"It took you long enough, nya!"
Kuroka's smile widened as she moved across the bed on all fours, heading toward Adrien. Her black hair fell over her shoulders, and her hazel-gold eyes stayed fixed on him.
He walked inside, closed the door behind him, and sat down on the edge of the bed. Kuroka immediately shifted closer, then sprawled herself beside him and rested her head on his lap
Adrien looked down at her and gave a small smile. Then he placed a hand on her head and began patting her gently, his fingers brushing over her hair.
Aurephion remained silent inside the ring. For once, the primordial phoenix did not have a quick comment ready. He had clearly not expected to see the same S-ranked stray devil Adrien had been talking about moments earlier lying comfortably in the boy's room.
"Good work, Kuroka," Adrien said. "I'm happy with your results."
Kuroka let out a pleased purr under his touch, her ears twitching slightly.
"What is going on?"
Aurephion's voice echoed inside Adrien's head instead of coming out loud from the ring. The old phoenix sounded calm, but there was a clear edge of confusion in his tone. A few minutes ago, they had been discussing Kuroka as a dangerous enemy tied to the Khaos Brigade. Now she was lying on Adrien's lap, purring under his hand.
"Kuroka is my double agent," he answered Aurephion mentally. "Officially, she's a member of Vali Team and an S-ranked criminal. Unofficially, she works for me."
Aurephion went silent for a moment.
"That is… bold. Reckless as well, but bold."
Adrien's mouth curved slightly. "That's usually how useful things are."
"How long am I gonna keep playing that role?" Kuroka complained, turning her head slightly on his lap to look up at him. "I wanna settle down with you and join your peerage already. It's not fair that you have girls around you and I can't be one of them. Meow."
Adrien lowered his head and gave her a brief kiss, enough to make the Nekomata go still for a second.
Kuroka's ears twitched, and the playful confidence on her face weakened just a little. For someone like her, who usually hid everything behind teasing words and lazy cat-like behavior, that small reaction said more than any dramatic confession.
"Soon enough," Adrien said quietly, his hand remained on her head, fingers brushing through her black hair.
"I still need you there for now. You're my strongest girl, so I can't send anyone else but you. You know how important information is."
Kuroka looked up at him, her hazel-gold eyes narrowing slightly. She clearly wanted to complain again, but she also understood what he meant.
She hooked her fingers into the collar of his shirt, tugging him down Her mouth pressed soft and against his. Adrien's hand found the curve of her waist, thumb tracing the fabric there, grounding himself in the moment.
When she broke away, a thin silver thread stretched between them before snapping.
"That's unfair, nya," Kuroka murmured, her voice rougher now, breathless. "You make it sound important so I can't refuse."
Adrien's smile was gentle, almost tender. He brushed a stray strand of dark hair from her cheek, his fingers lingering against her skin.
"Because it is important."
Adrien finally sat up, cracking his neck as he pulled himself away from her.
Kuroka's ears twitched, and her expression immediately turned annoyed. She had clearly hoped the moment would continue further like the last time they had seen each other, but Adrien was not in the mood for that right now.
She sat up as well, pouting slightly while her tail moved behind her in small, irritated swings.
"You're no fun, nya."
Adrien glanced at her. "You can complain later. You can't linger here too long."
Kuroka's pout weakened a little at that, because she knew he was right.
"If someone senses your presence here, they might track us down. I put a mark on you when you want to send me a message, pour energy into it and form the words clearly in your head. The mark will compress the information and send it straight to me."
Kuroka looked down at the place he had marked, her eyes narrowing with interest.
"Instantly?"
"Almost instantly," Adrien corrected. "It works like a linked transmission point. The formula uses my movement theory as a base, so the message doesn't travel through a normal route."
Aurephion's voice echoed quietly inside his head.
"You use your spatial technique even for letters?"
"Knowledge and information are as important as pure power, so I had to figure out an efficient way to do that."
Kuroka stared at him for a second, then her smile returned, softer and more satisfied than before.
"So whenever I miss you, I can just send you a message, nya?"
Adrien looked at her flatly. "Important messages."
Kuroka pouted again, her ears lowering slightly as if she had actually been offended. But Adrien knew better. She was absolutely going to abuse the communication method.
He sighed quietly. "Don't make me regret giving you that mark."
"No promises, nya." Kuroka smiled wider, her tail swayed behind her.
"I'll get going," she said, stretching her arms above her head. "I was forbidden from leaving after all."
'And she still wanted to get cracked right now?'
Adrien gave a small nod. "Be careful."
Kuroka's smile softened for a second. "Worried about me?"
He didn't answer, he just touched her shoulder and she disappeared from the room. It was better if she teleported from another place.
--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>
The girls were gathered in the living room, sitting around the couches in a loose circle. Some sat properly, others leaned back with tired expressions, while a few still had notebooks or loose sheets in their hands.
Adrien sat on a bean bag in front of them, one arm resting over his knee as he looked at each of them in turn.
As he had expected, Rias had won the Rating Game overwhelmingly.
Now the girls were presenting their homework to him, each one explaining what both teams should have done better. Adrien listened without interrupting too much, even though he had not watched the Rating Game himself. He did not need to. From the way they described the match, it had gone almost exactly the way he imagined it would.
From what the girls explained, Sona had sent Saji after Issei with the intention of linking his Sacred Gear to him and using its power against him. It was a logical move. Saji's Sacred Gear, Absorption Line, worked through a black snake-like line that could connect to a target and drain their stamina or energy. Against someone like Issei, who depended heavily on Boosted Gear's explosive power, that kind of technique could become a strong counter.
But Issei had Ascalon, the dragon-slayer sword gifted by Michael and absorbed into the Boosted Gear. More importantly, Adrien had taught him proper swordsmanship. Not master-level technique, but enough fundamentals to stop him from panicking against technical fighters.
Sona would have anticipated the sword.
She was not careless enough to ignore Ascalon after Michael had given it to Issei and after it had been absorbed into the Boosted Gear. A dragon-slayer sword inside the Sacred Gear of the Red Dragon Emperor was too important to overlook, especially for someone as analytical as Sona Sitri.
But what she had not fully anticipated was Issei becoming skilled enough to actually use it properly.
Before Adrien's training, Issei would have treated Ascalon like a flashy power-up. He would have swung it with raw strength and relied on Boost to force his way through the enemy. But now, his swordsmanship had enough structure behind it.
That was why Saji's Absorption Line failed.
The moment the black snake-like line tried to bind him and start draining his power, Issei reacted before it could fully stabilize. He poured boosted energy through Ascalon, adjusted the angle of the blade, and severed the connection before Saji could turn it into a real advantage.
After that, the fight turned one-sided.
Issei overpowered Saji quickly, breaking through his rhythm before he could recover. Once Saji went down, Sona's formation lost one of its key control pieces. From there, Issei pushed straight through the rest of her peerage with brutal momentum
The result shocked almost everyone watching.