Spear Devil - 015

Chapter 015 – The Second

[April – 2008]

'Akira Sasaki, what a strange human.', Sona thought to herself, as she walked to her office after having left the teen behind with his new homeroom teacher.

Sona couldn't remember the last time someone had talked to her like he had done, his sharp rebuke having been quite a shock. And when she had realized that he had been right, that shock had swiftly turned into embarrassment and guilt.

Even her parents had never scolded her like this, though she also hadn't been really rebellious, just strong-willed. She knew what she wanted, and she had always tried to use her smarts to get it, rarely relying on her inherent magical gifts or temper tantrums.

Sona hated to admit it, but she didn't really see normal humans as important or even as 'people'. For her, they were just shadows, passersby that she would forget seconds after meeting them.

Most Devils were like this though, as their lives were simply too long to form close bonds to humans whose lives … just weren't. The only exception were humans with Sacred Gears, though signs of those only manifested themselves around puberty.

Still, Sona didn't want to be like 'most' Devils, she wanted to be someone extraordinary.

She wanted to be special – to matter – not because she was the heiress of a large and powerful Clan or because she was the little sister of one of the leaders of her race, but despite that.

Sona wanted to be someone outside of these titles, and the realization that she had acted so dismissive and almost condescending to a human she knew nothing about had her almost recoil in disgust at herself. She wanted to be better than that, as being a Devil didn't excuse such behavior, or at least it didn't in her eyes.

The fact that Akira had looked so mediocre and tame on paper, but had turned out to be someone so … unrestrained, while still seeming highly intelligent, was a pleasant surprise and somewhat puzzling to her.

Half his upper body was tattooed and he hadn't even worn the proper uniform(even though this didn't seem to be his fault), and yet he was a sharp-minded chess lover? Sona couldn't quite comprehend that.

Arriving in her office, her gaze fell on the chess board, that stood on the small coffee table between the two sofas on the side, a board that was in frequent use as she practically forced her Peerage members to play against her daily.

Sona wasn't sure why she had lied to Akira and told him that she didn't like chess, when in fact it was her favorite game.

Pushing those thoughts aside, not willing to think about it too deeply for the moment, she settled into the soft leather chair behind her large desk.

Pulling out her phone, Sona downloaded an app for online chess without thinking too hard about it, deciding that it wouldn't hurt to just try it out.

Three hours later though, the young Devil heiress was damn near ready to crush her phone in the palm of her hand as she lost yet another game, her score being 18 – 7, and not in her favour.

She simply didn't understand how she could lose so often when it had been years since she had lost a game against anyone in person. Her competitive spirit roused, Sona refused to stop until she at least came out even, her duties all but forgotten as a fire seemed to burn in her beautiful violet eyes.

…

Hearing the bells ring when it was finally time for lunch, Koneko walked towards Yuuto's classroom to get him to buy some snacks for her while nibbling on the last candy bar she had brought with her, as she had 'forgotten' her purse.

Suddenly though her sensitive nose picked up a wholly unique scent that smelled of fire and 'power', a scent she remembered well as she had just smelled it for the first time the day before.

Looking ahead, the petite white-haired Devil girl saw the one to whom this scent belonged, the stranger's crystal eyes looking at her with calm and kind eyes as they approached each other.

“We meet again. I am Akira, by the way.”, the stranger introduced himself with a calm smile, while her instincts warned her that he was a threat.

She knew that she should go and find her King quickly, as Rias had seemed very interested in recruiting him after Koneko had told her about his hybrid status, which wasn't too surprising as hybrids in general made strong Devils and Rias was desperate for Peerage members that might help her win the coming battle against her fiance.

Still, now that Koneko knew the hybrid's name and the fact that he was a student here, there was no reason to be in a hurry as Akira certainly wouldn't just vanish into thin air, and he also didn't seem hostile at all.

“Koneko.”, she introduced herself, not wanting to seem impolite, though her tone was flat as she found it hard to put her feelings into words most of the time.

“Koneko, hmm.”, he said as if testing how her name felt on his tongue, “A beautiful name. It fits you very well.”

Nodding in agreement as she thought so too, Koneko was surprised as he suddenly asked her.

"Can you show me the way to the cafeteria? I am new here and don't really know my way around yet."

Frowning and stepping back, she was about to refuse when he added.

“I won't make you do it for free. I will buy you something too.”, the hybrid offered, his words akin to a Devil's whisper in Koneko's ears as she simply found it too hard to refuse snacks.

It wasn't her fault that they were tasty!

Struggling fiercely with herself while squirming where she stood, Koneko managed to barely win against herself as she raised a trembling hand, two fingers extended.

“T-two things.”, she squeezed out through gritted teeth, already fearing he would decline and she wouldn't be able to get her paws on some free snacks, the prospect of such a scenario alone making her heart almost break.

“You can choose three if you want.”, the hybrid replied with a small smile, and Koneko could swear she saw the halo of a saint surrounding his handsome figure for just a moment.

Nodding hastily while nibbling away at the last bit of her candy bar, Koneko grabbed the hybrid's sleeve and pulled him into the direction of the cafeteria, already fighting another battle in her mind about which three snacks to choose from the dozen that were available.

It was a hard and ungrateful battle, but she was a fierce warrioress and wouldn't give up so easily!

…

Laying on the soft grass beneath a large tree to the side of the race track, I closed my eyes to rest a few minutes while Koneko sat a few feet away, munching on the last piece of mochi I bought her before going straight to the bag of potato chips, an almost blissful smile on her usually impassive face.

I had thankfully managed to slip out of class before a horde of teenage girls decided to swarm me for questions and robbed me of my lunch break, though meeting Koneko was pure coincidence.

Still, the small Devil girl was probably my favorite amongst Rias Peerage simply because she didn't speak much, and when she did, she usually had something important to say. She was also easy to please and get along with, I just had to have some snacks ready or money to buy some.

The fact that she was a petite white-haired beauty was just a bonus.

"Akira-senpai … what race are you?", the small girl suddenly asked quietly, a hesitant tone in her voice.

Turning my head to face her, I opened my eyes and saw her staring at me with a suppressed but conflicted expression on her face, her golden eyes looking at me apologetically.

It seemed she just remembered that she should actually investigate a stranger from the Supernatural World instead of letting herself be bribed by snacks.

Smiling lightly, I looked up into the crown of the tree as I answered lightly: "I am Akira Sasaki, son of the Welsh Dragon, inheritor of the Red Dragon Emperor of Domination, the successor of the Heavenly Dragon. And one day, I will be the second and most powerful True Dragon in existence."