Touji P.O.V
While I was eating a cereal bar I gave a short stretch, I had been waiting all this time to see if my brother would leave his school at some point, but since he and Kirisu-sensei entered I didn't see any of them leave, and the only possible escape route was through the front due to several reasons.
One of them was that the rest of the place was fenced with bars high enough that anyone trying to climb them would take a couple of minutes at least, during that time a pedestrian would see the student, and it was safe to say that that pedestrian would warn the authorities or the school the moment they saw something like that.
So, if my brother wanted to skip class to go "take care of" the problem he told me about, then he would do it by avoiding the guard at the door and sneaking out, or perhaps inventing some stomach ache to leave early.
Or at least that was one of the many probabilities I handled, because until now nothing had happened, and there were only 5 minutes left until classes ended.
"Has he really escaped somewhere else?" I wondered quietly when something near the school's main entrance caught my attention, and the moment I saw them I felt like I was going to have a heart attack.
With long hair redder than blood on one side, and black hair in a bob cut on the other.
'No, not them'
One had an exuberant figure that I was sure no teenage girl should have, and the other, although more humble in attributes, projected a dignified and more elegant aura.
'Why? Where did we go wrong?'
Both walked with a level of grace that would only be seen in members of the aristocracy.
'What did Ryuichi do to get their attention?'
And in the end, they both spoke to the doorman, who after a few seconds let them in.
When they finally both left my field of vision I was able to breathe properly once again while my brain worked at maximum capacity to try to understand what was happening, but no matter how much I thought about it, no convincing enough explanation came to mind.
Was my brother who they were looking for? It would be impossible that what he told me yesterday and this was just a coincidence, but if so then did my brother have some hidden power? Some kind of Sacred Gear? How did he come across them?
I didn't know, I didn't know the answer to any of these questions, and that was starting to drive me crazy.
Once the bell that marked the end of school hours rang and all the students began their return home I saw the two demons come out, and right behind them was the only person whom I was praying not to see, my brother walked along with Kirisu-sensei, and from his expression I could tell that he was not happy at all.
The rest of the students looked at both girls who were wearing the uniforms of other schools, but they ignored all the looks, probably already used to them, both in the human and demonic worlds.
Suddenly a short girl ran up to my brother and hugged him from behind, the girl had dull blonde hair and was styled in two pigtails, it didn't take me more than a couple of seconds to recognize her as Kiryu Mikazuki, the younger sister of Kiryu Yuzuki.
After a few seconds, the girl let go of my brother and spoke to him while she was still smiling, but my brother gave her a complicated expression and answered something that I couldn't hear because of the distance before shaking his head a couple of times.
Having read Kissxsis I imagined that the girl would throw a small tantrum, puff out her cheeks, or pout, but to my surprise she seemed surprised and nodded a few times before running back to the school.
After she left, my brother turned around again and nodded before the 4 continued on their way with me following them from a considerable distance to prevent them from noticing.
Although if I was honest I could already guess the place they were going to, one where several of the first important events took place, the Kuoh Academy.
######
Ryuichi P.O.V
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to avoid this, but I wasn't naïve enough to believe there was any other way out.
As we approached Kuoh Academy, although I didn't understand why that was the designated place, I felt my muscles tense from time to time, my mind imagining any battle scenario that could occur even if I wasn't sure how the devils fought.
Would it be like most of the devils in the world of Dragon Ball? In a melee manner and with energy attacks as was common in that series? Like Dabura and Demigra?
Or with special techniques that lacked direct attack power, but were just as dangerous like Moro and Babidi's magic?
Maybe something completely different?
I had no idea, but what I did know was that I had to keep my guard up no matter who my opponent was, after all, from what I felt the other night, at least in terms of the amount of energy, I was behind the devils, and my repertoire of movements was extremely limited.
"Alright, here we are." The red-haired girl said as she turned around to look at us. "Kuoh Academy, we made sure that all the students left after school today, so there is only us, the others must already be waiting for us in the courtyard that we prepared for the battle." She explained as we passed through the school gates, and although ours wasn't particularly small, this school seemed to have at least twice the amount of land available.
"What did you prepare?" I asked.
"Just the essentials, a barrier that blocks any attack or object that could fly away to avoid damaging the school"
"I see." I responded before trying to regulate my breathing, inhaling and exhaling slowly but deeply to calm my nerves at the fact that the time to fight was getting closer and closer.
About 2 minutes of walking later I could see a crowd made up of the same devils that were during our meeting at the Kuoh Central Hotel.
They all turned their gaze towards the two girls in front of us for a few seconds before looking at Kirisu-sensei and me, although it was clear that most of the attention was focused on me.
"Alright, let's not delay this any longer." The redhead said turning around and pointing at me. "You can take your position, this entire field will serve as a combat arena"
######
Touji P.O.V
My heart was beating like a drum, and I didn't know what was going to happen, several dozen meters from where I was hiding were both the nobility of Rias Gremory and that of Sona Sitri, and in front of all of them were my brother and his teacher, and from what I could guess after seeing his general attitude, this did not seem like a friendly meeting.
Was my brother always a member of the supernatural world? I didn't believe it, I didn't want to believe it, but still I-
*Tap
I froze, every muscle in my body tensing almost automatically when what was clearly a hand touched my shoulder, and incredibly slowly, my neck turned until my eyes looked directly into a girl's.
White hair, yellow eyes, a height that, although taller than mine, would still make her pass for a middle school student, and a blank expresión.
Koneko Toujo looked me straight in the eyes and said only 2 things with an emotionless tone.
"Don't scream and come with me"
Yes, this was not going to end well for me.
######
Third Person P.O.V
"So, who will be my opponent?" Ryuichi asked, passing his gaze around everyone present.
And to answer his question, Rias Gremory smiled before speaking. "Yuuto." She said loudly, and the same boy who appeared in Ryuichi's room a few weeks ago stepped forward.
"Since it seems that it was my knight who started this whole chain of events and the "awakening" that you experienced, I think it would be a good choice for him to be the one to finish your introduction to the supernatural world, don't you think?" She explained when she noticed Ryuichi's eyebrow raise in slight surprise at the choice.
"Fine." Was the only thing Ryuichi said before he turned around, ready to walk away, but when he looked next to him, he saw Kirisu-sensei with open eyes looking at the devils, so he turned around once again.
And when he did it his blood ran cold, because there, in the middle of all the devils, and with Rias Gremory's hands on his shoulders was Kaname Touji, his brother.
Ryuichi's ki exploded out of his body, kicking up dust around him as his eyes filled with both, hatred and fear.
"TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF HIM!" He yelled in the most threatening way possible, ready to move forward and punch the redhead in the face.
But before he did so, a blood-red aura covered the demon without causing any apparent harm to Touji. "I know very well what you are thinking, and I understand it, so I will give you only one warning, stop and listen, or I will finish you here and now." She said as she raised her hand, forming a sphere of energy the same color as the aura surrounding her.
Ryuichi and Rias held their gaze for 10 seconds without saying anything, without blinking, moving, or even breathing, but in the end, the one who spoke first was the boy. "First let him go, then I'll listen to whatever you have to say"
Rias narrowed her eyes, but relented, removing her hands from Touji's shoulders, fading her aura, and giving him a light push on the back to make him take a step forward. "Come on, go with your brother." She said with a friendly tone.
Touji looked at her for a few seconds and then walked to Ryuichi, who held his shoulder and guided him into Kirisu's hands, who wrapped her arms around him, both of them standing behind him.
"He is already with you, undo your aura." She said with a serious tone.
"First, tell me why you brought him here." He responded without fading his aura, waiting for the response and ready to act accordingly.
"We didn't bring him here, he followed us, and we found him watching us from a distance"
Ryuichi's eyes widened in surprise, and he turned his head to look at his brother.
"Touji, is that true?"
"I…" he tried to say before looking down in shame and nodding. "I'm sorry"
"I see." Ryuichi said through clenched teeth before taking a breath, calming himself, and fading his aura. "We'll talk about this later." Was all he said before focusing on the red-haired demon.
"So?"
"So?" Rias raised an eyebrow.
"What do you want to leave my brother out of all this?"
"What do we want?" Rias asked, narrowing her eyes. "First, I want an apology, I understand that you are on guard because of your bad experiences with the devil you encountered at that time, but hating all devils because of that is something no reasonable person should do"
"I do not hate all the devils." Ryuichi said with the most serious tone he could muster. "But I don't trust you, and this would be the same if you were angels or envoys from the church because my world has just changed, and I know it will never be the same, but…" He broke off before inhaling deeply.
"You're right, if my brother followed us here, it was his fault for doing so and mine for not making sure he obeyed me, so I'm sorry"
Rias took the words for what they were, an honest apology, and she seemed satisfied with that. "Fine, and about your brother, we won't do anything"
"Nothing? What do you mean by that? Isn't it the same as with Kirisu-sensei?"
"He is the direct family of someone who is already a member of a supernatural society not affiliated with any group or pantheon, whether or not he retained his memories is up to you, but if he goes around talking to people about what he saw is another matter, so I trust that what you saw here will not be told to anyone, right?" She said, addressing Touji in the last part.
The boy simply nodded several times before Ryuichi spoke. "I'll make sure that's the case"
"Then everything is fine." She said, turning around and walking towards the rest of the demons except for two, the first was the blonde she had called Yuto before, and the second was a girl with long black hair with glasses similar to Sona's.
"As you heard before, I will be your opponent." He said receiving a nod, and after that, Ryuichi looked at the girl expressing an unspoken question.
"My name is Tsubaki, I will be the referee in this fight, I will see that the established rules are respected, and I will stop everything in case things escalate too much"
"I understand." And after that short answer, Ryuichi turned around and walked with Kirisu and Touji beside him.
"Brother, I-" Touji tried to say when they reached the end of the field, but Ryuichi stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder and kneeling to be level with him.
"Don't worry, what you did is wrong, yes, but we'll talk about it later, for now, there are things I have to take care of"
Touji looked at his brother as if he wanted to say something else, but in the end, he said nothing and nodded before giving a warning. "Just be careful"
Ryuichi nodded. "I will"
Then he stood up, and his gaze met that of the adult of the group. "Kirisu-sensei, I entrust the headache-generating brat." He said jokingly while messing up his brother's hair, Kirisu nodded, tightening her grip on Touji a little.
"Alright, then I'll be back in a moment." He told them both before turning around and moving towards the middle of the field where his opponent was.
As he walked, his right hand was placed on his left shoulder before rotating it several times, loosening his muscles before doing the same to his other arm.
"Give me a moment." Was all he said as he stood 12 meters away from the blonde before squatting down with his hands on his knees, pressing down a bit before standing up, repeating this about 3 times before standing up straight again.
"Ok." He said before striking a pose, his right foot forward, supporting most of his weight while his left leg went back, his torso leaning forward at the same time as his right fist, which was left a little below his knee, and finally, his left arm stretched back, rising above his head and with his hand half open.
"I'm ready." He finished by giving the referee a short look.
Tsubaki raised an eyebrow, surprised by the curious combat pose, but beyond that, she didn't say anything, then she turned to look at Yuuto, who smiled at her before taking a position, relaxing his shoulders, positioning his left foot behind the right to be able to push off whenever he wanted, and raising his hands before a light flash originated there, giving way to a two-handed long sword.
Noticing how Ryuichi's gaze showed his surprise, Kiba Yuuto hurried to clarify. "You don't need to worry, since this is just a friendly match this sword has no edge at all." He explained, taking the sword by the edge that should be sharp and moving it to confirm his words before returning to his previous position. "I would still recommend that you avoid this hitting you as much as you can because it's not going to be pleasant"
Ryuichi acknowledged the warning with a nod and a few words. "I'll keep it in mind"
"Then, this encounter will end if anyone becomes unconscious, openly declares his surrender, or is incapacitated for more than 20 seconds, attacks with murderous intent are prohibited." Tsubaki warned looking both ways and receiving a nod from both, Kiba and Ryuichi.
"Ready." She said, raising a hand, and when she lowered it, she screamed.
"Fight!"
X-X-X-X
I don't have much to say about this chapter, it's just the tense moment before the fight, although if I had to highlight something it would be that Ryuichi is willing to accept when he's wrong and apologize even to people he doesn't trust.
Now, with Kiba as an opponent, what will he do? Is it even possible to win? Because it's pretty obvious that he's outmatched in experience, power, and skill.
Let's wait until Monday to see how this plays out.
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.