Ryuichi P.O.V
As I moved around the kitchen thinking about what I would do next, I couldn't help but feel restless, my hands itched, and all the muscles in my body throbbed, it didn't take me long to realize what was happening to me.
I didn't want to be here, I didn't want to waste time when I would have to fight a devil tomorrow, my entire being was telling me that I should train, prepare, create some kind of strategy, that I-
My intrusive thoughts stopped, and I was dragged back to reality once again when I felt something tug at my sleeve, and I turned around to meet the worried gaze of my brother.
"What happened?" He asked with clear nervousness.
"Don't worry, it's nothing too serious, just some issues I'll have to take care of tomorrow". Once again, I smiled as best I could to try and give him some sense of security, but as anyone would expect, this only seemed to worry him even more.
"Brother, did you… get into trouble with someone?" He asked and seemed more nervous now like he was making some pretty crazy assumptions in his head about what was happening. "Like the yakuza?" He added, and I couldn't help but feel a hint of genuine amusement at the idea to the point that I let out a short laugh.
"Haha, you have an active imagination, right?" I asked, putting a hand on his head, because, although I knew he didn't really like me doing it, it calmed me down a little, and that was my right as an older brother. "I don't even think there are any yakuza members in Kuoh." I said a little amused.
"Though maybe that would be easier to handle." I ended up whispering, but since I was touching him, I felt him tremble a little when I said that, so he probably would have heard me.
In the end, I let him go and spoke once more to end this conversation. "As I already told you, don't worry, tomorrow when I return home, everything will be fixed"
"I… will go to my room." He said before turning around and leaving.
And when I was there, alone, I sat at the table and rested my head in my hands looking at the painting that appeared after we met with the devils.
ALERT, CRUCIAL SECONDARY MISSION!
Mission: A dance with the devil!
You finally discovered the huge supernatural world that is hidden from the rest of humanity, but it seems that you also came into conflict with the city's resident group, and now you must duel.
Objective:
-Defeat the devil you will fight
Rewards:
-2 low-low grade potions.
-A low-medium grade potion.
-A gacha ticket to give to a friend.
Fail:
-Kirisu Mafuyu's memories will be irreversibly erased
-The difficulty of the mission "Lead by example" will be considerably increased.
I felt a knot in my stomach, and all I could do was murmur. "What am I supposed to do?"
######
Touji P.O.V
This was bad, this was definitely bad, for two hours I had been thinking, looking for a reason, some reason that, no matter how crazy and forced it sounded, could explain what had happened for my brother and his teacher to have those expressions.
And so far I hadn't found any, or at least none that fit the school romantic comedy script they seemed to be living.
Was… had they encountered some member of the supernatural like a stray devil or some crazy person like Freed?
No, if that were the case they would have been injured at worst, and at best they would be at the police station trying to report it to the authorities.
So some members of Sona or Rias's peerage while they were using their powers? No, that made even less sense, if that were the case I'm sure that both of them would have been hypnotized to alter their memories of what happened, and if that happened I doubted that they had those expressions.
The devils that lived in this town could be that, devils, but if they were like in canon, I couldn't imagine any of them giving unpleasant memories to both my brother and his teacher.
What else could it be?
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't find a satisfactory answer.
So there was only one more thing left to do, my brother said that tomorrow he would solve this, right? If I wanted to know what was really going on and what my brother got himself into, I would have to follow him all day.
Missing school 3 days in a row bothered me, especially since I was sure I would get a scolding from my brother for missing 2 more days than he had allowed me to.
But at this point, I would take whatever punishment he gave me with a smile if I could confirm with my own eyes that this had nothing to do with the supernatural world.
######
Ryuichi P.O.V
The next morning, when I got up my whole body felt a little heavy, I had barely slept for a little more than a couple of hours, sitting on the couch near the entrance to the apartment, and with my ki sense activated to feel if a devil would approach my house in the middle of the night for whatever reason.
I walked to the bathroom while moving my shoulder getting a satisfying crack, so far no one had woken up before me, both Kirisu-sensei and Touji were still in their rooms, so I still had time to wash my face and prepare a proper breakfast.
I did everything automatically and without thinking too much about anything, all the result of constant practice, ending up with an orderly table and a breakfast ready to eat.
It was only then that I felt Kirisu-sensei's ki move, leaving the room and heading to the bathroom, so I decided it was also time to wake up my brother.
"Touji, it's time to get up, breakfast is ready." I said as I moved his shoulder to wake him up.
"Umm, ok, I'm coming." He answered me after yawning and stretching.
"Don't take too long or the food will get cold." And with that, I left his room so he could wake up and get changed.
"Kaname-kun." The familiar voice of my teacher greeted me as I closed the door to Touji's room.
And when I turned to look at her I couldn't help but focus on some details, the slightly red corners of her eyes that showed she had been crying, the small dark circles under her eyes that told me she hadn't gotten enough sleep, some disheveled strands of hair showing that she wasn't as focused on getting ready as on other days, and the almost completely concealed way in which her weight rested more on one leg than the other.
"Good morning Kirisu-sensei." I greeted, ignoring all those details before motioning for her to follow me, and just as I had thought, it seemed that her left foot or leg was somewhat injured by the way she walked.
When we got to the dining room I reached into my pocket, and fiddled with an object while I considered what I should say.
"Please eat, everything is freshly made." I showed her one of the seats in front of breakfast, she hesitated a little, but after I sat down, she finally decided to do the same.
"Thanks for the food." She clasped her hands and closed her eyes before picking up the chopsticks and eating.
"Sensei." I called her after making up my mind, taking the object out of my pocket and putting it on the table. "I would like to give you this." I pointed to the small vial, the last low-low-grade healing potion I had.
She looked at the object, recognizing it instantly. "This is-"
"A healing potion, one of the same ones I used to heal myself after the fight with that spider devil, please use it." I spoke in a low voice and with my ki sense activated, followed the presence of Touji, who still was in his room.
"W-what? W-why?" She asked in shock.
"Your leg-" I said, pointing out the most obvious thing that was making her physically uncomfortable. "I saw you limp a little, it was because of what happened that night, right?"
Kirisu-sensei was startled a little but then nodded. "I don't know exactly when it was, but when I checked myself at home, I had a bruise, and my ankle hurt a little when I walked"
"Most likely it was when the devil attacked us after I managed to wake you up, this potion should fix that"
"B-but me? Shouldn't you keep it to yourself?"
I didn't have to be a genius to realize that she noticed that she wasn't in the best condition, both physically and emotionally, but that there was also an inherent fear underneath all of that, a fear of this potion that was also part of the supernatural.
I shook my head and gave her a small smile trying to seem more convincing. "You don't have to worry about me, this face is mainly because of a little stress and because I didn't sleep much, just as I'm sure you didn't either, but I have more energy than a normal person and all my wounds were healed by the potions that I already took before, so I think me using it in me would be more of a waste than anything else"
She still hesitated as her eyes continued to watch the potion.
"It's scary, don't you think?" I asked, trying to think of how I would have reacted if our positions were reversed. "I can't even imagine how it must feel, knowing that this world is not just ours, that things like monsters, gods, angels, and devils really exist, were you religious?"
Kirisu-sensei shook her head. "No, I never thought much about any of that, but now…"
"Do you want to join a church?"
"I don't know, I'm afraid, but if I were part of a church or a member close to a temple, the angels or protective deities should keep me safe, right? They are good, right?"
I thought about what I should say, if I said yes and somehow got Kirisu-sensei to keep her memories, then I did not doubt that she would become a religious person, all because of fear.
Is this how people felt in the Middle Ages? Believing whatever a man in a cassock told you for fear of hell? To punishment? To the devils? To the things they would see after death? To the unknown?
I didn't like it, I didn't like that answer at all.
"Sensei, remember how everyone saw us yesterday?" I said, drawing her attention away from her fear-led thoughts.
"It was as if we were really in their territory, although they already have hell, they knew that together they could finish me off without me being able to do anything, and maybe they only stopped because they didn't know what else I could do"
Kirisu-sensei looked confused, not knowing why she was saying what I was saying and what this had to do with her question.
"I do not trust them, I do not trust them in the least, but I wouldn't trust any angel or god either; the inquisition, the crusades, everything that Yahweh did in the Old Testament, I was never very studious, but at least I know the number of enough atrocities that were done in the name of God without him or his angels intervening, I'm not saying that all supernatural beings are evil, saying that would be the blindest statement I could make, but the fact that they remain hidden makes me distrust all of them even more". I said, and she seemed to begin to understand the point I was getting at.
"If they were few and therefore wanted to avoid a war with humanity, then I would understand, but are all religions real, are all the gods, demigods, and mythical creatures out there silently? Just… watching? I don't understand why, but the fact that they have all agreed, to divide up territory in the human world that they consider theirs without the population knowing it or without reaching a public agreement with the authorities of the place does not inspire confidence in any religion that exists, so until I get more information about the whole general situation, I'm going to keep my guard up no matter who it is"
"Are you going to investigate? B-but that could be dangerous"
"It would be even more dangerous not to have any type of information, I... am scared, after discovering my powers and training for a while, I considered myself a little strong, or at least capable of defending myself, but knowing that there are so many incredibly powerful beings out there It makes me feel so small, I don't like it, are there more humans out there with special abilities? Are there organizations with the power to protect people to prevent more people from going through the same thing you had to go through? I don't know anything about that, and in the position we're in, information like that could make a difference"
"If you want to join a temple or a church, I won't blame you, but I ask you to think carefully before making the decision, decisions based on fear will hardly be the right ones." I finished saying, feeling Touji leave her room and go to the bathroom, if Kirisu-sensei would drink the potion, then she had to do it now.
"Please use the potion to heal your wounds, I know that right now, everything related to the supernatural may seem scary to you, but I promise that this is solely for your sake." This was my final attempt, if she refused then there would be nothing I could do, and I would have to accept that my teacher had probably developed a phobia of anything related to the supernatural, perhaps myself included.
She stared at me with an expression that made it clear that she was in an internal debate, but in the end, I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when she took the vial from my outstretched hand, removed the cork, and drank it in one gulp.
I sharpened my ki sense as much as I could, aiming directly at my teacher, and I could feel how her ki grew a little, most likely returning her to her maximum capacity, in addition to that, there were also some physical changes, her skin lost the pale color it had had since yesterday and returned to a healthy tone, the red edges in her eyes faded and the almost imperceptible dark circles under her eyes also said goodbye leaving her in an almost perfect state if I didn't count the few strands of hair that still needed to be combed.
Her expression looked quite surprised, she stood up, and her hands touched various parts of his body as if she couldn't believe what had just happened.
"How are you?" I asked.
"I'm... fine?" She said looking quite confused.
"Well, that's something for you to decide, but it's amazing, right? Just yesterday I could clearly feel how effective these potions are, and I was also incredibly surprised, so is everything okay?"
She nodded a few times, still shocked. "I can't believe something like this exists"
"Yes, and the craziest thing is, at least as far as I know, those potions are the lowest quality that I can get, this on the other hand." I said as I took out the glass container that looked like a round bottom flask. "It's a little better, a low-medium quality one, I've never used it so I have no idea how good it can be at healing"
"You made those potions?" She asked, quite intrigued.
"No, I-" I was interrupted when I felt my brother's ki finally coming out of the bathroom, so I moved as quickly as I could, taking my teacher's hand and moving her as gently, and quickly as possible to make her sit back down, take the vial and keep it in my pocket.
But to my bad luck, the movement was not fast enough, and by the time my brother reached the dining room, he saw my hand holding Kirisu-sensei's in an attempt to cover the vial with my hand so that he wouldn't see it.
He looked startled for a second before smiling, and I'd like to say it was a mocking smile, one that would come before his classic jokes, but the smile he showed me was a happy, sincerely satisfied one, a smile you would make knowing that someone you care about is fine.
Like a father seeing his son succeed in something important for his future.
I didn't know what to feel besides embarrassment, and it seemed like the same thing happened to my teacher, or at least that's what I assumed after seeing how her entire face turned crimson.
"I know that my brother is careless and very impulsive at times, but he is not a bad person, I entrust him to you, please take care of him". He said before bowing to my teacher at a perfect 90 degrees.
I swallowed my embarrassment and the urge to say something as best I could and took the vial from her hand to hide it in my pocket before Touji stood up straight again.
My brother looked directly at Kirisu-sensei with the same calm smile he had given us earlier while waiting for her response, and when I was about to say some lame excuse that I was sure no one with more than half a brain would believe, my teacher decided to jump ahead and give the most incorrect answer that she could have used in this situation.
"O-ok?". Was all she said, and that alone was enough for my embarrassment level to skyrocket to over 9000!
My face felt hot, and I was sure even my ears were red, I tried to say something, I swear on my life I tried to say something, anything, but my voice just wouldn't come out, and all I could do was stand there with my mouth open while my brother nodded and said something else outrageous.
"I'm glad, and although I fully support both of you, please keep a low profile at least until my brother graduates, until then you can meet here, just tell me, and I'll go play with Koichi so I can leave you two alone." He offered and then sat down to eat next to us.
And about a minute later, when my body finally seemed to remember how to speak, I no longer knew what to say, so I decided to leave this topic for later because right now I felt as lost as a polar bear would be in the Sahara.
X-X-X-X-X
The thought that Ryuichi is having, although understandable given the experience he had with the spider devil, is also dangerous, because if the seed of rejection that was planted after the encounter with the spider demon germinates, Ryuichi could fall squarely into the category of "villain" from the point of view of the main DXD cast and being an enemy in the future.
Let's wait to see what happens in the future.
In other news, we surpassed 100k views and 500 collections, thank you very much!
Remember that if you like this story, you can leave a comment, review, and a power stone, that will inspire me to write more, see you in the next chapter.