~Three Days Later, First Morning of Kuoh Academy’s New School Year, Takashina Residence~
Soutarou had dismantled human souls, disfigured the work of Heaven, and recently forced a genuine Longinus into another artificial vessel containing the soul of an ancient Dragon and in the process of doing so made his own Longinus…
But…
Absolutely none of that had prepared him for Mamako holding three different neckties in front of his chest with the seriousness of a general selecting weapons before a decisive battle.
Mamako tilted her head and seriously asked, “The navy one makes your eyes stand out…
But the striped one matches the jacket better…
Nia-chan, what do you think?”
Lavinia stood several feet away with Soutarou’s school jacket folded over one arm…
His satchel hanging from the other…
And a camera hung around her neck despite the fact that both of their phones had perfectly functional cameras.
Lavinia studied the ties for several seconds before thoughtfully answering, “The striped one.”
Mamako held it against Soutarou’s collar before Lavinia immediately corrected, “No…
The navy one.”
Mamako exchanged them as Lavinia’s sapphire-blue eyes narrowed before she uncertainly amended, “Maybe the striped one was better…?”
Soutarou remained seated at the dining table while the two women debated the matter above him.
A breakfast large enough to feed a family of six covered half the table…
Even the lunch Mamako prepared had three separate containers…
His uniform had been ironed so many times that Soutarou suspected the fabric was now enchanted with anti wrinkle magic…
And they were already running late…
Soutarou glanced toward the clock which Mamako noticed immediately.
Mamako gently scolded, “Don’t worry about the time, So-kun.
Your first day is important.”
Soutarou looked from the clock to the three ties and dryly replied, “Arriving before, not after classes begin is usually considered part of making the first day important, Mamako-nee.”
Mamako’s violet eyes widened and she hurriedly declared, “You’re right!
Nia-chan, the navy one!”
Lavinia nodded with sudden certainty and agreed, “The navy one.”
Mamako fastened it around Soutarou’s collar…
Stepped back…
Examined him…
Then immediately frowned.
Mamako worriedly murmured, “It’s crooked.”
Soutarou looked down…
The tie was perfectly straight.
Lavinia leaned closer to inspect it.
Soutarou’s hazel-golden eyes remained fixed firmly ahead while long blonde hair brushed across one shoulder and Mamako’s chestnut-brown hair fell over the other.
‘Man…
Sometime during the last few years I turned into a complete hornball.’
Mamako loosened the knot and began again…
Lavinia moved even closer and carefully held his collar in place.
‘Sure…
I’m not Issei…
But I said it then and I’ll say it again now…
I’m a pervert.’
Soutarou stared at the wall with the concentration of a monk attempting enlightenment.
‘Do people understand how difficult it is to live with Mamako-nee and Nia-onee-chan while they look like this?’
‘Every day is a trial of discipline, restraint, and keeping my eyes pointed in a socially survivable direction…
Not to say I don’t get my visual fill when they aren’t paying attention…
But damn this is getting hard…’
‘Not the only thing getting hard if you know what I mean…
*Ahem* anyways…’
Mamako finished the knot and brightly asked, “How does that feel?”
Soutarou swallowed his thoughts and calmly answered, “P-perfect.”
Mamako beamed.
Lavinia stepped back and finally handed him the jacket.
Soutarou rose and slipped it over his shoulders.
At seventeen, he stood tall enough that Mamako needed to lift her hands to smooth the collar…
His lean frame filled the uniform cleanly…
Broad shoulders and years of physical conditioning turning the otherwise ordinary school jacket into something considerably more flattering than the designers had originally intended.
Mamako stared.
Her eyes shimmered.
Soutarou immediately warned, “Mamako-nee…”
Mamako reached for the camera and emotionally declared, “Just one picture.”
Soutarou glanced toward Lavinia.
Lavinia already had the camera raised.
Soutarou sighed.
*Click!*
The flash went off directly in his eyes.
Soutarou blinked through the white spots.
Lavinia lowered the camera and apologetically said, “I forgot the flash was on.”
Mamako moved beside Soutarou and wrapped both arms around one of his.
Mamako happily requested, “One together now.”
Soutarou looked toward the clock again.
Mamako’s smile became unbearably hopeful.
Soutarou surrendered.
Lavinia lifted the camera.
*Click!*
Mamako examined the photograph and immediately shook her head.
Mamako critically observed, “So-kun blinked.”
Soutarou rubbed his eyes and murmured, “Because Nia-onee-chan blinded me with the flash.”
Lavinia flinched and softly apologized, “Sorry, Sou-chan.”
Mamako hurriedly reassured, “It’s alright…
We can take another.”
Soutarou looked at the clock for a third time.
The minute hand moved.
Soutarou grabbed his satchel.
Soutarou quickly announced, “How about we take more after school.”
Mamako gasped before rushing toward the kitchen.
Mamako urgently called, “Your lunch!”
Lavinia looked down at the jacket still folded over her arm.
Lavinia blinked before holding it out and saying, “And your jacket.”
Soutarou stared at the identical jacket already covering his body.
Lavinia followed his gaze.
She looked at the jacket in her hands.
Then toward the coat rack.
Lavinia embarrassedly murmured, “Eheh…
This one is mine…”
Soutarou accepted the stacked lunch containers from Mamako before securing them inside his satchel. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
Mamako immediately adjusted the strap across his shoulder…
Smoothed his hair despite knowing it would return to its usual messy state within seconds…
Then hesitated at the entrance.
Her hands rested lightly upon his shoulders.
Mamako’s voice softened as she reminded, “Call me if anything happens, So-kun.”
Soutarou’s teasing expression eased.
Soutarou gently promised, “I will.”
Mamako continued, “And come straight home after school.”
Soutarou nodded and agreed, “Straight home.”
Lavinia placed one hand against the brim of her hat and quietly added, “Don’t underestimate either heiress, Sou-chan.”
Soutarou met her eyes as he lightly smiled and answered, “I won’t.”
Soutarou opened the front door.
Mamako stepped forward and suddenly pulled him into a tight hug before she warmly said, “Have a good first day, So-kun.”
Soutarou wrapped one arm around her and replied, “I’ll try.”
Lavinia joined from the side before quietly saying, “Good luck, Sou-chan.”
For several seconds, Soutarou stood trapped between them.
He didn’t struggle.
Then the clock chimed.
Soutarou’s eyes widened.
Soutarou hurriedly exclaimed, “I really have to go!”
Mamako finally released him…
Soutarou stepped outside, threw the satchel strap over one shoulder, and dashed down the path in a light…
Very light…
Jog.
Soutarou glanced back towards his house in thought before shaking his head and thinking to himself, ‘Thank goodness Kuoh only just became coeducational…
The overwhelming female population is practically a healing spring after years of living under this household’s unfair visual pressure.’
His pace increased slightly as Mamako called another reminder from behind him.
‘Still…
In all seriousness…
I barely cared about school these last few years.’
‘Magic…
My bloodlines…
Light’s Sanctuary…
Mamako-nee’s Gear…
The Devouring Gear…
Cleria’s Pieces…
Survival came first.’
‘Grades only mattered enough to make the transfer possible.’
Soutarou reached the end of the street before checking the time.
He still had nearly twenty minutes and his pace immediately slowed into a lazy walk.
‘Welp.
That was enough exercise for one morning.’
He adjusted his satchel and smiled toward the distant academy buildings.
‘Everything starts today…
It’s going to be a hell of a day, huh…?
Well…
I’d better get going.’
~Kuoh Academy, Main Gate~
The first day of Kuoh Academy’s coeducational era looked less like the beginning of a school term and more like someone had released a limited number of rare animals into an unfamiliar ecosystem.
Male students entered in nervous clusters…
Female students stared openly…
Teachers attempted to maintain order…
And several upperclasswomen stood near the entrance with expressions suggesting that they’d already begun rating the new arrivals.
The ratio remained absurdly uneven.
For every boy Soutarou saw, there were more than a dozen girls.
‘Truly…
Education has entered a golden age…!’
Soutarou lazily approached the gate before noticing two figures positioned near its center.
The shorter girl stood with her arms crossed and a severe expression behind thin crimson frames…
Silken black hair cut neatly above her shoulders…
Violet eyes tracking every student with efficiency and a commanding presence.
Beside her stood a taller young woman with an elegant figure and exceptionally long black hair flowing nearly to her knees…
Blue semi-rimmed glasses rested over striking heterochromatic eyes…
One violet…
The other a soft light brown…
Souna Shitori.
Or rather…
Sona Sitri.
And Tsubaki Shinra.
Soutarou slowed.
Tsubaki’s gaze moved toward him almost immediately.
A faint wave of mana passed through the gate’s detection formation and washed across his body.
Soutarou could’ve rejected it.
He could’ve hidden everything.
Instead, he loosened the concealment around himself by the smallest amount.
A restrained pulse of energy answered the scan…
Deep enough to be unmistakable…
Controlled enough to reveal almost nothing…
Tsubaki’s expression tightened.
Her mismatched eyes focused more sharply.
The formation tried to measure him again.
Soutarou smiled and waved.
Tsubaki leaned toward Sona and quietly whispered something beneath the noise of arriving students.
Sona’s gaze snapped toward him.
Soutarou continued walking until he stood directly before them.
Soutarou pleasantly greeted, “Good morning, President Mouna-”
Sona pushed her glasses upward and instinctively corrected, “It’s President Shitori to you…
And please keep in mind that it’s Souna, not Mouna.”
Soutarou lightly struck one fist against his open palm as though receiving a revelation.
Soutarou brightly replied, “No worries.
I understand, President Mitori.”
Sona’s left eye twitched.
Tsubaki’s mouth tightened by the smallest amount.
Sona inhaled through her nose before sternly ordering, “Please proceed to your classroom before you are late.
And tighten your tie.”
Then he deliberately loosened it.
Soutarou cheerfully thanked, “Good catch, Prez.”
Darkness gathered behind Sona’s lenses.
Tsubaki calmly removed a small notebook and wrote something down.
Soutarou leaned slightly toward the page and curiously asked, “Was that a compliment?”
Tsubaki adjusted her glasses and evenly answered, “A uniform violation.”
Soutarou nodded with exaggerated understanding and observed, “So…
A written compliment then.”
Tsubaki paused.
Sona turned toward her and Tsubaki immediately resumed writing.
Sona’s chilling voice followed Soutarou as she warned, “Takashina-san…”
Soutarou lifted one hand without turning around and casually called, “I’m going, President Mitori.”
He passed through the gate…
Behind him, Sona remained silent for several seconds.
Tsubaki watched his retreating back before quietly reporting, “He noticed both scans.”
Sona’s eyes narrowed.
Tsubaki continued, “It’s very likely he changed what the formation detected.”
Sona glanced toward the academy building.
Sona coolly ordered, “Find his classroom assignment.”
Tsubaki closed the notebook and answered, “He’s in ours.”
Sona slowly turned toward her Queen.
Tsubaki remained perfectly composed.
Sona’s expression darkened further.
Sona muttered, “Of course he is.”
~Second-Year Classroom A-1, Shortly Before First Period~
The teacher finished writing Soutarou’s name across the board and turned toward the class.
Dozens of eyes followed the movement.
Most belonged to girls.
Several had already been watching Soutarou since he entered.
The teacher gestured toward him and formally introduced, “This is Soutarou Takashina.
He transferred from another school here in Kuoh, so please help him adjust to the academy.”
Soutarou faced the room.
He recognized nearly every important supernatural presence immediately.
Sona sat near the front with a stack of documents already arranged neatly beside her books…
Tsubaki occupied the desk behind her…
Akeno Himejima sat several rows away with one hand resting gracefully against her cheek…
Yumi Kiba watched from near the center with calm blue eyes and the balanced posture of a trained swordswoman…
Momo Hanakai sat beside the aisle, a notebook open before her despite the lesson not having begun…
And in the back row beside the window…
Rias Gremory rested her chin against one hand while gazing outside.
Long crimson hair spilled down her back and caught the morning light like a mantle of fire…
Her profile elegant enough to look deliberately staged by some unseen animation director…
The empty desk beside her waited for him.
‘Of course she has the protagonist’s seat.’
Soutarou returned his attention to the class and casually introduced, “Soutarou Takashina.
I’ve lived in Kuoh most of my life, so I’m only new to the academy…
Not the town.”
His gaze briefly moved across the overwhelmingly female classroom.
Soutarou smiled and added, “I look forward to getting along with everyone.”
The reaction was immediate.
Whispers spread across the room.
The teacher pointed toward the open seat and instructed, “You’ll be sitting beside Gremory-san.”
Soutarou walked toward the back.
Yumi’s eyes followed his steps.
She noticed the lack of wasted motion…
The relaxed balance…
The way his satchel never struck a desk despite the narrow path…
Akeno’s violet gaze sharpened for a heartbeat as Soutarou passed.
Demonic power…
And beneath it…
Something unmistakably sacred.
Her pleasant smile didn’t change even a bit.
~Momo Hanakai POV~
Momo had noticed him at the gate…
That wasn’t strange…
In fact nearly every girl near the entrance had.
He was tall…
Handsome enough to make staring feel beyond reasonable…
And carried himself with the easy confidence of someone completely unaware that half the academy had begun discussing him before he reached the building.
Except…
he was aware.
Momo realized that the moment he looked toward the girls whispering near the door and smiled as though he’d heard every word.
Her gaze returned to her notebook.
Then lifted again.
Soutarou sat beside Rias and lazily loosened the tie Sona had just ordered him to fix.
Momo’s lips almost curved.
She quickly lowered her eyes.
<He did that on purpose…>
The teacher began organizing the first lesson.
Momo attempted to focus.
Her attention wandered toward the back row again.
Soutarou had opened his textbook but was looking at the page with the expression of someone already bored.
<He’s really handsome…>
Momo straightened.
<…
Ahem…
That isn’t relevant.>
Several girls near the back began whispering to one another.
One stood.
Then another.
Momo looked toward Soutarou one more time and briefly considered introducing herself before the lesson properly began.
Her hand moved toward the edge of her desk.
The first girl reached him.
Three others immediately followed.
Then six.
Momo slowly sat back.
<Perhaps later…>