Yes.
I would feel bad for playing with someone's emotions.
I knew it was bad.
But.
This was a thing that decided my fate.
My existence.
Yes, I could take Reverse Cursed Technique or Irresistible Charm, even the incomplete domain, but I needed the best options at hand.
And the first one shown was my most obvious choice.
Though it was giving me two years to do it.
And nothing more.
I had to take the risk.
I needed those abilities.
I was going to charm Hoshino Ai.
But.
First.
I need to deal with that pest.
The one who was constantly observing me.
Those eyes, like a cat observing its prey.
I could feel it.
Killing intent.
It was hidden.
But the smell of blood was constant in the air.
I had to deal with this now.
So there would be no issues with me being a bodyguard.
And so there would be no interruptions or complications from the supernatural world entering Hoshino Ai's world.
The darkness should always stay underneath the light.
And I could always skip school.
School, especially in Kuoh.
It mattered to a certain extent.
But I knew that this was more important.
I walked further away from the city.
Until I met all the greenery.
There was nothing but trees for a good while.
I needed a place where I wouldn't be seen.
Somewhere, I could fight without interruption.
The forest was perfect.
It was a natural maze.
The kind of place where screams were swallowed by the trees.
I found a small clearing.
It was quiet.
The only sounds were the rustling of leaves and the distant hum of the city.
It was a good place.
A place where I could do what needed to be done.
And then I felt it again.
The killing intent.
It was stronger now.
Closer.
The smell of blood was thicker.
It wasn't just a faint scent anymore.
It was a presence.
A predator marking its territory.
And I was the intruder.
So I stood in the center of the clearing.
And I waited.
My hands were loose at my sides.
My breathing was even.
I was ready.
And then it appeared.
Out of the shadows between the trees.
Slash.
The world, which had been a constant array of colors, was dyed white.
In a single motion.
I had launched it.
Cleave.
For a single second.
The world became white.
It was dyed white.
Like painting a picture.
This world was dyed white.
This singular slash.
Cleave.
The invisible cut.
Unseen by the naked eye. Invisible to all but me.
I saw it.
It inched closer.
And closer towards the intent that I sensed.
Cutting away all it saw in a single motion.
It was beautiful.
A perfect, clean line.
A perfect, clean cut.
And then the blood came.
It sprayed out in a fine mist.
Painting the green leaves and brown bark of the trees.
It was a shocking color.
Red.
Against the white of my attack.
And the green of the forest.
Though blood flowed out like a faucet.
I knew she wasn't as hurt as it seemed.
Her golden eyes.
Stared at me.
Like I was now an enemy.
But.
I had known who this was.
Koneko Toujou.
The one I gave chocolate to.
The one I knew all too well.
With this, I knew one thing.
I had caught their attention.
The devils.
They were interested in me.
"So... I'm guessing you came to observe me under their order...?"
Her dead-like eyes stared at me.
She wasn't scared.
Though my Cleave had hit her,
It didn't do as much damage.
It was a light graze on her arm.
That sprayed blood.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
As I knew.
She was currently stronger than me.
She looked at her arm.
There.
There was a cut.
It was shallow. It was a graze, nothing more.
Nothing less.
But the blood was still running down, dripping off her elbow onto the grass below.
It was slow and steady.
Droplets of blood, like rain falling onto water. It fell.
Slowly.
She didn't flinch.
Nor did she press her hand against it.
She just looked at it in the way someone looks at an inconvenience.
Then she stared at me.
Those golden eyes.
Flat and unreadable.
Like staring into two coins.
The silence stretched.
She was deciding.
Something.
I didn't push it.
I let my aura dissipate from my fingers. Slowly.
It was slow, the heat was fading, and the atmosphere around us returned to normal.
My intent to kill dissipated.
I had recognized this wasn't worth it.
She was stronger than me, and I had known that.
And my gesture of dissipating my aura
Was clear.
It was a gesture saying,
I'm not going to swing again.
As long as you don't.
She had registered it.
Then she spoke.
"You've changed. Two days ago, you were a normal transfer student that smelled like a normal human. Now you smell... not human."
Her voice was exactly what I remembered about her.
Ever since I had first met her.
It was small, quiet, and monotone.
Like she had better things to do.
Smell...?
Was my smell not human anymore?
That's good to know.
"And you used something that isn't mana....?"
"Yes...?"
"Wha—"
Another silence.
The blood from the graze had slowed.
It was already clotting.
Her regeneration was passive and quiet.
It was quite impressive.
"...You gave me chocolate."
The subject change was abrupt, and I had almost missed it.
"I remember. Was it good...?"
"Mhmm."
Something had passed across her face.
It wasn't an expression that I could understand.
The flatness on her face.
But there on her face,
There was something different.
Was it a smile?
Just for half a second, there was a smile plastered on her face.
Then it was gone.
"I'll tell Buchou you're not a threat, so don't get the wrong idea. Also, this was just a graze."
She wanted to make sure that I knew this was but a graze.
Was it her pride surfacing?
Like she couldn't acknowledge my action.
My attack.
She wanted to deny it.
But,
I didn't really care.
She kept walking.
The tree line swallowed her up.
There was no sound.
No rustle, nor sound, like she had just simply stopped existing in this space.
I stood there.
Alone.
The blood on the leaves was already drying.
Red.
Going brown at the edges.
"I'll tell Buchou you're not a threat."
I exhaled slowly.
Extremely slowly.
This was the best outcome.
For now.
But.
The fact that Rias Gremory knows about me now
Was an issue.
The door leading towards them led in only one direction.
Death or enslavement.
Only two options in one direction.
I knew what this was.
I had caught their attention.
If Rias Gremory had become aware of me,
Then what about the fallen?
The ones around her?
The most,
The fallen angels.
Were they already dealt with?
How far along was I inside of this story?
Where was I?
I knew I was past the prologue and the first chapter of the light novel.
But,
I didn't know exactly where I was.
Was I in the time after Issei fought Riser?
Or had I reincarnated after the Tokyo incident?
I had no knowledge
Of it.
Nor did I know.
All I knew was,
For some reason, Rias sent Koneko to keep track of me.
So I probably wasn't past the Riser arc.
But how would I know?
As this world collided with another,
And that world
Was now my light,
My job,
And my future path to strength.
I had to take it seriously.
It was time to head out.
As it was 7 p.m.
One hour before I was supposed to meet up with her.
Hoshino Ai.
My employer,
And the one I had to charm.
***
I had made my way past the receptionist.
This was a sky-rise building.
There was even security at the entrance.
I had made my way towards the elevator.
The elevator door opened.
And I stepped out.
The hallway was different than what I had expected.
It wasn't long.
Nor was it lined with dozens of doors.
There was.
Only one singular door.
It was.
Matte black.
The same color as the card that was in my pocket.
Of course.
She.
Just had to have.
A penthouse.
A whole floor.
Just for herself.
I approached the door and pressed the buzzer once.
Clean and professional.
I wasn't going to knock on the door, like some delivery person.
There was a pause.
Then a click.
And then.
The door swung open.
There she appeared.
But.
She was still in a hoodie.
Though it was different than before.
This time it was pale grey.
Her hair was slightly damp at the edges.
Like she had just washed her face.
Those gradient eyes scanned me.
Top to bottom.
She scanned my attire.
We were almost matching.
I had worn a hoodie. It was plain black. There wasn't anything special about it.
My hair was a contrast to the hoodie. My white hair with the black.
Though I didn't care for that.
She was taking in the view.
Scanning me.
"You're early."
"By four minutes."
"Mhmm."
She stepped aside.
It was an invitation.
I walked in.
The apartment was not what I expected.
The ceilings were high.
Floor-to-ceiling windows stretched across the far wall, and the city sprawled below like scattered embers.
It was beautiful.
But.
It wasn't what drew me in.
Not that I didn't care for this beauty, I just did not care about those things.
As I looked around, I noticed that there were shoes by the door.
They were just in front of it.
Just scattered all around.
And a mug on the kitchen counter, with a ring stain underneath it.
A blanket on the couch that had been hastily folded.
Like someone had done it quickly before a guest arrived.
Was she sleeping?
Before I came?
The blanket was folded.
But not well.
It was the kind of fold you did when you heard a knock or a buzzer and panicked.
Four minutes early.
I had caused that.
It was interesting.
But.
I didn't comment on it.
I didn't even look at it for too long.
I just let it escape to the back of my thoughts.
"Sit."
She gestured vaguely at the couch.
Then she stopped.
And looked at me again.
Those eyes moved towards my face.
Then to the hoodie.
And then back up.
Something had passed through her face.
Her expression had changed.
And it wasn't amusement.
It was something even I didn't know.
"We're matching."
Her voice was flat.
But there was also something beneath it.
Something that even she herself didn't know about.
"I noticed."
I said nothing else.
I didn't push it.
And didn't smile.
She looked at me for one more second.
Then she turned and walked down the hallway without another word.
"I need to shower before tonight. Please don't touch anything."
The words were light.
She disappeared into the long hallway.
I stood there for a moment.
The apartment was quiet.
And the city below moved without sound, behind the glass.
And then.
I had felt it.
The restlessness.
It had come from my instincts.
The part of me I hadn't known.
Until today.
It wanted me to move.
It wanted to exert its strength.
She had told me not to touch anything.
She didn't say not to move.
Technically.
So in front of the couch.
Where there was a long stretch of space.
That was clear of her things.
It was clear of anything.
There was nothing but floor here.
So I had started.
I got down.
And started.
Doing push ups.
One.
Two.
Three.
It was slow.
And controlled.
It wasn't about going fast.
Fifteen.
Sixteen.
Seventeen.
The sound of the shower was faint down the hall.
As I continued.
Thirty.
My body didn't tire easily.
It was both useful and inconvenient at times.
Fifty.
I kept the rhythm even.
My breathing was controlled.
There were always long stretches of time.
Either breaks.
Or places to go to.
Seventy.
There was always a time to wait.
And you either lounge around.
Or make use of that time.
And do something productive.
You either learned how to use that time.
Or did nothing.
And I was using it.
Eighty.
That time.
The faint sounds of the shower stopped.
I stood up.
And walked back to the couch.
Like I hadn't done any push ups.
There was not a single bead of sweat on my body.
It was.
Like I hadn't even done push-ups at all.
I sat down.
And waited.
Exactly as I had been before.
Like I hadn't moved at all.
Ten seconds later.
The door opened.
And she walked out.
Hair damp, dark at the ends.
She stopped when she saw me.
Still on the couch, exactly where she had left me.
Something had moved between her eyes.
She had expected me to have wandered around.
Touched something.
Snooped or done something.
I hadn't.
I just looked up as neutral as I could be.
"You actually stayed put?"
"Didn't you tell me to?"
She studied me for a moment.
Then she said nothing.
She walked to the mirror near the hallway.
And.
Started working on her hair.
The silence between us settled.
Comfortable, like it had always been there.
But.
After.
10 minutes passed, and she had finally come back towards me.
The me that was sitting on the couch.
"The Higher-ups would like to test your physical abilities against the Security department."