Extravaganza 14 (Edited)

Extravaganza 

A/N: We're fixing our problems with the reincarnator in the Hyoudou family and setting up a recruiting drive.

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Part 14

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(Hyoudou Nanami)

May 9th, 2008 (same day)
Kuoh Town
Hyoudou residence

As she lay in her bed, Nanami was still in shock by what Issei had told her and she couldn't deny that she had treated him like shit since she regained her previous life's memories when they were twelve years old. 

When she realized where she had been reincarnated, Nanami had lashed out and stopped treating her brother like… a human being. She remembers her attempts to ‘reform’ her Issei to make him stop being a pervert through violence. 

When Issei didn't stop, she simply gave up on him, but kept tabs on him in case any other supernatural being tried to get to him. Eventually, she got bored of always keeping an eye on her older brother and decided to be hands off with him.

Issei seemed hurt that she treated him this way at first and it made Nanami feel guilty about doing this to him. But she hated his perverted antics, couldn't Issei be a closet pervert like everyone else? And what was that Iori girl problem!? Telling her how bad of a sister she had been; she's just a leech who’s after her brother's sacred gear!

“Nanami, you know that you can tell me anything, right?” Nanami heard her mother through the door.

“I know mom…” She felt guilty about worrying her mother like this and stopped going to school because her brother took the side of the girl who treated him like a decent Human being.

Miki offered with a kind tone, “Why don’t you open the door, so we can talk face to face, sweetie?”

and see my pathetic self? No thanks! Nanami thought, but instead she replied with, “... I don’t wanna.”

She heard her mother sigh wearily, then ask patiently, “Why?”

“...” Nanami didn't answer anything back.

She knew that she was spoiled, any other parents would have forced her to go to school or opened the door forcefully and given her a stern talking to.

“Hey, mom!” Issei’s voice rang from behind the door, making Nanami perk.

Miki had a smile in her voice as she greeted Issei.“Oh Issei, you’re back.”

“Yes mom.” Nanami’s brother sounded upbeat and happy. Something good must have happened. 

The brunette’s gut feeling was right as she heard Issei say, “I’ve brought my friend home today, I invited her for dinner, is that alright with you?”

The brunette who had her pillow over her head, threw it away and sat up in her bed as she screamed in her mind, What?! That bitch is here!? 

Nanami remembered how effortlessly Usagiyama Iori took her down, as if the four years of excruciating training to unlock her touki and learning martial arts didn't matter. That sense of powerlessness was deeply ingrained in the reincarnator's mind who had not known any set back since the start of her second life.

“SQUEEEEEEE!!! You brought your girlfriend home?!” Miki yelled, forcing Nanami to cover her ears.

Nanami heard footsteps moving away from her closed door. Issei shouted after Miki while following her, “Mom! Wait, don't run!”

“I need to protect them from her!” Nanami muttered as she stood up from her bed.

However, when she looked down at her attire, Nanami noticed in what state she was; cropped top and shorts… she wasn't in a state to welcome a guest. “Time for a shower and some decent clothes.”

# # #

(Usagiyama Iori)

The living room I was in was homey and well decorated with wooden furniture and potted plants strategically placed where they would receive sunlight from the open windows. The family sofa I was in was placed before a big flat screen TV, and under the tv stand was a mini hi-fi system and a DVD player.

I looked around a bit more and saw the wedding picture of Issei's mom and dad. His mother was rather pretty… she looked just like Nanami with less boobs in fact. The house felt warm, I mean the atmosphere, and it was completely different from my own home. I heard swift footsteps descending from the stairs leading up and I saw that it was a woman wearing a white top and a yellow cardigan with a long Grey skirt reaching her ankle with slippers on her feet.

I thought that I was prepared for my meeting with Issei's family, but I clearly was not.

Hyoudou Miki was like I expected, desperate for her son to be normal and have friends who won't lead him astray. She came running into the living room where I was waiting for Issei and her.

Standing up from the sofa Issei had sat me on, I bowed to the older woman and attempted to greet her, but she spoke faster as she said, “Hello, I’m Hyoudou Miki. You're Usagiyama-san, right? My son's girlfriend?”

I cringed, there was a lot of hope in her voice; Issei and I didn’t have that sort of relationship. With a blush on my face, I said, “Um, I am a girl and I am his friend, yes.” 

Issei descended the stairs, seeing his mother speak to me; his shoulders went slack as he pleaded, “Mom, please don’t embarrass me in front of my friend…”

Miki looked at me, then at the blushing Issei and voiced her observation. “Oh, you’re not dating yet. You youngsters shouldn’t hesitate like this, take the bull by the horns and never let go. This isn’t a drama, life is so short.”

I gaped at the woman, utterly baffled at her shamelessness; it made me giggle at her, and poor Issei’s face went red like a tomato.

“MOM!” Issei yelled in mortification.

Miki laughed at how embarrassed her son was, but she became serious when she focused back on me and with a grateful tone said, “I want to thank you, Usagiyama-San. My son has gotten better since he met you, please take good care of him.”

I smiled warmly at the older woman. “You have a good son, Mrs Hyoudou, Issei is a good person; I just had to teach him to keep his preferences and goals private.”

My gaze fell on Issei, who had the decency to look sheepish. He had told me how girls now treated him differently now that he had calmed down and focused on himself.

Miki gasped, putting a hand on her cheek. Her voice had traces of delight in it as she said, “This… Thank you for doing that. I've been on his case since he was young. Oh, Usagiyama-San, will you be staying for dinner?”

I immediately nodded and accepted the invitation. “If you'll have me, I accept. As a matter of fact, Mrs Hyoudou… Issei and I need to speak to you about something really important.”

Miki smoothly replied with enthusiasm, “If it's permission to date my son, you have it!”

Issei groaned. “MOM! Please stop!”

Issei's mom laughed, turning to him. “Ara, Issei. Your friend doesn't seem to mind.”

That woman kept making me blush, but she was really fun to be around. I spoke to the brown haired boy with a smirk on my face as I saw his cute embarrassed expressions, “It's entertaining to see you two interact.”

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(Hyoudou Gorou)

Dinner time

When Gorou saw Issei's heartthrob when he arrived home from work just in time for dinner, he realized that his son was in love with a girl way out of his league. Her manners and movements were graceful, and she was gorgeous, she obviously came from a good family.

Usagiyama Iori was a friendly, very polite and caring girl; Gorou understood why Issei was so smitten with her. She shows a calm yet incredibly warm attitude toward each of them.

However, Nanami seemed to be angry at their guest for some reasons. The girl had been holed up in her room for the last three days, because of a spat she had with her brother who had suddenly grown a back bone. It was bound to happen, a man can only take so much abuse before he snaps.

Issei has been keeping to himself since that day and avoided his sister. Gorou was sad to see so much disunity in his family, he wanted to fix this… but Nanami was a stubborn girl and didn't want to tell them what was wrong. Gorou was tempted to send her to a psychologist.

Gorou looked as the girl ate the Karaage prepared by his wife, her face happy as she hummed in pleasure. “Delicious!” 

Then she proceeded to devour everything before her with a speed that baffled Gorou, the man whistled and looked at his son. “Wow, Issei, that girl can eat. You choose her well, son.”

“Dad! She's just enthusiastic.” Gorou's son found an excuse for her, his rose tinted glass still on. 

The Hyoudou patriarch remembered being blind to Miki's faults too when they started dating. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

“I'll try Eating slower… I am not used to eating with people.” Usagiyama-san stopped and started blushing; Miki had a smile on her face. To her the girl was already a winner and she must be expecting her grandchildren in the next ten years.

Miki was curious and asked, “Oh why is that?”

The girl said with a small subdued voice, “My parents died in an accident, I live with my bodyguard right now.”

She put down her chopstick at the side of her bowl; Gorou saw how Usagiyama stopped moving as she looked down at her food.

Miki looked quite guilty when her husband stared at her; his wife apologized. “I am sorry to bring up bad memories.”

The girl looked up and said a bit weakly, “It's alright, Mrs Hyoudou. They live on in my heart, never forgotten.”

Miki's face softened and the atmosphere became warm again. Of course, at this moment something had to go wrong and Gorou was surprised that it came from his daughter. 

“How fake.” Nanami said in a snide tone.

Usagiyama-san's eyes zeroed on Nanami as she asked his daughter, “Is there something bothering you, Hyoudou-san?” 

Nanami slapped her chopsticks next to her bowl, an expression of displeasure on her face. “Yes, you.”

Miki stared in shock at Nanami. “Nanami!!”

Issei choked on his food, but was quickly helped by Usagiyama with a pat on his back that allowed him to swallow his food. His son glared at Nanami and her antics. The boy couldn't help but ask, “What’s wrong with you, Nanami?”

Gorou's little girl defiantly crossed her arms and stared angrily at Usagiyama. “She’s so fake that it's unbearable.” 

The salaryman doesn't know what was happening to his daughter but it clearly was nothing good. But then, Gorou was immediately enlightened by their guest about why Nanami was acting this way. “Your problem stems more from the fact that I beat you when you assaulted me earlier, isn't it?”

There was silence in the dining room, Nanami was gaping at Usagiyama-san. 

“She did that, yeah.” Miki facepalmed in embarrassment, then she stared in disappointment at Nanami. 

The brunette went from shock to anger real fast, “You…”

Gorou stood up and bowed to Issei's girl.“I apologize on behalf of my daughter, Usagiyama-San…”

Usagiyama-san stood up from her seat as well.“You don't have to apologize, Hyoudou-san. I don't resent her for it, there are circumstances behind her actions.” 

“Iori-san, you're going to do it?” Issei seemed to understand what this girl meant.

“What do you mean?” Miki asked. “Why would Nanami attack you after meeting you? We raised her to be a good girl, she normally wouldn't do such a thing.”

Usagiyama-san smiled softly as she nodded to Issei, then looked at Gorou, Miki and Nanami.“This neatly segues into why I wanted to speak to you tonight Mister and Mrs Hyoudou.”  

The girl seemed to glow with golden light around her, Nanami placed herself between Usagiyama-san and her parents and cried out, “Oh no, why are you doing this! They don't need to know!”

Miki and Gorou asked in synch, “Do what?”/“Know what?”

Usagiyama-san smirked as she said, “That.”

Gorou's eyes widened when fire crawled from the girl's right arm and engulfed her entire body and wires made of metal surged from the small silver bracelet at her wrist as they covered her entirely.

Crrrk. Click. Clack. Clack.

Flash! A binding light replaced the fire and formed a red armored dress with silver armor pieces. Her jeweled gauntlets, silver and gold chest plate and greaves sparkled under the light. The Hyoudou family stared at her in silence, the atmosphere full of tension.

Until Gorou watched as Miki began literally vibrating. Oh no, her flip was switched. 

The girl was literally tackled by his wife and then she turned to Issei and said, “OMG ISSEI! YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS A MAGICAL GIRL!!”

Miki cut through the tension with her genuine reaction which made Usagiyama-san start to laugh. “Mrs Hyoudou, I prefer the name Magical Knight, but the two aren't dissimilar from each other.

As you can see from my transformation there's more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of. This world is older than you know. Contrary to popular mythologies, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons, Gods, Devils, magical beings and monsters walked the Earth...”

And with this the girl started to give the Hyoudou family an introduction to the supernatural.  

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(Hyoudou Nanami)

Her family had taken the revelation of the supernatural in stride. Nanami may have misjudged that Iori girl; she's not a devil or some kind of other supernatural race. Nanami is also suspecting that she was some form of reincarnated individual just like her.

The explanation that she had given her family was quite biased, she spoke of the Angels, Fallen Angels and Devils as if they were bothersome gnats. For a good reason, Usagiyama Iori revealed that so far, that the fallen have tried to kidnap her and that the Devils succeeded three days ago and that she had to fight her way out from her captor's land to escape. 

Thanks to her allies, the Youkai from Kyoto and their leader the Nine-tails Yasaka, Usagiyama-San stopped being bothered by them. 

“Incidentally, I became the owner of the territory in Kuoh Town as Yasaka-sama foisted it onto me. Every matter or affair of a supernatural bent is under my purview. The defense of the mundane citizenship from supernatural races and beings and keeping the veil of the Moonlit world unperturbed is my duty.” Usagiyama finished her tale.

Nanami had read the five first volumes of the light novel and watched the three seasons of the anime. She was aware that this world was a lewd one, but what happened to Usagiyama Iori also showed her that this place was dangerous; a Devil or God could take a fancy to you and decide to just take you against your will.

Her father asked their guest, “Why did they saddle you with it?”

The other girl gave a weary sigh as she sat at the table again. She looked into everyone's eyes as she explained, “I am being tested by Yasaka-sama. She wants to see if I can be diplomatic instead of just being a hammer that’ll smite her foes.”  

It was Nanami’s mom's turn to ask a pointed question. “If this Moonlit world is so secret, why are you telling us this?”

Nanami knew the answer to that question, it was because of Issei; however, Usagiyama replied differently than she expected. 

“That is because neither of your children are normal. Nanami uses spiritual martial arts by reinforcing her body with her life force energy, and Issei got one of those fancy God given artifacts in his soul.” The armored girl looked at Nanami her gaze thoughtful, until she widened her eyes. “Actually, I think that Nanami got one too, as she exude a similar feeling as Issei's.”

Nanami exclaimed, “I got some item in my soul?”

One of those sacred gear thingy? I don't want to attract bad attention because of it, Devils and Fallen are always after sacred gear users!

Issei's reaction was more subdued. “What? So, I am the main character? I bet my artifact is super powerful!”

Nanami cringed at her brother's reaction, he was so chuuni… Usagiyama busted his bubble though. “Issei-kun, sacred gears are crutches. Their power is not really yours, that is why you must train hard to master yourself first before relying on one.”

This sounded like good advice, Nanami used Sōjutsu, Karate and Wing Chun.

Issei raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

Why was Nanami’s brother listening to Usagiyama as if everything she said was like gospel? 

The girl continued to lecture her brother as she said, “My master told me so, what truly matters in a fight is having complete control of your body, the smartness to think ahead of your enemy and the courage to fight. At your current level, you would depend entirely on your gear. Didn't you say that you want to be strong and not be the useless ecchi main character that gets saved by the girl?”

Issei stood up, fist tightly raised before him as he declared,  “You're right! I want to be strong, strong enough for you to not have to worry for me!”

Nanami gaped at Issei; what the hell? How come her brother listened to the other girl? She has been trying to reform him for years and failed spectacularly. Then, Nanami looked down at Usagiyama’s chest and realized… It’s the boobs, isn’t it?

Issei reached out for Usagiyama's hand as she was seated next to him, holding it in his as he said passionately, “Thank you, Iori-san! I would have fallen into the trap of taking a shortcut if it wasn’t for you.”

With her free hand, she patted Issei’s head, an expression of affection showing on her face. “There, there. I’m glad that you want to work hard to be worthy of your own goals, Issei-kun.”

The lovey dovey atmosphere between them was completely sickening and made Nanami want to gag. How can a girl think that her brother is attractive? But the blushing of Usagiyama's cheeks and the way she behaved showed that she was receptive to Issei's advance.

Beside her, Nanami heard her father and mother whisper:

“Dear! Look! She already knows how to handle him!”

“They're so going to get married and give me grandbabies!”

Nanami rolled her eyes at her parent's daydreaming. She coughed and interrupted the shenanigans going on and asked Usagiyama, “Do you have a sacred gear too?”

The ravenette was confused for a moment, but she quickly recovered and nodded. “Huh, yeah actually I do. Wanna see it?”

What a strange reaction, does she have one or not? Nanami thought.

Nanami’s mother started clapping with a smile on her face. “Show us, show us!”

The girl smirked and gracefully raised a hand, a small mote of light appeared in it, until the light formed into a two meters long ornate spear with a dark blue rod. It features golden metal decorations, in the shapes of arrow tips, that spiral around in a double helix pattern. The decorations finish at the top of the rod of the spear which features a white circle, which is completely empty, and has a cross that fills in the circle, but not completely. 

There is a small silver stump which features four protrusions, two on the left and the other two on the right. The tip of the spear is silver, and similar to the rod of the spear is longer than other types of spears.

Nanami's eyes widened as she recognized this weapon! Wasn't it the spear owned by that guy… What's his name again? Cow cow? The spear started glowing and filled the dining room with white light until Usagiyama scowled at it and said, “Damnit, dim the light, you overgrown toothpick.” 

The light started sputtering as she shook the spear and it finally dimmed to a tolerable level.

“Ah, better~” Usagiyama said with relief in her voice.

Then something peculiar happened under Nanami’s eyes, the spear shortened and morphed into a less gaudy form.

“Hmm?” Usagiyama stared at it with shock as the spear became golden with wings mounted on the back of the bladed head with a large sapphire in its center.

“Huh, it seems different than before. I feel a strange power welling up in me as I hold onto the spear. But… It's sexier when I look at it now.” The girl weighed the spear with her hands.

Nanami watched as she zoned out with a faraway look while Issei poked her shoulder and asked, “Hey, Iori-san?”

Usagiyama blinked, then looked at Issei, Nanami and their parents. “Hmm, sorry the thing just gave me its name… balance breaker, second form: Sylpharion.”

What?! But isn't Balance Breaker supposed to be triggered by high emotions combined with a change in the heart or spirit of the wielder? This girl isn't normal! Nanami was questioning the knowledge she read on the wiki in her past life. 

“Nice spear, Iori-san!” Issei congratulated her with a pat on the shoulder.

Usagiyama smiled back at him. “Hmm, this new form gives me divine speed.”

The ravenette disappeared right from under everyone's eyes. Feeling someone touching her back, Nanami turned and saw Iori, she had reappeared behind Nanami.

“Divine speed indeed. This will come in handy later, I suppose.” The girl dismissed her spear which disappeared in a flash of light.

She did the same for her armor, which returned to be a school uniform. It was at this moment that Nanami finally realized, this girl was like her, someone who wasn't originally from this universe. 

Pointing her finger at Usagiyama Iori, she said in a whisper. “You-you're not from here, are you? Not from this world, just like me.”

Usagiyama tilted her head at Nanami and her eyes opened wide. “Oh, oh what a coincidence, now I understand.” 

Usagiyama reached for Nanami and said in a low tone, “Nanami, we will speak later in private.”

Nanami nodded slowly, it was strange that such a thing would happen. Two reincarnators in the same city? There was something that wasn’t right but Nanami couldn’t put her finger on it. She looked as Usagiyama returned next to Issei.

“Gorou-san. Can I call you that?” The girl addressed Nanami’s father rather familiarly.

Her father's eyes sparkled and proof that he was Issei's dad, he went all simp. “Of course, you can even call me father if you want!”

Miki intervened right after and demanded, “Call me mom too, Iori-san!”

Issei and Nanami sweat dropped at the same time and in synch shouted, “MOM! DAD! Please stop this!”

Usagiyama laughed at them watching the family bicker, until she interrupted them and asked Nanami's father, “Gorou-san, How would you like a job?”

“Please explain.” The old man's eyes became sharp and his glasses glowed with an evil light.

So this is dad's serious mode. Nanami thought as she looked between Usagiyama-san and her dad with trepidation. 

“I am going to open a hotel, a mall and a theater in Kuoh. Which will be the  entrance to a pocket dimension that that I will call Reverse-Kuoh, it will host the supernatural side of the town. I need someone I can trust there to manage the mundane side of the business for me.”

“Huh, tell me more.” Her father sounded intrigued.

It was then Nanami realized, Iori must have already derailed the events of this world as she took control of their town. She didn't know anymore how things will transpire in the future. In a sense… this was liberating and scary.

# # #

(???)

Kuoh Town

The town the Witch of Blade called home was filled with Dark creatures roaming the streets and taking care of anything trying to turn the humans into a snack. The Devil’s reject creations were turned into a meal for the devouring horde. The creatures diverged in power, some were as strong as humans, others as one of those high class Devils.

They were something new, something other, not of this world. This town would be a death sentence for anyone who was not as powerful as it, but it couldn't hide its excitement. Maybe this Demigod would be able to pull it off? She was stronger than Albion and could become a better weapon to take down Baka-Red.

But it decided to continue observing to be truly sure…