Snapping open a pair of wooden chopsticks, I picked up a nice good chunk of my rice. Closing my eyes to better savour the taste, I opened my mouth and slowly brought the rice up to my lips before snapping my jaws over...nothing apparently.
I opened my eyes and looked down to find my chopsticks empty of rice. Confused, I glanced around to find out where it had gone when I froze in place as I caught sight of a familiar looking girl.
Ilya!?
...
Almost instantly, without conscious thought or will, I had begun to look within her soul, before my common sense kicked in and I quickly stopped myself before catching anything more than the barest glimpse of what lies within her.
Giving my head a quick shake to clear my mind from the stupid mistake I had almost committed, I shut my eyes and took a moment to collect myself. Once I was done, I deliberately turned back towards my unexpected visitor and this time I made sure to give the girl next to me a proper look before jumping to any conclusion.
No, not Ilya. Though I could not blame myself for mistaking this girl for her. They did look remarkably alike.
She was a little slip of a girl and were she not wearing the Kuoh academy uniform, I would have easily mistaken her for a Middle schooler. The Snow-white hair of her bangs cascades down past her shoulders while the hair in the back of her head was cut into a short bob cut. She had a pair of black cat-shaped hair clips attached to the side of her head which held her hair in place. Light golden eyes peered out of a childish looking face, which held an expression so empty of emotion it almost made her look like a doll.
Small grains of rice dotted the sides of her mouth, which gave an idea on the fate of my missing rice. Well, that and the way her eyes never stopped staring at the food in my lunch box. So intently was she focused on the lunch box that she ignored everything else around her, even me.
Watching her stare at my food with obvious such longing, despite her expressionless face, brought an amused smile to my face. She looked so much like a kid staring yearningly at sweets through the front window of a candy store, it was adorable.
Shaking my head in bewilderment at the whole situation, I picked up my lunch box all the while noticing with concealed amusement as to how her eyes tracked it. I paused halfway through my intended action as an amusing, and very Serafall, idea hit me. It was a little cruel but now that I got the idea in my head I couldn't resist.
Keeping a careful eye on the girl I slowly began lifting my lunch till it reached head-level, my head that is, which was a full foot above hers. As expected, her eyes rose to keep track of it, all the while her head remained perfectly still. I then lowered the lunch box down to just under chest level and again her eyes followed it.
I just stared at her, before I felt my lips slowly twist into an oh so wicked grin.
I abruptly shifted the box to the left and then right, watching as her eyes quickly jumped from side to side. After that up, right, left, up again and all the way down.
Soon I was moving my hands so fast that it practically blurred as I moved it sideways, diagonally, forwards, backwards, in a circle, flipped it over then twisted it in the air and whatever else I could think of, before finally bringing it to an abrupt halt right in front of my chest.
And her eyes were still locked onto my lunch box, never once having lost track of it or even shifting her head, despite my best efforts.
I was wrong. She didn't resemble a kid in front of a candy store; she was more like a cat eyeing a fish being dangled in front of her. It was absolutely hilarious.
Having had my share of fun for the moment, and after one quick look to check on the food and reassure myself that my magic did its job at protecting the contents, I handed over my lunch to her.
The brief widening of her eyes was the first sign of emotion I'd seen on her face all day before she finally tore her eyes away from the lunch box and looked up at me questioningly.
"Take it." Giving her a nod, "You clearly want it more than I do."
Her hands twitched from where they sat on her knees before they slowly extended out to my lunch box, all the while she never took her eyes off me. Just as she was about to reach the box her hands paused, just inches away, then with a blur of sudden motion she snatched it out of my hands.
She clutched the lunch box to her chest and scooted a few paces backwards, glaring suspiciously at me all the while as if I would try to take it back the moment she looked away.
If she didn't look so much like a cross between a stray cat and a pouting Ilya, I would have been offended. Did she really think I would try to steal food from a little kid? I mean what did I look like a Devil?
Oh, right.
From her point of view, a Devil had just offered her, a little girl, a box of free food while in a secluded area where no one can see or hear us.
Putting it that way, I wouldn't trust me either.
Keeping her eyes still locked on me, she picked up the chopstick that I left in the box, picked up a piece of tempura and took a bite of it. I could tell the exact moment the food hit her taste buds, the way she stopped all movement was a good tell as any.
For some reason I couldn't quite put my finger on, I could easily picture a pair of cat ears appearing from the top of her and jumping straight up in startlement.
Slowly, almost mechanically, she turned her head to look down at the rest of the food in her lap with an expression of wonder painted on her face, before launching towards it and devouring the food as quickly as she can.
After that, I might as well not have existed as far as she was considered.
Seeing how much she was enjoying my cooking brought a smile to my face. I may now have Pride in my food, but it was still surpassed by my pride and joy in people enjoying it. And considering that she now resembled a starving grizzly bear rather than a feline as she wolfed the food down, I can safely assume she likes it.
Even though it was supposed to be my lunch, I really didn't mind. I wasn't that hungry anyway and the kid looked like she could use a bit of meat on her bones, she was way too tiny for her age.
Besides, I packed an extra-large lunch today, more than I could have finished on my own. There is no way a tiny girl not even half my size could finish it all.
I'm sure there would be enough leftovers for me to snack on.
...
What the hell was she?
When I first saw her I compared her to Ilya. I was wrong, by the Maou himself I was wrong. This girl was no Ilya, she was a Saber if anything. If I hadn't seen the King of Knights herself putting away more food than three men double her size could eat I would have sworn that what I was seeing was impossible.
As it was, it still surprised me enough that I was sure if my jaw hung any lower, I would feel the tip of my chin scrap across the concrete floor of the rooftop.
One and a half minutes. In a little under 90 seconds, this little slip of a girl less than a third of my size put away more food than I could have eaten in an hour. And if the way she continued to dig for bits scraps inside of the now empty lunch, she could have gone for seconds.
I knew who she was of course. I learned the name of every Devil in both the school and the entire city, and it didn't take me long to recognize her as I observed her demolish my lunch.
Her name was Toujou Koneko. A former full-blooded Nekomata, possibly the last Nekoshou living in Devil society and currently a Rook to the Heir of the Gremory Clan.
I knew all of this, as I was given a file detailing all the essential information I needed to know about the supernatural beings in the city before I arrived, but why did nobody think to inform me about the bloody devourer of worlds that was pretending to be a little girl, I'd never know. Her stomach wasn't even bulging! Where did all the food go?
The clatter of plastic hitting concrete drew me from my thoughts as I realized she had already given up her search for any leftover scraps of food and had set the now empty lunch box down.
She peered up at me from where she sat, her legs folded beneath her before she slowly lowered her head in a small bow.
"Thank you for the meal."
I cracked a smile at that, "You're very welcome."
While I had never cared if I was ever thanked, I never did what I do for praise after all, it still felt nice. An old habit from taking care of Ilya kicked in and I reflexively stretched my hand out to pat her head-
NO!
-When she jumped back in fright, eyes flashing wide with terror, her body poised and tensed beneath her as if she was ready to run at a moment noticed.
Though barely noticeable, my eyes were sharp enough to catch the slight tremor that took hold of her even over her panicked panting breaths.
For a handful of seconds, I froze, my mind rushing at the implication of her actions before I acted quickly and slowly withdrew my hand away from her.
"Ah, sorry about that," I told her with an embarrassed smile as I leaned back and scratched the side of my head. "It's a habit I gotten from my little sister. For the weirdest reason, she likes it when I run my hand over her head and gets upset at me if I don't do it often enough. I swear, sometimes I think that girl's part puppy from how she behaves."
I made sure to talk in a calm and controlled tone of voice, careful not to make any sudden movement or get any closer to her than I already was.
I pretended not to notice the way she watched me as I did so, how her eyes would track my every motion, the twitch whenever she saw my hand move. I ignored it all and continued talking as if nothing was wrong. And it worked.
Gradually, her trembling began to subside before stopping completely, her breathing steadily slowed down till they were clam even breathes, and finally, her muscles were released from its tense state as ever so slowly she began to relax.
It felt like it like hours has passed while it probably hadn't even been a minute, but eventually, she was able to calm down.
Me on the other hand, I was anything but. Despite my outward appearance to the contrary, I was livid. The way she flinched, her almost reflexive panic at my unexpected touch, I recognized them.
They were signs of physical abuse.
I could feel my fury rage deep inside of my chest, burning so hot that I'm surprised it didn't scorch my skin, at the mere idea of someone harming this little girl.
The thought of someone hurting her, she that looked so much like my Ilya, made me see red. I wanted to scream, to yell, to demand that she tell me who did this to her, so can I go hunt them and hurt them.
I did no such thing.
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