test the medicine, get it approved, so nothing’s happening right away,” I say a bit unsteadily, not sure if I’m tempering expectations or trying to hold onto normality.
We all decide to halt the anime club meeting early, episode two can wait for Monday, for now the three of us head off to the occult research club so I can consult with Rias on the contract and on the messy details of actually handling that much money.
From the sounds of it someone’s using the shower when we get there, but Rias’s voice cheerfully bids us to enter when I knock on the door to their main club room inside the old school building.
And inside… it wasn’t the shower.
Rias, Akeno, Kiba, and Toujou are all lined up on the floor sitting seiza, glowing magic circles above their heads causing water to pour down onto them while magic circles on the floor absorb (or possibly teleport back up) the water so the room doesn’t get flooded.
They’re all wearing white karate type uniforms, but the material they’re made of is thin enough I can totally see some nipple from where it’s plastered to the abundant chests of my two classmates.
“Uhhh…” I stare at the sight, slack-jawed and stupefied.
“Oh, you’re doing misogi?” Saeko asks interestedly, stepping around my side to have a better look.
“Yes!” Akeno rewards her with a bright smile, “We’re disciplining our spirits before we train our bodies!
Would you like to join in?” “Um, actually-” I start, but Saeko is already right in there.
“I would be honoured to.” Okay?
Apparently they have spare uniforms for Saeko and she goes to get changed behind the shower curtain.
“I’m, uh, actually here to talk about the contract Sitri made up for my medicine, but I can come back if you’re busy?” I venture while she does that.
“Now’s fine, I’ll just make room for Saeko-chan,” Rias answers agreeably, getting a disgruntled noise from Toujou as she escapes the purifying cleanse of presumably cold water and grabs herself a towel.
I just awkwardly stare off to the side, as even with Rias going behind the curtain to change alongside Saeko, Akeno and Toujou are still sitting there showing quite a lot through their water-logged white clothes.
“I’m surprised devils would do this sort of thing, wouldn’t indulgence be more spiritually potent than asceticism for you?” Kaori isn’t so reserved, fluttering closer to the drenched devils to ask some questions.
“You’d be surprised, I use a lot of Shinto practices in my own magic as a supplement to natural devil abilities, but discipline is good for anyone who wants to improve themselves,” Akeno lectures good-naturedly, seeming quite unbothered by the water raining down over her.
“Does that mean you have a miko outfit?” I can’t help but ask, glancing over but working hard to keep my gaze above her neck.
“Ara, is that the kind of thing you’re into, Jiro-kun?” she asks in a teasing tone, which makes me stiffen a bit at being put on the spot.
It’s not perverse or anything, it’s just… it’s one of the classic outfits!
“… it’s relevant to my interests,” I admit, feeling my face heat up, none of that helped when Saeko emerges from behind the curtain and goes right over to sit between Kiba and Akeno under the deluge, closing her eyes and seeming quite happy there.
I already saw her tits this morning, but I still glance out of the corner of my eye as her white top gets plastered tightly over her curves by the water pressure and turns see through enough to see her assuredly stiff nipples.
Fuck.
Look away.
A power activation right now would look really bad.
“Maybe I’ll send you a picture of it later then,” Akeno says as I feel her all too knowing gaze upon me and I can’t help but feel excited by the prospect of getting more cute or sexy pictures from her.
“Nevermind that!” Kaori interrupts.
“I want to talk to Akeno-san about eastern mysticism.
Most of my background is in western occult practices, but there are interesting similarities when it comes to talisman crafting.
Do you even have a use for that kind of thing when you have your own innate magic to call on?” That gets them talking in far more technical terms, but I’m distracted when Rias comes back out in her school uniform, and the two of us go sit on the couch facing away from the water torture group so I can show her the contract.
She reads over it, admitting that she’s not sure on the precise valuation of the medicine and thus my percentage of every sale, but that the terms in general are fair and don’t contain any hidden surprises that would screw me over.
“If this sells like it should I’m not worried about the payout, it’s going to be huge,” I say, yen symbols flashing behind my eyes, “But that’s all kind of in the future so I was thinking it needs some kind of short term allowance as well.
It’ll take time before any can actually be sold after all.” She agrees, and that leads to us drafting up a fresh provision where I get paid a minimum licensing fee for the medicine.
An amount that’s small potatoes compared to what sales will eventually bring in, but would still be enough for a person to live on quite comfortably.
“She can’t complain about that, if the medicine doesn’t work – not that I’m doubting you, Jiro-kun, but if it doesn’t she can terminate the contract on her end.” “Yeah that’s fair.
And honestly this is just one thing, I’ve got tons more up here,” I tap the side of my head.
Really if I could brag about this stuff I’d be up there with the guy who invented penicillin!
The fact I can’t remember his name off the top of my head perhaps defeats my point, but whatever.
“The next thing we need to do is get you financially set up for handling all this money legally.
I got the forms last night,” Rias smiles widely and twists a hand in the air, before a magic circle appears above the table in front of us and with a thump similar to what I often hear when summoning something, a stack of papers drops down onto it.
A big stack of papers.
“Oh man, that’s a lot,” I say, instantly intimidated.
She pats my shoulder and then stands up, “It’ll take you a while, so why don’t you get started?
My peerage and I need to get started on training, so you might be done by the time we’re back.
Leave aside anything you’re not sure about and I’ll help you finish it later!” I won’t even have her comforting presence bolstering me through all this form-filling?
What a disaster!
I nod anyway, accepting this as the price for financial security, and lean forward to start looking over the paperwork while Rias rounds up her peerage and also invites Saeko and Kaori to join in if they’re interested.
Unsurprisingly both of them find training with devils to be more interesting than helping me fill out documents, and soon I’m left all by myself in the occult research club room.
Honestly?
It’s kind of nice.
I haven’t had a moment to myself since Kaori appeared.
And don’t get me wrong, she’s hot, and fun, if perhaps a bit concerning on a moral level.
But sometimes you just need some personal time, no expectations or need to hold yourself up to acceptable standards.
If I want to reach down and adjust my balls while filling out a document, now I can and there’s no one here to judge me!
Also I have to think about some of the stuff here.
Like yeah plenty of it’s just basic government information, but I’m establishing a business, and that needs a name!
Having someone to bounce ideas off of would be nice actually, but I run it around in my head for a bit.
Onano Medical?
Nah.
I might end up doing a lot more than medicine depending on what other knowledge I get.
And I’m not sure about using the family name for it.
Something more discreet.
Needs to be classy though.
A name I can drop or flash on a business card and have people go, “Wow!
So cool!” Easier said than done of course.
Something that’s a sly allusion to my power would actually be kind of cute though, wouldn’t it?
Erect Solutions.
I chuckle to myself, half wishing I had someone around to share that one with, half glad not for the embarrassment.
Hard Softworks.
Monolith Industries.
Big Dick Energy.
Fuck this is getting silly, I can’t use anything like that.
Erect Solutions is still kind of funny though.
But it’s too on the nose!
It needs a little bit of subtlety.
Ten minutes later I’ve written Erect Solutions down as my company name.
I’m sorry, I just can’t beat that one, it’s so bad it’s good!
On and on the forms go, there’s some duplication but with different layouts and such where you can’t just photocopy one for another.
This would be a lot easier on a computer.
Also some of these forms are meant for governmental bodies I’m at least theoretically familiar with, but others I think are going to the Underworld.
Annoyingly the Bank of Lucifaad paperwork is a lot more straightforward than the Bank of Japan stuff.
When I’m rich I’ll have a secretary to do this kind of thing for me!
I briefly imagine a hot OL type in a tight blouse and pencil skirt, all giggly and, “Yes Onano-sama!” to whatever I tell her.
Bending her over a desk or getting her to kneel under it… I’m bored enough just dealing with all this bureaucracy that I let my imagination wander some with predictable results.
[4-7 Dead or Alive Nintendo Switch A hybrid game console first released in 2017.
Due to the lower power roll, Jiro receives only a Nintendo Switch Lite, and the only game on it is Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Scarlet.] My power does not produce a sexy secretary the way it might have previously given me a sexy angel or two sexy schoolgirls.
Instead what looks like a handheld game console appears atop the form I was filling out.
Obviously I take the distraction, these things are pretty self explanatory when it comes to use, and I’m greeted by a home screen telling me this is a Nintendo Switch Lite, there’s a few basic seeming apps and one far more detailed icon for something called Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Scarlet.
There’s some girls in swimsuits splashing around, and obviously that speaks to me so I start it up.
These graphics are really good for a handheld!
But also the title screen says copyright 2019, so no wonder, it’s from the future!
There’s an intro from a man talking about how his beautiful resort got destroyed by a meteor hitting a volcano but he rebuilt it and left it in my hands.
Being the owner of an island resort is kind of like being a business tycoon with a hot secretary, right?
And indeed, rather than a hot secretary, I’m given a choice from eleven swimsuit-clad babes to take on a vacation!
Who to pick though?
Marie Rose kind of reminds me of Mittelt which could be unfortunate or could be a way to work through my trauma.
I can’t just pick the one with the biggest tits though, can I?
Alright Honoka, lets see what you’ve got!
Damn these graphics are something else though.
Look at that jiggle!
And it seems I get to see the other girls anyway as soon she’s partnered up with Helena and we’re playing beach volleyball against Kasumi and Ayane.
More minigames follow, earning currency to buy new swimsuits, picking dialogue options while walking on the beach with her, immersing myself into the world of a fantasy beach vacation with a beautiful girl… “Jiro-kun, have you just been playing video games this whole time?” a disappointed voice comes from the door as Rias returns with Saeko and Kaori, all of them seeing how I’ve been spending my time.
Shit I really lost track, didn’t I?
“Uh, sorry!
This appeared and I got distracted, I’m nearly done!” I apologise, holding the Switch out towards her as she comes over to the couch.
It seems to distract her as she takes it off my hands while Honoka is in the middle of bumping her butt against Kokoro’s to knock her into the pool.
Within moments Rias is gushing about how cute Honoka is while I’m working on those last forms.
“So how was training?” I ask Kaori and Saeko.
“It was a good experience.
Everyone is a lot stronger and more skilled than the stray devil, though I held back a little bit myself I’m not sure I can guarantee a win against any of them when it comes to the tournament,” Saeko admits, going to sit on the opposite facing sofa.
“Well it’s to be expected.
Few humans can match a devil’s natural abilities.
But if you combine your skills with those abilities…” Rias once more takes the opportunity to sell us on the benefits of reincarnation.
Honestly though, the more it goes on the more I feel like I don’t want to become a devil.
Sure there’s a lot of concrete benefits, but it feels like giving up something important.
Also while Rias is helping me a lot right now and I’m grateful for that, I feel like if I was actually working for her it’d give us a different kind of relationship which I don’t really want.
Ironic considering my earlier thoughts about sexually harassing my own theoretical employees.
“Well I’ll see how things look after the tournament and how everything shakes out then,” I say in lieu of giving a final answer on the topic, just putting it off for the moment.
“I as well,” Saeko says.
“Though no route seems available, I still hold some hope of being able to return home and so could not pledge my blade to another’s service with honesty.” Whatever disappointment Rias feels over those answers, it’s soon soothed by Honoka’s innocently sweet personality as she immerses herself in the game.
Which does spur an idea as I finally finish up the last of the forms.
“Hey Rias-chan, you said the Gremory family deals in entertainment, right?
Well you’re holding an entertainment system from like a decade in the future.
Want to buy it?” Sure I’d love to just sit around playing more of the game and getting to know those other cute virtual girls, but this could push gaming development a few years ahead of schedule, not to mention it’s another feather in the cap of Erect Solutions.
Having a diverse portfolio is important, right?
“I did think the graphics were really good for a handheld,” she says, echoing my earlier thoughts and turning the device around to examine the rest of it briefly.
“Nintendo?
Never heard of them.” “Really?
Even I’ve heard of them, and I’m not especially interested in that kind of thing,” Saeko says.
Kaori nods as well.
“You don’t know Mario?” Rias and I look at each other in mutual incomprehension before we shake our heads.
“How strange,” Saeko observes in a detached tone like it’s just an intellectual curiosity rather than anything meaningful.
“I guess it provides a connection between the worlds I’m summoning stuff from.
The important thing is Nintendo doesn’t exist here so there’s no one to get mad about stealing their technology,” I say, not really able to come up with more.
It definitely can’t be from Saeko’s world, no one’s going to be making stuff like this a decade after a zombie apocalypse.
Kaori’s world is up in the air.
Maybe it’s even from the past of my mad science doctorate world?
In any case, Rias is willing to buy the one-of-a-kind future gaming system from another world, and while technically it’s priceless and so I’m probably getting robbed, the fat stack of bills she hands over still gives me a lot more security than all these theoretical contracts and financial instruments that might one day fill my bank account with zeroes.
“Tonight we’re having steak dinner!” I announce, fanning a cheering Kaori with the money like she’s a stripper while Saeko looks on indulgently.
“And can get you a phone too, Saeko-chan!” Which means I can get another number in mine!
“Oh that reminds me!” Rias suddenly sits up straight.
“Now you’re all connected with the supernatural world, you should get set up on Devitube.
There’s a whole other internet normal people can’t even see.” There’s another internet?!