LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 7: Probing
"So they just stick out of your shoulder blades? How strange..." muttered Vahn, unabashedly inspecting Tsubaki's wings as she stood with her hair danging over the front of her shoulders, her back exposed after removing her blouse.
"You're remarkably calm," remarked Sona, prompting Vahn to stare at her in confusion as she added, "Most boys in this situation would be flustered or excited."
"But none of you look flustered," noted Vahn, looking around at the other five girls circling him, finding them staring at him with expressions ranging from curiosity to suspicion.
"Well...we're Devils," contended Sona. "We're used to dealing with humans and their errant desires."
"Mmm...I see..." muttered Vahn, returning his gaze to Tsubaki's exposed back. He knew what Sona meant by him getting excited, as romance was a common theme in even shonen manga, but since he had never been in a situation like the one at present, he wasn't sure how to behave. After all, it wasn't like Tsubaki was his girlfriend.
"Tsubaki, you may fix your uniform," said Sona.
"Yes, my Lady," responded Tsubaki, retracting her wings and giving Vahn an impassive glance over her shoulder before donning her blouse.
"Did I do something wrong...?" asked Vahn, a concerned frown marring his face as he met Sona's gaze.
"Not exactly," answered Sona. "Though, in similar circumstances, it might be prudent to pay the woman exposing herself to you a compliment. Girls appreciate things like that, especially if the person complimenting them is handsome."
"Oh...I see..." muttered Vahn, returning his gaze to Tsubaki, who was still in the middle of fixing her blouse. She noticed this, causing their gazes to meet, so with what he hoped was a sincere smile, Vahn unabashedly said, "Your back was very pretty."
"Oh? Thank you for the compliment," responded Tsubaki, offering a slight smile as the rest of her companions, excluding Sona and Tsubasa, giggled in amusement.
Feeling that he had done well, Vahn's smile broadened as he returned his gaze to Sona. The latter, standing with her arms crossed, raised her right brow at this, but instead of asking why he was looking at her, she gave a slight nod and said, "Well done, Vahn. Just remember to be sincere. Girls can usually tell if you aren't."
"I'll be sure to remember," responded Vahn, nodding confidently. Sona found this humorous and was half-tempted to offer him a contract, but since there were too many unknowns regarding his status and backing, she wanted to observe him a while longer.
Seeing that Tsubaki had fixed her uniform, Sona gave her a slight nod before meeting Vahn's gaze and suggesting, "Let's continue with the tour. Now that you know where your classroom is located, I'll show you where to find the Faculty, Student Council, and Principal's Offices. Afterward, we will get you fitted for your uniforms before wrapping things up with a tour of the grounds. The two large buildings you saw before we entered here were the Assembly Hall and Club buildings, so we'll primarily be showing you around the Gymnasium and Training Hall. There is also the Old School Building at the back of the campus, where the benefactor of the Academy and Kuoh Town as a whole, Rias Gremory, resides."
"Will I get to meet her...?" asked Vahn, genuinely curious as he had never met a Noble, much less a Duke. Little did he know that the girl before him, Sona, was an even higher-ranking Noble as her family, the Sitri Clan, held the Court Rank of Prince, making her, its heir, a Princess.
"That depends on her mood," responded Sona, explaining, "Rias is very affectionate toward those she considers family or friends, but she tends to shun others, particularly boys. However, considering your...innocence, she may be willing to meet you."
"Well, I don't want to make her feel uneasy or like she's being forced..." expressed Vahn, his smile turning apologetic as he reached up to cup the back of his head with his right hand.
"It should be fine," affirmed Sona, nodding before shifting her gaze to her white-haired compatriot, stating, "Momo, please go and inform Rias that I will be introducing our new friend here to her at the end of our tour. If she is occupied or otherwise indisposed, the introduction can wait until a later date."
"As you will, my Lady," responded Momo, cupping her hands over her lap and offering a polite bow to Sona and Vahn before departing to carry out the former's orders.
"Well then, shall we...?" asked Sona, briefly meeting Vahn's gaze to make sure he understood she was talking to him before taking the initiative to start walking. As anticipated, Vahn quickly hurried to catch up with her, causing a faint smile to develop across her face as his behavior reminded her of a small puppy despite him being half a head taller...
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"You appear to take rather good care of your body..." remarked Sona, standing with her arms crossed and brows raised as Vahn, to facilitate being fitted for his uniform, stripped down to his heart-pattern boxers.
"Was that a compliment...?" asked Vahn, handing his slacks to a smiling Ruruko.
"Indeed, it was," confirmed Sona, offering a curt nod. Then, like the other girls present, she lowered her gaze to the front of Vahn's boxers, causing her brows to rise slightly higher. Saying Vahn was the full package would be an understatement...
"Pardon me..." said Tsubaki, kneeling before Vahn and stoically employing tailor's tape to take the measurements for his inner and outer seams. Her left hand inadvertantly grazed against the source of warmth between his legs, but instead of getting startled or flustered, Vahn just stared down at her with a patient, curious expression.
"I take it this isn't your first time having your measurements taken?" asked Sona.
Meeting the violet-eyed Devil's gaze, Vahn adopted a slightly cramped smile as he replied, "No. But it's my first time having it done like this. It's nice."
"I see..." muttered Sona, narrowing her eyes slightly as she asked, "But didn't you mention that, before coming here, you were in an empty place, alone with nothing but your thoughts?"
"I was," confirmed Vahn, following Sis's advice to explain, "But, before that, I was in a lab surrounded by bad people. I don't really want to talk about it."
"Oh, I see..." muttered Sona, various thoughts playing across her mind. Human experimentation was common among all the major factions, so Vahn being a test subject wasn't all that surprising to her. The far more important questions were: what was the purpose of the experiment, and what came of it?
"Are you curious...?" asked Vahn, noticing that Sona had the same look as a scientist forming a hypothesis.
"I am," confirmed Sona, nodding in affirmation before explaining, "You see, while Kuoh Academy is a neutral zone, it's exceedingly unusual for the Church to endorse an enrollment. Devils, Angels, and Fallen Angels have been in a three-way deadlock since the end of the previous war, so our initial suspicion was that you had been sent here as a spy."
"Oh...well...I'm not one..." muttered Vahn, hanging his head.
"I reached a similar conclusion," affirmed Sona. "But that doesn't change the fact you're an...anomalous element. If we knew more about you, such as whether or not you possess any special powers, revealing them would go a long way toward easing our concerns."
"Hmmm..."
Raising his gaze to the ceiling, Vahn appeared to be deliberating but was conversing with Sis. She advised him against revealing the uniqueness of his blood, but demonstrating his ability to equip and remove items should be safe.
Choosing to believe that Sona and her friends could be trusted, as they seemed like good people, Vahn met the former's gaze, raised his right hand, and said, "I can do things like this," before equipping his [Bracelets of Dominion], causing them to materialize around his wrists.
Blinking in surprise, Sona stepped closer, grabbed Vahn's hand, and inspected the three-banded golden bracelet around his wrist, asking, "And this is...?"
Following Sis's script, Vahn explained, "If I perform good or bad deeds or fulfill certain conditions, I gain a kind of currency that allows me to create special items. I can also store and take out items from a space only I have access to..."
"Item creation and storage..." muttered Sona, her violet eyes glistening with a hint of greed as she looked up from Vahn's wrist, meeting his gaze as she added, "Those are exceptionally useful abilities. Could you tell me more about these conditions you mentioned?"
"I can," affirmed Vahn, causing Sona to smile until he added, "But I don't want to. I didn't come to Kuoh because I wanted to be useful. I just want to be an ordinary student..."
"I understand," replied Sona, secretly feeling relieved as she was starting to believe Vahn didn't know the meaning of discretion or keeping secrets. Her desire to learn more about his abilities hadn't disappeared, but so long as he was a student at Kuoh Academy, she believed she would have many more opportunities to learn about him.
With such thoughts in mind, Sona raised her right hand, smiling as she said, "As a show of good faith and our burgeoning friendship, here is my ability."
Seeing Sona manifest what he believed was a Magic Circle, bright blue and extremely complex in design, Vahn's eyes glistened with intrigue as she created a basketball-sized sphere of glowing blue liquid resembling water a few centimeters above her hand.
"As a member of the Sitri Clan, my Demonic Power is the ability to make, amass, and control water," explained Sona. "I also possess the abilities of fly, teleportation, and summoning, but those are capabilities any Devil can possess with sufficient spirit energy and practice."
"That's incredible..." expressed Vahn, his eyes as round as saucers as he witnessed Sona shape the sphere of water into a glowing blue rabbit with pale yellow eyes that she could hold with her left arm and pet without her blouse becoming soaked through and semi-transparent.
"Thank you for the compliment," hummed Sona, resisting the urge to point out that if Vahn became a Devil, particularly a member of her Peerage, he, too, could create and manipulate water. He had already made it clear that his desire was to be a normal student, and with the Church's sponsorship, there wasn't much she could offer to entice him. Not without complicating things with another member of her Peerage...
kashiik
"Pervert spotted..." said a cold, somewhat raspy, but cute-sounding voice as a very petite or simply young girl with white hair and gold eyes entered the room with Momo. She was modeling the same uniform as every other girl present, making it clear she was a student of Kuoh Academy, but she had a pair of black, cat-shaped hair clips on both sides of her hair, which was set in a bob cut with loose bangs and fringe that extended well past her shoulders, framing a cute, almost doll-like face.
Seeing that the girl was looking at him, Vahn briefly looked around before pointing to himself and asking, "Am I the pervert...?"
Ostensibly ignoring Vahn's question, the petite girl turned her attention to Sona, revealing, "Lady Rias says she will meet with the pervert, but only if you agree to have dinner with her tonight."
"Please tell your Mistress I would be happy to accompany her for dinner," responded Sona, smiling as she added, "Also, despite how things appear, Vahn-kun here is not a pervert. It's not good to disparage people without understanding the context of a situation, Koneko-chan."
"Nn...if you say so..." responded the petite girl, apparently named Koneko. She clearly didn't believe Sona's words, but when she looked at Vahn and noticed him sporting a slight frown, ostensibly hurt by her words, a trace of puzzlement tinted her otherwise impassive expression as she tilted her head slightly to the side. However, as she had more important things to do, specifically napping, she didn't stick around to ascertain the truth of the situation. Instead, she turned around and promptly departed...
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