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Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 2 Chapter 2

2021-03-07T09:00:03Z

Zhanzhuang: Grammar

==Chapter 2: Holding Heightening Feelings==

===Part 1===

Eating delicious Yakiniku with Takigawa and the school nurse Hasegawa.

Then made to play an erotic game by Maria, which Mio got wind of and fiercely scolded them for it. Now the next day.

At the Hijirigasaka Academy during lunch break, Toujou Basara was surrounded.

It took place at the deserted backside of the school building with the inner courtyard. With his back to the wall, more than ten male students stood so that he couldn't escape. Since Takigawa was absent from school today, Basara had headed for the school store alone at lunch break, where he was intercepted with "You're Toujou, right?" in the hallway, like a detective found his suspect. Before he could even nod, both his arms were grabbed and he was dragged away. Well, Basara himself wanted to confirm something, so he didn't mind that, but

"Uhm… Do you need something from me?"

Since they were his seniors, Basara asked with a polite tone.

''…So I say, but,''

He could mostly guess why it came to this. Naruse Mio, his little stepsister, and Nonaka Yuki, his childhood friend. Both his classmates as well, they were something like idols in the school, respectively called "Princess Mio" and "Princess Yuki". Since Basara only transferred here recently, he didn't know much about the affairs at school, but according to Takigawa, they even had some passionate fans. And,

"It seems you're living together with Princess Mio… I hope you're not doing anything funny to her?"

"We heard our Princess Yuki hugged you, but are you really just childhood friends?"

Two guys, apparently each the leader of the Mio and Yuki factions, asked him that. These words were surely based on the fact that they considered Mio and Yuki to be theirs.

''…Still, such guys were really around, huh.''

The lively type, the serious type, the rustic type and the slightly frivolous type. There truly was a rich variation amongst Mio and Yuki's fans. But right now these guys were one at heart. The looks filled with hostility aimed at him told him, that hard and fast.

That said, these eyes weren't of someone, who was manipulated or lost one's sanity.

''…A man's jealousy wasn't to be underestimated, but this should work out.''

Extreme emotions gave openings that were easily exploited. Basara had once checked out what kind of guys were Mio and Yuki's fans, since it was thinkable that they were manipulated by the enemy devils that were after Mio, and at least the guys in front of him weren't a problem.

---Well, considering Mio's future, it would be safer to dissolve these groups.

And--- Basara, even in his current state, could overwhelm this number of ordinary guys.

Basara confirmed the position and breathing of the male students in front of him and simulated their action in his mind.

He would knock out the nearest guy by stepping one step forward and ram his palm into his chin, then he would make the dumbfounded guys on the right and left faint with a strike to the abdomen. During the opening due to the other flinching, he would move forward, where he would make use of the charge from the opponent, who finally started moving, on the very right and throw him to the left. There he would collapse into two others. Closing the distance to the remaining five at once with a top speed, he would use the knee of the stiffed up guy in front of him for a jump. Extending his jump by kicking the back of the guy's head with his sole of the foot, he would land behind the two leaders, who stood at the farthest back, and knock them out with a strike of the side of the hands to their necks. Seeing their leaders collapse onto the ground, the last two guys would lose their will to fight. With a light threat then, he could make them give up on Mio and Yuki. But,

''…That's certainly going too far.''

Basara was no longer a Hero that prioritized his mission over anything else. He had decided to protect Mio, but only as a family. And above all, Basara had no right to deny the love of these guys in front of him. No guy beside Takigawa would really talk to him, even under normal circumstances. If he were to make a wrong choice here, it wouldn't be as bad as in the game he played with Maria last night, but it would worsen his isolation and give his high school life that had only just started a BAD END, giving him the secret slogan "Forever Alone". Thus, staying docile without running away would be for the better.
Knowing the attitude he was supposed to take, Basara stayed silent, whereupon

"Hey, say something…!"

As expected, one guy, losing his temper, tried to grab Basara.

"Mh? What are you guys doing there?"

Suddenly a voice came from above. On a look, there was one male teacher looking down from the passage on the second floor.

It was Sakasaki Mamoru, the homeroom teacher of Basara's class. Seeing him, the male students

"Tch… We ain't doing anything."

saying so with a click of their tongue, then leaving Basara behind. Apparently they would let him off the hook this time. Sakasaki watched after them, then

"Geez, Naruse and Nonaka's fans sure are out to get you, Toujo."

"Yeah, well… Guess so."

Basara looked up to Sakasaki after giving an agreeable response.

"But you saved me, Sensei. Thank you."

"I didn't do anything. Actually I should have given them a proper warning, but I wouldn't want your situation to get any worse because of it."

Sakasaki said with a wry smile.

"But if they do something to you… no, if it seems they'll do something to you, then tell me right away."

"…Yes. Thank you."

When Basara replied with a nod, Sakasaki said "See you" and disappeared into the passage.

"Now then… I gotta hurry to the store."

He didn't really want to attend the afternoon classes without having had lunch. He headed there in hope that something wasn't sold out yet.

"---Basara."

A calm voice called him to a halt. The girl appearing from the shadows of the tree in the inner courtyard was

"Yuki… I see. You called the teacher."

"Mm, because I thought it would be better than coming out myself."

Yuki nodded. Indeed, some of them were fans of Yuki. Before making things more complicated by having Yuki carelessly cover for Basara, it was better to have Sakasaki, a third party, to intervene.

"Thanks for the help… What's up?"

His childhood friend stared at him silently, whereas Basara asked.

"…Actually, I have a favour to ask, so I looked for you."

"A favour? Why so formally…"

"I want you to accompany me somewhere on the coming weekend… Are you busy then, Basara?"

"No… I have nothing planned."

Upon that, Yuki said "I'm glad" and grabbed the sleeve of his uniform tightly.

Then Yuki said with a quiet, yet clear tone.

"It's a date then, Basara--- with just the two of us."

===Part 2===

And now it was Saturday morning.

Leaving the house, Basara headed for the meeting place with Yuki under the sky with the perfect weather for a date.

The arranged time was 10 o'clock in front of the station. He arrived ten minutes early, but Yuki was already there.

"Morning, Basara."

Since it was a holiday, Yuki wore casual clothes. He had only seen her in her school uniform so far, so the casual clothes gave Yuki fresh novelty. That said, her personality was showing in the choice of her clothes. The plain arrangement, including a slightly dark cardigan, embodied Yuki's docile personality.

---However, Yuki's clear complexion wasn't something that could be subdued by plain clothes. In fact, a lot of the passing by people were inadvertently captivated by Yuki for a while now. Amongst them, some even stopped. Basara felt a bit superior.

"Morning, Yuki… I thought I would be the first here, but I guess I made you wait?"

"No. I only arrived here shortly before too."

Yuki shook her head to the sides.

"Shortly before--- Since when?"

"…One hour ago."

"Eh… that early?"

Man, that was too early. So much that he was no longer happy about her waiting for him, but felt guilty instead.

"At least give me a call. I would've come earlier too then."

"It's fine. I wanted to wait for you."

"Well, okay, if you're fine with it… But Yuki, call me next time when you're too early. Because I don't really want to make people wait for me."

"Next time…"

Mumbling a repeat like parrot, Yuki brightened up her expression a bit.

"…Okay. Will do so next time."

"Yeah, please do. Okay, let's go then."

Saying so, Yuki and Basara started walking towards the ticket gate of the station. Their destination was the shopping district downtown.

Because it was a holiday, the platform was crowded with people, who wanted to go downtown like them, after they passed through the ticket gates. They lined up in a relatively short line and the train entered the station soon enough.

However, the train was already packed, and when Basara and Yuki boarded the train, the passenger count naturally increased. All seats were occupied and there were no free handrails or straps either, but Basara somehow managed to get to the door that connected two wagons together with Yuki.

Yuki leaned her back against the door and Basara somehow got into a posture of standing shielding in front of her. Even so the available space within the wagon was limited, which made their bodies get into direct contact if they wanted or not.

''…Ugh, this is…''

A lucky--- no, quite the unfavourable posture. A part of his true feelings were showing through.

But he couldn't help but feel the warmth and softness of Yuki's body and her sweet fragrance.

"Ehm… Are you okay, Yuki?"

Because the train started moving, Basara asked while turning a bit red.

"I'm fine. And you…?"

"Me as we---ll!?"

On the clattering shaking of the train, the crowd leaning onto Basara's back pushed him forward.

"Ah…"

"S- Sorry!"

Yuki turned red along with a short voice, whereas Basara hastily apologized. They were in direct contact anyhow, yet they got into an even more unbelievable posture now. His right leg--- more precisely, its knee had gone between Yuki thighs, spreading them out.

And speaking of thighs, it was perfectly under Yuki's skirt. Actually,

''…Uwah, is this…''

The soft sensation that pinched his knee from the left and right were surely Yuki's inner thighs.

If so, then the soft sensation on his thigh was

"Mm… Basara, your leg… is touching…"

"S- Sorry…!"

An outrageous "it's touching" situation. Every time the train shook lightly, Yuki released a nasal "Mm" voice and lightly trembled her body with a shiver.

It was an disturbance beyond awkward.

Basara tried to somehow pulled his leg back, but since someone was behind him, leaving no space, it was pushed forward right away again. Not giving up, he repeated that procedure numerous times, whereupon Yuki tightly clung to his chest. While flushing her cheeks embarrassed, she had shifted her gaze downwards.

"B- Basara… all your movements… have been rubbing against it."

The words were declared with a frail voice. Understanding the meaning behind them, Basara's heartbeat accelerated at once.

"---S- Sorry! That wasn't what I… Wh- What should I do?"

"Just stay still… Mm, then I think… it'll be fine."

"O- Okay--- Anything else I can do?"

"…Put your arms… around my back… and hold me for a bit."

"---Eh? Wh- Why…?"

"Because my body is being pressed against the door… It's a bit painful."

Ah, right. Then he had no choice. He had no choice in this case… did he.

"O- Okay, excuse me then…"

Like Yuki asked him to, Basara entwined his arms around her back and hugged her.

Upon that, there opened a small gap between Yuki's back and the door.

"A- And?"

"Mm… A bit better."

On these words, Basara made a sigh of relief, but his heartbeat didn't calm down.

Yuki's body was warm, soft and gave off a sweet fragrance--- ''And above all'':

Toujou Basara's right leg was still between Nonaka Yuki's thighs.

There were people spying on Basara and Yuki from the next wagon.

Right after Basara had left the house, two people had followed him secretly--- Mio and Maria.

"Hugging each other in the train, these two are already acting like a stupid couple."

"……………"

"What do we do, Mio-sama? For now we should keep--- Mio-sama?"

"……………"

"Mio-sa--- Oww!? Ouch. Mio-sama, that is not the handrail, but my wrist. My wrist, you hear!?"

"H- Hoho. He said he would go out with Nonaka, but he's doing that inside the train."

While cladding herself with composure as much as possible, Mio clenched her right hand as much as possible.

"Hiii. Please calm down, Mio-sama! At this rate my wrist will break!"

Maria cornered voice didn't reach Mio's ears.

After all, on the other side beyond two doors, Basara was embracing Yuki.

---Basara told her that he would go out with Yuki at dinner last night.

When he asked "May I?", she couldn't say no. Sure, Mio and Basara were family and he promised to protect her. And they even formed a Master and Servant Contract, albeit in a different way than intended. However, Mio didn't have the right to restrain Basara 24/7 just because of that. But,

''…I, I have the right to worry.''

It wasn't like she was planning to interrupt Basara and Yuki's date. A lot had happened between Yuki and Mio due to their positions, but through the battles on the rooftop and the park with the white mask, they had come to understand each other a little bit.

However, Yuki was too assertive on the weirdest things. Like suddenly hugging Basara on their reunion or coming into their house in the morning and storming into the bath with Basara in it. It wasn't unthinkable that she would do even more unbelievable actions if she were to be all alone with him.

So her tailing was a justified pursuit. The other day, the curse activated from her jealousy when she thought about Basara being all alone with Yuki, but now there was no problem--- In other words,

"Yes… There's no doubt. I'm not jealous… or anything."

"Yes, I understand! You are only worried about Basara-san! So, Mio-sama, please relax your grip a bit, okay? My left hand is becoming congested and is turning purple, you know!?"

Mio said mumbling, whereas Maria pleaded with teary eyes. However, the train stopped at a certain station.

"Ah, they're getting off! Like I thought, they're changing trains here. We're going, Maria!"

Chasing after Basara and Yuki, Mio got off the train as well. She tightly grabbed Maria's left hand as not to get separated, whereupon she could hear a short "HGG!!?" shriek from Maria along with a "Crack" noise due to it, but she paid it no mind. With the Master and Servant Contract, she could locate Basara if she wanted, but it wouldn't tell her what he was doing at a different place.

For now, she couldn't afford to take her eyes off Basara and Yuki for even a moment.

===Part 3===

Transferring once, the train arrived at their destination after the scheduled forty minutes.

It was just before noon. Yuki suggested to have lunch first and Basara agreed.

It wasn't like Yuki liked fast food. But she thought that there was no place more benefiting than this for a high school couple eating out.

---Nonaka Yuki, living her life so far as a Hero, didn't know what a normal high schooler was like.

The reason she currently attended a high school in Tokyo was that she had the task to observe the daughter of the previous Lord Devil: Naruse Mio. She simply was here for her mission as a Hero.

''…But only for today.''

At least only for today--- she wanted to be a normal girl.

It was a city full of youngsters and moreover a holiday, so the store was already crowded.

Yuki wasn't all too comfortable with crowded and noisy places, but the nearby seats were filled with young couples and above all, Basara was stuffing his cheeks with a hamburger across from her. Amidst this situation,

"…….."

"Mh? Something wrong?"

He might have sensed her restless mood. Basara looked at her puzzled, whereas Yuki shook her head with "No".

She wasn't used to the taste of the hamburger or the fizzing carbonic acid of the cola, but even so Nonaka Yuki tried to savor the taste as an important memory with Basara and her high school self.

When they left the store after their meal, they headed for today's main event--- buying clothes.

Entering a fashion mall that was even famous as a landmark,

"Wow…"

Basara next to her mumbled overwhelmed. Because the mall was filled with girls looking for popular fashions. The loudly playing BGM made it rather lively.

---However, a problem arose. While heading towards the elevators, they briefly passed by the shops, but to be honest, Yuki had no idea where she should go.

''…Careless.''

She had thought for sure that by coming here, she would naturally find some clothes. The first floor technically had an information booth, but to be honest, she didn't even know what to ask for.

Wavering about what to do, Yuki showed a weakness for the first time here.

"Hello~ Are you looking for something~?"

Suddenly the clerk of a nearby shop called out to her.

Mio watched the scene from a distance.

It must have been an unforeseen situation. Yuki was obviously panicking. Towards her,

"Excuse me for suddenly calling out to you~ You looked troubled, so I just wanted to help you."

The female shop clerk said so with a carefree smile.

"What are you here for today? You seem kind of hesitant, so are you just looking around without a special aim? If so, why not take a look at our sales? We have stocked up on our new winter collection."

"Ehm… But"

However, Yuki showed hesitation. Because the one who had called out to her was a clerk from a shop that sold mainly street-style clothes in vivid colors.

It wasn't really the type of brand that Yuki liked. As far as Mio knew, Yuki was more of the docile type. She came to the holy land of fashion for youngsters on her date with Basara, but

''…She must have been taken for an easy target.''

Mio had guessed the aim of the clerk. Yuki obviously gave off an aura that she wasn't used to this place at all.

Like the clerk had said, right now it was the period where the new winter collections started to sell. For the shop it was the most profitable season, so the selling quota got harsher.

Due to that, some clerks wanted to score sales by persistently palming off customers. The female clerk kept talking on and on as to press for an answer.

"It is part of my job to help people dress up, you know? I am sure I can help you. For example, I believe this would suit you perfectly."

Quickly grabbing a hooded jacket from a nearby shelf, she held it up against Yuki's body.

"See~ Totally terrific. It fits with a lot of other clothes, so you can make all kind of arrangements."

Terrific indeed. The shop clerk recommended a shocking pink hooded jacket with lamé.

It was possible that she recommended it, because Yuki was rather meek. Moreover,

"It fits with other clothes, because you want to sell more…"

Starting with the hooded jacket, the clerk likely intended to sell various products as a whole arrangement. Seeing the persistent clerk, Maria next to her said.

"His childhood friend seems troubled, yet Basara-san is not helping her out at all, is he?"

In their field of vision, Basara was scratching his head next to Yuki, not knowing what to do.

"…No, he's trying to offer her help for a while now. But it seems he isn't used to such a place either. The clerk is a woman too, so he doesn't know how to deal with it."

It surely was too much to expect Basara, a boy, to do something that he couldn't even do with Yuki, a girl.

''…Well,''

Even if Yuki was troubled, it was nothing of Mio's concern. Basara wasn't any better. He was all over Yuki in the train earlier, so… a bit of trouble for him now was just fine.

Mio just watched them from a distance and had no plans to help them. However,

"……."

"---Mio-sama?"

Mio heard Maria's question, who was supposed to be next to her, from behind.

Before she noticed it, she had moved forward. Briskly getting in-between Yuki and the clerk,

"Sorry for the wait, Nonaka~!"

She linked arms with Yuki and pulled her away.

"Okay, let's go."

"---Eh?"

Yuki was surprised on her sudden appearance. Same for Basara next to her. However, Mio didn't care about that. Pulling on Yuki's arm, she tried to leave the place--- but her supposedly forward moving legs were stopped against her will. The clerk was grabbing Yuki's sleeve,

"Oh, are you her friend? How about you come in together? Your friend just took a liking to her new collection."

The shop clerk certainly was experienced. She wouldn't let go of her prey so easily. Even while her mouth formed a friendly smile, she pinned down Mio with her sharp look. However, Mio showed a friendly smile as well,

"No thanks."

"But this"

"No thanks"

"Hey, at least take a closer look"

"No thanks"

When she repeated the same words to the persistent clerk, the clerk let go off Yuki before long. She must have accepted that no matter what she said, she wouldn't sell anything.

How she sent them off with a smile and "Please come by again~" in the end, showed how much of a professional she was.

As soon as Mio got to the elevator area without any shops by still dragging Yuki on her arm,

"---Just to tell you, it's only a coincidence!"

She declared so shouting, after turning around to Basara, who leisurely followed after Yuki.

"Ehm… Mio?"

"It's just by chance! I was shopping with Maria, when I saw you guys by chance. And since you were troubled, I had no choice… Really! It's nothing else but that!"

"Please calm down, Mio-sama. If you get too ruffled, you will dig your own grave."

"---I, I'm not ruffled."

Mio shouted while turning bright red. Not good. Forcing her way in on the spur of the moment was all fine, but she had moved without thinking up an excuse, so she was saying nonsense now.

''…But, I mean…''

It couldn't be helped. Because her body moved on reflex.

---She probably didn't want to lose to Yuki.

During the battle in the park the other day, Yuki had helped Mio, even though she actually had no obligation to do so. That was the undoubted truth, even if she couldn't forgive that Basara could've been killed. Mio got the feeling that she would lose to her, if she were to ignore the troubled Yuki there despite that.

Yes, it surely was her nature. Naruse Mio didn't want to lose to Nonaka Yuki--- That was all.

"Anyway, thanks. At this rate we would have been persuading into buying… Right, Yuki?"

"……."

Next to Basara, who said so with a sigh, Yuki nodded wordless. Her slightly frustrated expression probably originated more from the negligence of needing help rather than from displeasure of being helped by Mio.

"So, how's it, Yuki? Did any shop catch your eye?"

When Yuki gave no clear answer, Basara softened his expression.

"I see… Then what do you want to do, Yuki? Look around a bit longer?"

Yuki stayed silent on Basara's question. It most likely was a silence of inner conflict, instead of pondering. Upon that,

"Uhm… May we accompany you?"

"Hey, Maria!?"

Mio raised a flustered voice on the sudden proposal, whereas Maria stayed calm.

"No, I mean, you two are not used to this kind of place, correct? So with Mio-sama with you, you could easily get out of situation like the one earlier."

"Well, yeah, but…"

But Yuki would never give her consent to this, which would interfere with her date.

"What do you say, Yuki…?"

Asked for her opinion by Basara, Yuki stayed silent for a while, then closed her eyes.

"………….Okay."

Before long, she agreed with Maria's proposal like giving up on something.

And when Yuki peacefully opened her eyes, she said by staring at Mio.

"Naruse-san--- if you like, please help me find some clothes."

Mio accepted Yuki's request.

She wasn't all that opposed to helping Yuki. If she were, she wouldn't have saved Yuki from the female clerk earlier.

---Due to that, the shopping went relatively smooth after that.

After hearing her concept, Mio guided Yuki through shops with clothes in the design that matched Yuki's concept.

Skilfully handling the shop clerks, they chose Yuki's clothes together. In the end,

"…Here, what do you say about this?"

Since Yuki didn't know how to put on the clothes properly, Mio had come into the changing room with her and helped her try on the clothes.

Normally that would be the job of a shop clerk, but Yuki asked Mio to help her, probably still affected from the earlier incident with the persistent clerk.

"Yeah… Looks good, really."

While looking at her refined self, Yuki nodded. That her cheeks were lightly flushed was proof that she was satisfied with Mio's choice.

"---Basara, look."

Opening the curtains, Yuki got outside and spun in front of Basara.

"Mh? Hoo… Nice. These kind of clothes suit you too."

Basara inadvertently raised an admiring voice, whereas Yuki softened her expression with an happy "Mm". It was Yuki's expression as a normal girl, which she would never show to Mio.

Upon that, Maria approached Mio and whispered into her ear.

"Are you sure you should be so kind to your enemy, Mio-sama?"

"…Now look here, it was you, who suggested this."

"Well, yes, but… even so, why are you helping her so seriously? She will use these clothes to seduce Basara-san."

"Still, it's against my principle to be shoddy and recommend something ugly then."

A promise among girls. She didn't want to do a half-hearted job. And above all, if she were to make a cowardly move, it would mean she accepted being inferior to Yuki. There was no way she could do that.

[[Image:Shinmai v02 107.jpg|thumb]]

After Yuki finishing showing the clothes Mio chose to Basara, she returned to the changing room satisfied.

When she took off her clothes and was only in her underwear, the great style of Yuki's tall figure was rather prominent. Mio stood next to that graceful body and looked at it through the mirror.

''…She's really pretty after all.''

Mio once again became aware of Yuki's charm. Yuki's clear complexion was something Mio didn't have. Her body line drew different feminine curves than Mio's and while they were of the same gender, Mio was a bit captivated.

She also comprehended why she had a fan club at school like herself.

That said, she wasn't envious. Each person had their own charm--- same for clothes. Mio had her own charm and believed she didn't lose to Yuki in that regard.

''…More importantly.''

What she was surprised about was that Yuki had asked Maria and her to accompany her. Yuki was supposed to be on a special date with Basara.

The persistent clerk had stolen her thunder, but actually Yuki should have wanted to go around some more with Basara on this occasion.

Even so she should have been opposed to ask Mio. Yet, Yuki honestly spoke out words of gratitude.

"Thank you, Naruse-san."

"It's fine… I only helped you find some clothes with a shop clerk. It's nothing special."

When Mio answered brusquely, Yuki shook her head with "No". Dropping her gaze,

"That's not true. I never came to a place like this before… and only trained when I was in the village. So, I don't know what a real date is like."

"……I see."

"I'm just happy to be with Basara… But I think it's boring for him, since he's used to an ordinary life."

Being told that by Yuki in quiet voice, Mio once again realized that she was a Hero.

And--- that she herself had inherited the power and blood of the previous Devil Lord.

---However, the timing at which they found out about their own situation had decisively been different for Mio and Yuki.

Mio got to know about her own lineage half a year ago--- On the day her foster parents, which she thought were her parents, were killed.

Until then, Mio had lived as a normal girl with a normal happiness.

However, Yuki on the other hand had known about her existence ever since she could remember and was trained for it.

Of course it would be insolent to call that misfortune. The Hero Tribe had the mission to fight to protect the world, but obviously they should have happiness in their life as well.

''…But.''

Even so, they surely experienced yearning for the natural happiness of average people.

When Mio inadvertently fell silent, Yuki said with a cold voice, as Mio's thoughts were showing on her face.

"It's not something for you to worry about. Thanks to you, I could buy clothes to seduce Basara."

"Seduce… Now you."

"I also learned about dates. Making use of today's experience, I'll go on a better date with Basara next time, with just the two of us."

Yuki said nonchalant. Mio certainly couldn't overlook this.

"Hey--- You plan to go on another date with Basara?"

"Of course. Now then, guide me to the next shop and choose some clothes for me."

This girl… for asking a favor, she was having a rather haughty attitude. However,

"Fine--- Let's do this."

Accepting Yuki's challenge at once, Mio smiled fearless.

Once promised, she would go through with it until the end. And she wouldn't be half-hearted.

But Yuki would do better not to forget.

Buying new clothes--- prettying up, that wasn't something exclusive to Yuki.

Going around various shops then, Yuki borrowed the help of Mio and clerks.

Finally she decided what she would buy next.

When Mio and Maria started to choose clothes for themselves too, they tried on clothes in a competition and all three showed their new selves to Basara one after another.

All kind of new fashion terms and unthinkable arrangements. All of it had a novelty--- But Yuki surely didn't even understand half of it.

Even so, she had fun, since she could spend a holiday together with Basara. And regarding Mio and Maria, she hardly considered them a bother, since they faced her upfront instead of interrupting her date.

Of course she would have preferred to be all alone with Basara, but it was a fact that the two helped her on numerous occasions. Therefore--- Yuki believed it was fine like this.

"…Okay, I'll go buy this."

"Yeah. We'll wait outside."

Nodding to Basara, who replied so, Yuki lined up at the register. As they went around a lot of shops, the time had already changed from afternoon to evening upon a look on the wristwatch.

It was hard to tell, since they had been in an illuminated building the whole time, but it would surely be dark when they got outside.

''…Oh right.''

Before going home with the train, she should go eat something with Basara. She wouldn't mind inviting Mio and Maria too, since they helped her with the shopping.

Showing a small smile, Yuki glanced behind her--- turning around to Basara and the others outside the shop.

"----"

The scene in her field of vision made her look inadvertently turn bitter. She couldn't hear their conversation due to the distance. But judging from their expression, she could clearly tell that Maria most likely teased Mio, who then got angry, and Basara watched these two with a wry smile.

Above all, Basara's side profile while looking at Mio and Maria was gentle.

Nonaka Yuki saw the happiness that she wanted at a place that she couldn't reach.

---Basara, no longer a Hero, lived with a new family in a new place and was fighting for the girls' sake. That was Basara's present and desired future.

And--- Yuki was merely a symbol of his past to Basara.

Yuki went through the tragedy at the <village> five years ago together with Basara and she embodied the very past that still kept hurting him, so she was nothing but a bother to the future with Mio, which Basara was envisioning.

"…………."

So Yuki averted her eyes and turned her back to them. Because she could no longer look at it. Then she kept waiting in the line at the register for her turn with her eyes cast down.

"Next one please~"

"….."

It was her turn now and Yuki was about to move forward--- when her arm was suddenly grabbed from the side.

She didn't sense anything until her arm was touched. She looked at the other party in surprise.

"---?"

Yuki's breath was inadvertently taken away. It was a familiar face.

A girl--- with the same cold eyes as herself.

"Kurumi…"

When she dumbfoundedly called her name, the girl said with an indifferent voice.

"The <village> made an official decision. I came to tell you--- your new mission."

One breath.

"Enough with playing house… Big Sis."

"……Mh?"

Basara had been talking with Mio and Maria, but suddenly he felt something amiss and frowned.

The presence of Yuki, whom they were waiting for, had disappeared.

"Yuki…?"

He quickly shifted his gaze to the line at the register, but Yuki, who was supposed to be there, wasn't to be seen.

No matter how much he searched the shop. No matter how much he searched the surroundings.

Nonaka Yuki had unexpectedly disappeared from their sight, even though she was with them moments ago.

===Part 4===

In the end, they couldn't find Yuki after that.

They asked the shop clerk, but didn't get a favorable response and even when they looked around the other shops in the mall and searched for her in the area outside, she was nowhere to be found.

All calls to her cell phone just resulted in the out-of-range announcement. She must have turned her phone off. Because of that the GPS function couldn't find her either.

"…Just what happened? Did she go home ahead of us?"

"Can't be… Us two aside, Basara's here. So that's impossible."

While listening to the exchange of Maria and Mio next to him, Basara was thinking about something else. It was something he felt when he was all alone with Yuki--- ''A glance''.

''…But.''

Shortly after Mio and Maria had appeared, and then he hadn't really felt it anymore. The timing was too good, so he had thought for sure that it was Mio and Maria watching them.

Could it be--- there had been someone else watching them?

After returning to their local area with the train, they headed for Yuki's mansion just in case, but

"…No good. She isn't there."

Calling her cell phone one last time resulted as expected in out-of-range. They were finally out of ideas, so they had no choice but to return to the Toujou House.

"…………."

"…………."

"…………."

The sky was clouded and the road at night was illuminated by street lights while the three of them walked home in silence. Even though they had so much fun earlier. Even though they spent that time together. The silence made it seem like a dream.

''…At a time like this,''

If--- he had a Master and Servant Contract with Yuki as well. Then he could locate her right away. However,

''…What am I thinking.''

Basara immediately discarded the cheap idea. He wanted to ease his worry so bad that his thoughts took a strange direction.

But, if anything had happened to Yuki--- Thinking so, Basara's chest tightened.

---Five years ago, a tragedy befell the Hero's village. On that day, at that time, many of his comrades lost their lives and Basara's own power went out of control, causing even more destruction.

Even so, some lives were saved and one of them was none other than Yuki's. If something happened to Yuki now, he would---

"…Basara? What's wrong, Basara!"

Strongly pulled on his arm from the side, Basara came back to his senses.

"Are you okay, Basara-san…?"

"…Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry… I was thinking about something."

When Basara repeated a "I'm fine" with a powerless smile, suddenly the ring tone resounded from his pocket.

It wasn't the tone for a call, but mail.

Even so, Basara pulled out his cell phone reflexively and first confirmed the sender.

Regretfully it wasn't from Yuki.

When Basara shook his head, Mio next to him mumbled a quiet "I see…". But looking at the field with the sender name, Basara stiffened his expression a bit.

There was no name. It was blank. But for someone that sent him a mail for the first time, it should display the mail address.

Why it didn't do that was because Basara himself set it up to be like that.

It was the person, whom he secretly formed an alliance with and thus saved the number differently from the others for an absolute secretive exchange.

It was the very first time that this person sent him a mail.

"……….."

The written content was just like Basara had imagined. So when he read through it wordless, he pressed the delete button to erase the mail right afterwards and the cell phone started to delete it--- In that very moment.

Suddenly the surroundings got darker. The moment he realized that--- an attack came from right above.

"---Get away, Maria!"

While giving an instant warning, Basara picked up Mio and jumped.

"H- Hey!"

Mio raised a surprised voice, but Basara had no time to care.

Because the attack hitting the ground gave off a fierce shock wave along with a roaring sound. Basara landed while still holding Mio.

"---You okay!?"

"Yes, somehow!"

On Maria's reply from the corner of his vision, he made a sigh of relief for now.

---The reason he only warned Maria was that she was on his opposite side with Mio in-between them.

But Maria, a Hard Striker that specialized in close combat, should be good at sudden movements--- His judgement came from believing so. In response to Basara's instant judgement and choice,

"Hoo--- your reaction is quicker than I thought."

An audacious voice resounded from above, making somewhat fun of him.

When Mio looked up, a giant man was floating in midair.

An ominous black aura spread from his body.

There was no doubt. It was a devil from the current Devil Lord Faction. And a bit apart,

"…What is going on here?"

Maria slowly stood up and said. Glaring fiercely at the enemy devil,

"Your attack just now… If you had it aimed at just Basara-san and me, I could have overlooked it, but at worst, you could have dragged Mio-sama into it.

Is that what you, the current Devil Lord Faction wants?"

"Huuh? I ain't really wanting to drag her into it. It would be bad if I killed her carelessly and Wilbert's power gets lost. But a battlefield is always changing. Some things just happen--- accidents, ya know."

The floating giant devil let his body shake by laughing.

"Besides--- The top brass want Wilbert's power, but if this stupidly inherited power gets lost by an attack like this just now, it wouldn't be of any use anyway."

But, saying so, he looked at Basara.

"That retainer succubus aside, ya ain't half-bad either, runt… Still, not so much that Lars would have troubles with ya."

He said so, then he scrunched his nose.

"Well, whatever--- I'm gonna kill everyone besides Wilbert's daughter anyway."

Basara listened to these words while still holding on to Mio's waist.

"……Is it your doing?"

On Basara's low and cold voice, the giant devil looked puzzled.

"Huh? Say what?"

"Is it your doing that Yuki disappeared?"

Basara asked again. Upon that, the devil finally seemed to recall.

''"Ohh--- That Hero girl."''

The moment he said so, Basara's appearance next to Mio vanished.

"Eh---?"

Mio raised a bewildered voice on the sudden happening. At that time--- Basara was already in front of the giant devil.

And in his right hand was Brynhildr, his beloved sword, already materialized.

He swung it.

The side-slash attack Basara swung went into the giant devil's torso like it was drawn there.

---In that moment, Basara felt a resistance.

But it was abnormally tough for a resistance of his attack.

CREEEEEAAAAAAAK!

"Kuh…!"

Along with a shrill metallic sound, Basara's right hand became numb. He was warded off. And moreover, not by a guard with a weapon or shield. The torso of the giant devil took in Brynhidlr as it was.

"Hey, you're really short-tempered--- Are ya getting enough calcium?"

While laughing a Heh, the devil

"I'll break your body all over… so that you fit into my pocket, Runt!"

Saying so and launching his right fist towards Basara. Instantly Basara kicked the devil's torso and retreated a paper-length away from the fist's range.

However the launched fist of the devil produce a shock wave as it was,

"? Guh, Gaaah----!?"

Receiving a full blow of the invisible attack, Basara was sent flying backwards. Crashing right into the border of the barrier--- the wall between normal space and this isolated space.

"Oh, what's wrong? Done already?"

There the devil approached. He wanted to give the finishing blow. However, before the newly launched fist could reach Basara, the devil was engulfed in flames along with a roaring sound.

"Don't pop out of nowhere and act like you're some big-shot!"

Mio released more flames in succession.

"Hah… This shabby flame ain't even tickling me!"

Despite that, the devil's charge wasn't stopped. He broke straight through the flames.

"---Then what about this?"

Using the flames as a cover, Maria had gone in front of him and her fist rammed into the devil's torso.

BAM! A heavy crashing sound. The attack from Maria, a Hard Striker relying on strength, certainly stopped the devil's charge.

"…That hurt."

"Eh--- Gah!?"

The back of his left hand blew Maria's small body away like shaking her off. Right before she crashed into the ground, Basara somehow made it in time to catch Maria's body, but

"What happened to your earlier vigor? Is barking all you can do?"

The giant devil swung down his fists one after another with over motions, sending shockwaves down from the air.

Basara and the girls split up and dodged them somehow, but they couldn't counter-attack.

''…Damn, he's a perfect power type!''

He looked like a simple brute, but a power type could fight perfectly with an excess of it.

Power was strength. A body capable of handling an enormous power obviously had a high defence from tenacity too and as a matter of fact, it easily blocked Basara's earlier attack.

He was most likely superior to even Maria, a fellow power type--- Moreover, he was a Shooting Fighter, even capable of attacking with shock waves.

The problem was not only that Basara's attack didn't work, but Maria's fist as well.

So even if they closed the distance, they had no way to effectively damage him.

So their last bet was the powerful high-class magic from Mio, a magic type, but--- needless to say, the more powerful the magic was, the more mental concentration it needed. Thus,

''…When he keeps attacking with shock waves like this…''

He looked at Mio, but she couldn't afford any time to chant a magic, as she had her hands full with dodging the downpour of shock waves.

Judging by his stature, he probably had superior stamina as well.

At some point Basara and the girls would be unable to take a breath and dodge the shock waves first--- It was stalemate like this.

''…Then,''

Basara crouched down and concentrated.

What he estimated was the best and shortest route to slay the enemy in the air and his own speed needed for that.

And then--- Basara was about to attack by kicking off the ground. At that time.

"Such a pain… I'll finish you off all together."

Saying so, the enemy, who had been dealing with Maria, launched an unforeseen attack.

---The type of shockwaves so far that cut in a straight line were produced by a punch with the fist.

That fist stopped now midway. Upon that, the air was hit--- As a result, the produced shock wave wasn't a straight line, but spread radially, coming towards Basara and the girls all at once.

"? Bastaaaaaaard----!"

Basara used the energy he had built up for his attack with high speed for a counterattack.

The attack released in front of Mio and Maria wasn't <Banishing Shift>, but it succeeded in cutting apart the shock wave. The radial shock wave passed by Basara's side to vertical behind him.

"Sweet. Now we're talking."

Even while his own attack was warded off, the giant devil was rather happy.

"Then--- try this!"

The moment he said so, the already thick right arm of the devil swelled up one--- no, two sizes larger.

''…Not good!''

Most likely the enemy tried to launch an enormous attack that wouldn't even compare to the previous ones.

---The old Basara would have surely gone out to the front immediately at such a time.

Without doubt he would close the distance with his utmost speed and prevent the enemy from attacking.

However, the current Basara hesitated.

He couldn't decide on the spot if he should charge into the attack or if he should devote himself to defense to protect Mio and Maria.

The enemy used the opening created by Basara's short hesitation to make his attack motion.

"---Huh?"

However, the giant devil stopped his movement, as he had suddenly realized something.

Just why?

Basara saw the answer to that at the torso of the devil. The floating devil--- had something pierced through his gigantic body.

"A spear…?"

Mio, looking at it from a different angle, mumbled frowning, whereupon there was a rapid change in the body of the devil.

It started to freeze up snow-white with a noise.

The giant body of the devil, solidifying all over in no time, stopped floating and fell down to the ground.

CLINK. Along with a noise like glass breaking, the devil smashed up into very small pieces.

===Part 5===

All that was left was a single white long spear pierced into the ground.

Mio and the others couldn't react to the sudden happening. Amidst this motionless silence,

"-------"

A single young man appeared from somewhere. Looking at his side-profile as he was picking up the spear wordless,

"Takashi…"

Mio heard Basara's sudden dumbfounded mumbling in front of her.

Having his name called, the young man shifted his sharp eyes from the spear in his hand to Basara.

"…Who's that, Basara?"

"Hayase Takashi… My childhood friend, just like Yuki, from back then when I was in the <village>."

On Basara's answer to her question, Mio could guess the circumstances more or less.

''…No wonder he was able to get into this space then.''

Mio knew of the tragedy that Basara was involved with back then when he was still in the Hero village.

She also knew what happened from Basara's power going of out control.

It gave many people never healing mental wounds and was the reason Basara was chased out of the village.

There probably weren't many people like Yuki, who were friendly to Basara after the incident.

At least--- the look the young man gave Basara wasn't one of a long-awaited reunion with a childhood friend.

"Takashi, why are you… And that spear, don't tell me…"

When Basara asked still somewhat unbelieving, suddenly

"Yeah--- You're right, it's 'Byakko'." <ref>Byakko means White Tiger and is one of the four Chinese constellations</ref>

A chuckling voice came from behind. When Mio turned around, there was a slit-eyed young man.

"----!?"

[[Image:Shinmai v02 127.jpg|thumb]]

As soon as seeing that young man, Basara changed his expression and moved with a jump.

He stood obstructing in front of the young man, covering Mio and Maria.

"H- Hey, Basara…?"

"What is the matter all of a sudden?"

Mio and Maria were perplexed by the uncommon situation, whereas Basara didn't reply. Still wearing a stern expression, he was waiting for the reaction of the young man. Upon that,

"Geez. And here we finally reunited… Don't give me such a hateful look."

The slit-eyed young man shrugged his shoulders and made a wry smile. Towards him,

"Shiba-san… Why are you here?"

Basara asked with an obviously different attitude than towards the young man called Hayase Takashi.

''…Basara?''

Looking at Shiba, Basara's side-profile showed a great alertness and tension.

"Do you… even need to ask? The <village> orders."

"Don't screw around. The <village> would normally never let you go outside."

"---I wonder who's screwing around here." said Takashi interrupting.

"Basara… Don't tell me, you're considering this situation normal?"

"What do you mean by that…"

"The girl with the inherited power of the previous Devil Lord is here. Can you call that normal?"

"…Are you saying it was decided that Yuki alone isn't enough to observe her?"

It was Shiba who answered Basara's question.

"No, Yuki-chan's enough for the surveillance. It's the opposite. ''It was decided that surveillance wasn't enough''."

Then Takashi spoke out the decisive words, taking up on Shiba's sentence.

"The <village> changed Naruse Mio from a S- rank surveillance target to a S- rank termination target. This is an official statement. That's why we're here--- To fulfil our duties as Heroes."

Facing Takashi, Mio was inadvertently taken aback.

Word-wise he had used the term termination, but Takashi basically was saying to kill Mio.

Mio personally wanted to avoid fighting with the Hero Tribe if possible.

One reason was that it was situationally tough to take on the devils of the current Devil Lord Faction while fighting with the Heroes.

''…Moreover.''

She was fighting together with Basara, a former Hero, and kind of came to an understanding with Yuki, a current Hero, through the incident the other day.

Precisely because of that it was possible that they went shopping together today.

But Mio realized that her thinking was too naïve.

For the Current Devil Lord Faction, she wasn't Naruse Mio, but the daughter of the previous Devil Lord Wilbert.

The same applied to the Hero Tribe. Mostly likely it was the same for Maria of the moderate faction.

"……."

Looking down, she wordlessly bit down on her lips, whereupon suddenly a hand was rested on Mio's shoulder.

It was from the only one here that saw Mio as herself.

Her big brother that tried to protect her as his family, as his little sister--- Toujou Basara.

"-----"

With calm, yet resolute eyes, Basara stared at Takashi.

It was a declaration of his resolve. He was still holding Brynhidlr in his right hand. Therefore,

"Well, I knew you would be like that, Basara… You're Jin-san's son after all."

Shiba behind him wearily made a wry smile.

"That said, we aren't here for fun either. Since you were chased out of the <village>, you aren't treated as a comrade anymore, but just an ordinary human--- if you interfere with us, you'll be an enemy."

"Yeah… I'm prepared for that, Shiba-san."

He would protect Mio, who couldn't be protected by the Heroes. He was here today because he had decided so.

"More importantly, let me ask one thing. The reason Yuki suddenly disappeared…"

"Mh? Oh, if you're looking for Yuki-chan…"

On these words, a girl quietly appeared from behind Shiba.

"Yuki, you…"

On Basara's outcall, Yuki looked at him for just a moment, but cast down her eyes sadly right away.

Her emotions aside, she stood with them--- That spoke volumes for Yuki's standpoint.

"The <village> wants Yuki to fight too…?"

"---What do you mean?"

Takashi narrowed his eyes and asked, whereas Basara replied somewhat irritated.

"Just like I said it. Yuki has always been docile and didn't like to fight. The <village> appointed her to observe Mio, but forcing her to fight, that's---"

just wrong… Basara tried to say that, but couldn't.

Because a lightning ball drew near him from the side, interrupting his words.

"Watch out!"

Suddenly Mio got in front and created a magical barrier, but

"---? Kyaaaaa!"

The lightning ball, crashing into the barrier, sparked and sent Mio flying.

"Mio-sama!"

Maria hastily rushed over, whereas Mio got up while scowling with "I'm fine", whereupon a girl appeared from the shadows of an alley, where the lighting ball had come from.

"Kurumi, even you…"

"Don't call my name so casually, you traitor!"

Kurumi shouted with a tone that gave the impression of hatred.

"Protecting the daughter of the previous Devil Lord? I'm impressed you can mess around like that… You don't even know what feelings my sister lived with the past five years!"

"------"

Toujou Basara stood stock still on Kurumi's angry shout. Because she was right.

When they reunited at Hijirigasaka Academy, Basara was surprised at Yuki's change.

The five years, in which he hadn't seen her, had changed Yuki so much.

But Basara, having left the village and no longer a Hero, didn't have the right to worry about Yuki.

And since he chose to protect Mio, who had inherited the blood of the previous Devil Lord, he was nothing but an traitor to Yuki and his former comrades. But,

"Is that all you have to say?"

Maria slowly stood up, then suddenly jumped by kicking off the ground. With the start dash from the powerful legs of a power type, she closed the distance to Kurumi in no time and tried to strike at her like that.

"---Don't get cocky, you measly succubus."

With a speed faster than Maria's, Takashi swung the spirit lance "Byakko" from the side.

That attack was stopped by Basara, who had gotten in-between Takashi and Maria, with Brynhidlr.

But something forcefully stopped the four, who had entered a full-blown fight with Basara vs. Takashi and Maria vs. Kurumi.

It was a roaring sound that shook the air. At the same time, the barrier that separated the space was easily destroyed.

"Wha…!?"

Suddenly being returned to the normal space, Basara and the others halted their battle.

"Okay--- That's enough. Don't get all fired up and start a battle here."

Shiba declared with a peaceful smile. With a somewhat threatening tone,

"The devil, who erected the barrier, is already dead. Are you guys insane for starting a fight within a space that so easily broke from my light attack? What if it causes casualties?"

Basara gulped on these words. It was no laughing matter. Sure, the devil had died, but ''the barrier had been still up''.

The very barrier that easily took all these shock waves from the giant devil. Precisely because they knew that, they had started a fight.

"That's not good, Takashi, Kurumi-chan… Sure you guys are the actors this time, but I believe that I told you not to get too emotional. I'm just an overseer and the <village> forbade me any fighting with Basara and co. So spare me the trouble, okay?"

"……"

"----Fine!"

Takashi and Kurumi jumped, albeit sullen, and landed next to Shiba and Yuki.

Seeing that, Basara and Maria relaxed for now, albeit still wary. A distance between both parties was naturally formed.

"That's the deal, Basara, so we'll excuse ourselves for now. If we carelessly wrecked the city, the elders would pressure us again. We'll settle this in one week. We'll prepare a barrier space that can withhold our fighting, so let's do it there--- What do you say?"

"…Not like I can say no."

"Yeah, guess so."

Shiba said nonchalant, whereas Basara asked.

"About that barrier, where are you going to put it up?"

"I want a place suitable for barriers, but sadly we don't know this city very well yet. I'll contact you when we have decided on a place."

"If you're an overseer, Shiba-san, then we're going to fight Takashi and Kurumi?"

"''And Yuki-chan''. You're three too, so it matches perfectly."

"….."

Don't make Yuki fight--- Basara could no longer speak out that wish.

He looked at Yuki once more, but Yuki never met his eyes again.

"---Well, in one week then."

Saying so, Shiba and the others turned their backs to them and left.

===Part 6===

"Hee--- I knew they would come one day, but it's rather early for these obstinate elders."

After the chance meeting with Takashi and the others, Basara returned home and contacted Jin in his own room.

---Jin, the head of the Toujou Household, left the house and was infiltrating the demon realm.

He had said that he wanted to get in touch with someone, but Basara hadn't heard anything in detail. That Jin wouldn't tell him about it probably meant that it still wasn't the time for him to hear it.

Jin's cell phone had a special magic chip in it that allowed him to have a call like this, albeit depending on some conditions like time or place in the demon realm. And,

"But to think that the elders let Kyouichi out of the <village>…"

Basara had told him the circumstances from start to end, whereas Jin said with an unusual serious tone.

"But Shiba-san said he's only an overseer this time and won't fight."

"Well, they had to give him some kind of ''shackle'' outside the village, but… be careful."

"Yeah, I know…"

The aftermath of the tragedy five years ago. The reason it was suggested to throw Basara into prison right after his <Banishing Shift> went out of control was because there had been a "Precedent Case".

Basara had been called a "Genius" by people, but the term to evaluate Shiba Kyouichi was "Over talented".

His all too moody character in view of that superiority made him cause "problems" and as a result, he was confined to prison for various years.

To be honest--- They were quite lucky under the circumstances without him joining the fight this time.

Thus, Basara shifted his attention to the pressing matter first.

"…Yuki fought together with us before, though for certain reasons, so I thought she wouldn't be all that hostile towards Mio. Even today we all went shopping together."

Of course Basara didn't think the <village> would let go of Mio so easily.

However. Somewhere in his heart, he was embracing a faint hope.

Even though she ended up inheriting the power of the previous Devil Lord, Mio never wanted any of this.

To begin with, Mio had been raised as a normal human girl until half a year ago without knowing about her devil bloodline.

So it couldn't be helped that they kept being wary of her as a surveillance target, but they wouldn't try to kill Mio by setting her as a termination target--- That was what he had wished for.

"What were you expecting? They have the sole mission to protect the peace in the human world."

"Yeah… I know. But I also have things I want to protect."

Basara tightly clenched his right fist.

"Yeah, right. I'm not going to question the nobility of their mission, but if we can't make a compromise no matter what, then we can only take them on."

"…Are you fine with that, Dad?"

It was different from taking on the current Devil Lord faction, which was after Mio's inherited power.

Even if they were chased out, they had once been comrades.

Another trouble was that the Hero Tribe, working on world peace, only considered Wilbert's inherited power as a threat.

That meant that they would mercilessly come to kill Mio, unlike the devils, who tried to get a hold of it and use it.

Even if they should win against Takashi and the others this time, it was quite unlikely that the <village> would revoke a statement that was passed once.

On the contrary, they would surely deem her more dangerous and send even stronger enforcers.

---Moreover, the Hero Tribe didn't just exist in Japan.

The appearance of devils and demonic beasts wasn't limited to just Japan.

It was necessary to protect the world, not just Japan. So the Hero Tribe had divided the world into many areas and each protected its assigned area, Japan being one of them.

So when they made an enemy of the Japan <village>, the Hero Tribes all over the world would inevitably become their enemy. But,

"I don't really care. That's just what it means to protect Mio."

Jin readily said on the other side of the phone.

"We're talking here about the guys, who wanted to chase you out of the village as a surveillance target, were eager to kill you if anything happens and even wanted to make me take on the role of observing you. Like I would care about some holy duty now."

"That's… true, but"

He knew that they had to take a clear stance to protect Mio.

''…But.''

At any rate, there was a reluctance inside Basara about making his former comrades his enemy.

Lose and it was all over. But winning would just increase the hardships.

He didn't know if he could find anything from a fight under these circumstances.

Moreover, of all things his first opponents were Takashi, Kurumi--- and even Yuki. That was just too ironic. However,

"Hey--- Don't tell me you're worrying about what happens after you win, even though you haven't even fought yet? Where does that composure come from?"

"That wasn't my…"

Basara hastily denied.

"I won't tell you to forget about the future, but don't be too greedy. Even if you wreck your brain, some things just happen. So focus on what's right in front of you first. At the least, you'll lose something if you lose and you'll protect something if you win. That's where you have to draw the line."

"….."

Right. What was he worrying about? The school nurse Hasegawa told him as well, didn't she?

He should draw a line he would never back off from and protect it.

Remember. What was it that he--- Toujou Basara truly wanted to protect?

"Right… Yeah, I'll do it."

Basara said so like shaking off the hesitation within him, whereas Jin laughed with "Good".

"I'll take responsibility. It doesn't matter that the opponent has 'Byakko'--- Go beat him up."

<noinclude>
==Translator's Notes and References==
<references />

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|-
| Back to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 2 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 2 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 2 Chapter 1

2021-03-07T08:05:45Z

Zhanzhuang: Grammar

==Chapter 1: Yakiniku and Youth Special Edition==

===Part 1===

A sight that was worth being called a masterpiece.

A contrast of white and red, stimulating the appetite of the watcher. A brilliant colourfulness that covered the whole of the big table. It was beef that was cut so that it looked extremely delicious from any angle.

Yakiniku. In the restaurant, which was like an everlasting absolute justice for him, Toujou Basara sat at the table across his classmate Takigawa Yahiro.

"Wh- What's with these beef tongues? They look like they're laying sideways… They're at least 1cm thick, Basacchi."

"Yeah, let's grill them quickly and eat… There's still a lot of other meat too."

"O- Okay… Then here I go."

Summoning his resolve, Takigawa threw the beef tongues on the field called charcoal grill.

Along with a sizzling sound, the delicious smell of grilling meat instantly hung in the air.

"Th- Then I'll help myself first."

With a gulp, Takigawa nervously carried the beef tongue towards his mouth--- In the next moment,

"S- So, gooood. What's this!? This is no longer just beef!"

He widened his eyes and shouted. Basara inadvertently made a wry smile.

"No, it's beef alright."

"Watcha doing, Basacchi, eat up! Sweet… This meat is so damn good."

"Yeah, I will. But don't hold yourself back, Takigawa. The fine meat will burn if it grills too much."

Basara said so to Takigawa, who started to put the beef one piece after another on the grill.

"Pfft, like I would let them get burned. I'll nicely eat them all!"

Welcoming the peak of joy and excitement, the hands controlling the chopsticks and the mouths eating the meat didn't stand still.

Basara and Takigawa's meal started for real.

"---But is it okay, Basacchi? Treating me at such an expensive restaurant."

Takigawa asked without stopping his eating hand, whereas Basara nodded with "Yeah".

Basara had taken Takigawa to a Yakiniku restaurant called "Akagi".

"I told you, this restaurant has an all-you-can-eat only for students… and even at a student charge."

"But together with my share, it's 5000 yen. That's quite the sum."

Considering it was a high schooler repaying a small favour, 2500 yen per person was certainly expensive. However Basara had a different reason for bringing Takigawa here.

---The devils were currently divided into two big forces. Into the "Current Devil Lord Faction" which was a hardliner faction that wanted to resume the invasion of the human world, and the "Moderate Faction" which followed the will of the previous Devil Lord Wilbert, who wanted to avoid conflicts with humans as much as possible. Nonetheless, after Wilbert's death, the once powerful moderate faction quickly lost their influence. Leading to Mio being chased by the current Devil Lord faction, since she unwittingly inherited the Devil Lord's power from her father.

Furthermore--- Takigawa Yahiro's real identity was an observer for Mio, sent by the current Devil Lord faction.

Basara had fought with him due to some development. In fact, that was just the other day.

And now, Basara had formed a secret alliance with him under the mutual conditions that Basara wouldn't spread the news about Takigawa's failure to the current Devil Lord faction. Takigawa then implicitly admitted to be a secret spy from the moderate faction, which worked on protecting Mio like Maria does, against the current Devil Lord Faction who are after Mio.

It was an alliance on equal grounds. Even so, Takigawa gave Basara an important piece of information.

The true identity of the culprit who killed Mio's foster parents and drove her to fight the Devils that came after her.

But Basara hadn't told Mio about that yet. Mio's reason to fight stemmed from taking revenge for her killed foster parents. It would be bad if she were to emotionally go out of control when he carelessly told her, and the situation wasn't all too clear anyway. Thus it was better for only Basara to know about it for now.

Because of that, he owed Takigawa big time. Of course he didn't think that treating him to Yakiniku would make them even, but

"Don't worry about that. I still have my savings from each month."

"Okay then. But your dad is away these days, right? Didn't you get some money for living expenses? And this here practically falls under necessary expenses."

"You sure know your stuff… But I can't use my dad's money to treat you."

Currently he had gotten Jin's credit card. But Basara formed the alliance with Takigawa on his own judgement. So he couldn't use the card for it.

"Mhm, I see…"

Takigawa had finished eating all the meat on the grill and said so like he was seeing through Basara's intention.

"I thought for sure you were going to ask something of me again in exchange for the Yakiniku."

"I'm not so dauntless that I could demand valuable information or assistance just because I treated you once. Today's under the motto 'Let's get along from now on', that's all."

Therefore,

"I'll repay you for taking over my task from Sakasaki-sensei another time and the debt for telling me about Zolgear--- the murder of Mio's foster parents, I'll pay that back from now on as best I can."

"Jeez, why so serious, Basacchi~ All the stories I heard about Toujou Jin were epochal--- Are you really his son?"

Jin once was a Hero that hogged the title of the strongest Hero in the <village> all to himself. The stories Basara had heard were all unbelievable battle legends of Jin during the great war. According to the stories he had heard in the <village> from all those that knew the past Jin, Jin had apparently become quite pacifistic now, but

"…Guess he's famous in the demon realm too?"

"Well, duh. He killed quite a number of our high class devils in the great war. Amongst us devils, Toujou Jin is feared as our strongest enemy--- like a war god. When the previous Devil Lord Wilbert ordered the retreat, there were two reasons why the guys, who wanted to keep fighting, reluctantly obeyed. One was Wilbert's clout, who was the strongest devil back then even as a centrist, the other was the fear of Toujou Jin's monstrous fighting strength."

As expected, Jin was such an outstanding man that even Takigawa, a devil, told him the same again. As his son, it didn't feel bad to have his father praised. In fact, Basara was actually proud of him.

And then--- their conversation temporarily came to a halt. In this silence, they nicely ate the Yakiniku with relish for a while.

Continuing to eat even more silent than at a crab meal, they were about to get to the last plate of their first order when---

"Oh, right, that reminds me, I have some information I better tell you, Basacchi."

"Information? …You sure?"

"Well, it seems like I can trust you. Besides, now that we have teamed up it would be bad for me too, in various ways, if you were to get into a disadvantageous situation."

With that, Takigawa wearily made a wry smile and suddenly, his eyes turned serious.

"---During the incident at the park before, Naruse Mio let her power go out of control, right? It was quite devastating. I had to secretly patch it up with magic. The news of it still reached the current Devil Lord faction, but also the moderate faction. I don't know yet how the moderate faction will make their move, but--- the current Devil Faction has decided to appoint a new observer, since they have judged that Naruse Mio has awakened the inherited power from Wilbert."

Basara froze up on these words.

"A new observer… Don't tell me, you're being replaced and returning to the demon realm?"

He had no plans to fully rely on Takigawa, but right now Basara and the girls overwhelmingly lacked battle strength compared to the current Devil Lord faction. Thus he wanted to borrow Takigawa's strength until he could read the situation a bit better. If Takigawa goes back to the demon realm now---

"---No. My surveillance mission continues. The point is, it feels like they're sending in reinforcement just in case, since there's been development. I mean, the top brass has always been after the power Naruse Mio inherited."

"I see… I got cold feet, thinking you would leave."

"Still, don't let your guard down. With another observer, it surely will be harder for me to cooperate. And while I said reinforcement, it isn't necessarily someone weaker than me. Besides, the Master and Servant Contract between Naruse Mio and you is still new, right?"

"? What do you mean?"

Was there something with the Master and Servant Contract that he had to be careful about?

"That magic has a long history… Since long ago, it has been used quite often and was improved on various occasions. At first it only made you able to locate each other and activated the curse on betrayal, but now it can even amplify the power of the Master and Servant, when they share a strong loyalty and trust. The master can power up his servant and the servant for his master. That's why high-class Devils have a lot of servants with the Master and Servant Contract to increase their own strength."

"Is that so…?"

Maria didn't explain it to him to that extent. Most likely the important part for Maria was that it was a countermeasure that allowed them to locate Mio when she was in danger.

"---And on the other hand, it also serves the purpose of preventing information leaks, should the servant be caught by the enemy. Since being caught by the enemy and becoming a burden to the master is the biggest betrayal." said Takigawa.

"Regardless of the characteristic, the servant won't be able to survive when the curse activates at maximum."

"…Seems so."

The characteristic of the curse from the contract between Basara and Mio came from Maria. Since she lent her power for the chanting of the contract spell, she gave it the characteristic of a succubus' "aphrodisiac". From what Maria had said, if the curse is activated at maximum, the brain nerves would fry from intense pleasure. She was being half-serious, but it surely was the truth. It was quite a well-made contract magic, considering it even prevented information leaks from prisoners.

"So you better be careful. You guys made the contract spell from the succubus, since the one from Mio's inherited power would be dangerous, right?"

"Yeah… Guess so."

"This isn't an all too pleasant story--- High-class Devils live a long time and some of them purposefully make a Master and Servant Contract with the succubus' characteristic instead of their own. Living a long life makes them crave for some amusement."

"Amusement…?"

"For sex plays. Just like drugging a woman, the 'aphrodisiac' chains her with pleasure."

"…I see. Really not pleasant."

"Nah, that's still innocent. The real assholes switch servants amongst themselves and play around by purposefully letting the curse activate."

"Play around… wait, don't tell me they're meaninglessly killing their own servants?"

"Nah, not like that… Well, since you're so sincere, it's an unknown world to you." said Takigawa with a wry smile.

"The servant devotes his soul and body to his master and when someone else does something to the servant, it will be a perfect betrayal against the master. Because the servant couldn't protect his chastity--- What do you think will happen then?"

Ah, Basara changed his expression on finally realizing it, whereas Takigawa nodded.

"Yeah. Being done by someone else than the master--- That immoral feeling activates the curse. If you're lucky, the curse is too strong and you can die, but at worst you lose your sanity and can't even feel the immorality anymore. But they have no use for a broken toy. They dispose of them, get a new toy--- and repeat everything."

And,

"Incidentally, the deviser of this sick play was--- the murderer of Naruse Mio's foster parents, Zolgear."

Basara swallowed down his breath with a gulp.

"Th- Then… the reason you relieved him of his observation."

"Exactly. There's a possibility that Naruse's inherited power will disappear should she die from a weird stunt from Zolgear. The top brass judged that there was a risk that Zolgear, after killing her foster parents who belonged to the moderate faction, would lay his hands on Naruse as well."

Basara was at a loss for words from the shocking story.

"So be careful. Zolgear can easily tell that Naruse's under the Master and Servant contract. Should she ever fall into his hands, she would never be sane again when he does something to her, since he's the all so hateful enemy that killed her foster parents. Well considering her personality, she would bite off her own tongue before someone does anything to her--- But you would like to avoid that, wouldn't you, Basacchi?"

"Obviously…!"

That alone he would never let happen. Looking down, Basara tightly clenched his teeth.

"Well, the top brass won't let Zolgear near Naruse anymore and I don't believe they would do anything strange, since they don't want Wilbert's power to disappear when Naruse dies from the curse after it's known that she's under the Master and Servant contract."

That certainly was a big advantage. Quite big, but

"…But, they aren't the only enemies going after Wilbert's power."

Besides the moderate faction that tried to protect Mio, there were other forces that opposed the current Devil Lord faction. From their point of view, they could deal damage to the current Devil Lord faction by killing Mio.

The enemy of their enemy wasn't necessarily their ally.
Once again noticing how difficult it was to protect Mio, Basara made a serious expression, whereupon Takigawa suddenly said quietly.

"---Well, it's not like I'm out of ideas."

"Really?"

Basara raised his head in a flash.

"There are two ways to cancel the contract. The first is to annul it with the same spell in agreement with both parties. The other way is to 'change it into a vow'." said Takigawa.

"As a symbol for the contract, a mark like a collar appears around the neck. Its colour changes depending on the level of loyalty. With a low loyalty level the mark is blue, but with rising levels it gets violet-blue, then violet-red and lastly crimson red."

And,

"When it then raises to the highest level --- maximum loyalty, the mark disappears and the curse won't activate anymore. After all, the servant won't ever betray the master at this point. That's the phenomena where the 'contract' sublimates into a 'vow'. Though there are not many cases of reaching that state, even from the past. But it's said that no one was able to win against a master and his servant in that state."

"In other words, if Mio and I reach loyalty on the level of a vow, we'll become as strong as the former examples?… But Mio and I have only known each other for a little while, you know."
It surely was possible, precisely because Devils had a long lifespan.

"Guess so. But even if reaching the vow level is impossible, it's worth to deepen the trust and loyalty between you two. I mean, the contract magic changes your feelings for each other into strength… That said, if you give up before even trying, it certainly will be impossible for you."

Being told with a sharp cynicism, Basara inadvertently fell silent, whereas Takigawa said "Well,".

"You can't decide it by yourself. Discuss what to do with Naruse."

"…Yeah, I will."

In regards, Basara said just that with a low voice.

---It wasn't like he couldn't trust Mio. Basara had no confidence in himself.

He was not a person that could ever get Mio to trust him.

Toujou Basara could not believe in Toujou Basara.

In himself, who once committed a sin and banished a lot of comrades.

He couldn't tell her to trust him as he was, even if it ripped his mouth.

Basara once again recognized the grave situation they were in and fell silent, whereupon

"We have fine meat here, so let's stop the gloomy talk now… To begin with, you can't do anything about worst case scenarios, no matter how hard you think."

"……Yeah."

"I mean, this is an all-you-can-eat, right? Then we gotta order more for to make the most of our money."

He felt Takigawa's kindness from the topic change.

"You're right… Okay, let's stuff ourselves!"

Basara temporarily got his spirit back and called the waiter with an "Excuse me~". While looking at the menu with Takigawa, they discussed if they should either get beef ribs, pork loins or guts. After deciding, they ordered.

As they watched the waiter leaving, they moistened their throats with cola. At that time.

"---Oh. I was guessing those voices were familiar for a while now."

The boys looked up to the sexy female voice coming from the side.

"Hasegawa-sensei…"

There stood the school nurse of Hijirigasaka Academy, that Basara and Takigawa attended, Hasegawa Chisato.

Hasegawa spoke like a man, but with her pretty features and overly glamorous breasts--- she had a sex-appeal and beauty that were
not appropriate for pubertal high school boys.

"Toujou and Takigawa… It's just the two of you?"

"Eh? Yes, that's right."

"Great. Sorry, but could you let me sit at your table? Actually I was supposed to meet a friend, but I just got a call that some urgent business came up." said Hasegawa.

"Since I'm here anyway, I wanted to eat alone, but guys from other tables keep calling out to me with 'Wanna eat with us?' Is it such a lonely thing for a woman to eat Yakiniku alone?"

"Well, probably…"

"Ahh, not at all, Sensei."

Basara and Takigawa looked at each other and told her.

[[Image:Shinmai v02 049.jpg|thumb]]

"Anyways, they were just so persistent that I considered giving up on my meal and going home, but I've always wanted to try the food here. As students you might be opposed to eating together with a teacher, but I would be grateful if you would let me join you."

"Hah… If it's like that, I don't mind."

That said, if Takigawa was against it, he could only apologetically turn her down. Today they were here for their formed alliance.
Basara asked Takigawa with a look that said "What about you?"

"Nah, I'm okay with it too, of course. There are a lot of people, students and teachers alike, who want to eat together with you, Hasegawa-sensei."

"…So he says."

"I see. Then allow me to take a seat."

"Okay Sensei, since it's decided, next to me is free."

Takigawa grinned and offered Hasegawa the seat next him, but the Hasegawa in question readily sat down next to Basara with an "Excuse me".

"Ah, but we're having the student all-you-can-eat, so sharing a table would be---"

"Don't worry about that. The shop isn't at fault, but they don't want to have me troubled. I'm sure they'll comply with it."

Just like she had said, the waiter came with a cold and wet towel and bowed with a "We're sorry" right after Hasegawa sat down at the table. Apparently the staff felt sorry for not being able to keep the other customers in check. Hasegawa ordered a drink and a few kinds of meat from the waiter.

"But I must say, I didn't know this restaurant had an all-you-can-eat for students. Could it be our students often come here?"

"I doubt it. Because it's quite a distance from school, with the station in-between. And while it's cheap considering the taste,
it's still a bit expensive for a student to casually come here."

"Right. I didn't know of it either until Basacchi took me here today."

"So you knew about this restaurant beforehand, Toujou. Do you come here often?"

"No, it's my second time today. I only moved here during summer vacation… But I came here once with my father." said Basara.

"My father is a professional photographer and the owner here is apparently a fan of my father. He once requested a photo and the landscape photo at the entrance--- That was taken by my father."

And additionally to the fee of the photo, we were invited here and treated to a meal.

"Hoo… To think this restaurant had a fan of 'JIN' too."

"You know my father?"

"Surprised? I'm not a passionate fan, but I like his photos. A critic said in a magazine or so that his photos capture the original charm of the subject--- a moment that no one else can capture. It can be called an art. Even an amateur like me gets fascinated by it."

"Thanks… I'll tell my father that you said that next time."

With that, Basara lowered his head embarrassed, whereupon the ordered meat and drinks arrived.

Since Basara and Takigawa's additional order and Hasegawa's order arrived together, the table was filled with plates at once.

"Well then, time to eat."

"Okay, we better get serious too."

Along with their words, the various meats started to dance on the grill, giving off a delicious smell.

---Amidst that, Basara remembered Hasegawa's earlier words.

Jin had left the village along with Basara to protect him. The new path that Jin had chosen to make a living from was the camera. Basara had suffered a deep mental wound from the tragedy five years ago, and seeing Jin's photo that stirred up one's emotions from the bottom of the heart, saved him numerous times.

At that time, Jin had no longer been the Hero that saved the world, but even so, for Basara he was the Hero that saved him.

Precisely because he saw Jin like that, Basara could honestly think now that he wanted to protect Mio and Maria.

===Part 2===

Basara and Takigawa kept eating until the time limit and this Yakiniku day ended with full satisfaction.

Since their houses were in opposite directions, he split up with Takigawa right after leaving the restaurant.

And currently--- Basara walked home together with Hasegawa.

"But you really don't mind, Toujou?"

Hasegawa next to him asked.

"I asked you to let me sit with you, so I could have paid your bill."

"No, it's alright, really. I had to pay for it today."

It would've been meaningless if Basara hadn't paid for Takigawa's share. However,

"Still…"

As Hasegawa still couldn't agree, Basara made a wry smile, thinking what a duteous person she was.

"Then please treat me on the next occasion, at the restaurant of your choice."

"Mhm… Okay. If you're fine with that, I'll invite you another time."

Huh, she won't invite Takigawa. Well, I did pay for his share.

"But I must say… All this about 'Devils' and 'Loyalty', you two sure talk about strange things. I don't know if it's a game or
manga, but is it popular these days?"

Apparently she had heard their conversation. Even so, Basara did not panic. Even if they were overheard, most people would mistake it for a game or something on their own, like Hasegawa did. In fact, if you openly responded, it would be no problem.

Thus,

"Well, yeah… It's a game."

"I see. I have no clues about this, so I don't understand, but youngsters sure get hyped up on it. Is it that fun?"

"Well, depends on the person. Everyone has his own enjoyment."

"I guess so. But at least it seems like you're quite hooked on it, Toujou."

"What makes you say that…?"

"Because you sounded so serious when you talked about it with Takigawa."

Hasegawa pointed out with a teasing tone.

"…Yeah, you might be right."

While dropping his gaze a little bit, Basara declared.

"Even if it's a game--- I definitely can't afford to lose."

It wasn't like he was optimistic. The situation they were in was indeed severe. The new dispatched observer. The existence of Zolgear, who killed Mio's foster parents. The advantages and problems of the Master and Servant Contract. There were a lot of things he had to consider dealing with. Then,

"---Eh?"

Suddenly Basara was enveloped by a soft warmth. Then he noticed in what kind of situation he was.

Hasegawa, who had walked next to him, had entwined her arms around his neck and embraced him.

Her big breasts enveloped his face like they were burying it.

"S- Sensei…!?"

Not knowing how to respond to the sudden event, Basara was in a flutter.

"Don't move. It's okay, so stay still."

Hasegawa said with a rebuking tone.

"Geez… Out of the blue you fall silent, only to make such a worried face then. Think about how a teacher feels when her student makes such a face in front of her."

He thought he had suppressed it, but his irritation and impatience must've shown on his face.

"…Sorry."

"There's no need to apologize. Worries are a part of life. Specially for a boy your age. But remember that there are people, who can't leave you alone when you're like that."

Basara nodded lightly, then allowed himself to rely on Hasegawa's attention a little bit.

When he closed his eyes, he could feel her kindness and softness much better.

"……Thank you. I'm fine now."

Before long, he declared his gratitude, whereupon Hasegawa released Basara's head. But even though Hasegawa pulled away both her hands from around his neck, she now entwined them around his waist.

"Ehm, what… Sensei?"

"I told you that I can't leave you alone. You can consult with me now for as much as you can tell me."

"Well, but…"

Basara inadvertently uttered hesitation, whereas Hasegawa slowly brought her face closer.

"Or--- are you against talking with me, Toujou?"

He couldn't say no. It was none other than Basara, who made Hasegawa worried. Therefore,

"Actually… my father's currently out of the house."

Basara spoke of his own worries as much as he could afford to.

The feelings he couldn't speak out because he didn't want to worry Mio and Maria, or because it would be complaints towards Takigawa--- Toujou Basara's distress.

"I'm the only man in the house, so when something happens, I want to protect Mio and Maria--- Ah, Maria is Mio's little sister."

"Okay…"

Hasegawa's gentle nod urged him to continue, so Basara made a wry smile.

"But it's not that easy… to truly protect something. People are faced with all kinds of worries in life and some of them can't be told to others. When you want to protect them despite that, you also have to keep secrets. But it seems impossible to do everything by myself."

He bit down on his lips and tightly clenched his fists.

"I want to protect them. Whatever may be, I definitely want to protect them… But I once again realized how hard it is to properly protect something you want to protect. My own strength and existence seems so small and unreliable."

He didn't really think he could pull off everything just fine. But if he managed to protect them, even in whatever unsightly shape, he
wouldn't complain. Because whatever might happen, he would just exert all of his strength.

"…But."

Being unable to protect them --- thoughts like these made Basara feel like going crazy. He never wanted to lose something precious again, to never repeat the regret and pain from five years again. There,

"……You're taking too much upon yourself."

Hasegawa, who had silently listened so far, opened her mouth.

"I somewhat could understand your worry. And also that you don't want to worry Naruse and her younger sister because of it… But, when you're treasuring your new family, your little sisters, then you should properly communicate with them."

After all,

"If it's something you absolutely don't want to lose, you need to properly grasp and understand the situation and position you're in. The most important thing for that is the cooperation and mutual trust between the protector and protected. Once you have that, you can start to come up with an actual counter-measure. But you know--- It's mostly impossible to accomplish everything perfectly. So you set your priorities and draw a line from where you won't back off at all costs, and just protect that no matter what."

"A line from where I won't back off at all costs…"

"Yes. For example, you certainly have to keep secrets, but it's not the secrets you're supposed to protect. Toujou--- closely think about what it is that you truly want to protect, once again."

What he truly wanted to protect --- He ruminated those words that Hasegawa spoke out in his heart.

"……I understand. I'll do so."

When Basara affirmed, Hasegawa nodded, satisfied, with a "Good".

---In the next moment, Toujou Basara was kissed on the cheek.

"Eh---?"

When his thoughts stopped due to this sudden event,

"…blessing and guidance…for the future of…"

Hasegawa removed her lips from his cheek and he heard her mumbling something. He inadvertently became dumbfounded.

"S- Sensei…?"

"Ah, sorry, it was a reflex… It's a little charm in the countryside I'm from."

Don't worry about it--- smiling with that, Hasegawa removed her hands from Basara and started to walk.

Even if it was on the cheek, a kiss was a kiss. He had thought for sure that there was something behind it, but apparently there really was no deep meaning to it, judging by how relieved he felt.

Therefore, Basara went after Hasegawa and walked next to her, matching her pace.

While thinking about--- what he truly wanted to protect and the line from where he wouldn't back off at all costs.

===Part 3===

After parting with Basara and Hasegawa, Takigawa Yahiro headed in a different direction than his house.

It was a sport grounds in a somewhat tasteless area between a sewage plant and an industrial waste treatment plant.

In the middle of the lawn on the grounds--- Takigawa stood still all alone.

The grounds were dark, since the opening hours were long over, and no one else was there. However,

"…Took you long enough."

Suddenly a throaty voice called out to him from behind.

"My bad. There are a lot of customs I have to follow when acting like a human."

Takigawa turned around to the voice. Upon that, there stood a devil in front of him that was so big that he had to look up. Just the presence of this huge stature gave off an intimidating air.

"To think the reinforcement would be you--- Vargar."

"What do you mean by that, Lars? Got a problem with me?"

Takigawa, called by his devil name, shrugged his shoulders with "Not really…".

---The other day Takigawa had filed a report about the incident with Mio letting Wilbert's power go out of control, to the current Devil Lord faction. It had three main points.

First, Mio temporarily released Wilbert's power, but it didn't awaken fully.

Second, the surveillance from the Hero Tribe through Yuki.

And third--- The previous Hero Basara had become Mio's current family.

It would be troublesome when the Hero Tribe interfered at worst. Takigawa had thought for sure that the top brass would peacefully advance things by observing the situation for a while, but of all things, they sent over the aggressive fighter Valgar. It seemed the top brass only saw that Wilbert's power sleeping in Mio was starting to awaken. And as expected,

"---Now then, I shall have a look at the target."

Valgar tried to make a move at once.

"Hey, hey. Selfishly going out all of a sudden, you must be joking. You just got here and don't even know what's going on, so
where do you think you're going so nonchalant?"

"Huh? That's why I'm going to check on the situation. Got a problem?"

"I'm telling you to not act on your own. You're just additional staff, a support to my mission. It's only natural you listen to me, your superior."

"I don't give a crap. The higher-ups sent me here, knowing my personality. That basically means I can do what I want."

Heh, Valgar smiled.

"You're so positive… I could do without that manliness of yours though."

There Takigawa suddenly turned his expression into a serious one.

"You should have read the report. The Hero Tribe is already on the move. If you carelessly agitate them, they start to mobilize full-blown, and if something happens to Naruse Mio--- the top brass will kill you."

"Hey, hey. Don't be so scary, Lars. It's not like I wanna pull something right off the bat. But a former Hero became family with Naruse Mio and took her side, right? Then I ought to know the situation accurately."

Saying so, Valgar disappeared along with the wind.

"Geez…"

With Valgar's personality, it wouldn't end with only checking upon her. Takigawa considered going after him, whereupon

"---Please wait."

Suddenly a new voice came from the side. When Takigawa shifted his gaze there, the airspace bent and a beautiful female devil appeared from the empty space. Takigawa offhanded stiffened his expression on her appearance.

"…I only know of one reinforcement."

"Indeed. After all, I am not your reinforcement."

"Then--- what's the reason for Sir Zolgear's right hand herself to appear here?"

Yes. In front of Takigawa stood the subordinate of Zolgear--- the high-class devil that had observed Mio. Her name was Zest. The one Zolgear had the most trust in, both in intelligence and strength.

"Sir Zolgear was already relieved of his duty to observe Naruse Mio. Even if you're just his subordinate, you didn't selfishly approach the target without the Lord's approval, did you?"

"Of course not. Before the Lord relieved him of his surveillance duties, my master Zolgear had already done his preparations.
You, Lars… should know of that."

Indeed. When Zolgear was relieved of his duty, he set up a trap for Naruse Mio.

And--- this trap was still existent. Takigawa still hadn't told Basara about this fact.

It was a circumstance he couldn't talk about carelessly.

"It has been more than half a year in this world since then, and I came here to check if the arrangements are still in effect now---- I properly got the permission from the Lord."

Therefore, Zest said.

"For that, I need to accurately confirm the situation from when my master Zolgear was relieved off his duty until now. You will assist me, right Lars?"

Takigawa clicked his tongue on her cold eyes.

''…Not good.''

When she investigated, at worst he wouldn't just get under suspicion, he would be totally exposed. He had carefully taken precautionary measures so that a third party wouldn't find about him teaming up with Basara, but this was different than with a simple guy like Volgar. Zest wasn't Zolgear's right hand just for show.

Moreover--- Takigawa didn't mention Basara's <Banishing Shift> in his report. If that were to get known, Basara's existence would surely be deemed dangerous. Because there was no guarantee that a skill that could banish everything, wouldn't banish Wilbert's power sleeping inside Mio.

Due to that, Takigawa didn't tell that to the other side he was working for either. There were still many parts about Basara's skill that Takigawa himself didn't know. If he reported carelessly, it would complicate the situation instead. Above all, he couldn't let Basara die just yet. Therefore,

"My mission is just to observe Naruse Mio… I have no reason, nor obligation to work for Sir Zolgear."

Takigawa tried to play dumb.

"I did not come on Sir Zolgear's instructions. I am here by his Lord's order. So I believe you have a reason and obligation to comply."

Or, said Zest, suddenly narrowing her eyes.

"---Do you have some kind of reason that keeps you from assisting me?"

So that was how she was going to play. If that was the case. Takigawa changed his plan.

"Nah, no way. I will gladly offer my assistance in that case."

He grinned at Zest. No matter how much he complained, Zest would surely act on her own anyway. Instead of having her get closer to the truth, it was better to be the guide himself and keep her away from the troublesome truth. He was also concerned about Valgar's actions, but

''…Well, good luck, Basacchi.''

After all--- he had to take care of an even more troublesome fellow now.

===Part 4===

Basara arrived at home around ten in the night.

Since the stuff in the bath happened with Mio, Basara headed to his own room only with Maria for now.

And then they conducted a discussion about what to do from now on, including his newly surfaced worries.

First he asked about the merits and demerits of the Master and Servant Contract. Upon that,

"Indeed--- Like you have said, the Master and Servant Contract has both its advantages and risks."

While facing each other with the table in-between them, Maria, sitting on a cushion, made a diligent expression.

"But the current Devil Lord faction is not after Mio-sama's life, but after Wilbert-sama's power itself. Since it would trouble them when Mio-sama dies, the thing we have to be cautious about is---"

"---A kidnapping."

Even if they couldn't kill her, it was possible that they abducted her and forcefully awakened her power by using magic or magic tools. Maria nodded with "Yes".

"However the Master and Servant Contract allows the Master and Servant, who have linked their souls, to locate each other when they want, so it is easier to guard, but it also makes it possible to come to one's rescue when abducted. The reason I had you two form the contract was to have a precautionary measure for such kidnappings."

The enemy certainly couldn't afford to let Mio die, so more importantly than the risk of having something happen to Mio because her curse activated from the guilt of being kidnapped, was to not have her get abducted at all. And even if she were to get kidnapped, they ought to think how to save her.

---In fact, Mio tried to solve things all by herself the other day, as to not drag anyone else into it, when Basara suffered a severe wound in the fight with the masked Takigawa on the rooftop of the school.

And the reason Basara somehow could make it in time for Mio's dilemma was that he could locate Mio due to the Master and Servant Contract. Of course Takigawa had anticipated Basara's arrival back then and purposefully took his time, so that Basara would make it in time. ---However, from now on, it wouldn't go like that. According to Takigawa, a new observer for Mio was dispatched.

"I get it… But Maria, why didn't you tell us so then?"

Including the case of hiding the matter with the curse, she was being way too secretive. Upon that,

"I am sorry… Considering Mio-sama's personality, I believed it was wiser not to mention it." said Maria.

"Mio-sama may not be all that honest, but she is genuinely kind and above all, very earnest. The instantly effective merit of being able to locate each other aside, if I had told her that both your powers would level up when her trust in you increases, she would have unreasonably tried to do something about it and thus screwed it up instead."

"…Sounds plausible."

Mio was different from Basara, who had trained as a Hero from a young age on. Until her foster parents were killed half a year ago, she lived as a normal girl. To tell Mio to handle her emotions objectively was absurd and impossible. So instead of carelessly telling her the truth, Maria must have thought that it was wiser to wait for her trust to develop naturally. But,

"Then you could have at least told me… Well, we haven't been together for long, so it might be difficult to blindly trust me."

"Oh no, I perfectly trust you, Basara-san."

"But," said Maria.

"If Mio-sama were to find out later that only we two knew about it while she was left out, it is possible that she would lose all trust in both you and me."

Before, when the living together with Mio and Maria was decided, Jin knew all about their true identities and aims, but stayed quiet and pretended to be deceived. Precisely because of that--- Basara and the girls could repair their once broken relationship after finding out that fact. The reason Maria kept quiet about all kind of facts regarding the contract was surely out of her consideration for Basara and even more so, for Mio.

"Therefore I would have liked to keep it hidden from you two, but… I never expected that you would investigate about the contract, Basara-san."

A miscalculation, said Maria.

"Either way, where did you hear this from, Basara-san? The power enhancement from a deepening trust aside, the information about some high-class devils using the succubus characteristic in the contract for fun should be only known to very few devils."

"Well, I have my ways… I'm a former Hero after all. Even if I was chased out of the <village>, I still have one contact or the other."

Since he couldn't tell her about Takigawa, Basara said it in a roundabout way to hide the truth.

"But I guess it's better to keep the contract for now then… We have to make our plans with that in mind."

"---Please leave it to me, Basara-san. This may sound pretentious, but I came up with the best plan for this situation."

Maria expressed her approval.

"Please come this way."

Saying so, she invited Basara over to the back of the room--- to in front of the computer. He sat down on the chair and naturally faced the PC monitor on the desk, whereupon

"Now excuse me."

"H- Hey, what are you…!"

Maria lowered her waist onto Basara's lap, who was bewildered. She must have taken her bath already. Maria wore a defenseless attire of just a pajama at the top and shorts below. Basara regretted his own decision to change into a T-shirt with matching shorts when he came home and anticipated their discussion to be long. The supple material of the shorts Maria was wearing and her smooth thighs--- Both of these were strongly emphasizing that Maria was a girl. Her body washed with body soap gave off a sweet fragrance, which only her body could produce with her body temperature.

"Do you like it? The smell of a girl fresh out of the bath."

Like she had seen through his inner turmoil, Maria turned around in his lap. Maria pressed her bottom onto his groin area and fidgeted around.

"N- Not really… Anyway, get off!"

"No. What we will do now is something necessary for Mio-sama and you."

Saying so, Maria started up Basara's computer.

"Hey, don't---"

Maria skilfully operated the mouse and opened a folder on the hard drive, starting a program that Basara had never seen before.

The software first showed the designer logo in English. And as soon as he saw the next scene, Basara inadvertently widened his eyes. He had only seen it for a moment, but

"Maria… Are my eyes playing a trick on me? I think I just saw 'This game is a product of fiction' written there."

"Oh please, Basara-san. All games are basically a product of fiction."

Yeah, right. He wouldn't deny that.

"But the next line saying 'Scenes of the game re-enacted in reality are punishable by law'----"

Basara said along with a bad feeling, whereupon it was finally displayed in front of his eyes.

It was a cute girl. But regretfully there were a lot of instances, where he wanted to retort to the girl.

First, why was she wearing a leather collar with a chain?

Second, why was she wearing no clothes, except suggestive underwear?

Third, why was she embraced by a man from behind?

And above all, why was the girl looking at him with wet eyes from ecstasy, even though she was in such a situation?

All these questions were resolved right away. Because the displayed title taught him.

"Youth Special Edition: My real little stepsister and I"--- It was an erotic game.

"The heck are you installing on my computer without my permission!"

Are you stupid? Or rather, that's the game that was snuck into my bed without my knowledge for a supposedly moving gift. The morning of that day was the worst morning of my life, in the ranking in my head. Basara cursed in his mind.

"I understand your resentment towards this game, Basara-san. However, please bear with it. This is also for Mio-sama's sake."

"No, I don't really have any grudges with this game."

Only with the criminal, namely you, who placed a landmine in my bed.

"Actually, how is this game for Mio's sake…"

"I told you that considering the future, it takes priority to deepen the trust between Mio-sama and you. If that happens naturally, it would be ideal, but the enemy will not wait and you ended up knowing various things about the contract. So we can only try for the best in this situation."

In other words,

"We will increase Mio-sama's trust in you so much that it will not cause any problems when she later finds out about the circumstances--- That is to say, you will become an absolute Master to her. An existence Mio-sama would never oppose, not even consider opposing, and vow her loyalty to from the bottom of her heart. For an obstinate girl like Mio-sama, there is a limit to how much you can make her open up her heart with just kindness. This software serves as a reference to how you can discipline Mio-sama."

"…Sorry. This is a good occasion, so I'll tell you something I thought for a while now--- You're an idiot, right?"

"Oh my. We have to fight the current Devil Lord faction, even though we lack in battle strength, so I get the feeling that trying to resolve the situation with a pretty frontal attack is far more stupid. You do not mean to say that we have the leisure to choose our methods, do you, Basara-san?"

"No… But, we can't forget about Mio. Her feelings are important in the matter."

"Indeed, they are. However, if you had to choose between Mio-sama's feelings or her life--- I am sure the answer is obvious."

"That's… But what about laws and morals?"

"Will Mio-sama be protected when you tell the country or laws--- the police or court 'Please help us, we are being chased by the Devil Lord'? Please do not forget, the only ones that can protect Mio-sama right now are you and me. Only us two."

"……Yeah. Sorry."

Basara said with a low tone.

"But even so, I'm doubtful about using a game as a reference… Disciplining Mio isn't the only option to deepen the trust, is it?"

"It is not like there is no other, but the curse is an aphrodisiac. Would you not say it is wiser to make use of that? Besides, I am not telling you to do it exactly like in the game. At best, we are just looking for hints to deepen your relationship with Mio-sama."

Saying so, Maria handed him the manual of the game. Basara somehow read out the outline of what was written in there.

"'Your little stepsister got a sex up curse from a devil. Her new cuteness makes her the target of the guys around her. To protect her, you, the protagonist, have to change her into your ideal girl. When the bonds between you two deepen, you should be able to overcome all kind of obstacles. That is the ultimate form of familial love. Let's discipline the little stepsister~'… What has the world come to!"

"Here, Basara-san, earphones. Because the same sentence can have a different meaning depending on the tone and expression. I want to assist you, so I will take one earphone."

"Eh? I'm going to play this game while I share the earphones with you on my lap?"

Seriously? Literally and imaginary, that was the worst state.

"Please bear with it. It is for Mio-sama."

"……Fine, whatever."

And then the lesson started with Maria on his lap. The prologue of the game alone took 30 minutes and main characters' upbringing, current circumstances and feelings for each other were not explained by simple narration, but was properly portrayed through a drama of their life. At the end of the prologue--- An anime part with the theme song played, where the little stepsister got cursed and the protagonist and heroine decided to go down the forbidden path, because even though it was wrong, they had no other choice.

But the main part started now. Finally welcoming their first night, the two were having an awkward conversation, then the first option screen was already shown.

{| style="border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10px;font-size: 100%;"
| align="left" |
1/ Relief her nervousness by behaving like always

2/ Be a really nice gentleman

3/ You shouldn't be half-assed, since you know your sister's resolve. To respond to her feelings, you'll be rough and forceful with your love.
You have no regrets. Because you believe---- that it's your responsibility as her family, as her older stepbrother.
|}

"…The heck's up with #3. Instead of an option, I only see it as a joke."

Were the staff all idiots?

"Now then, please choose the option you deem fitting. Show me your skills, Basara-san. Ah, but please save just in case. We might have to load later on."

Maria on his lap said so, totally used to erotic games even though she was a devil.

''…But showing his skills was easier said than done.''

Thinking rationally, the answer was already decided. Basara chose number 1. At that moment,

"Ah, I knew it."

"What? Got a problem?"

Maria said disappointed, whereas Basara asked.

"Ah, I am sorry. Just a reflex… P- Please continue."

While he felt that she wasn't satisfied with his choice, Basara started to go through the text. The heroine nodded approving to the protagonist, who wanted to take things slowly and in order. I won't do anything, but let's sleep together tonight. It's been a while. While such a conversation unfolded, the scene ended. And on the next day,

"…Huh?"

When the protagonist woke up, the heroine was gone. Instead there was a letter. In the letter it was noted that the heroine apparently had made a bet with the devil to see if the protagonist would show courage, and she lost that bet, so she was going to be the plaything for the devils in hell now, but she was happy to be treated so kindly by the protagonist until the end.

Then the screen turned black. The words BAD END were displayed.

"…What kind of development is that?"

"You cannot tell? This is a tragedy caused by your kindness, Basara-san. It means a man cannot protect a woman with only kindness. Good grief… You are so deplorable that I am going to cry."

"I don't want to be called that just because of a single choice in an erotic game--- Actually, when 1 is already no good for kindness, then 2 as well?"

"Obviously! Do you want to kill the heroine that bad? I did not expect you to push on this all too grotesque option. Were your parents killed by her in your previous life, or something?"

"Wait. How are you imagining my previous life?"

A previous life, where the heroine of an erotic game killed my parents, was just too miserable.

"Geez, you are so hopeless…"

Maria sighed, then overlapped her small hand with Basara's, which was grabbing the mouse.

"---Now then, let us save her."

Saying so, she loaded the earlier save data. Through exclusion, Basara chose option 3 and resumed the game. However, even though Maria had been so confident, the heroine in the game was bewildered by the protagonist, whose attitude had suddenly changed, and resisted heavily.

"See. It wasn't 3 after all."

"Come again? Please take a closer look."

When he looked at the text window on the screen like he was told, the supposedly resisting heroine had suddenly become submissive and accepted the discipline from the protagonist. Not just that, she somewhat felt pleasure and happiness from being treated forcefully.

"Listen, Basara-san. This heroine included--- All obstinate girls are basically hardcore masochists when you bring them out of their shells."

"What nonsense are you saying out of the blue!?"

"No, it is a fact. Therefore, please forcefully bring Mio-sama out of her shell. You have nothing to worry about. She will only resist in the beginning. After all, Mio-sama is actually quite the masochist, according to my evaluation. She is the type that feels happiness from being treated forcefully by the one she devoted herself to and draws pleasure from submitting to that person despite that."

"What's with that harsh analysis!? Are you really her retainer?"

"Precisely because I am her retainer, I want Mio-sama to be true to herself without putting on a front."

Maria proudly puffed up her chest.

"Well then, Basara-san, let us continue. You are going to learn the right way to discipline your little stepsister, so that you can make an unshakable bond with Mio-sama as fast as possible."

Saying so, Maria faced her head towards the monitor again--- where it was grabbed by an extended hand over Basara's shoulder.

Basara froze up and looked up, whereupon there stood, unknown since when, Mio with a cold smile.

[[Image:Shinmai v02 079.jpg|thumb]]

"I wondered why there was no reply when I knocked numerous times… But it seems you had quite the interesting conversation."

Maria's body went rigid on that uttered chilly voice.

And she turned around while instantly breaking out a cold sweat,

"Mio-sama…"

"…Yes?"

"Let… Let me explain."

"Yeah, go on. I'm curious what you'll tell me."

But,

"Do you have a minute before that, Maria? Don't worry, it won't take long."

Mio said so and walked away, dragging Maria along at her head.

"Wh- What are you doing, Basara-san… Stop looking and please help me. Did I not teach you? To be forceful. Now is the time to forcefully take Mio-samoww, ouch, it hurts, Mio-sama."

Maria struggled when the pressure in the hold on her head was increased, whereas Basara put his hands together in a prayer.

"Forgive me. It's just impossible. Sorry, but rest in peace."

He sighed with "Phew, saved", but Mio turned around to him at the door.

"Basara… Just to tell you, you're next."

Glared at with sharp eyes that could only be labelled as super sadistic, Basara could only nod.

And afterwards, it took quite some time to explain the circumstances to Mio and have her understand, after she finished her lecture with Maria. They were difficult hours that reminded them the value of life.

===Part 5===

There was something that gradually became darker proportional to the night.

A place all the moonlight or streetlights of the world would never reach.

Darkness. People avoided the pitch-black darkness, where they couldn't see ahead and seemed to get sucked in. Because they instinctively understood that danger lurked there.

---However, there were those that loved the darkness, in contrast to humans. They, who tried to make the dark abyss their habitat, the low-class stray devils. Even amongst the devils, low-class devils had no ego. It was said that because of that they had no considerable powers, but instead an ill-nature.

To avoid an all-out-war with the Heroes, the devils didn't excessively attack humans in the human world, but the low-class devils lacked the intelligence to process that. They only had a desire loyal to their instincts.

And in this night, when everything except convenience stores, family restaurants or fast-food stores had closing time.

Something arose from the darkness in a back alley in the corner of the shopping district.

That "something" blended in with the darkness and kept staring at the main street from the dark back alley. Just like it was waiting for its prey to pass by. And then--- The moment when a young woman passed by before it.

The stray devil mercilessly attacked the woman. A human without any special abilities could not see a devil. And while a stray devil was weak compared to devils, it was far superior to an average human.

Thus the woman had no way to oppose and became the stray devil's prey just like that--- or was supposed to.

---However, in the next moment, a suddenly released slash cut off the stray devil's life and existence itself. It most likely didn't even realize that it was erased. The remains of the stray devil vanished into empty space.

"---I knew it, a lot are attracted."

A voice said so by spitting out a "Heh". At the same time, three silhouettes emerged from the darkness in the back alley--- from behind where the stray devil had been. They were two young men and one girl.

"Was that wise, Takashi? With a victim, we would have gotten a reason to terminate the 'target'."

To the right a young man who said with a casual tone, the young man called Takashi---- The one, who slayed the stray devil, said with a displeased low tone.

"There's no need to unnecessarily increase the victims. Shiba-san, the <village> has already made their decision."

One breath,

"To change the 'target'--- Naruse Mio from a surveillance target into a termination target."

That was the decision of the Hero Tribe, who received Yuki's report the other day. In light of the danger of the possible awakening of the power of the previous Devil Lord, they concluded so.

In other words, the daughter of the previous Devil Lord--- Naruse Mio was to be terminated.

"…Besides, how could we allow a victim to fall before us? We are from the Hero Tribe."

"You're so earnest, Takashi… Geez, working for justice is such a pain."

Shiba shrugged his shoulders jokingly.

"---Don't you agree, Kurumi-chan?"

He called out to the girl, who stood on the opposite side of him with Takashi in-between them and wordlessly stared at the empty space into which the stray devil had disappeared.

"…No. It's our mission."

In regards, the girl called Kurumi answered bluntly.

"How rare… for the two of you to make a stiff expression."

While Shiba made a wry smile,

"Are you that bothered by it? That he--- Basara is involved with this case?

Takashi and Kurumi remained silent to these uttered words for a while. Directed at them,

"Well, you're a childhood friends with him, close in age. Before the incident five years ago, you have always been together. I'm sure you have special feelings for it and it'll be tough for you in all kind of ways."

But,

"We volunteered for this mission despite having heard the report from Yuki-chan. Please don't ruin the mission by getting swayed from some weird attachment."

"…You don't need to tell me." said Takashi.

"I'll kill Naruse Mio and show no mercy to those who interfere. Even if it's Basara."

"…Same for me. I no longer have a reason to hesitate about Basara."

There was no doubt in Kurumi's utterance. Because she already had taken an influential different path than Basara--- Ever since
the day "five years ago". Toward these two,

"Good. Your emotions are your own. I'm not going to pry into them. Because I'm just a supervisor this time. You two will do the
job. I'll just watch."

While smiling a "It's up to you",

"Well then, let's go. To fulfill our duty as Heroes, the protectors of the world---" Shiba Kyouichi declared.

"---To kill the one that might become the next Devil Lord."

<noinclude>

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| Back to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 2 Prologue|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 2 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 2 Prologue

2021-03-07T07:11:30Z

Zhanzhuang: Grammar

==Prologue: Peerless Devil Lord Sister in the Morning==

===Part 1===

Every man has imagined it at least once.

About how a cute girl snuck into your bed before you woke up.

A warm and soft sensation. A faint sweet fragrance.

The girl saying a little bit embarrassed, but with a smile--- Morning.

That was a happiness only granted to a limited amount of people.

"………….."

However, on this morning, Toujou Basara, suddenly waking up from a feeling of suffocation, was put into a situation close to it. It wasn't like he had a nightmare. The feeling of suffocation originated from something else.

The origin was--- a little girl under the blanket in Basara's bed. The little girl had crawled up below the blanket, ''right into the T-shirt Basara was wearing''.

Moreover, the little girl's adorable face was right in front of Basara's eyes. In other words, the little girl's head shot out of the collar, where Basara's head was already coming out.

"Good morning, Basara-san."

"Maria…? Eh, wait a sec--- Uwah!?"

Since they were stuck together face-to-face, not even the slightest movement was possible.

---No, physically it wasn't impossible. The wide T-shirt Basara wore instead of a pyjama shirt was made of a good, flexible material. But--- ''even though it was made like that, would it endure this excess?''

"Oh no~ You cannot do that, silly Basara-san. It is quite dangerous to force yourself to get up."

He got pissed off at that reaction, but couldn't give a retort. Instead, Basara stiffened up.

Because Basara felt a soft and smooth sensation over the broad area of his chest to his stomach under the T-shirt, under which Maria had slipped into. Without a doubt, it was from Maria's bare skin. In other words,

"A- Are you… naked under my T-shirt---"

"Oh please, Basara-san. There is no way I would be so rude as to enter someone else's bed with my clothes still on."

"Screw your unnecessary consideration!"

If so, be considerate about the ultimate rudeness of entering someone else's T-Shirt.

"---Actually, why didn't I wake up before this all happened?"

It was a slight shock for him. Upon that,

"Have you forgotten, Basara-san? I am a succubus. A devil that appears in dreams. Sleeping spells are my specialty."
Maria laughed with a fufufu.

"Of course it might not have worked if you were awake, Basara-san. However, it was a sure thing while you were asleep, defenseless. You let your guard down."

"That's a damn premeditated crime!"

So much for the police when he couldn't even sleep calmly in his own room.

"Oh please, Basara-san. Even though you are really happy about it. Come on, be honest."

Showing a roguish smile, Maria entwined her arms around his neck, brought her body even closer and glided her skin by pressing onto him.

''…Wait, this is bad…''

Even with young features and a small body, Maria was still a proper girl. Her looks were proud of an extraordinary cuteness and honestly, this distance was dangerous. The smooth skin unique to girls, the moderate yet soft swellings of her breasts, all of Maria was only a stimulation to Basara, a boy. Above all, there were two tickling sensations on Basara's body matching with Maria's movements. They were most likely Maria's nipples, whose sensation became more firm with every rub.

"Mm… Ah… Mm… Fuh…"

Her childish expression turned gradually sexy and the voice she leaked started to fill with passion.

"I, I get it. …I admit defeat. Please, just get out of my T-Shirt."

"I refuse."

"S- Say what?"

On his panic, Maria changed her satisfied smile into a roguish one.

"The inside of your clothes already belongs to me, Basara-san. If you insist that I leave, you need to tell me 'Maria… I want to come inside you'--- Yes, quietly moaning with a sweet voice!"

After responding to the overly cheeky succubus girl with silence for a while,

"Maria…"

"Basara-san."

Maria unnecessarily sparkled her eyes, whereas Toujo Basara dropped his right fist onto her head.

A dull 'BAM' sound. Maria leaked an "Ouh" voice of anguish, then turned teary.

"Y- You raised your hand against a girl!"

"Yeah… I'm a horrible guy. But you're even more horrible, so I had no other choice!"

Basara swiftly pulled back both his hands through the sleeves, then pushed away Maria's body inside the T-Shirt to a secure space.

Then he kept his eyes shut so as not to see her naked and immediately retreated out of the T-Shirt.

Basara, naked on top, said to Maria, who wore his T-Shirt like a one-piece dress.

"Actually, what's with 'quietly moaning with a sweet voice'? …Well, though I somehow already know."

"The Japanese language is quite difficult. But I believe the important part in communication is to convey your feelings. The MIND."

"No. The important part in communication is etiquette and common sense."

First of all, never enter my T-Shirt without my consent. I'll sue you for illegal trespassing.

===Part 2===

"Jeez, what a morning…"

Basara left his room wearily. He couldn't let Maria be naked, so he gave up on getting his T-Shirt back for now and went down the stairs dressed in shorts and topless.

The end of summer with no sight of fall coming. The temperature was still high, so he didn't feel cold.

To awaken his half-asleep head, Basara headed to the washroom.

While scratching the back of his head, he opened the wood patterned door and went inside.

"---------"

Inadvertently he stood still. Because there stood the other girl that was living together with Basara--- Naruse Mio.

---Basara came to the washroom to wash his face and brush his teeth, but the place had another function.

It was the changing room for those that entered the bath in the back. Therefore,

"……."

Basara was captivated by Mio and her appearance.

A single bath towel--- That was how Mio right in front of him looked like right now.

She was beautiful. He didn't know if she took a morning bath or shower. Nevertheless, her flushed face, but also her body still covered with water drops and her shiny wet hair that reached till her waist; all of it was beautiful.

Moreover, her proportions were already closer to an irregularity than unsurpassable. Her overly tempting big breasts and curves that ran from her slender waist over her bottom down to her thighs, drew a charming body line that wasn't typical for the Japanese. Her body was clad in a white bath towel, which boosted her sex-appeal, and perfectly emphasized that Mio was a girl.
Basara inadvertently stood stock still from the stimulation that was too strong right after getting up, whereupon

"-----"

He saw Mio's face getting red, taking a breath. She's gonna scream--- The moment he thought so, Basara reflexively moved. He opened the door of the washroom/changing room behind him, rushed out at once and considered how to apologize.

''…However.''

To avoid such incidents, they supposedly made various arrangements as a countermeasure when they started to live together. Even so, the sign with "Girl's time" hadn't been hung on the door. Did she forget to hang it? No, Mio wouldn't make such a careless mistake. Then,

''…Must've been Maria…''

Most likely, before Maria came to Basara's room, she passed by the bathroom and removed the sign that Mio had put up. Nothing unusual for the prankster Maria. How troublesome.

That said, he knew what to do. He didn't know if Mio would believe his excuse, but he could only properly explain the circumstances to her and beg for her forgiveness. So Basara nodded with "Okay"--- and suddenly realized. Before he had noticed, Mio stood right before him.

He had thought for sure that she would be filled with rage, but Mio didn't say anything.

"? Huh…?"

There Basara realized another thing. His left hand was around Mio's waist while his right covered her mouth. And--- for some reason, Basara was ''inside the bathroom instead of outside''.

"…Ehm, just what's going on…?"

While saying so, his intonation at the end of his sentence was trembling. He broke out in a cold sweat.

Mh, how weird. By chance, could it actually be?

In other words, it was that. His mind, faced with an extreme situation, escaped reality and made him imagine leaving the bathroom. Something like an alternative future kaleidoscope? In reality, he had forcefully pulled Mio, who was going to raise a scream, closer and covered her mouth against her will!?

"-------"

Oh my god. He wanted to prevent her from screaming due to a misunderstanding that bad? Apparently his body had outdone his mind. That said, the situation had only taken a turn for the worse, getting to the worst case. As Mio's bath towel had fallen down in the moment he forcefully pulled her closer and shut her up by covering her mouth, their bodies were in direct contact now.

"……."

She must have been perplexed by the all too sudden situation. As she didn't know how to react, Mio - dumbfounded - stayed in Basara's arm without moving.

Anyhow, right now Mio was completely naked. Since Basara lent Maria the shirt he was wearing, his top half was naked. What happened when they hugged in that state was clearer than crystal clear.

Even while he knew he shouldn't, Basara dropped his gaze, where Mio's overly voluminous breasts stuck to his stomach region and to prove their first-rate softness, they were squeezed into a lewd shape. Different from Maria's, their size and sensation were both visually and sensually destructive to the max.

"S- Sorry, this--- Uwah!?"

Basara tried to hastily jump back and grandly slipped on the water that had dropped from Mio's body and hair. Naturally the embraced Mio was dragged into it too.

"---Kyaa"

Basara instantly reacted to the scream from within his arms. While forcefully twisting his body in mid-air, he pulled Mio closer and somehow managed to bring his body under hers before they hit the ground. Turning himself into a cushion, the impact Mio received from the fall was reduced. Since he was holding Mio, both his hands were occupied, but he barely managed to absorb the fall with his back, arms, and shoulders.

Even so, the impact from the fall gave him a dull pain and he tried to get up while scowling.

Like that, he plunged his head into some soft things.

"---Hyahn!?"

"? S- Sorry!"

On her surprised voice, Basara noticed his next mistake. He most likely had buried his face into Mio's breasts. He hastily grabbed Mio's shoulders and tried to get away.

"Hey, Yah… Not, there…"

But Mio raised a sweet voice in bewilderment, leaving Basara surprised about the sudden occurrence.

Not only because of Mio's voice, but also because the shoulder he supposedly grabbed was surprisingly soft.

---Of course a girl's body was softer than a boy's, with no exception at the shoulders.

However, this sensation was clearly from something different than a shoulder. And then Toujou Basara finally realized the situation he was in.

"Eh…m."

Mio's face, who he had thought was right before him, wasn't there. There was only a crack. Her bottom.

However it happened, Mio was on top of Basara the other way around of him.

Basara hadn't plunged his head into Mio's breasts, but her groin area. And what he grabbed, believing it to be her shoulders, was her bottom. On top of having ended up tightly holding the curving portion on both sides that led to her thighs, he ended up spreading that crack by pushing up what he believed to be her shoulders. Basara unexpectedly got a look at Mio's everything.

"---KYAAAAAAAAAA"

This time Mio hastily jumped away from Basara along with a scream. Grabbing the bath towel on the ground with her face red, she pulled it up to herself to hide her body.

"Why're you coming in when I'm already inside!? Pervert! I'll kill you a hundred times!"

Even though there was a more important matter, Mio shouted the original problem as she got upset.

"Sorry! The door didn't have the sign, so I thought---"

"Liar! Come up with a better lie for an excuse, Basara!"

"No, it's not a lie! Really, believe me!"

Basara opened the bathroom door by pulling it to himself while shaking his head from side to side.

"See, no sign. Right?"

"No way… I certainly put it on."

Mio, seeing that there was no sign, couldn't believe it.

"Don't tell me, you hid it… Did you want to peek on me bathing and if you were to get caught, you wanted to blame me for forgetting the sign while saying 'It's an accident'?"

"As if! Besides--- if I did a cowardly act like that, ''everything would be over!''"

Living together with Mio and Maria started with the talk about Jin's remarriage. In the end, the remarriage was just made-up, but even so, Basara considered Mio and Maria as his little sisters--- as his new family. That didn't even change after he found out that Mio was actually the daughter of the previous Devil Lord Wilbert and that Maria is her succubus attendant. ''The reason was that the same applied to Basara and Jin as well.'' However, their relationship was far from normal and to live together under the same roof, trust was needed more than anything.

---Just the other day, Basara drove away the enemy that came after Mio and succeeded in saving Mio from her inherited power that had gone out of control. One way or another he managed to help the girl he wanted and swore to protect. Before, there had been some anxiety in their mutual trust, but Basara believed that thanks to that incident they would be able to get through together now. As proof,

"… I see. Yeah, right…"

Mio, calming down a bit, accepted Basara's words. If he had done any dirty act that betrayed Mio, the finally established trust would be ruined.

Basara wouldn't do something so stupid--- She must have believed so.

"But… then why?"

"I didn't remove the sign you put up. That only leaves one suspect, right?"

To be honest, Basara didn't want to suspect the other person living with him. He didn't want to, but she slipped into his T-Shirt early in the morning after all. He might have taken her side if that hadn't happened, but now he could no longer cover for her.

"Mhm~ I see… That's how it is. Then I'll have a looong talk with her later."

Mio said while showing an intense smile, but suddenly,

"But--- You should be able to know my whereabouts with the Master-Servant magic. Why did you come inside?"

"Hey… Have you forgotten about it in your rage?"

Basara sighed on her question. Certainly, Basara and Mio had formed a "certain contract" with magic and if they wanted, they could locate each other. But,

"We agreed to not search for each other with it unless it's an emergency, since it's an invasion of privacy."

At worst, they could find out various things like when one was taking a bath, when one was on the toilet and for how long they did that. Even if they were a family living under the same roof, it honestly wasn't wise to know that much about the other.

Above all, they were teens.

A minimal amount of privacy and consideration called for the appropriate indifference needed for a boy and a girl living together. It was a pact made out of necessity for them and they agreed to not search for each other habitually.

"You're right, sorry… But Basara, why did you suddenly cover my mouth then instead of getting out when you noticed I was inside earlier? And you were quite forceful at it."

''…Right. Of course she would be bothered about that.''

"Moreover--- Why aren't you wearing anything on top today of all days?"

When asked further with an upturned gaze, Basara was at a loss for an answer.

Forcefully covering Mio's mouth was a reflexively unconscious action.

To explain the matter about him being topless would also require telling her about the incident with Maria.

But he got the feeling that explaining either of these would only sound like an excuse.

"Ehm…. I'm sorry."

Basara lowered his head. He himself was partly responsible for making Mio feel embarrassed.

"I see--- But it's fine, you don't need to apologize, Basara."

On this calm voice, Basara made a sigh of relief while raising his head--- and then he saw.

Mio, clad in the bath towel again, grinning while emitting a pale glint from her body.

"---I'll forgive you with fifty thousand volts."

The moment she said so, the small lightning she released turned into a high-voltage stream and ran through Basara's whole body.

===Part 3===

"Aw, damn… What a disaster."

After Mio gave him that lightning attack and left the bathroom, Basara got into the bath and took a shower. He wanted to wash his body that had carelessly dropped on the floor topless, and while it was the end of summer, the heat was still enough to make him sweat during sleep. Because of that, Mio must have taken a shower like Basara now too.

---There was a reason to why Toujou Basara could accept a situation like that.

It wasn't only because he ran into Mio in the bath numerous times or had bold morning happenings with the other gender due to Maria. Maria was, like she proclaimed herself, a succubus, meaning a devil that appeared in dreams, whereas Mio was raised as a human, but could use powerful magic as she was the child of the late previous Devil Lord. Naturally it would be rather difficult for a normal human to live together with these two.

Even so--- Toujou Basara could stay and live together with Mio and Maria, because he had a tolerance for principles that escaped the common world.

That tolerance was related to Basara's birth and past.

"…………."

Suddenly recalling his past, Basara got a gloomy expression. Even so,

"I have to keep it together…"

Basara's reliable father--- Toujou Jin was currently out of house due to certain reasons.

Put in charge, he had to protect his sisters, Mio and Maria, by himself as the oldest son.

"Fuh…"

While washing away the sweat, the shower gradually warmed up Basara's body. It was a human instinct to wash one's head too when getting it wet.

"Argh…"

His body was still a bit numb from Mio's lightning attack, so he couldn't properly wash his head.

"---Leave it to me."

Along with a calm voice, slender fingers entered Basara's hair and started to gently wash his head and hair.

Just like at a barber, it felt pleasant to have someone else wash your head.

"Oh, thanks. How thoughtful…. Eh?"

Basara noticed the abnormal situation too late since it was conducted all so naturally, and finally turned around. There was a girl clad in a bath towel making a puzzled face.

Finely chiselled features. Looks that could pass her off as a model because of her tall and slender figure.

A clear beautiful girl of a different type from Mio and Maria.

"Y- Yuki… wh- why are you here…?"

Basara was inadvertently surprised and confused. Right in front of his eyes was his childhood friend Nonaka Yuki.

---A few days ago, Basara had reunited with Yuki after five years. Yuki had become so beautiful that she appeared to be a different person. Basara had only known her young appearance, so he was honestly surprised at her change and growth.

That said, they only met each other again and certainly didn't live together. In fact Yuki shouldn't be in the Toujou House--- let alone the bath in the morning. She made her usual expressionless face.

"I came to pick you up. I wanted to go to school together with you."

"I- Is that so… No wait, how did you get into the house?"

Regrettably, there was quite some bad blood between Yuki and Mio/Maria.

It resulted from their standpoints and partly due to their emotions.

"Through the door. The succubus let me in."

That damn loli succubus. She wasn't satisfied by just slipping into my t-shirt, she also had to play yet another ridiculous prank!

"But, when did you get into the bath…?"

"I didn't want to disturb you so early in the morning. ---So I completely erased my presence."

"Your modesty is getting out of hand!"

A guy with a weak heart would die, when someone suddenly washed his head from behind!

Yuki uncaringly brought her body closer.

"Basara… can I wash you?"

"N- No, it's not good to be in here together, Yuki… You know that, right?"

"…Why? We often did so in the past."

"No, that was five years ago--- when we were kids!"

They both were no longer innocent kids. Even through the bath towel, he could tell. Yuki's body strongly emphasized that she was already a fine woman.

Basara hastily wrapped a towel around his waist.

"Besides, you can try to play calm, but your face is red, Yuki… You're embarrassed, right?"

"……..Yeah. A bit. But I wanted to take a bath with you."

One breath.

"Do you… hate taking one with me, Basara?"

"No, I wouldn't say that I hate it…"

Being looked at from below at a very close distance, Basara inadvertently averted his eyes out of shame. He was hesitant to say "I would love to", so he equivocated, but she seemed to understand that as a refusal.

"Huh… Ehm, Yuki-san?"

"………"

Yuki had gotten a somewhat displeased expression. And,

"…You took one with Naruse Mio and that succubus, yet you ain't takin' one with me?"

Her speech showed a bit of her dialect. It was a habit that occurred when she couldn't suppress her emotions.

The stuff Maria revealed the other day on the rooftop must still affect her--- But, it was already too late by the time he analyzed that.

"H- Hey…!?"

Not listening to Basara's attempt to stop her, Yuki undid the knot of her own bath towel.

The white cloth fell onto the ground and Yuki's smooth and beautiful skin was exposed.

He hastily turned around, but even so he had gotten a good look.

On how much Nonaka Yuki had grown and how beautiful her body had gotten. Moreover,

"---Basara, let me wash you."

Saying so in a more demanding tone than before, Yuki pressed her body firmly onto Basara's back by hugging onto him. Yuki put her cheek against Basara's back, which had gotten all stiff from the earlier destructive sensation.

"If you don't let me wash you--- I'll do something even bolder."

Her calm voice was filled with seriousness, so Basara resigned right away.

"F- Fine… Wash me. So spare me of anything more…!"

He was neither a hermit nor a saint. He was a healthy young boy. It was bad enough already, so if she were to do anything more, his reasoning would completely break.

As she regained a bit of her spirits by getting his approval, Yuki changed her tone back into a calm one with "Then don't move" and started to wash Basara's head. Her gentle and careful handiwork made him feel Yuki's serious personality and above all, her precious feelings towards him.

''…Five years, huh.''

Compared to the time when they were young and innocently washed each other's body, both Basara and Yuki had changed in various ways now. Not just their age, but also their standpoints and relationships.

---However, there was still something that hadn't changed.

How Yuki felt preciously about Basara.

Likewise, the way Toujou Basara felt about Yuki as someone important was unaltered.

"….."

"….."

At some point both of them had fallen silent.

[[Image:Shinmai v02 025.jpg|thumb]]

But it wasn't awkward. It was just a silence brought about from their feelings.

Before long, the water from the shower washed Basara's head clean. Then,

"….Basara."

Suddenly. Yuki called out to him from behind. In a really quiet voice.

"You and Jin-san won't ever come back to the <village>…?"

Basara replied with silence to the asked question. That was the very reason why Basara could accept Mio, a descendant from the Devil Lord, and Maria, a succubus.

---The <village> Yuki mentioned wasn't referring to a simple village in the countryside.

Earlier Yuki had said that the succubus had let her into the house.

That was a statement from someone that admitted the existence of devils like Maria. To protect this world from devils, the <Hero Tribe> kept fighting since ancient times--- That was Nonaka Yuki's true identity.

And Toujo Basara as well, had once fought for the same mission.

Yes--- Until five years ago, when ''the cruel tragedy befell the <village>''.

A lot of villagers were massacred by a young man that was possessed by a sealed S rank evil spirit.

At that time, Basara saw a lot of comrades getting killed before his eyes and even his friends were in danger, so his own power went out of control. His skill <Banishing Shift> that actually was supposed to erase only an enemy's attack, banished everything, like the possessed young man and the limbs of his killed comrades, into the zero-dimensional space. Afterwards the <village> decided to confine Basara to a prison, but Jin, Basara's father, objected. As a result, Basara and Jin were stripped of their Hero title and had to leave the village. In other words, they were chased out. Therefore,

"…I think that'll prove to be difficult."

Of course he had a nostalgia towards the <village>. But the scars the tragedy caused five years ago still remained unchanged. Be it in the village, in the villagers--- and even in Basara himself.

Even now, five years later, Basara kept having nightmares of that day.

---Besides. Toujou Basara had already set out on a new path.

To protect the girl, who unwillingly inherited the power of the previous Devil Lord and was chased for it by the current Devil Lord and his subordinates--- Naruse Mio. Neither the Devil Lord, Mio's standpoint as a devil or his past as a Hero mattered. He swore to protect the two as a family, as their brother.

But that was something adverse to the Hero Tribe's doctrine. That Yuki helped out in the battle the other day was an exception of exceptions. They both understood that.

"But Basara---"

It was in the moment when Yuki tried to say something with a somewhat pleading tone.

Outside the bath--- The door that separated the anteroom of the bath from the hallway, opened after a knock.

"Could it be… you're still inside, Basara? Breakfast's been done for a while now, you know."

Basara froze up on Mio's voice from the anteroom.

She must have come to get Basara, since he just wouldn't finish his shower. Even though that incident happened just a few minutes ago--- Mio was basically very caring. When they moved into this new house to live together, she also tagged along with him when he asked her to show him around, albeit stating her complaints. The education of her late foster parents that raised her in the human world must have been good. They seemingly were subordinates of Mio's real father, the previous Devil Lord, but they must have been good people without a doubt.

---However, now wasn't the time to reminisce about Mio's past.

After all Basara was currently together with the naked Yuki in the bath.

"S- Sorry… I'm coming now. Yeah, I'll be able to get out in a bit…"

While replying hastily, Basara handed Yuki the bath towel that was laying on the floor. When he urged her, "Please wear it!", with his eyes, Yuki started to wrap up herself with the bath towel while showing an annoyed face.

"…Hey Basara, are you angry about earlier?"

There came a question from Mio with a little worried tone. She must have thought that the lightning attack was overdoing it.

"B- But you were at fault, you hear… I mean, I just got out of the bath, but you suddenly came in and hugged me. You were so rough, so the bath towel became undone and even did that during the commotion… I was really embarrassed."

"S- Sorry… But that was…!"

Basara raised a scream in his heart. What Mio mentioned was certainly the truth. It was the truth, but from that selective utterance, one who didn't know the circumstances would probably misunderstand. And as expected,

"--------"

Yuki narrowed her eyes and opened the fogged window of the bath for some reason. And then,

"(H- Hey, what're you doing…Yuki?!)"

In front of Basara, who asked with a small voice, Yuki unwrapped her own bath towel of all things and threw it out of the window. ''GYAA'', from the shock, Basara became like the painting "The Scream" from Munch.

"? What's up, Basara?"

"N- Nothing. It's nothing."

He desperately tried to smooth it over, but Yuki closed the window and approached Basara.

As he couldn't escape because of Mio, she clung to him from the front.

"Basara… what did you do in the commotion?"

"(W- Well, just a little accident… Really!)"

Basara declared, trying to pacify Yuki who asked him by looking up to him. Whereupon outside the bath,

"Well… if you say so." Mio said.

"But Basara--- Why is there a female school uniform and underwear, which don't belong to me here? And they're folded so neatly."

Sorry, these are mine. I'm actually a cross-dresser, ahahaha--- That's not gonna work, damnit!

Excuses were impossible. Basara resigned and at the same time, the door of the bath opened mercilessly.

"…………."

Awkward to the max. After a silence from all three, Mio opened her mouth first.

"…What has water on top and a big fire below?"

"A, A bath, right…?"

While being clung onto by the naked Yuki at the same time, Basara answered with "Haha".

"---Certainly. Well then, what has fire everywhere, top and below?"

Mio's dangerous eyes were saying: Trick question, go.

"W- Well~ I wonder what. Maybe a burnt out SNS?"

"No, wrong--- You see, it's you, who'll be covered in flames now!"

The emotion she held back exploded. She was about to release her magic like her rising anger--- In that moment, Mio suddenly shivered her body with an "Ah". And then,

"Yah… No way, now…? ---Ahhn."

While suddenly letting out a sweet voice, Mio slumped and sunk down on the floor.

"H- Hey--- Are you okay?"

When he hastily rushed over, there was a collar-like mark around Mio's neck.

"Uwah… The curse of the Master and Servant contract!"

"…What's the matter?"

Yuki was puzzled by Mio's strange behaviour, whereas Basara looked at Mio, who emitted a sweet allure, while giving her the bath towel that he had prepared for himself.

''…It hadn't activated for a while now.''

Actually--- Basara and Mio were currently bound by a magic "Master and Servant Contract".

Maria suggested it, since the contracting parties could locate each other, so when Mio was in danger, Basara could find her.

Originally Mio was supposed to be the Master, but for some reason the contract was formed reversed. Basara had become Mio's Master.

Moreover, this contract aimed at solidifying the relationship between Master and Servant, so when the servant betrayed or had a guilty consciousness towards the master, the curse immediately activated.

Their contract was chanted with the help of Maria's power, so the activating curse got the special characteristic of Maria the succubus.

---Dream Devil, Incubus, Succubus. Its special characteristic was "aphrodisiac".

During the incident where Basara had entered the anteroom with Mio in it, she chanted the lightning attack after Basara's apology, so there was no problem. But this time Mio was worried if she maybe overdid it earlier. So when she tried to attack Basara now, she must have felt guilty somewhere in the back of her heart. That might have switched on the curse.

"Yah, Ah… Hahn, Fuh… Mm…"

She desperately bit down on her lips to stifle her voice, but she couldn't suppress the stream of pleasure that beset her whole body.

Mio twisted her body on the floor unbearably, whereupon the door of the anteroom was opened with attitude.

"Excuse me! Did I make it right here for Mio-sama getting all submissive in pleasure?!"

Howsoever she noticed, Maria came in quickly.

And when she saw Mio on the floor and the naked Basara and Yuki, she sparkled her eyes with "Ohh".

"I thought this would happen, so I bought this in advance. The world's smallest and lightest! The never fading memories, the memorials of youth will be with you!"

Swiftly setting up a small video camera that she pulled out from wheresoever, Maria started to film Mio.

"…………"

Basara wordlessly grabbed her at the nape of her neck, threw her into the bath, shut the door and mercilessly blocked it from his side with a mop and the washing machine. BAM BAM, the sound of the door being hit came from the other side right away.

"What are you doing, Basara-san! Are you still angry about the t-shirt? I apologize for hiding Mio-sama's bathing sign! I can stay here, but at least the camera… Please use the camera at least! For my pride and soul as a succubus, I have to film the current Mio-sama!"

"Shut up! Restrain yourself, damn loli succubus!"

Basara succeeded in isolating the root of all this, squatted down beside Mio and softly lifted her up.

"---Are you okay, Mio?"

"It's your fault… Mm, St- Stupid ''Brother…'' I'll kill you a hundred times."

Mio, full of pleasure, entwined her arms around Basara's neck and tightly clung to him, albeit vexing. Calling Basara "Brother" was Mio's unconscious habit that appeared when the curse of the Master and Servant Contract activated.

But most likely the activated curse wasn't that strong. If she were to lay down and rest, the curse should ease up soon. Nevertheless Mio had an unyielding spirit. She surely didn't want Yuki to see her like this. The only way to cancel the curse in no time was for Basara to subjugate the servant--- Mio, as her master, and confirm her loyalty.

''The things he could do were inevitably limited'' in this state, where she drowned in pleasure. Therefore,

"Okay… Let's go to your room."

It certainly would be embarrassing to use the sofa in the living room so early in the morning.

"Sorry, Yuki… She's feeling a bit bad, so I have to tend to her. I'll be right back, so wait in the living room after you put on your clothes."

"…………Okay."

As she understood that Mio's state was strange, Yuki nodded, albeit a bit displeased. So Basara left the anteroom while carrying Mio.

Walking down the hallway, he thought while going up the stairs to the second floor.

He wanted to protect Mio's everyday life, but he got the feeling that it didn't include this situation.

At this rate Basara's reasoning, endurance, soul and body definitely wouldn't last.

At some point he would certainly commit a mistake. He couldn't afford to hurt Mio--- his little sister in that horrible way.

Therefore Toujou Basara mumbled quietly. It was a shame to abandon the merit of being able to locate each other, but

"On the next full moon, where we can annul the contract, I'll break this Master and Servant Contract--- My body can't take it."

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| Back to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 2 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
| Return to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 2 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Epilogue

2021-03-07T06:35:43Z

Zhanzhuang: Grammar

==Epilogue: What he Wants to Protect==

===Part 1===

After the battle at the park at midnight--- Toujou Basara was confined to bed for a while.

After all, he overdid it as his wound from the rooftop wasn't healed yet, and on top of that he suffered a grave wound from having his stomach pierced.

Even so, he could avoid going to the hospital, because Yuki gave them a special recovery medicine from the Tribe.

They told the school that he had a summer cold. Same for Mio, so that she could nurse Basara.

It had been five days since the incident--- Basara finally recovered and could safely attend school again.

---And then. Basara was slowly going up the stairs at school, heading for the rooftop.

Currently it was right in the middle of fourth period. In other words, he was skipping. It was possible that he could be found by someone and above all, Mio was back to school from today on too. Originally he wasn't supposed to take his eyes off her, but

"Well, it should be okay…"

The enemy didn't attack again after the battle at the park. First Basara, then Mio and Yuki were injured and took a couple of days to recover, which should've been a perfect chance for the enemy to strike. Despite that, nothing happened at all, so apparently the case was settled for now.

''…Mio's "certain Power" still remained gone.''

Agitated by seeing Basara nearly dying, Mio ended up letting the power she inherited from Wilbert go out of control, but a full awakening--- didn't happen. Afterwards she tried to use the gravity magic numerous times, but it never worked. In the end, she was back to how she was before.

---Back then. Basara's <Banishing Shift> succeeded and completely erased Mio's rampaging power.

Maybe it erased the inherited power along with it--- was what Mio speculated. Mio's feelings to get revenge for her parents still remained, but the reason for the current Devil Lord to go after Mio was gone. Likewise it eliminated the need for the Hero Tribe to be wary of Mio and have Yuki observe her.

The situation was developing favourably. But,

''…I'm afraid that's too good to be true.''

At best, Basara's <Banishing Shift> only erased the torrent of Mio's power that had leaked to the outside.

Most likely, if he had tried to erase the power inside her, she herself would've gotten erased. But that alone, is something he didn't want to do.

Therefore Basara bet on the most difficult, but ideal possibility.

Thus, not everything was over now. Even so, it was peaceful for now.

Right now, he should be happy for at least that.

---After finishing the climb up the stairs, Basara got onto the rooftop. First his vision fell onto a clear blue color. The beautiful sky. A transparent blue sky that could only be witnessed in the summer. A bright sunlight was shining down, but it wasn't an unpleasant humidity. At times a cool and refreshing wind was blowing, gently caressing his body.

Then Basara noticed that someone else was already present in the corner of the rooftop. It was a boy that looked up at the blue sky like Basara with both arms on the fence that prevented people from falling off--- Takigawa. When Takigawa noticed him,

"Hey--- Basacchi. Back to school and skipping already?"

He said with a teasing voice. While making a wry smile, Basara approached Takigawa.

"You're one to say. You boldly skipped before me."

"Got over your cold? Guess you really caught it from Naruse the other day?"

"Well, could be… Anyway, were you alright?"

"…Mh? Ah, you mean from the school store?"

Right, Takigawa remembered.

"That was too much, Basacchi. Suddenly ramming your elbow into my solar plexus and leaving me behind like that. Do you know how miserable I felt when I woke up all alone?"

"My bad… But I didn't mean that."

A wry smile. Then Toujou Basara said,

''"At the park, I messed you up quite bad--- I'm impressed you didn't die."''

In that moment, a cold silence spread on rooftop in the middle of summer.

"…….What're you talking about?"

"You wanna play dumb? Fine--- but don't regret it later."

Basara leaned over to Takigawa, who didn't change his expression despite that.

"Hey Basacchi…"

In response to the confused Takigawa, Basara flared up his eyes and swung his arm with Godspeed.

With a sword it would've been a side-slash. Indeed--- Brynhildr wasn't in his hand. But,

"------"

Instantly, Takigawa was far away. That--- wasn't something feasible for a normal human. All emotions had already vanished from Takigawa's face, whereas Basara laughed abruptly.

"Don't blame yourself, Takigawa, that's a natural reaction. After you didn't die from my consecutive attacks, you should have seen how I erased Mio's power… Anyone would absolutely choose to dodge when I give it killing intent, even if only for show."

To Basara's words, Takigawa remained silent for a while.

But--- before long he made a big sigh, then resigning, scratched his head.

"Aww, and here I thought I had you fooled."

After saying so, Takigawa came over to him.

"--- When did you notice?"

"After everything was over. Thanks to you I was bedridden… While I lay in my bed covered in bandages, I had time to think about a lot of stuff."

Basara shrugged his shoulders.

"I got the clue after I defeated the white mask--- you at the park. When I tried to approach Mio, your subordinate "Shadow" pierced my stomach with a small sword… But that's the strange point. It tried to continue the fight even though its commanding superior was defeated."

After all,

"You guys were ordered to retrieve Wilbert's power from Mio because you serve the current Devil Lord. Normally, one would retreat at once and report the situation."

"What about the possibility that it feared punishment for failing the mission and tried to save face at least?"

"Sure, that's possible--- But, there's another possibility."

Basara declared to Takigawa's words.

"That the ‘Shadow' wasn't the subordinate of the white mask, but was a puppet created by magic."

Then it would explain why the "Shadow" remained there. The "Shadow" wasn't all too powerful. Most likely it was a type of puppet that could only execute simple commands. The "Shadow" probably just obeyed Takigawa's order and attacked Basara.

"…But when the ‘Shadow' is a magic puppet, then it brings up new questions. You were surprised at the "Shadows" in the school store during the black-out at night. But you know, Devils might intentionally reveal their appearances, but puppets made by magic shouldn't be visible to normal humans."

"I see. But wouldn't you normally think then that the ‘Shadows' aren't magic puppets?"

"But it was worth testing out. If you had been a normal human, you wouldn't have reacted to my killing intent. A safe method to get confirmation, isn't it?"

"From your argument, it sounded like you were already sure of it…"

Takigawa still wasn't convinced, whereas Basara said "Kind of".

"…Remember how you told me at school store in that night that Mio looked flushed and embarrassed when she collapsed?"

That had been a fact. Because the activated curse of the Master and Servant Contract was giving her pleasure.

Therefore Basara naturally didn't question Takigawa's words at that time.

"But when I thought about it, it was strange. Sure, Mio is strict with me and might have gotten embarrassed about it, but lately she had been going to the infirmary under the pretext of health problems. When you see her with a red face then, you normally would first think of a fever."

"…..So that‘s the reason."

Oops, Takigawa face-palmed.

"I screwed up… After seeing her strange reactions numerous times, I understood at once that her attendant succubus was involved. So it was harder to hold back my laughter than to pretend not to notice it. I tried to behave naturally, but… to think that lead me to a slip of words instead."

A disappointed wry smile. Then,

"---So? What now, Basacchi?"

Putting on a gruesome smile, Takigawa asked.

"I don't really mind if you want to continue from the park."

Upon that, the air around Basara and Takigawa suddenly became tense. Like the peaceful rooftop had suddenly turned into a battlefield.

For a while they confronted each other wordless. Basara made the first move. Relaxing his shoulders, he laughed.

"…Not today. As I am right now, I have no chance against you alone. Besides--- Rather than fighting, I would like to negotiate with you."

"Negotiate…?"

Takigawa asked puzzled, whereas Basara nodded with "Yeah".

"I guess you got dispatched from the current Devil Lord faction to observe Mio. I'm sure you were ordered to stimulate the awakening of Wilbert's power if possible, but seeing as you went out of your way to pretend to be human and attend the same school as Mio, I can only imagine that you are to observe her."

Takigawa responded with silence. Taking it as an affirmation, Basara continued.

"The reason you chose a forceful method this time is because Mio gained a new family to protect her---my existence. Mio's magic powers were triggered by the death of her foster parents. You surely plotted to have Wilbert's power awaken from the shock of seeing me in the same predicament. I was ideal for that, since you wanted to end your mission quickly, so you approached me, right?"

"…Well, partly. But it's true that I couldn't stand seeing you all alone. After all, I was out of the loop at first too, attending an unfamiliar human high school. Seeing you being left out on your first day made me remember those bitter days."

"…Really?"

Surprisingly his isolation was so great that the enemy sympathized with him.

However--- Basara suddenly smiled faintly. Because the killing intent coming from Takigawa in front of him vanished.

He must have gotten interested in what Basara wanted to say. Therefore,

"Either way, you got hasty and screwed up. The current Devil Lord, who wants to get his hands on Wilbert's power, only ordered you to observe, because it's possible that the power will disappear along with Mio if you carelessly killed her. But, now you got exposed as an observer. You even failed in your forceful method. Isn't that bad in a lot of ways for you?"

"I wonder… I think it won't turn into a problem if I seal your mouth by killing you."

"Even if you kill me, you can't afford to kill Mio. You can't cover it up. Takigawa, you're in trouble. That's why you were lamenting here alone."

Takigawa, astonished, kept silent to Basara's guess.

This was a good chance. So Basara proposed. The earlier mentioned "negotiations".

"Still--- ''if you say that you'll resume your original observer task from now on '', then I won't mind helping you. I'll keep it a secret from the current Devil Lord faction that your true identity was exposed."

On Basara's proposal, Takigawa frowned.

"…What's the deal?"

"Due to your failure, they'll surely send in a new guy. ''A troublesome one that's stronger than you'', to avoid the same failure. They might even give up on surveillance and make a forceful approach."

But,

"It took all of our current strength to compete with you, so we have no chance against such a guy. Even if we manage to win, just an even stronger one will appear next. At worst, they'll press on us with numbers. Then we really have no chance of winning. So it's much better for us for you to keep doing your observation like nothing happened for a while longer."

And,

"Like that, no one will know about your blunder either--- Not a bad deal, right?"

Joining hands with his enemy Takigawa.

That was the idea he got from the advice he received from the nurse Hasegawa Chisato.

She had said: If you make enemies, increase your allies. And for both allies and enemies the quantity wasn't important, but the quality--- One can't weigh the odds of quantity and quality. It must have meant that you shouldn't treat an enemy as an enemy to the bitter end, but make an effort to make your current enemy into your ally, when you wanted to gain new allies. Even if he was all alone in class right now, it was no reason to give up. It could be perfectly applied to the current situation around Mio as well.

Because Yuki, a current Hero, helped Mio at the park.

Enemies and allies changed, depending on the time. If so--- The determination to join hands with Takigawa was needed for Basara and the others to persevere. Then,

"…I see. Sure, your deal isn't bad."

Before long, Takigawa mumbled isolated to Basara's proposal.

"But you're forgetting… We're enemies. It wouldn't be strange to betray each other at any time when the situation changes. How do you plan to join hands without any trust?"

"I don't think we have to worry about that…"

The situation didn't leave much room, but he too was picky about his allies.

He wouldn't have negotiated to begin with, if he had thought it was impossible.

On Takigawa's words, Basara scratched his cheek.

"Because we're friends… isn't that enough?"

"Yeah, I'm afraid so."

Then, he said.

"''Because I'm--- still alive now.''"

"What you tried to do was basically a shock therapy."

Basara declared in front of Takigawa.

"Choosing a method that shocks Mio as much as possible would have been the most effective. But you didn't kill me…. Not only that, the ‘Shadow' that pierced my torso avoided my vital spots as best as possible with its short sword. Pretty much like threading a pin--- with utmost caution. Precisely because of that I could save Mio and was saved myself, even after late treatment."

"Well, it simply means you were lucky."

"No. Like you had said, we were supposed to have a fight to the death. Sorry, but I'm not so naive to brush it off as pure luck after being saved from such a situation."

Besides, said Basara.

"The main part of your plan should have been to raise Mio's trust in me. Because then the shock from seeing me collapse would be huge. But in that case, there was one big obstacle."

"Hee… Who?"

"''Maria''. Now that Mio lost her foster parents, Maria, who kept staying at her side, is the person she can trust the most. She always stays close to Mio, more than I do."

Therefore,

"The best way would've been to get rid of Maria and then to kill me, her last mental support, after you have cornered Mio's mentality to its limit. Recently Maria has been patrolling the city by herself, hunting low-class stray devils. And you're stronger than her. You should have had enough chances to get rid of her. But--- You didn't do so."

Just like he was overlooking Maria. Just like he was actually being considerate of Mio.

Just like--- ''Someone else gave him the exact opposite order'' besides the one from the current Devil Lord.

---That said, he certainly wouldn't speak that out. It was merely a guess filled with Basara's wishful observations. But if Basara's guess turned out to be right, that fact should've been Takigawa Yahiro's secret, never to be revealed to others. But if Basara were to suggestively tell him that he realized that possibility--- and that he sympathized with his standing.

Then a trust would certainly be established. Big enough to join hands.

"That's the reason I trust you, Takigawa. I hope… that it'll become a reason for you to trust me too."

Then Basara cut off his words. Because he had already said everything he was supposed to say.

He had played his trump card. Now he could only wait for Takigawa's answer.

For a long time, Takigawa didn't say anything. He pondered about something the whole time. Basara had called it negotiations, but for Takigawa, it was partly a threat too. He was hesitant, which had to be positive. --- How much time had passed? Soon,

"Sorry, but your story doesn't tell me anything, Basacchi…"

"…I see."

No luck, huh.

"---But, this incident really jeopardized my position."

said Takigawa with a sigh.

"For now, I'll accept… your idea."

He spoke out the words Basara wanted to hear with a wry smile. Therefore,

"…Thanks."

Basara returned the smile.

---He didn't know if his earlier guess was right or wrong. Given that it was right, it would be a betrayal against the current Devil Lord if Takigawa admitted it and at the same time, he would fail his secret mission. There was no way Takigawa would unnecessarily admit that, even if Basara's guess was right. But at least for now, Takigawa said he would cooperate. Then it was a job well done today.

And then--- The chime rang the end of the fourth period. Lunch break started.

"Now then, I'd better go back."

Saying so, Takigawa started heading for the door of the rooftop. So,

"Hey, Takigawa."

In the end, there was still one thing he absolutely had to ask.

On Wilbert's order, two people raised Mio and watched over her growth and happiness.

"Do you know--- who killed Mio's foster parents?"

It was the first tragedy that befell Naruse Mio. The genesis of her revenge.

Takigawa wasn't the culprit. If he had been, Mio would have noticed it already.

However, if it was Takigawa, who observed Mio, or even---

"Yeah--- I do."

Standing up, Takigawa affirmed.

"…His name? What's he like?"

"Hey, Basacchi, we're technically allies now, right? It's not fair to get information one-sided."

"But…!"

Basara immediately tried to pester him, but held himself back. If he were to force things here, the finally gained truce with Takigawa would break.

"……No, you're right. Sorry, forget I asked."

Saying so, Basara cast down his eyes and suddenly heard a sigh from Takigawa. Then,

"---Zolgear."

Basara clearly heard the name Takigawa spoke out.

"Zolgear…"

"It's the guy, who observed Mio before me… But for now it's better if you don't know anything more."

After all,

"C'mon--- Let's go."

At the same time Takigawa said so, the door of the rooftop opened from the inside.

Out of it came a single girl--- Mio.

===Part 2===

Shortly greeting Mio, Takigawa left the rooftop by saying "See you".

In return, Mio approached Basara.

"So silly… To think you two were skipping class here."

"Sorry. The weather was just too good…"

"Mhm… What did you talk about with Takigawa?"

"Not much. The good weather and such."

Basara couldn't lie to Mio's question. However--- He wouldn't tell her everything either.

He wouldn't tell Mio and Maria about Takigawa's real identity. Nor to Yuki. The alliance was obviously more convenient when the enemy didn't know about it, but also Mio and the others. That way Takigawa could conduct himself easier.

''…Besides.''

If he told her, Mio would surely be against joining hands with Takigawa. He was the one, who attacked her, hurt Basara and made her power go out of control. Right now, Takigawa was nothing but an enemy affiliated with the current Devil Lord faction that killed her foster parents. Thus making her agree to joining hands with Takigawa would be difficult. ---So this was Basara's role.

Toujou Basara had decided to protect Naruse Mio. If he could protect her with the frontal attack, which Mio surely desired, it would be the best. However--- sadly that proved to be difficult. That being the case, he couldn't be picky in his methods. Because Mio's enemies were far stronger than they believed.

"…What's up?"

"No… nothing."

Mio puzzled looked up to him, as he had fallen silent, whereas Basara shook his head. Then he looked. At the girl he protected and swore to protect from now on as well. Upon that, Mio looked at him with a puzzled expression, which was cute. Before he noticed it--- Basara had touched Mio's cheek.

"Eh? Wh- Wha…?"

"Ah, sorry…It was unwitting."

When he thought that he managed to protect that expression, his hand had unconsciously reached out.

"……….."

Upon that, Mio turned around to the exit at Godspeed and when she confirmed that no one else was coming,

"S- Say…"

Saying so, her face turned just a bit red and she looked down.

"I… didn't thank you yet for saving me, right?"

"Mh? Yeah…"

Was that so? He wasn't particularly concerned about that.

"S- So… because of that."

Mio tightly grabbed the sleeve of Basara's uniform, then took one step forward to him.

A distance, where their bodies were about to touch each other.

So close.

''…Huh.''

Again. What was up with this atmosphere?

It had been the same, when he carried her to the infirmary due to the curse activation, but when Mio was all alone with him, her attitude sometimes changed. Ever since he saved her from the rampage, this tendency had become more frequent. Even when she nursed him in his room, she suddenly became admirable when Maria left. Thus,

"R- Right now we're all alone…"

While flushing her cheeks, Mio slowly looked up to him.

"Just for a bit, you can do what you want with me, ''Brother''…"

"---Brother? You're…"

Even though there was no mark on her neck. It was Mio's sign that she wanted to be subjugated by Basara.

"W- We could… even continue from the time in the infirmary."

"…Eh?"

Continuing that? Really? Right here?

"……………..---"

No, no, wait. Don't fall silent, myself! What was I imagining right now!

Also, don't be silent either, Mio. Moreover, stop making such an embarrassed and resolute face. What do you think you're doing on the rooftop here? However, in the silence, the atmosphere gradually turned more strange, leading to deadlock, where something had to be done. And then,

"---Mm."

Finally Mio closed her eyes, as she made her resolve--- and entered a kiss scene.

At this point, Basara could no longer brush it away. Therefore,

"…….."

Making his resolve, Basara slowly brought his face closer to Mio's.

"…………………….Stop."

Suddenly his arm was pulled from the side.

"Eh…. Yuki?"

At a glance, Yuki was holding his hand. It was unknown when she had shown up.

"N- Nonaka? Why…!?"

"Cannot be careful enough… Stop seducing Basara."

"S- Seduce…? ---"

On Yuki's words, Mio's face turned red in a flash.

"N- No one was seducing him! Besides, first you rescue me, then you bother me now. What's the deal!?"

"None in particular. I did save you, but I said nothing about giving Basara to you."

And then, she turned to Basara.

"I was looking for you, Basara… Eat this."

"I- Is that a lunch box…?"

Basara inadvertently brightened up his expression on seeing the wrapped pouch that Yuki held out.

"Good old days… Reminds me, you have always been good at cooking."

"I made a lot of your favorite side dishes."

"…H- Hold it. I was going to have lunch with Basara after this too."

Mio shouted objecting. Upon that, Yuki showed a victorious smile.

"…Eating air?"

At the moment she declared so...

"---Please leave it to me, Mio-sama!"

BAM! With a loud sound, the door of the rooftop yanked open.

And a little succubus girl--- Maria approached in a straight line.

"Hey wait, how did an outsider like you get in here!"

"Such a silly question, Basara-san. It was a peace of cake with my adult charm. After I begged them with 'My siblings forgot their lunches…' and teary eyes, they let me in right away!"

"That's simply a crying chil---"

"Anyway! We have lunch boxes prepared as well! Come on, Mio-sama… You cannot lose to this inexpressive childhood friend. Do that for Basara-san. The Ahh~ one."

Opening the basket in her hands, Maria urged Mio.

However, in front of others, Mio couldn't be honest.

"D- Don't be stupid… Why would I do that for someone like him!"

She shouted and her body immediately trembled with a "Hau". The curse of the Master and Servant Contract activated from her insolence.

"Again! You don't learn, do you!"

"It cannot be helped. Basara-san, please Ahh~ for Mio-sama… No, make her say Ahh~"

"What're you saying with a straight face?"

"To solve the curse, of course. Please leave it to me. I thought this might happen, so I prepared just the right dish--- No, the right object. Now Basara-san, take this thick sausage and shove it kind of roughly into her cute mout---"

"As if I could! Besides, why should I help satisfy your succubus lust!"

"A bit late for that. We three already did something even more amazing together. Even the other day, we three had a naked cake play in the ba--- Aww."

"…What do you mean?"

Yuki's voice, obviously filled with anger, interjected. Upon that, Maria laughed with Fufufu.

"Do you not know? Not so long ago, Basara-san became Mio-sama's Master."

"N- No way… I, I'll neva allo' it."

Ah, Yuki snapped.

"Sorry, but please give up. At any rate, Mio-sama will now offer both her body and soul to Basara-san--- Right in front of my eyes!"

"H- Hey, stop saying things on your own accord, Maria! I'll kill you a hundred times!"

As her symptoms were shallow, Mio recovered from the curse and flared up at Maria.

"Hey… girls."

At last the three girls started to quarrel, leaving Basara aside.

Therefore Basara made a single sigh--- But he suddenly changed his expression into a peaceful one.

The scene before his eyes should actually give him a headache. It was noisy… and so common, thus so precious. A daily routine with a happiness called ordinary.

''…Can I protect this?''

He didn't have an answer to that yet. Because their fight had only just started.

Even so, Basara had sent Jin a mail last night to report the events.

That he, the son managed to protect the family and house while his father was away.

There hadn't been a reply yet. Since it was his father, he might answer with "You still have a lot to learn".

But, even so he would surely get a passing grade.

He was looking forward to what Jin would say to him, now that he faced his past and stood up again.

He was already thinking up his words for a reply.

They were words of gratitude.

The son, who you protected by even throwing away your hero status in the past.

Now-- He certainly protected a girl that only he could save.

===Part 3===

The ringtone of a cell phone sounded in the dark forest.

The place was in the demon realm. Actually it should've been a place where radio waves didn't reach.

"---Hello?"

Pressing the button--- The former Hero of the great war, Toujou Jin picked up the call.

"Oh, it's you… Yeah, I already know. ‘Cause I got a mail from him."

Jin was talking about Basara's mail to the dialogue partner.

---Normally it was impossible to use human telecommunication equipment in the demon realm.

However, during the great war the demon realm was infiltrated.

For that it was required to establish a way of communication as a lifeline, so various measurements were taken.

With the change of times, the method changed and right now a cell phone had a special magic chip, which turned its own waves into frequencies and enabled communication to another world.

"That's why I told you that there's no need to worry. Even without this case, he would've stood up on the right occasion."

While Jin laughed,

"After all, Basara is my and--- ''their son''."

Then he responded to the words of his communication partner.

"Well, I know you're worried about him… That's why I kept him at a distance, where you can see him. Then look after Basara and the girls while I'm away. Sorry, but it seems like it'll take a while longer here."

There he dropped his voice.

"Yeah. I really can't get in contact with ‘her'. Wilbert is dead. I was worried when she didn't even come to the meeting place at the crucial time, but… I think she's hiding herself to not get found, since the current Devil Lord changed."

Therefore,

"I'll try digging a bit deeper too. There's the matter with Mio too… There are surprisingly a lot of things to do. Don't worry… Yeah, I'll contact Basara."

Then Toujou Jin cut the call and slowly started walking.

Leaving the corpses of the countless devils that had come after him behind, his face showed a fearless smile.

Toujou Jin declared into the empty space.

"Don't get cocky from one success, Basara. You can't avoid it forever. Because you can't escape from Mio, nor from your past and fate."

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| Forward to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume_1_Afterword|Afterword]]
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</noinclude>

Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Chapter 4

2021-03-07T06:06:38Z

Zhanzhuang: Grammar

==Chapter 4: Until your Sadness becomes Nil==

===Part 1===

Around the time when Basara engaged the enemy--- Naruse Mio had already left the infirmary.

Right now, she was at the place closest to sky on the school grounds.

The rooftop.

Under the pale moonlight, Mio confronted a single girl.

It was her classmate and the Hero in charge of observing her--- Nonaka Yuki.

"---So, what's up?"

When Mio woke up in the nighttime infirmary, Basara was gone, as he had left his seat. The one that entered through the door of the infirmary a little bit later was not Basara, but Yuki. And,

"…I need to talk to you."

Following Yuki, who had told her so with a cold expression, Mio had come to the rooftop.

To Mio's uttered question, Yuki answered quietly--- yet clearly.

"Basara should have told you… about why I'm here."

"Yeah, he certainly told me." said Mio.

"About who you are--- and your relation to him."

Mio, the inheritor of the previous Devil Lord's power, and Yuki, a Hero. Originally, their relationship should be that of archenemies. Still, so far they had avoided to get on that topic.

Mio wanted revenge on the current Demon Lord, so it wasn't wise to clash with Yuki and make the Hero Tribe her enemy. As for Yuki, she surely just acted out her duty as an observer of Mio. But there was something she understood one week ago--- when Basara transferred in at the beginning of the new term.

"So? I know about you, but so what?"

When she glumly told her "Get to the point", Yuki straightforwardly gazed at her.

"---Leave Basara. He'll suffer when he stays with you… Therefore, leave him."

"….. I figured it would be about that."

Mio knew, Yuki didn't consider Basara a simple childhood friend. She harbored a greater feeling for him. From Yuki's standpoint, the warning was more than warranted.

Mio could relate to it. But… despite that,

"---Nope."

Mio denied outright, whereas Yuki narrowed her eyes. But, Mio didn't back off.

"Even without you telling me, I was quite worried about that fact. I pondered a lot about what to do. I even tried to chase him out of the house once, to prevent him from getting any more involved with my matters and dangers."

Yes. At first, Mio didn't want to get him involved either.

"…But you know, after knowing my circumstances, he still said he would protect me. That it's no trouble and that we're family. Therefore I thought about what I should do for him, since he said all that."

And she came up with an answer.

"When he's trying to protect me and fighting together with me, even though I don't want to involve him--- Then at least, I won't waste even the slightest bit of his sentiments."

Because,

"What I can do right now is to live up to his feelings."

If she were to obey Yuki's words here and leave him, that surely would be a betrayal towards him.

Mio spoke out her unwavering feelings. In regards,

"………I see."

Yuki muttered only that. At that time.

Along with a shrill SCREECH sound, a shock wave struck Mio. However--- before hitting Mio, it crashed into an invisible wall and dispersed. Mio had set it up beforehand. A magic barrier.

Mio gazed in front--- at Yuki, who emitted a green aura on her hand with the materialized sword.

"---Using force when words don't work?"

Right after saying so, she raised the corners of her mouth.

"Then--- I won't show any reservation either."

She didn't want to make the Hero Tribe an enemy on her initiative, but she would respond when someone picked a fight with her.

Kill her a hundred times. When Mio released her wind magic, the strong sweeping wind pressed Yuki.

"----"

However, a few lines of white sword flashes sparkled and the wind magic was cut off.

Seeing that, Mio clicked her tongue in her mind on her battle affinity with Yuki.

''…She isn't a Hero just for show…''

The parameter for battle strength could roughly be divided into four classes: "Power", "Speed", "Skill" and "Mana". In short, like the stats in RPG or simulation games, so she was taught by Maria. An omnipotent type would be the ideal, but basically one would strengthen the class he's compatible with. This meant power for Maria and magic for Mio, so they each chose a battle style most suited to their abilities. For Maria that would be a Hard Striker that utilized her abnormal strength, for Mio a High Wizard that released powerful magic at the enemy from a safe distance.

And--- most likely Yuki's type was Skill. Inferior to the Power type at close range and the Mana type at long range, but a class that utilized its strength to the fullest at all kind of ranges.

Above all. Yuki most likely had real battle experiences that Mio could only dream of. But,

''…That's not a reason for me to pull back here!''

When Mio glared at her straightforward, Yuki said with her cold expression.

"You want to exploit Basara's kindness so bad that you would go this far?"

"If I'm exploiting his kindness, then what're you doing? Your ignoring his will and forcing your own selfish kindness onto him!"

"! I…"

Yuki inadvertently stiffened her expression, whereas Mio shouted.

"I won't make excuses--- Nor will I regret it! Apologizing to him about involving him at this point would be rude to him! That's why I'll fight together with him unreserved!"

Mio exclaimed with a decisive tone. What she spoke out was her own answer towards Basara's sentiments. This genuine feeling towards him--- She trusted it without a shred of doubt. But,

"….once more."

A chilling voice came out of Yuki's mouth. Inadvertently overwhelmed, Mio gulped.

"If you say that once more, I won't forgive you… You don't even know Basara in the slightest."

"That's…"

It hadn't even been a month since they met. There were things they were hiding from each other or couldn't speak about. But,

"Sure, I don't know him as long as you… Nor do I know anything about his past. But you see, I believe I know his current self!"

She knew more about the current Basara than Yuki, who only reunited with him a week ago after a long separation. How kind he was, how much he was thinking of Mio and Maria. But,

"…That's not true. If you properly knew him, you wouldn't drag him into battles to begin with."

"Because," said Yuki.

"He can't fight like in the past anymore… actually, it should be painful for him to even wield a sword."

"What the… What do you mean…?"

Mio inadvertently asked back, whereas Yuki said. The truth about Toujou Basara--- to make Mio give up.

"Five years ago, to save us, he---…"

One breath,

"-----------"

These words from Yuki,

"…..Eh?"

Mio asked back dumbfounded. For a moment, she didn't comprehend what Yuki had said.

---It was the reason why Basara was chased out of the Hero village.

Toujou Basara's sin, and the wound in his heart that plagued him even now. And like Yuki had said, Mio knew nothing of it. Thus, her thoughts couldn't keep up with it right away. But,

"That's why Basara and Jin left the village… they lost their Hero qualifications."

added Yuki.

"You must have found it strange too. As to why two Heroes were living as normal humans."

"Ye… ah…"

Naruse Mio realized. Why Yuki was so angry at her. And above all--- How cruel she had been to Basara. Then Mio remembered Basara's words.

'In the past… when I lived in the country-side, some stuff happened. Guess you can call it a trauma… Even now, I sometimes dream of that time.'

''…No way…''

Mio was in a daze from her ignorance--- Suddenly the door to the rooftop opened.

Basara came rushing out with a haunted look.

"Here after all…"

He must had run at full speed. All out of breath, his forehead was covered in sweat.

And seeing the traces of their battle and the sword in Yuki's hand, he frowned.

"What's going on, Yuki… She's still supposed to be an observation target. So why are you, the observer, drawing your spirit sword?"

When Yuki averted her eyes by looking down without a word, Basara faced Mio next.

"Mio, same for you… I told you not to fight with the Hero Tribe. Yet---"

At that point, his expression suddenly changed into a doubtful one. He must have noticed the look on her face.

"I, I'm…"

Mio tried to say something right away, but she couldn't speak well.

Because she was scatterbrained. Therefore,

"What's up? Why do you…"

Saying so, Basara tried to come over to her. As to stop him,

"---Well, she just heard about your past."

A smiling voice came at them from a different direction.

Toujou Basara looked. Apart from the rooftop they were on--- there was someone standing still.

A white mask and a black tuxedo. It looked human, but his other senses felt an ominous and overwhelming negative aura from it. He could tell just by confronting it. It was a devil with a considerable power.

''…Not good.''

Basara changed his expression into a stern one. It likely was the string-puller here, but it was unexpectedly strong. He didn't know its type yet, but it most likely had an A Rank power.

Mio was set as an S- Rank, but only in consideration for the possibility that she kept the previous Devil Lord Wilbert's power in her. By the normal standards of the village, she would probably be a B Rank. Yuki was a B+ Rank. It would be one thing if the opponent were an A- Rank, but at A or above, it might become a severe fight even with Basara's assistance, let alone Yuki by herself.

Currently it looked like it was standing there easy-going, but there was not a single opening for an attack.

Mio and Yuki must have comprehended the opponent's strength too, as they remained still like Basara, whereupon

"---Well, well, that was a really intriguing story. I knew there was an odd interference before, but to think the exiled Hero had shown up again. What's more, it's the son of the War Hero Toujou Jin. Quite the surprise."

Hearing the white mask say it so happily, Basara narrowed his eyes.

"The attack in the park before was your doing as well, huh…"

"Yeah. I had my eyes on you for a while. I thought for sure you were a normal human, but it turned out you were an ability user--- and even siding with the orphan of the previous Devil Lord. Moreover, you are quite skilled. It appears you also took out the other guys earlier."

"------!?"

On the white mask's words, Mio gulped next to Basara.

She must have been surprised that only Basara was attacked while they were separated. Furthermore,

''…My past, huh…''

Without a doubt, Yuki had talked about the incident five years ago to separate Mio from him.

Then Mio already knew about it, though he didn't know how much.

About the sin that Toujou Basara committed--- and that his sword was hesitant because of that. There,

"---Oh my? Why the long face?"

The white mask told Mio, whose expression was pale.

"Could you be regretting involving him now? If so, it's too late. It wasn't just at the park or today. The past few days, he swung his sword and fought numerous times without you knowing about it--- After you went to sleep, he kept fighting until dawn."

"Eh---?" "---Shut up!"

When Mio widened her eyes in surprise, Basara dashed toward the white mask at the same time.

Materializing Brynhildr, he swung it down on the white mask. But,

"Whoops."

The moment the white mask said so, the sword that came down with a SCREECH! was repelled by an invisible power.

Thrown backwards, Basara twisted his body at once and somehow landed on his feet.

''…I knew it, he's strong…!''

It was just a spontaneous attack to seal his loose mouth, but he firmly put his strength into it. It would have sliced the likes of these "Shadows" that appeared in the park and school store in two easily. That very attack was completely blocked and repelled.

Above all, it measured up to the speed of Basara, who was a "Speed Type".

"….Basara."

Basara nodded a "Yeah" to Yuki, who came running over to him. Yuki most likely had made the same judgment.

''…It's an A-… No, A Rank.''

The strength of the white mask surpassed his expectations. But, he realized something else as well.

He didn't comprehend the full theory behind it, but the defence just now was either a skill or magic type.

If he knew the opponent's type, he could come up with a tactic. But,

''…Damn, if only Maria were here…''

[[Image:Shinmai Vol1 0008.jpg|325px]]

Unlike Basara's speed or Yuki's skills, Maria's power could break the white mask's barrier with a direct attack. However, it would still take a bit of time until she came here. Basara and Yuki could buy some time while Mio attacked with powerful magic, but should the enemy be a magic type, his barrier wouldn't break from Mio's magic. Then, they would be in a stalemate.

''…What do I do?''

When Basara tried to somehow work out a tactic,

"H- Hey… Is it true what that guy just said?"

From a bit apart, a doubtful voice called out to Basara.

Basara remained silent and made a bitter expression. Looking at him,

"…Really? Basara… you were fighting the enemy without my knowledge….?"

"Why"--- mumbled Mio.

"Isn't it obvious? For your sake…" said the white mask while smiling.

"The power of the previous Devil Lord sleeping inside you--- even if it isn't fully awakened, it's leaking strong power surges and attracts low class Stray Devils by it. If any of these low class devils were to harm a human, your existence would be the reason for it. Naturally, the Hero Tribe would deem you harmful and change you from an observation target to a termination one."

On these words, Yuki remained silent. It was a silence of affirmation.

"If he were to protect you, a termination target, he would become a traitor to this world. The Hero Tribe wouldn't be able to overlook it… Thus, the girl over there told you to leave him."

"Well," said the white mask.

"To prevent that from happening, that boy and your retainer Succubus have been desperately patrolling the city and hunting low class Stray Devils in the past few days… They worked quite hard, really."

"Th- Then the reason Maria didn't come to pick us up at school was also the patrol…?"

On Mio's question, Basara replied with a nod. Unfortunately, he couldn't hide it anymore.

If he were to keep lying now, he would completely lose Mio's trust.

"Sorry… If I had told you, you surely would have blamed yourself."

At night of the day with the bath incident--- Basara had told Maria, who had snuck into his bed, the circumstances and acted behind the scenes to prevent the Stray Devils that were attracted to Mio's power from doing any harm.

So far he avoided telling that to Mio because of the mental burden she already had from the curse, but had decided to do so after at least a month--- when they cancelled the Master and Servant Contract and harmonized her mental state.

"No way…"

Mumbling dumbfounded, Mio just stood there. Then,

"If it shocks you this much, how about you hand over that 'Power' which is the reason for all this."

The white mask declared. At the same time, a "Shadow" appeared behind Mio.

It was already swinging down its large scythe. But, Mio didn't notice it. Instead,

"Kuh-----!?"

Basara reacted at once. With one leap, he tried to slash at the "Shadow",

"Hee--- Now you're going to erase even her?"

There, the white mask called out to him with a teasing voice. The result was grave.

"----"

The wound in his heart was exploited. Brynhildr vanished from the hand of the agitated Basara. But,

"---UUOOOOOOOH!"

Even so, Toujou Basara clenched his teeth--- and kicked the floor for a forward leap.

At first--- Naruse Mio didn't know what was going on.

"Eh…?"

Before she noticed it, she was looking up to the sky. She had collapsed onto the ground of the rooftop.

''….Just what happened?''

Thinking so, Mio tried to stand up--- but she couldn't. And she finally noticed.

That a weight was pressing onto her. That someone was lying on top of her.

She looked.

"…Basara…?"

Basara didn't respond to Mio's dumbfounded mumbling.

He didn't move. Therefore she tried calling out to him--- Her hand that touched his shoulder was wet.

It was blood.

"-------!?"

Mio's consciousness fully awakened and she remembered the moment like a flashback.

A "Shadow" had appeared behind her--- And Basara had protected her from its weapon.

By doing so, he ended up being cut on the back.

"You might be from the Hero Tribe, but you're only a shadow of your former self… Surprisingly fragile."

She could hear the disappointed voice of the white mask.

"No… Get a grip, hey!"

When Mio raised an aggrieved scream, something moved in the corner of her vision--- right next to her.

It was most likely Yuki, who defeated the "Shadow" that cut Basara.

"…Unforgivable… How dare you!"

Yuki drew her spirit sword and swung it down at empty space.

"Hoh… That's quite some power."

While saying so kind of impressed, the white mask easily jumped aside and dodged it.

But--- Yuki was already waiting for him there.

As she predicted his evasion, she rushed ahead in anticipation of his movements at the same time as she released her attack.

From a half-sitting stance, she unleashed a sideways sweep with her sword.

It cut through.

But only through air. The white mask dodged to the top--- into midair.

"You sure you should be attacking me? His wound is deep. You need to treat it quickly--- or it'll be too late, you know?"

"……"

The white mask shifted his gaze away from Yuki, who bit down onto her lips frustrated, to Mio. Mio, who stood up while holding the wounded Basara. And then he declared with a smiling voice.

"Get it? This is the result of your own decision."

"My, own…"

In front of Mio, who became dumbfounded from the result that her decision brought about, the white mask erased his appearance like melting with the air. The night wind carried only his voice over.

"I'll pull back for now. Give it some thought. What that girl said is the truth… You involved others, involved him and got him hurt. Are you still going to continue to fight a lost battle? You should reconsider about who you want to sacrifice for your revenge, others or yourself, and make your decision."

And lastly, Mio heard him add this.

"But--- Depending on your choice, you can end all of this at once."

===Part 2===

---In the past, when he was at the Hero Village.

Toujou Basara already had a promising future at a young age.

He was the only son of Jin, the Hero of the Great War, and as he inherited his father's talent, his strength surpassed that of the other boys and girls his age. Moreover, the reason a lot of people had set their hopes on him was that Basara could use a special skill that no one else could imitate.

<Banishing Shift>. That skill, which could only be unleashed as a counter of an opponent's attack, could repel or disperse any kind of attack, physical or magical.

Moreover--- When he could feel out the <Heavenly Energy>, the "Source of Existence", and cut it, he could banish the existence - the matter of the opponent's attack itself into zero-dimensional space.

Thus Basara was raised with Yuki and the other kids his age, as the hope for the next generation.

---But, these happy days suddenly came to an end one day.

A certain young man from the village, who complained that the already retreated Devils should be tracked down and killed, was fed up with the elders, who wouldn't give their approval, and all by himself… resorted to forcible means. He drew the powerful magical sword Brynhildr that was sealing an S Rank Evil Spirit in the recesses of the mountains near the village.

Devils were supposed to be tracked down and killed. Needless to say, the young man was confident in his own power. Everyone else acknowledged it too. Jin excluded, he was undoubtedly the number one. So he intended to defeat the released Evil Spirit with the magic sword Brynhildr.

However--- it didn't turn out like that. The Evil Spirit took over the young man's mind and body.

And it attacked the detested existence that sealed it---- the Hero Tribe Village.

---To make matters worse, the incident happened when Jin was away from the Village.

Still, it was the Hero Tribe. There were a lot that could fight. They desperately fought and tried to put an end to the tragedy. But, the S Rank Evil Spirit's power resided in the body of someone that was nearly unrivaled in the village. The tragedy couldn't be stopped and claimed more and more victims.

And then--- The Evil Spirit was defeated by Basara. But it happened by Basara losing his mind on the sight of his friends getting killed before him and Yuki getting attacked, thus letting the <Banishing Shift> go out of control. When he woke up, Basara was lying in a hospital bed. And he was told. That the crisis was over. By the hands of none other than himself.

Proof for that was that the magical sword Brynhildr, who didn't even allow Jin to use it, chose Basara as its master. Thanks to Basara, a lot of people were saved. Yuki was one of them.

---But, it couldn't save the hearts of the survivors.

Basara's <Banishing Shift> mercilessly annihilated the surrounding area to oblivion.

The possessed young man, the Evil Spirit and even some limbs from the victims--- All of it was erased.

Accordingly, it was discussed in no time that <Banishing Shift> was too dangerous and that Basara should be locked away along with Brynhildr to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

Regardless of the fact that Basara no longer could use <Banishing Shift> due to the shock from the incident.

But--- Basara didn't really care. Basara himself couldn't bear the burden of having erased his precious friend and became like an empty shell. However--- Jin, returning to the village, stood up for Basara. Others too, like one of the elders or Yuki's Nonaka Family, eagerly took Basara under their wings. And then a conclusion was made. Basara was stripped of his Hero qualifications and chased out of the Village along with his utilized magic sword Brynhildr. And Jin should go with him to oversee that his ability wouldn't go out of control again.

Basara obeyed that decision. But Jin gave a straightforward objection.

"If being a Hero prevents me from protecting Basara--- Then I'll quit being a Hero as well."

Saying so, he left the village together with Basara.

And then--- Five years passed since then.

The memory of that tragedy was still vivid and kept plaguing Basara in his dreams even now.

He couldn't discover an atonement for his sin, nor how to face it.

As proof of this, he still couldn't use <Banishing Shift>.

Not counting the one time he erased Maria's wind magic as a fluke.

''…But.''

While his consciousness was clouded in darkness, Toujou Basara thought.

That even his half-hearted self found something he wanted to protect. That he made a new family.

At first, he wanted to protect her as her older brother. But their relationship was a fabrication. The girl he considered a little sister actually inherited the Devil Lord's power. But, she didn't ask for that. Yet--- her life was in danger.

Despite that, she desperately tried to live on positively. Trying to fight against it.

--- In the past, Jin gave up being a Hero to protect Basara. Basara already lost his qualification as a Hero.

But right now, there was a girl that obviously wasn't protected by the Hero Tribe, but neither by her own Devil kin.

So the one to protect her--- to protect Naruse Mio must be himself.

Basara no longer had his previous strength.

Still, Brynhildr reacted to him. His arms and legs moved. And he had a will.

"Therefore---…"

Saying so mumbling, Basara then opened his eyes.

Light pierced through the darkness. Upon that, there was a familiar ceiling before his eyes.

"Good… Do you know me?"

On a look, a young girl was peeking relieved.
"Mar, ia…?"

"Yes. Please rest assured. We're at home. In your room, Basara-san."

"My---"

Basara frowned on his mental blank--- and then remembered.

Suddenly a dull pain ran through his torso and he scowled.

"I see… At the rooftop, the enemy…"

"I am sorry… If I had only arrived a bit earlier." Maria said apologetic.

"I took the bandages from the infirmary and gave you first aid on the spot, but it would attract attention at school, so I carried you here."

"I see… Thanks, really."

That he was home with Maria by his side meant that Yuki pulled back for now? A look at the clock revealed that it was already half past three in the night. Apparently he was sleeping for around seven hours.

"Uhm---" said Maria.

"''I did as you said, but''--- do you really not need to go to the hospital?"

"Yeah… This is fine."

If anything happens to me, don't take me to the hospital--- That was what he asked of Maria after the fight in the park. Sure, he would get treated at a hospital. But the medicines for treatment and recovery influenced one's senses and ability to think. It easily created an opening for the enemy.

"Kuh---…"

Basara slowly raised his body. And then, he tightly clenched his fist.

''…Good.''

It still hurt, but he could move. His thoughts were clear too.

"Amazing… To think you already regained consciousness from such a deep wound. It would not be strange for a normal person to be unconscious for a few days."

"Our tribe gives special training to our bodies from a young age on… So we recover faster and have better self-healing powers than normal people."

Yuki left his nursing to Mio and Maria specially because she knew of this.

It was an ability that was acquired for fights, to win fights.

Yes--- They had to be victorious. On the rooftop he was overpowered. By that Devil.

"Right, how's Mio---… Maria?"

Basara spoke the name, whereupon Maria reacted by shivering her small body.

Her so far sad expression turned even more bitter.

"…Seeing you wounded made her remember the time when her foster parents were killed. By the time I arrived on the rooftop, Mio-sama was gravely agitated. She was partly in a panic, yet she tried to treat your wounds by herself… I made her rest a bit to let her calm down a bit. And about an hour ago, I told her that you are over the worst, but then"

"Hey, don't tell me----"

"Yes… The next time I checked upon Mio-sama, she was no longer in her room…"

"That idiot…!"

She must have felt a strange responsibility and went to settle it by herself!

"---Basara-san!"

Maria put her hands on knees on the floor and lowered her head as much as possible.

"I am aware that you are greatly injured… But right now, you are the only one who can pinpoint Mio-sama's whereabouts with the Master and Servant Contract! I will not ask you to fight. But at least please tell me where Mio-sama is…please…"

A desperate plead with her body shivering. Therefore,

"---This isn't funny."

Saying so, Toujou Basara pushed aside the blanket and got off the bed.

He didn't mind the scorching pain that ran through his whole body.

"Obviously I'm going too--- I don't want to be a pathetic older brother that sleeps while his little sister is in danger."

===Part 3===

Leaving the room and house, Mio headed for that park on the hill.

It was a famous spot in the city and normally even at night people came by now and then, but on the vast grounds a thick forest expanded with all kinds of trees and people didn't come to its deepest part.

"…Good."

Inside the mixed forest, Mio used a magic to keep humans away just in case and cast down her eyes after a deep breath. Preparations to wait for the enemy were done.

''…Sorry, you two…''

In her heart, Mio apologized to Basara and Maria. By now they must have noticed that she left. She knew that she was being reckless. But Mio couldn't think of any other plan.

---Naruse Mio did not know anything.

Dragging them into her fight, they fought for her unknown to her.

And Basara was gravely injured by protecting Mio.

At that time--- The image of the bleeding Basara overlapped with that of her killed parents.

Her heart was unsettled. So much that she fell into a pathetic trembling, even though the enemy was still around.

Therefore--- Maria had told her that she had to calm down first if she wanted to treat Basara. While she trembled alone in her own room, she kept thinking.

The words of the white mask spun around inside Mio's head. You involve others, involved him and got him hurt. Are you still going to continue to fight a lost battle?

Who do you want to sacrifice for your revenge, others or yourself?

---And the answer Mio finally came up with was this.

Still, while she stood here like this, she could only think about one thing.

''…Please be safe, Basara…''

Mio tightly closed her eyes like for a prayer. Maria had said he was over the worst, but it was still a precarious situation. She could watch over him while praying for his recovery.

But to put it another way, she could only watch over him while praying for his recovery.

''…If so.''

Mio thought while opening her eyes. She should do the thing only she is capable of. Upon that,

"---Seems like you made your decision."

Suddenly a voice called out from behind. Mio turned around with "Yes".

There in the forest--- in her vision stood the white mask.

Mio fixed her glare wordless onto the white mask. When he left the rooftop, he had said "Depending your choice, you can end all of this at once". Naruse Mio perfectly understood the meaning behind these words. There, just as if he was reading her mind,

"Hee… You're more honest than I thought. But, I believe this is the correct choice." The white mask said.

"If you were to keep fighting, it would claim more victims. But if you were the only victim, everything would come to an end."

"….Yeah."

Mio nodded. She agreed from the bottom of her heart.

''"I alone will be enough of a victim--- for a fight."''

The next moment. The white mask was enveloped by a huge flame pillar. She had released Hellfire--- the strongest fire magic Mio was capable of at the moment. She had waited with it on stand-by.

All for the sake of a perfectly timed surprise attack. Furthermore,

"That's not all!"

Mio released attack magic one after another. Without ceasing her attacks, she released two consecutive lighting attacks, wind blades from eight directions and countless ice spears. These hit into the white mask in succession.

All of them were at full power. An absolutely annihilating preemptive strike that used up all of her magic and mental power.

Lastly she used a blazing explosion magic and while she watched the bright flames,

"Hah… Hah… N- Now…"

Mio was breathing heavily.

A voice sounded.

"---Now you're satisfied?"

Along with a WHOOSH wind sound, the flames were erased. And the white mask stood easy-going on the same spot, as he didn't receive any damage.

"No way…"

"What are you surprised about? There's no way I would face a waiting opponent unprepared. Don't tell me, you really thought this could finish me off?"

"Kuh…!"

Retreating backwards like pushed back, Mio tried to chant a new magic, whereas the white mask laughed.

"Oh right, it's a wonderful house, where you're living with that former Hero boy---''Looks like it would burn easily.''"

"----!?"

"Maybe I should order my subordinates? To see which brings out a prettier flame, your magic or that house."

"Coward…"

The wounded Basara was in there. With Maria around, they might not get burned by the flames, but most likely it would take their everything just to escape. They couldn't stop the flames. There,

"Coward or not, it was you who involved him… If you want to blame someone, blame yourself."

"……."

Mio bit down on her lips. Yielding to such a threat and giving up wasn't funny.

But what Mio tried to chant at the moment was only a filler magic to keep the fight going.

Something like that wouldn't defeat him, since the consecutive attacks earlier didn't work.

Still--- For starters she could resume the fight with it. She had planned it out in her head.

However, Mio slowly relaxed her stance and halted the chanting for the magic.

"…You're after me, right. Please, don't lay hands on Basara anymore."

But,

"If you were to hurt him any further--- I'll never forgive you. No matter what I have to do, I'll kill you a hundred times."

"I don't mind. If it doesn't cause me any more unnecessary trouble, that is."

The white mask showed a serene smile at the end of his words.

She was disgusted. Her own fight had only just started. It would get serious from now on.

She would rather die than yield to the enemy here.

''…But…''

Still, she would rather die twice than endangering Basara's life. Then there was only one way.

In front of Mio, who stood there silent, the white mask came over like gliding on air.

"Your hands---"

When she held out both her hands on his request, a purple rope wrapped around Mio's wrists.

"This is…"

"A binding magical tool that seals your magical power. From your earlier attacks I don't think there'll be any problems, but I'll seal it just in case. Now then--- Let us go."

"….Where to?"

Mio had given up on fighting, but not on her hostility. The white mask answered.

"You need to ask?… To the demon realm. My Master is waiting for---"

The moment he said all that, the white mask suddenly jumped back widely to take a distance from Mio.

At the same time. The space where the white mask had just been was cut through by a wind blade.

"Don't tell me…!"

Mio tried to look behind her--- the direction from where the attack came, whereupon a human silhouette swiftly rushed past her at the same time.

It was a girl that wore the same Hijirigasaka Academy uniform as Mio and carried a spirit sword in her right hand.

It was Nonaka Yuki.

"---Why!?"

While hearing this question from Mio behind her back, Nonaka Yuki didn't slow down on her dash.

Regardless of the unsteady foothold in the mixed forest, she attacked the white mask at once.

However, Yuki's slash was easily warded off by the barrier that the white mask had erected.

"What a surprise, that you would take her side… Is that the judgement of the Hero Tribe?"

"…I'm, not really taking her side."

Yuki indifferently told the white mask, who spoke with a carefree voice.

---Yes. At first, Yuki didn't have any intentions to help Mio.

The dispute about the Devil Lord's power that Mio inherited was something to be settled amongst devils.

Thus, the Hero Tribe didn't plan to intervene actively.

Yuki, an observer, had no objections to that either. She only felt resentment towards Mio, who disturbed Basara's peaceful lifestyle, and wouldn't have really minded if she sacrificed herself.

''…But.''

Basara still tried to protect Mio. When she watched Basara at school, he was looking at Mio without her finding out about it. At any time, he was concerned about her. And unknown to her, he fought for her. Yuki couldn't understand if Mio was worth it. That was why she told her on the rooftop of the school. To leave Basara. To not involve him. And after Basara collapsed from the enemy's attack and the white mask was gone.

Nonaka Yuki tried to vent her fury at Mio.

---It's all your fault. Because you dragged Basara into this.

But she couldn't say it. Because Mio was even more shaken in front of the collapsed Basara than Yuki.

Gravely flustered and agitated, she was still worried over Basara. I'm sorry, I'm sorry… She had repeated numerous times while crying. Yuki ended up hearing that grief-stricken scream. That was the reason she left Basara's treatment to them when Maria showed up. And then she saw how Mio tried to fight alone and gave up on it again for Basara's sake.

Yuki got the feeling that she understood a bit now why Basara tried to protect Mio.

Besides, there was another reason to why Yuki came here. Yes--- an important reason.

"I believe I clearly told you--- That I won't forgive you for hurting Basara."

At the same time she declared these words filled with killing intent, Yuki's whole body was enveloped by light.

Together with the materialization of her spirit sword "Sakuya", her clothes changed into a battle wear.

Nonaka Yuki's resolve. An embodiment of her will to slay the devil in front of her as a Hero.

Then the battle started. In light of Yuki's consecutive repeated attacks,

"Your sword or skill can't defeat me… You should have realized that on the previous battle on the rooftop."

Behind his barrier, the white mask sighed in disappointment. But, Yuki showed no impatience.

"…Yeah? Then--- take this!"

She launched a counterattack. It--- broke through his supposedly impregnable barrier.

"Wha…?"

Yuki lunged a slash in no time at the surprised white mask.

Instantly jumping backwards and barely dodging her sword, the white mask was puzzled.

"My barrier, how…"

"It won't break with one strike. ''Therefore I continued until it did…'' that's all." said Yuki.

"Wait… You accurately kept attacking the same spot…?"

"If it brings you down, I'll do so."

Yuki declared without hesitation. It was a feat that even only a few skill type fighters could pull off.

In the five years apart from Basara, Yuki excessively trained with the sword.

"---Don't underestimate a Hero."

Then Yuki approached forward again. For a moment she dared to sheathe her spirit sword, then she drew it with Godspeed. The cutting edge of quick-draw technique that came from making use of the slip of the sword out of the sheath, was several times greater than normal. In one attack she cut through the oppenent's barrier, and it didn't end with that. Combined with the quick-draw attack, Yuki kept spreading out her attacks.

The white mask couldn't help but to jump backwards widely to distance himself from her.

"Okay… I'll play with you for a bit."

Saying so, he held out his palm towards her--- In the next moment, a black darkness came flying over.

"-------?"

Yuki jumped to the side at once. It was a reflexive movement that didn't consider her landing at all.

[[Image:Shinmai Vol1 0143.jpg|thumb]]

Right afterwards. Along with a roaring sound, the ground trembled. Yuki, tumbled on the ground, looked. The place where she was at a moment ago--- The ground of the forest was completely hollowed out by an explosion.

"Hee, you dodged that…" The white mask said in admiration. And then,

"Then--- how about this?"

At the same time he said that, numerous dark spheres appeared around him.

''…Not good…!''

It was impossible to dodge all these. Defending against them too. What to do--- That short hesitation completely deprived Yuki of her chance to evade. When she noticed it, she was already swallowed up by a fierce impact and blown backwards--- Right afterwards, the roaring sound of explosions sounded. The force of it threw Yuki against a huge tree trunk and the impact made her lose her breath.

"---Nonaka!"

Mio's scream sounded distant. But, Yuki couldn't respond. Her body wobbly inclined forward.

"---…!"

Even so, she thrust her spirit sword into the ground and refused to collapse.

Yes, not yet. She could still fight. Because her life was saved by him--- by Basara.

Five years since that tragedy. What did she become strong for?

''…That's, obvious…''

Basara sacrificed his own future and saved her. Therefore. This time, she would protect him and those he wanted to protect. She would protect the world Basara lived in--- his every day life.

For that she underwent harsh training and became strong, didn't she?

"Run… quickly, Nonaka!"

Yuki ignored Mio's shouting. Giving up here? Nothing of the sort!

"…Uh…"

Yuki frantically clenched her teeth and slowly raised her head.

And she realized. Why Mio told her to run.

Nonaka Yuki looked. At the huge sphere of darkness that the white mask created over his head.

At this rate, Yuki would die--- Thinking so, Mio acted quickly.

"….Enough---!"

With her hands tied, she still tried to ram the white mask with her shoulders. But,

"---You're in the way."

In response, the white mask casually launched a shock wave at her.

"Kyaaaaaa---!"

Mio, who had her magical power sealed by the binding magic tool, had no way to defend against it. Taking a direct hit, Mio was sent flying to the ground.

"…Kuh… Uh…"

Even so, Mio desperately tried to stand up.

''…Like I, would let him…''

There was no way she would let get anyone else get dragged into her fate.

She wouldn't sacrifice anyone. Not even Yuki, a Hero.

But--- Emotions alone couldn't stop a tragedy.

"This is the end."

The white mask declared so. At the same time, the huge sphere of darkness was released towards Yuki.

"No… STOOOOOOOP---!"

Mio shouted at once. But the white mask ignored her. And the cruel reality ignored her too, as the sphere of darkness headed for Yuki. No matter how much Mio shouted, she couldn't help Yuki.

Therefore, Yuki's death was inevitable--- ''Or it was supposed to be''.

---However. There was still one person responding to Mio.

"…Eh?"

She heard the blowing wind. And then,

"---Leave it to me."

Together with that short mumbling.

Faster than the wind--- A boy got in between the sphere and Yuki.

Toujou Basara arrived at the battle at the moment when the white mask released the huge sphere of darkness.

Basara, standing protective in front of Yuki, was immediately pressed for a decision.

It was impossible to evade while carrying a wounded Yuki. That left only one choice. He chose that sole possibility without hesitation. It wasn't like he couldn't use it at all. But,

"Here I go… <Banishing Shift>!"

Toujou Basara struck his magic sword Brynhildr into the pale sphere.

''…Even if I can't erase it completely…''

Even if he was still trapped by his past. He should be able to repel or disperse it. Therefore,

"OOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!"

Steadying himself on the ground, Basara put all his strength into his arms and pulled Brynhildr through the sphere.

At the same time he felt its resistance--- the pale sphere broke up and passed by Basara and Yuki's right and left.

An explosion arose. But, only the ground of the forest was destroyed. Basara and Yuki were safe.

"Wha… Just what was that?"

"…Basara…"

In front of the dumbfounded white mask, Yuki called from behind his back. Basara only turned around his head.

"Everything's alright now, Yuki… I'll take care of the rest."

When he said just that with a smile, he faced forward again.

And then, he scowled a bit. He felt a burning pain on his back.

''…My wound reopened from that.''

He could endure the pain, but if he kept losing blood, he wouldn't be able to move anymore. He had to settle it quickly.

"-----"

Therefore, Basara kicked the ground and leaped forward. That resulted in the Godspeed of a Speed Type.

Moreover, the speed was close to one in his genius childhood, where he was noted for his talent that surpassed even his father, the hero of the great war.

In an instant the distance between them was closed. The Godspeed attack went straight for the white mask's torso. SCREEEECH! But with a shrill metallic noise, Basara's hand that held Brynhildr got numb. The attack was repelled.

"I'm impressed. That's some excellent swordsmanship. With a normal barrier, even I might have gotten split into two."

The white mask raised a praising voice and continued with "But".

"Unfortunately for you, I strengthened my barrier after that girl broke it…Too bad."

"…Yeah, too bad."

Basara nodded.

''"For you, that is---"''

And then he shouted.

"---MARIA!"

"Roger!"

A young girl jumped up from behind Basara. Her small body was swinging its right fist.

She, a succubus, was their "Power Type" ally that was lacking on the rooftop.

Her one attack--- smashed the white mask's barrier, weakened by Basara's attack, into small pieces.

"Wha---!"

The shocked white mask tried to re-erect his barrier at once.

"---Too slow!"

Basara was faster than that.

Basara's fighting style that utilized the characteristic of the speed type to the maximum was Infinite Slayer.

Furthermore, his Godspeed sword flashes that looked like thin lines continued a series of attacks.

Kill! That kind of sound started.

Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, KillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKill KillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKill KillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKill KillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKill KillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKill
KillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKill
KillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKill
KillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKill

The speed transcended power, as well as magic, skill and all kind of strengths.

"OOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAHHHH!"

And then--- The last hit struck.

It was an attack with all his might that perfectly cut up the white mask's torso and banished him into the empty darkness.

Mio witnessed that moment.

Basara, having defeated the white mask, stopped moving for a moment, but before long,

"…..Fuh."

When he made a breath of exhaustion, he first confirmed Yuki's well-being behind him.

After exchanging a few words with her, he came slowly over to Mio.

--- But, somehow Mio still couldn't believe it.

However--- Basara's face, looking at her, was showing a gentle smile.

"Ah…"

She finally realized. That she was saved. That Basara came to her aid. Therefore,

''…I- I…''

What to do, Mio panicked at heart. She didn't know what to say. She knew she had to thank him. But she still hadn't apologized for getting him hurt. When she was puzzled about what to say,

"Mio-samaaaaaaaa---!"

Passing by Basara, Maria clung to her with a dive.

Maria didn't criticize Mio for trying to settle it all by herself.

"I was worried… So worried… Waaaaaah."

Looking like she was really worried. Maria sobbed, like all the worry she had desperately suppressed suddenly exploded. Mio's surprise changed into gratitude before long. She finally realized what she should say first. Therefore she shifted her gaze down to Maria at her waist.

"Sorry… I'm sorry…"

For her selfish act. Mio apologized for making Maria worry. Upon that,

"…Looks like you're okay."

Mio heard Basara's relieved voice. So she raised her head with a "Yes".

Her expression froze up.

"What's up…?"

Basara was puzzled--- and right behind him stood a "Shadow".

She had no time to call out.

A short sword pierced Basara's body from behind. The tip of the sword came out of Basara's stomach.

"---?"

At the same time as Basara looked down at his own torso, the short sword was pulled out.

Basara's body collapsed like a loose string.

"No… NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Yuki, standing apart, raised a mad scream.

The red blood spread over Basara's clothes on his back. Therefore,

"A, Aw…"

The moment she let out a dumbfounded voice--- Mio's reasoning snapped.

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW------!!"

She raised a screaming shriek and at the same time, a red surge was set free in Mio's heart.

===Part 4===

The wind howled in the distance. A wind that brought with it a low and heavy ring like a coming storm.

The wind at his cheeks was still balmy. But before long a downpour would surely come.

Then he had to go home quickly.

---With whom?

He immediately got an answer for the sudden question. It was obvious. Together with Mio and Maria.

And they should bring Yuki too. Yes--- They all had to return together. Therefore,

"…Uh…?"

Basara opened his eyes. But even though he tried to straightened up his body, he couldn't muster his strength well.

Even so, he somehow raised his head. And then Toujou Basara saw it.

"This…"

The surrounding space was colored red and rumbled like a from a tremor. Like a tornado, the wind beat furiously. A bit apart, he saw the collapsed Maria. On a different spot, Yuki had collapsed too. Looked like they received some kind of impact and lost consciousness.

And then. In the center of the torrent of red surges that shook everything--- there was Mio.

The color of her long hair had changed into a deep crimson which gave the impression of a blaze--- and on her back grew small wings.

Basara understood right away that Mio's own power was out of control.

And that precisely this was the inherited power of the previous Devil Lord.

Most likely the trigger for it was,

''…me, huh.''

Just when she was saved and relaxed, Basara collapsed in front of her eyes from an ambush.

She must have felt responsible for it and couldn't forgive herself.

"…I- Idiot… I'm just fine… Hey, Mio!"

"B- Basara…?"

On his outcall, Mio, bewildered, met his eyes.

Apparently she had her senses.

''…Good…''

There was a ray of hope in the worst situation. With that, the situation might still somehow be saved. With no sign of the enemy, they must have retreated for good now.

Or they were destroyed. Either way, it should be safe to assume that there was no more danger from them.

"Calm down… I'm fine… Everything is over… Okay?"

"I, I'm trying… but it's no good…!"

Mio shouted and shook her head.

"I can barely restrain my power. I, I can't subdue it all. It's not working… Wh- Why?"

The flustered Mio was partly in a panic and Basara changed his expression into a bitter one.

''…Damn, she can't calm it down after all…!''

But--- that said, he couldn't leave it at that.

''…Wilbert had the power to control gravity.''

Then, what would happened if it went out of control? --- Before long, that took place.

"Eh…?"

Mio raised a surprised voice. The space around her started to flicker like a heat haze.

"…Here it comes, huh."

Basara clicked his tongue. An excessive mass that couldn‘t be controlled ended up--- at the singular point of gravity.

At this rate, a black hole would form around Mio and suck in the surroundings.

---Naturally, as Mio was the source of it, the singularity would disappear if Mio were to be erased.

It certainly wouldn't cause the destruction of the world, but even so the vicinity would get completely wiped out. Most likely it couldn't be prevented that part of the town within the radius of several kilometre could get erased.

However--- that was only Basara's guess. The mass of energy from the rampage was an unknown quantity. It might cause less deaths, or even more. Thereupon,

"P- Please, Basara… I can't, restrain it any longer… So"

Knowing what Mio was trying to say with her trembling voice, Basara raised his voice.

"Wait! I'll think of a solution now! I'll come up with some kind of---"

"---Listen! There's no more time. Before I destroy the world like this, before I drag you and others into it,"

With a grim voice, Naruse Mio stated her last request.

"Please--- hurry up and kill me…"

It certainly would solve the problem. The fastest solution.

If Mio was sacrificed, the town, Basara and the others, everyone would be saved. But,

"……I refuse."

Saying so, Basara slowly stood up, whereas Mio shouted flustered.

"I, Idiot… Between the world and me, it's obvious which is more important!!"

"Like I care… Tell that to the oh-so great Heroes. I'm afraid I'm no longer one of them. I neither plan, nor have the power to do something about something as large-scale as world peace."

But--- He had the power to save Mio. Toujou Basara knew the one and only way for that.

In the past he could use it, but not anymore. The unique power in the world that was just his.

''…Yeah, right.''

It was easy. The situation called for it. For the sake of the future, right now--- he had to overcome his past.

Therefore, Toujou Basara slowly advanced forward.

"…I'm no longer a Hero. But you know, I'm your family. Your older brother. Even if it's only temporarily for you, I seriously believe so. And, as your brother--- I'll protect my little sister, even if it turns the whole world against me!"

Basara threw out the words yelling. To convince not Mio, but himself.

"…I'll bring you back home."

"Eh---…?"

On his mumbled words, Mio asked back.

"I'll definitely bring you home… You'll go back, with me, to our house! As a little sister, shut up and let yourself be protected by your brother at a time like this--- Got it?!"

Basara threw his own feelings at her. It wasn't about logic or reasoning, just pure emotion.

But, precisely because of that, it was conveyed.

It reached her.

"…Okay."

While looking close to tears, Mio nodded. Over and over again. And then,

"Please--- save me, Brother." Mio said.

She certainly said it. Therefore, Basara nodded with "Yeah".

"Just you wait. I'll erase it now. Your pain, your sadness, all of it--- I'll make it Nil."

There he halted. It was as close as he could get to Mio, who rampaged her power.

While the gravity urges shook the atmosphere, Toujou Basara took a deep breath and relaxed his whole body.

He started the preparation for a perfect <Banishing Shift>.

He had to feel out Mio's rampaging power--- Its source of existence, the "Heavenly Energy".

But all kind of matters - substances were faintly swaying its existence.

Naturally, the position of the Heavenly Energy constantly changed. Furthermore, Basara tried to erase the torrent of a raging power. The Heavenly Energy was moving irregularly around at apex speed. If he missed, it was all over. Moreover, even if he cut the Heavenly Energy, he couldn't afford to harm Mio. Not to mention, erase her with it. Not the slightest mistake was allowed. Only 100% success was valid.

From the great blood loss, his vision was hazy--- That alone made it harsh already,

"----"

yet Basara felt his own heartbeat jump up. And his hand started to shake.

''…Damn…!''

It happened because he factored in a failure. The words of the white mask resurfaced at the back of his brain.

‘---Now you're going to erase even her?'

He remembered the tragedy from five years ago. The never healing wound in his heart and his guilty conscience over his past, mercilessly trying to swallow his heart. Therefore,

''…I can't do it after all…''

Toujou Basara thought. That he absolutely couldn't do it--- Yeah, right.

''He definitely couldn't do something like let Mio learn the same pain as him.''

When he suddenly looked, Mio was watching him with gentle eyes.

When he met her eyes, she closed them.

Her mouth formed a--- "I believe in you".

In that moment, Toujou Basara made his resolve. Like Mio, he closed his eyes.

"------"

Basara entrusted his body to the fiercely blowing wind, the torrent of the raging power.

On top of that, he sharpened all his senses, his mind and soul--- to feel it.

The one and only possibility for Toujou Basara to save Naruse Mio.

And then--- In the next moment, all noise vanished from the world. The rampage of Mio's power had gone up in one go.

The spreading destruction and surges of nothingness.

Toujou Basara just--- quietly swung down Brynhildr.

[[Image:Shinmai Vol1 0153.jpg|thumbnail|right]]

===Part 5===

---Right afterwards, Basara's world turned snow-white.

He didn't know if it was from activating <Banishing Shift> or from being swallowed up by the black hole. He didn't even know if his eyes were closed or open.

Just that he used all of his power.

"----"

Basara slowly collapsed forward. Suddenly--- a soft warmth enveloped him.

That pleasantness made him smile inadvertently.

Because he was convinced.

Then he slowly moved his mouth. Even now, he had barely any strength left.

Even so, just one sentence. Basara spoke just one sentence. It was something he absolutely wanted to say.

So he quietly prayed that his voice would somehow come out.

Toujou Basara mumbled quietly.

"---Let's go home."

<noinclude>

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| Back to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Epilogue|Epilogue]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Chapter 3

2021-03-07T05:10:28Z

Zhanzhuang: Grammar & Syntax

==Chapter 3: At the Threshold of Trust and Reunion==

===Part 1===

The Master and Servant Contract immediately activated the curse when the Servant betrayed the Master.

After almost a month--- On the next full moon, it was possible to annul it.

At first they believed it to be hopeless, but they somehow managed to overcome the first week.

---Regardless of how it came to be, the contract was bound, so they had to deal with the situation.

To successfully avoid the curse from activating, they persuaded Mio now and little by little they confirmed the activation conditions for the curse and other effects.

And as of now, they had a good understanding about the contract magic.

First--- The servant wasn't forced into absolute obedience and could defy an unreasonable order. Apparently it was done, so that the contract wouldn't be used one-sided, but interactive.

Consequently, the master needed to reward his servant with an adequate attitude as a master. It was close to the "Reward & Service" relationship between the Shogun and Samurai, which takes it origin during the Kamakura period.

That said, even if the Master makes an unreasonable order, the curse will not activate for him due to the superior stance in the contract. Still, the fact that the servant could disobey a strange order was a salvation for Basara and Mio.

---Then what determined a betrayal from the servant, leading to the activation to the curse?

It was a bit complicated, as the condition for the curse's activation was "a mental betrayal".

That said, the servant wasn't forced into absolute obedience. He had the right to "oppose" an unreasonable order.

Also, actions that appeared like a "rebellion" or "betrayal", but were for example to "correct" a mistake, meaning an action for the sake of the master, were apparently forgiven.

But on the other hand, if the Servant disobeyed a legit order or took an unreasonable attitude, the curse activated without mercy.

And it seemed that the power of the curse was determined on the Servant's feeling of "guilt"--- in other words, his "mental betrayal".

When the curse activated, a mark appeared on Mio's neck like a collar as proof.

But--- Basically the curse wouldn't activate as long as she trusted and believed him.

Because the contract between Basara and Mio was conducted uncommonly, there had been confusion in the beginning, but originally it was a magic that strengthened the trust between Master and Servant, allowing them to keep track of each other's positions.

Therefore there was no problem. A week passed while desperately convincing themselves like that.

And then--- summer vacation came to an end.

That said, even with summer vacation ending, it was not the end of summer.

On sunny days, the temperature easily crossed 30°C.

A day with boiling heat from the morning on. Toujou Basara walked the street to school for the first time.

The second term from today onward. The start of his new school life.

"Aw, so hot… Damn."

He was wearing the summer uniform, but that didn't mean that his trousers were shorts. Additionally the surroundings were full of students with the same uniform. He hated crowds.

"Girls have it good… They get to wear short skirts."

"---Hey, could you stop being so egoistic? In exchange for that, it's cold in the winter."

A cold voice beside him answered the grumbling Basara. It was Mio, wearing the same school uniform.

Since they had mostly made sure of the activation boundaries of the curse, making an impudent remark in the middle of a normal conversation was no problem.

Malice or a guilty conscious were the problematic ones.

"But, in winter you can easily wear shorts or at worst tracksuit pants under your skirt, right?"

Each of them cold-blooded spoiled a boy's pure heart. Upon that,

"That goes without saying. What's the point of letting yourself freeze?"

"Then, in the end, you're warm in winter!"

Not good. He inadvertently retorted, but what good was it to even get hot-blooded himself? There,

"Right, please calm down, Basara-san."

A young voice was heard from behind. When he turned around, Maria was following behind them.

Needless to say she didn't wear a school uniform, but a refreshing dress.

"It's hot, because you think it is hot. At time like these, just look at me."

Saying so, Maria searched through the convenience store bag in her hand.

Then she pulled out a pet bottle, drinking it down with big gulps.

Next she ripped open a popsicle wrapping, taking a mouthful. Narrowing her eyes, pleased, she faced him with a smile.

"How is it? When watching a refreshing scenery, you feel refreshed yourself, right?"

"As if!"

"Muh, I just wanted to cheer you up a bit, since I am asking you to guard Mio-sama at school."

While feeling despondent, Maria licked her popsicle. That appearance looked unnecessarily erotic.

In casual moments like this, he was reminded that she was a succubus.

"…I'll just be grateful for the thought."

Basara wearily faced forward again. Upon that, his gaze fell on the wave of students wearing the same school uniform that was flowing through the gate. Shortly thereafter, Basara and the girls arrived there as well.

"Oh, so this is it."

Basara stopped in front of the gate and looked up at the big building.

Private [Hijirigasaka Academy]. That was the school Mio attended and which Basara would also attend from today onwards.

"Well then, Mio-sama, I will be on standby nearby."

"Yeah, thanks."

On the night of the screwed up Master and Servant Contract, she had been filled with rage, but after a week, Mio's anger had certainly subdued. Mio and Maria had returned to their quite close sister-like relationship.

When Maria showed a smile on Mio's "Yes", she suddenly looked at Basara.

"Okay, Basara-san, I leave Mio-sama to you. Though I doubt there will be any troubles in a place with so many people."

"Yeah, if anything comes up, I'll let you know right away."

However, suddenly doubt arose in him.

"But… You said you would be on standby nearby, but it's a weekday, you know? Won't it be troublesome if the police find you loitering around here?"

Upon that,
"Fufufu. Do not worry. It will be completely fine."

Maria pulled out a single card from the pouch she was carrying over her shoulder.

"Look, in preparation for such cases, I have a fake ID that testifies me as 18 years old. 18 years, you hear? With that I can loiter around during noon all I want."

"Oh really…"

Basara lost his strength. Just because she was 18 didn't mean she could loiter around all she wanted.

Or rather, normally anyone would doubt that age from her appearance--- even when she was smiling so radiantly.

===Part 2===

Upon entering the school grounds, the flood of students got to its peak and the hallways were crowded with students.

Basara, a transfer student, parted from Mio and headed to the staff room first. When he told them at the door that he was the new transfer student , he was told to wait for a bit in the waiting room next door. And after the chime rang a few times, a young male teacher came to pick him up with a class register in his hands. He held out his hand with a brilliant smile.

"I'm Sakasaki Mamoru, your homeroom teacher. Nice to meet you, Toujou."

"Yes, hello…"

Even while being overwhelmed by the unnecessarily refreshing aura, Basara replied to the handshake.

Since the morning homeroom followed right after the staff meeting, they moved to the class room right away.

"Well, we often get transfers due to family circumstances, but your case seems a bit more complicated, Toujou."

"Yes, kind of…"

Nothing would come from hiding the fact that he was living with Mio. Therefore Basara just told the school that they were currently living together to see if they could be a family before the remarriage, when he was asked at the beginning. That said, he wouldn't announce that to their classmates though.

"But making a trial period like that shows that your parents are good people, who properly consider the feelings of their children."

Basara replied with the vague answer "Sure". He couldn't tell him that all of it was made up.

Although, it all happened from Jin's considerations, so Sakasaki's words weren't wrong.

''…Ah, that reminds me.''

Basara asked Sakasaki what he suddenly remembered.

"Uhm… I heard that a friend of my father is at this school, but do you know anything of it?"

Jin might have received a favor from that person when he took care of the transfer papers.

Then it would be better to express gratitude to that person.
However,

"Is that so? Well, I haven't heard anything in particular about that. Should I look into it later?"

"Ah, no, thank you."

If the homeroom teacher Sakasaki didn't hear about it, it might be better not to pry into it.

As he politely turned him down, they arrived in front of the classroom.

"This is our class. A new family and a new school might bring various hardships, but you'll get used to it in no time. Besides, we have Naruse in our class."

''Ohh...''

Basara was a bit surprised. It was rare that siblings or relatives were put in the same class. He thought for sure he would end up in a different class than Mio. They must have been considerate.

"Moreover there is our serious class rep and me as your homeroom teacher. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask without reservation. Okay, let's go in."

Saying so, Sakasaki moved into the classroom and Basara followed after him. The news of a transfer student coming must have spread already. When he stood in front of the blackboard, he could look over the whole class.

''…Geez.''

Basara made a sigh at heart. All gazes in the classroom were focused on him and all at once they started to evaluate Basara. That was the unavoidable fate of a transfer student.

First of all, he saw everyone get discouraged, boys and girls alike, just by the fact that he was a boy. He was prepared for it, but before his self-introduction it already felt like a lost battle, which truly depressed him. He believed his looks to be average, but there were still a few girls that hadn't lost interest in Basara yet.

''…Ah.''

Amongst them was Mio sitting by the window in the back.

''…She really stands out after all.''

Seeing her like that, he once more realized Mio's cuteness. In the classroom space, everyone wore the same uniform and sat at the systematic ordered desks. The conditions were the same. Due to that, one's characteristics stood out excessively. When he stared at her, she averted her eyes towards the window.

He lost another interested one. Who remained was,

''…Mh?''

In the same window-row as Mio--- the girl at the very front was looking at him.

It was a pretty girl. Contrary to her vivid presence, similar to Mio's, she had an aura like clear water.

Their types were different, but she was a beautiful girl on par with Mio.

Seeing as the desk next to her was empty, it most likely was going to be Basara's.

Indeed, it was understandable that she was interested in him when he was going to sit next to her. But,

''…Ehm, what to do about this?''

He considered her a cute girl, but if she stared at him so directly it certainly was a bit awkward.

At that time, Sakasaki, standing beside the teacher's desk, eloquently wrote his name on the blackboard,

"Okay, as you can see, we have a transfer student. ---Toujou, introduce yourself."

"Ah, yes…"

coming to his aid in the silence.

"Ehm, I'm Toujou Basara. My name is a bit showy, but as you can see, I'm an average guy. Please take care of me."

Since they would inquire about it anyway, he made a self-deriding introduction, whereupon the expressions of the guys softened a bit. The atmosphere became somewhat welcoming and Basara made a sigh of relief.

Then it was time for questions and with the silly questions and answers repeating numerous times, the chime tolled the end of the homeroom soon enough. Sakasaki clapped his hands together.

"---Okay, that's it for now. Save the rest for after the opening ceremony. Toujou, your desk is the empty one over there. Nonaka, you're the class rep, so look after Toujou."

"…Yes."

The beautiful girl from earlier stood up and nodded short. Apparently she was the class representative.

"Well then, everyone line up in the hallway. We're going to the gym."

On Sakasaki's words, everyone started to stand up from their seats.

"He tells us to line up… but in what order?"

Amidst the students pouring out of the classroom, Basara just stood there with no idea what to do. Whereupon,

"---Basara."

Suddenly his name was called, and Basara faced the direction it was called from, startled.

"Ehm, what is it, class rep…?"

Before he had noticed it, the girl was standing right beside him. He was surprised due to suddenly being called by name, but for Basara, the transfer student, she was the one to take care of him. Therefore,

"I hope we get along, class rep. I'll try not to cause any---"

troubles… was what he wanted to say, but couldn't. Because she suddenly hugged him.

"Eh---?"

For a moment, he didn't understand what was happening.

But the soft touch of a girl and the faint, sweet fragrance told him that it was reality.

"W- Wh- What are you two doing!"

Mio, who had noticed the two of them before anyone else, pushed the dumbfounded classmates aside and came over with a bright red face. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot.

"Ohh!? Class rep, can you get away? Otherwise I think it'll be dangerous!"

Mostly for my own body though.

"Moreover, you call me by my first name and hug me... could it be you lived overseas?"

"…No."

On that question, Nonaka raised her face while still hugging onto Basara.

"Basara… have you really forgotten?"

Then she showed him a little sulking expression.

"Mh? That reminds me, the name Nonaka… Don't tell me---"

Basara remembered the last name of the class rep, which the homeroom teacher had called, very well.

"You're… Yuki?"

Upon saying the name of his childhood friend after a few years, the girl in front of his eyes nodded short with "Mm".

"Basara, it's been a while…"

[[Image:Shinmai Vol1 0086.jpg|thumb]]

Saying so happily, Nonaka Yuki showed a smile. Then,

"Get off him already!"

Mio forcefully got between them. As she pulled Basara and Yuki apart,

"H- Hugging him out of nowhere… A- Are you nuts?"

She flared up at Yuki with a bright red face. However Yuki stayed composed.

"Not really. This is normal between Basara and me."

"N- Normal…? H- Hey, Basara, what does she mean?"

Basara was troubled by Mio's ogre-like glare.

"Well, Yuki's my childhood friend… She was quite attached to me."

"Attached… You aren't a dog or a cat!"

"Well yeah…"

But the fact remained that it was true. They were of the same age and lived nearby, so they grew up like siblings. Actually, it hurt. The gazes of his classmates, Mio's included, that is. Specially the ones from the boys.

Well, obviously. For a bystander, it looked like Mio and Yuki were fighting over Basara.

''…Not good. At this rate, the friendly atmosphere I created with my introduction will…''

But how to explain it? While he was like that, the situation kept getting worse.

"…It doesn't concern you, Naruse-san."

At last, Yuki declared coldly--- But it provoked Mio's emotions.

"It- It does concern me!"

Before Basara could stop her, Mio shouted with a voice that reached down the hallway. The all decisive sentence.

"I'm… living together with him after all!"

===Part 3===

The opening ceremony ended and it was lunch break after a couple of classes.

A happy lunch-time atmosphere spread over the school.

Basara sat bored and alone at his own seat in the classroom. Inadvertently he mumbled.

"……For real?"

Wow. This was beyond his expectations. Could a person on his first day of transfer become this isolated?

First of all, it seemed like he had made an enemy out of every boy. Just getting hugged by Yuki was bad enough, but Mio's declaration of their living together totally ruined everything.

For example, the girls showered Basara with question after question without mercy once they returned to the classroom from the opening ceremony. He got no information about Mio or Yuki, but they sucked out all the information they wanted from him, then left satisfied and never spoke to him again.

Therefore Basara no longer had anyone to speak with, except Mio and Yuki.

---However these last two rays of hope weren't here either, right now. Yuki had left after being called by the teacher for some class representative work. When he then invited Mio to eat lunch together, she said "You finally reunited with your childhood friend, so go eat with her for all I care" and then left with the girls from class to someplace. Probably because it was a suggestion that was considerate to him in a way, the curse of the Master and Servant Contract didn't activate in particular.

And this--- led to his current solitude. Basara sighed wearily.

"Guess I should get going…"

There was no point in staying here. As he didn't have a lunch box with him, his choices were limited to either the cafeteria or the school store. And when he stood up from his seat and left the classroom, Basara was suddenly called out to.

"Yo. Making most of the boys in class your enemy in an instant, you have some tough luck, Mr. Transfer Student."

When he turned around, there stood a boy, showing a friendly smile. One of his classmates.

"Ehm… Takigawa, was it?"

"Oh, you could tell? Have we met before somewhere or what?"

Takigawa made a puzzled face. Only Basara had introduced himself in front of the class. Needless to say, the other classmates, Takigawa included, didn't name themselves.

"Well, it's thanks to this from Sakasaki-sensei."

Basara pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and held it out. It was a copy of the seating chart that his homeroom teacher Sakasaki prepared from him, so that he could memorize his classmates' names as soon as possible.

"Hee, Sakasaki is perceptive as ever."

Takigawa nodded once expressing his understanding, then placed his hand on Basara's shoulder in an over-familiar manner.

"For that reason, let's grab a bite together, Mr. Transfer Student. You didn't have lunch yet, right?"

"Yeah… but how do you get to 'For that reason' from our conversation?"

"Because the transfer student, who's all alone after making an enemy out of all the guys in class on his first day, was hanging his head super depressed. It was just too pitiful, so I inadvertently had to call out to you. Besides, I moved here just last year. So I can understand a bit the troubles and melancholy of a transfer student."

He appreciated the concern, but couldn't he have said it better?

Well, he didn't seem like a bad guy.

"Just call me Basara then… I'll call you Takigawa too."

"Kay. So Basara, cafeteria or school store?"

"Let's see… The school store today, I guess."

Not to forget the incident during class break. It was unlikely he could calm down in the crowded cafeteria.

He wanted to buy something at random and eat it at an isolated place.

"Then we better hurry. If we don't, there won't be anything decent left."

Saying so, Takigawa started walking. When Basara caught up next to him,

"Still, to be the brother-in-law with our Princess Mio and childhood friends with our Princess Yuki… Raising flags with both idols that our school is so proud of, that's one damn King position."

"Princess…? They are called like that?"

He thought that their appearances certainly stood out.

"Yeah, that's why I think you made other classes and seniors your enemy too. I mean, these two are really popular here and they seem to have a lot of passionate fans."

Takigawa shrugged his shoulders while smiling.

"Surprisingly a man's jealously is even greater than a woman's. And to be honest, it's quite lasting."

Indeed. No wonder then that the boys of the other classes glared at him with hostility when he left the classroom to go drink some water and that he felt a vague killing intent in the toilet.

"Aw, we're too late after all."

When they arrived at the school store, there was already a long line before the food.

Along with Takigawa, whose expression had turned bitter, Basara lined up at the end of the line, where he casually probed.

"Hey… About these passionate fans, ''has there ever been some kind of incident so far with them involved?''"

"Woah, creepy… So, for example like what?"

Said Takigawa while looking at the beginning of the line. "Let's see" said Basara as a prelude.

"For example, someone tried to aggressively get at them… Or contrary, a girl, jealous of their popularity, did some kind of harassment?"

"No way. To begin with, the other fans wouldn't keep quiet if anyone tried to steal a march. Even the girls know of Naruse and Nonaka's popularity. They're aware that they would make the boys angry if they were to pull some kind of careless harassment."

"I see…"

In other words, Mio was the center of attention to some extent at this school.

There was a risk of an enemy being present in the school, but it was unlikely that any flashy measures would be taken in that situation.

''…Well, the first term actually did go by normally.''

Of course it couldn't be asserted that the school was perfectly safe because of that, but at least it narrowed down the places and times, where they had to be wary.

As Basara pondered that, Takigawa, next to him, suddenly showed a nasty smile.

"Well, there was once a sophomore boy who tried to steal a march, but was put through the mill by a couple of seniors… Going by that, ''you're'' probably in the most danger."

"Guess so…"

He got the feeling that it was true. After all, ever since he showed up at the school store, some guys had been glaring at him. It was good that Mio was relatively safe, but it made him worry about his own school life.

"But are you going to be fine, Takigawa? Won't the passionate fans have an eye on you too when you hang out with me?"

On Basara's question, Takigawa smiled.

"Don't fret it. I have fast legs. If it comes down to it, I'll abandon you and run away."

Such a reliable classmate. Then Takigawa added happily--

"Besides, raising flags with our school's two beauties is quite the feast. The so called protagonist potential? If I hang out with a guy that has such 'luck' or 'invisible power', I think my school life will get quite lively. Let's get along from now on."

"Same here. But… I'm afraid I don't have such luck or power."

Basara made a wry smile. He had already--- lost his qualifications to be a hero and was nothing more than a side-character.

===Part 4===

After school.

Mio, who had been silent ever since leaving the classroom, finally opened her mouth when they left the entrance hall.

"…Why are you following me?"

"Well, I'm just trying to go home…"

A sullen voice. Apparently the incident from after this morning's homeroom still had after-effects.

Well, it had certainly surprised him too.

---However, couldn't she fix her mood already? He was already at the verge of being all alone at school, yet even on the way home it seemed that he wouldn't get a proper conversation.

In his opinion, it was time to remind her again about idea behind the Kanji 人.<ref>''Hito'', the kanji for person</ref>

Supporting each other.

"Hey Mio… What do you think about the Kanji '人'?"

"It looks like Nonaka and you hugging."

Not good. Impossible. He couldn't count on her. Like this, he could only hope for the meddling of a third person.

Walking towards the school gate, Basara shifted his gaze far in front of them. Upon that,

"Mio-chaan, Basara-saan."

Maria, waiting outside the gate, waved her hand greatly. Apparently she was carrying out their setting as sisters in public. Well, it certainly would be weird if she called her "Mio-sama".

"Good job on sitting out your time… you two."

"Thanks for waiting for us, but your remark is a bit wrong."

Don't make it sound like we came out of prison. The counselling teacher is looking.

Then Maria noticed Mio's bad mood and alternated looked between Mio and Basara's expression. Then,

"Basara-san, Basara-san…"

Pulling on his sleeve and taking him a bit of a distance away from Mio, she whispered into his ear.

"What is up with Mio-sama? It appears that her mood is kind of foul."

"Well, stuff happened…"

"? …Ah, I see. So that is how it is. That is not good, you have to use contraception."

"Hey… what did you think of in these mere seconds just now?"

Seemed it wasn't good to rely on someone else. He should do something about it himself. At that time,

''…Mh?''

Suddenly he noticed Mio looking at him.

"……….."

Her expression looked like she was waiting for Basara's words.

''…Figures.''

Of course it worried her when the one who promised to protect her, showed an expression she didn't know.

It was nothing to be surprised about. Trust between Mio and him hadn't been properly established yet.

Neither as a family--- nor as comrades.

''…Worrying my little sister, I fail as a big brother…''

As he thought so self-instructingly, Basara returned to Mio's side.

"…….What?"

Mio faced sideways sulking and gave him a side-glance.

At the time he tried to find words to reassure her then.

"---Basara."

A quiet voice called his name from the side interrupting. Before he had noticed, Nonaka Yuki was standing right beside him. And ignoring Mio, whose expression instantly turned sour, she declared.

"I have something important to discuss… just between us two."

===Part 5===

Basara decided to accept Yuki's request to talk with just the two of them.

As expected, the bad-tempered Mio had left Basara behind and went home, but she had Maria with her.

Befitting the season, the sun was still up high and there were a lot of students, since it was time to go home.

It should be safe to leave the two of them alone for a bit.

Basara and Yuki moved to a café in front of the station. It was all fine up to the point where they got guided to an empty table at the back, but

"…Hey, Yuki. We're sitting at a table, not at the counter, so wouldn't you normally sit down across?"

Regardless of the table for four people, Yuki sat down besides Basara for some reason. Upon that,

"No. It's better if no one hears what we're discussing now."

There wasn't much of a distance to begin with, yet Yuki shifted her chair even closer to Basara.

A thin distance, where their arms could touch. The soft sensation from smooth bare skin and the sweet fragrance of a girl coming from Yuki.

''…Ugh. This is bad…''

During the time they had been apart, their intimacy had vanished and Basara was strangely conscious of the closeness of his matured & feminine childhood friend. But in contrast, Yuki took the menu card with a cool face and looked at it.

Then they both simply ordered drinks and after they had dampened their dry throats,

"…Thanks, for coming."

Yuki slowly opened her mouth.

"No prob. I wanted to talk to you too anyway."

The glares at school had been so heavy that he couldn't get a decent conversation going in the end.

"Good…"

Yuki made a sigh of relief.

"I thought for sure, you were angry, Basara."

"Mh? Why?"

"I mean… You didn't look all that happy, even though I hugged you."

"No, I just didn't realize it was you at that time…"

It had been already five years since he had seen Yuki last at the age of ten. They were both in their growing periods right now. It was understandable he wouldn't recognize her at once. And anyone would be troubled if a girl on the supposed first meeting hugged onto them. Besides,

"…You sure have changed."

What he thought first was, how surprisingly pretty she had got. The Yuki Basara he had known had the smallest and most childish body amongst their old playmates, but now she looked more mature than her age.

Yuki said that it might be due to the change of her hairstyle. Surely, the old Yuki had grown out her hair.

But--- That wasn't the reason Basara didn't notice it right away that it was Yuki on their reunion.

He thought back.

''…She wasn't the type to make such a face…''

She had been sparing with words since forever, but had a great variety of expressions. But, Yuki's face as she looked at him from the side, waiting, looked completely inexpressive.

''…Five years, huh.''

Most likely she had changed in Basara's absence. The current Yuki might no longer be the Yuki he used to know. Just like the current Basara was different from his self five years ago now.

"…Actually, did I look happy in the past?"

Basara felt his thoughts going into a bad direction, so he got back on the previous topic.

Upon that, Yuki nodded a "Mm".

"When I hugged you, you would tightly hug me back."

"Mhm, is that so…"

"---Also, you often took advantage of the situation to touch my butt."

"Eh, seriously!?"

He didn't remember that at all, but he was just a perverted kid then. What was his younger self doing?

''…Ah.''

Looking at his flustered self, Yuki finally brightened her expression.

That faint smile matched the Yuki in his memories.

It finally felt real to him--- That he got reunited with his childhood friend Nonaka Yuki.

He was quite happy about that. But, that specially was the reason why he couldn't avert his eyes now.

"…So? What did you want to talk about?"

Yuki didn't answer Basara's question right away.

And the faint smile she was showing reverted back to the cold expression before.

"…It's about Naruse Mio."

She said whispering. Those were the words he had expected.

"Basara… Don't get involved with her any more."

"So it's you after all… ''Her observer sent by the <Village>''."

Yes. Originally, it was strange for Yuki to be here.

For Basara's childhood friend--- a girl from the Hero tribe to be here, away from the Village.

"Well she did get a surveillance rank S-…"

"…You knew?"

"My dad told me. I believe I know most of their circumstances too."

"Then I'll cut to the chase. Leave Naruse Mio at once."

Yuki overlapped her hand with Basara's, which rested on the table.

Then she softly leaned over and looked at him.

"She's being sought by the current Devil Lord--- At this rate you and Jin-san will be dragged into it."

---There were two people secretly watching Basara and Yuki from a few seats afar.

They were Mio and Maria. They had wanted to go home ahead of him, but followed him after all because they were worried. They could barely hear their conversation.

"…It seems she is from the Hero Tribe just like Basara-san after all."

"Y- Yes… Looks like it."

On Maria's words, Mio nodded a bit awkwardly.

…

She was Basara's childhood friend. With a bit of thought she could have figured it out, but agitated by the hug in front of her eyes this morning, where she ended up blowing up and revealing their living together, she just couldn't muster any sober thoughts.

Even now, she had thought for sure that they were having a date.

But--- Now that she thought back on it, she got the feeling that Nonaka Yuki had always kind of avoided her.

Of course everyone had their own interests. If she was avoiding her, there was no need for Mio to forcefully befriend her. So she had kept her distance too.

''…So that's the reason I felt her eyes on me despite that.''

That said, there was no need for Mio to act as long as she wasn't challenged.

At any rate, her enemies were the ones who killed her parents. Making an enemy out of the Hero Tribe could really foil her plans.

"Mio-sama, what do we do? It seems she is trying to separate Basara-san from us…"

"…Mhm, let's watch for a bit longer."

If all went well, they might get to know about the intentions of the Hero Tribe.

''…Besides, it could be that…''
She might get to hear Basara's true feelings. How he, who said he would protect her, felt at heart. It was an unforeseen chance, but the perfect one for Naruse Mio to make sure of the boy called Toujou Basara. Therefore Mio tried to perk up her ears to the conversation between them.

"---Mm."

The eavesdropping behaviour probably made her feel a bit guilty. Due to that, Mio trembled her body with a shiver on the sweet sensation that arose from inside her body. The curse of the Master and Servant Contract.

"…Mio-sama?"

Maria, next to her, was puzzled, whereas Mio repeated "I'm not eavesdropping" in her heart while turning red. Convincing herself that she wasn't betraying her Master, but only worrying about him. Upon that, the sweet sensation faded soon enough and Mio made a sigh of relief.

While observing Basara and Yuki again,

''…Still,''

Suddenly hugging onto him regardless of the place and now even leaning over and holding his hand, this girl--- even for a childhood friend, she was being way too clingy.

Don't get involved with Mio any more--- To these words from Yuki that resembled a request,

"Too late… I'm afraid I'm already dragged into it."

Basara slowly shook his head and declared his resolve.

"Both my dad and I have already decided to protect them."

"---But!"

Yuki raised an unusually loud voice. After gulping briefly, she squeezed out.

"In the incident five years ago, you…"

"……Yeah."

He knew what Yuki wanted to say. Due to that incident five years ago, Basara had to leave the Village. Toujou Basara hadn't forgotten what he did back then, nor what he had lost. But,

"Still… I want to protect Mio. Mio didn't wish for the power she holds. She just wanted to live as a normal human, a normal girl. It led to the death of her parents due to the ulterior motives of the devils and right now--- she herself is in danger of being killed for her power."

He couldn't overlook that. He had a reason not to.

"She's innocent. If you guys, the <Village> is willing to protect her---"

"…That alone is impossible. You should know that."

"Yeah…"

Basara gave Yuki, who darkened her expression, a wry smile.

The Hero Tribe existed to protect the peace in the human world from the devils.

That doctrine took priority over everything else--- Even at the cost of whatever sacrifices.

---The Heroes of this world weren't the kind of fantasy heroes that protected everyone.

Keeping their own existence secret, they only protected the world itself. For that sake sacrifices were necessary. Basara understood that as well--- That precisely was the reason for the happenings after the incident five years ago.

Basara had lost his qualification as a Hero and since Jin couldn't keep protecting him as a Hero, he quit too--- both of them leaving the Village.

And Mio's life being in danger was at best an internal quarrel between devils. The Heroes had no reason to help her.

Therefore. Basara and Jin were the only ones who could protect Mio.

"I understand your worry, Yuki. Five years ago, I couldn't undertake the consequences of my actions to the last."

"No. That wasn't your fault… I mean-"

Basara cut into the words Yuki wanted to say by shaking his head with "No".

"Still, it doesn't undo what I have done."

Upon that, there was a change in Yuki, who had stayed silent so far. Looking down, her face still looked like she was close to tears.

"…'Dat ain't true."

She said so with a dialect. It was her bad habit that showed up when she couldn't control her emotions anymore.

"Wha'ever anyone says, ya saved me, Basara…"

"…Yeah, thanks."

It was a little salvation for him to have Yuki say that to him, even though what he did was unforgivable.

For him, who had committed a huge mistake and lost a great deal of people, to have protected someone despite all that.

"But I couldn't bear the responsibility for my actions… and I still can't, even now. I have no idea how to face it yet."

But, said Basara and declared.

Like addressing Toujou Basara's unwavering feelings to Yuki and to himself.

"But Mio is… She's different from me. Facing her sad past, she still desperately tries to live on provident. She's trying to fight. And then we happened to meet. Of course there's the stuff with my dad's scheme and my initial anger about getting deceived. But--- The moment I came to know everything about it, I wanted to protect her. It's not just sympathy or a whim. I seriously want to protect her. Like you said, I certainly don't have the same power I had in the past anymore. And given my five years without training, I don't know how much of a help I can be. But you know, if the Heroes still can't protect her, can't fight for her, then I believe it's my role to do so. You see, therefore---"

At the time he got this far, a loud noise echoed through the café.

When Basara and Yuki looked towards the source of the noise, curious,

"M- My apologies."

Near the entrance of the café, a flustered waitress crouched on the floor.

Most likely she had bumped into a customer and dropped her stainless tray with the cups.

As the customer hastily left the café, the door was still open.

Mio, who had rushed out of the café, desperately continued to run.

Running, running and running until she was out of breath. Before long, she suddenly rushed into a back alley. Right afterwards, Maria came after her hastily.

"M- Mio-samaa, do not run away so suddenly. It is dangerous to be separated outsi--- Mio-sama?"

Maria rebuked her while still out of breath, but Mio didn't hear her voice.

Who could blame her? She had been at her limit.

If she had heard any more of Basara's words--- Mio would have cried without doubt.

She could tell that her face was red. It wasn't due to the curse of the Master and Servant Contract, nor due to her full-power sprint.

"What now, Maria… How should I act towards Basara from now on?"

Her body trembled from agitation. She couldn't suppress her soaring emotions. Even though Mio was kind of a burden to Basara, he had made such a strong resolve.

She hadn't known. That Basara--- tried to protect her with such strong feelings.

"It is a good thing… Now we know that Basara-san is truly a kind person."

"But…"

Like this, she felt uneasy about involving Basara. But Maria shook her head.

"You do not need to worry. Basara-san's feelings are his own. What you need to do, Mio-sama, is not to show a strange reservation, but properly respond to Basara-san's feelings."

"Respond to… But how?"

"That is obvious. Open up your heart to him and trust him."

"J- Just that? Only something so simple?"

"Yes, indeed. Also, if you feel like doing something for him, I believe it is appropriate to do it."

"Me, doing something for him…"

What would it be? As expected, it was better to somehow express gratitude in such a case?

If so, what could she do? Inadvertently Mio lapsed into deep thoughts.

"---Ah, but"

Suddenly knitting her eyebrows as she remembered something, Maria brooded.

"His childhood friend at least could be a bit troublesome… We do not know what happened after we left the café, but Basara-san is generally a good person. Earlier, they were holding hands and looking into each other's eyes. If she cries, or approaches him a bit more daringly, Basara-san might unexpectedly fall under her spell…"

"M- More daring-- she couldn't be… They're in public."

She tried to deny the possibility, but Mio remembered the incident from this morning in class.

Right. Thinking back on it, Yuki was the kind of girl that would openly hug him in public. Her greeting on their reunion... It wouldn't be strange for her to do even more to keep Basara.

''…M- More than just hugging him… N- No way.''

Not good. That didn't leave room for many possibilities.

"O- Oh no… What do we do, Maria?"

When Mio asked with her wanton imagination, Maria showed an over-confident expression again.

"Mio-sama, do not be intimidated. You have to go on the attack."

"H- How?"

Maria laughed with a 'Fufu' to Mio's question for a solution.

"Please leave it to me--- I know a very good method!"

===Part 6===

In the end, Basara and Yuki never got on the same wavelength afterwards.

No matter what Basara said, Yuki wouldn't accept it. No matter how much Yuki persuaded him, Basara wouldn't back off from his standpoint. The sun had completely set when they left the café and a last quarter moon hung in the sky. Just like the other people hurrying home, Basara and Yuki started walking too.

"…I hope this cheers her up even a little bit."

Basara mumbled while dropping his gaze upon the cake that he had bought at the café as a present.

Later, when he got home, he would have to explain to Mio and Maria without doubt. He likely would get a lecture too. When he inadvertently felt dejected, the figure that should be next to him had suddenly vanished.

"…Mh? What's up, Yuki?"

When he turned around, Yuki had stopped a few steps behind.

"…It's no use. Both Jin-san and you are no longer part of the village… I don't think you can win against the current Devil Lord faction by yourself."

"Maybe… But we're fine as long as we don't lose. The enemy isn't after Mio's life, but after the power sleeping inside of her."

"Besides," said Basara.

"They're currently keeping it an internal struggle, since they don't want things to get out of hand. Thus my dad and I become Jokers. We certainly might no longer be Heroes, but we still have the power to fight. I imagine the enemy will think twice before acting. It's possible that they think the Hero Tribe would act for revenge once they laid hands on us."

If so, then it was more than likely that they could manage by themselves.

"But…"

"Yeah, of course that won't actually happen. The Village treats my dad and me as non-existent after chasing us out."

For the Village, his dad and him were no longer comrades, nor humans worth of their protection. Even if they were to die, the Village would surely just keep observing.

"But I don't really care. I don't intend to drag you or the Village into our fight."

Either way, he had to protect Mio right now. Even if it was only temporarily or to buy time.

Meanwhile, Jin would have to stop the enemy. And if that wasn't possible, then he would group up with Jin and think of a new plan. ---But.

"…That's impossible."

Yuki's quiet voice denied Basara's words. Why--- was what Basara wanted to ask, but before that Basara saw the brimming aura around Yuki's body that appeared when a Hero released their power.

And then, a shrill noise echoed. Yuki had instantly quick-drawn her materialized spirit sword. Just like Basara's magic sword Brynhildr, the spirit sword armoured Yuki's arm up to her elbow. Using the spirit sword, which couldn't be seen by human eyes, Yuki brought forth an invisible slashing blade.

Basara saw it cutting through "something" that was hidden in empty space.

"Just now…"

"A low-class stray devil. You haven't noticed it, Basara, but the Devil Lord's power in Naruse Mio slowly attracts them more and more. Currently it's not grave, but in time it might attract ones that hurt people."

While Yuki quietly cancelled her aura and spirit sword,

"If Naruse Mio's existence brings harm to those around her--- the Village will immediately make her an Termination Target. I believe, it won't be that far off."

"Yuki…"

Basara inadvertently reached out his hand, but Yuki softly avoided it.

Her sad-looking eyes looked straight at Basara.

"If that happens, I won't hold back--- Even if you'll hate me for it."

Then Yuki turned on her heels and went away like that.

Leaving Basara behind, who just stood there saying nothing.

===Part 7===

When Basara returned home, he called for Mio and Maria right away and explained his relation to Yuki.

From Yuki being a Hero and their reunion after five years to the fact that he turned down her request of leaving Mio at the café, he told them everything thoroughly.

He was worried that she wouldn't listen to him due to her bad mood, but surprisingly Mio, as well as Maria, listened obediently to him. And then ten-odd minutes passed with only Basara telling the story in order.

"Ehm… so, this is a cake that I bought at the café."

Basara, finishing his explanation faster than he had thought, timidly examined their expressions.

"…………………."

"…………………."

The two girls remained silent in regards.

''…Aw- Awkward…''

The silence was too oppressive. Just like back then when they had revealed their true identities and told Basara to leave the house.

"Uh- Uhm…"

Unable to withstand the silent pressure, Basara tried to get a reaction from them, whereupon,

"…… Yes, I understand."

Finally Maria opened her mouth. Basara made a sigh of relief.

Mio, next to him, still stayed quiet, but he wouldn't ask for more.

"Y- You do? Good. Then let's have dinn---"

"---No, can you spare some time before that?"

With that, Maria cut into Basara's words.

"Actually, while you were talking with Nonaka-san, Mio-sama and myself were extremely worried. We thought you might get persuaded by Nonaka-san and abandon us… Right, Mio-sama?"

"---Eh? Yes, right."

When the conversation suddenly turned to her, Mio, who had remained silent so far, hastily nodded.

"My bad… But, I properly came back, see?"

"Indeed. But, when the date lasts until this late, I get worried if you maybe have been convinced by her… What about you, Mio-sama?"

"Y- Yes… right."

Mio agreed.

"No, it wasn't a date, but just a normal conversation…"

"---Can you prove it?"

"? Prove… what?"

"You need to ask? Prove that you have not betrayed us."

''Don't ask for the impossible with a smug face''. As if there's such a thing.

"You can only believe in me for that…"

"Please do not misunderstand. We do trust you, Basara-san. Yes, indeed we do," said Maria with a slightly exaggerated tone.

"The thing is, we would like to have more faith in you, Basara-san. As comrades in arms, we would like to deepen our bonds of trust. That is all… Right, Mio-sama?"

"Y- Yes… As she said."

Really? For a while now, it sounded like a third-rate play though.

''…Still.''

Over the course of things, they had formed a Master and Servant Contract, but Basara too was concerned about their mutual trust. With Jin out of the house, he would like to reduce possible worries as much as possible with regard to the future. It seemed Mio and Maria wanted Basara to do something for them. The absurd request of showing proof that he didn't betray them was most likely leading up to that.

''…Mhm.''

It would be favorable if something he did could reassure them. Then,

"I somehow get your point. ---So? What do you want me to do?"

Upon that, Maria smiled. And then she slowly beckoned Basara.

"I am glad you say that. Well then, Basara-san, please come over here."

"…How did it come to this?"

At the place Maria took him to, Basara mumbled in pure incomprehension.

Right now, Basara was in a space with white steam--- The bath. With only a towel around his waist, Basara was sitting on the plastic chair with his elbows on his lap while resting his chin on his hands. There,

"Is that not obvious?"

A bright voice came from the bathtub. It was Maria, the mastermind behind this, while she looked at him with her chin resting on her hands that were on the edge of the bathtub.

"The only way to deepen one's bonds in this world is to get naked together."

"That's only for the same gender. Why would you do it co-ed?"

When the opposites sexes got naked together, it was just an erotic situation.

"What is the problem? Cramped together nearly completely naked in a small room--- sharing the same shame will bring results even if you are against it. You can treat another person kindly once you know his pain."

"What's with this licking each other's wounds mentality! Or rather, there's no point in forced results!"

"Not quite, Basara-san. A girl's 'No' means 'Yes'."

Or, said Maria.

"Could it be you dislike taking a bath with a girl?"

"No, I wouldn't say dislike…"

There was no way he would dislike it as a healthy high school boy. Still, even boys needed to mentally prepare themselves at times.

---Earlier, Maria had taken Basara to the anteroom of the bath.

There she had taken off her clothes and said to the bewildered Basara.

"---Now then, let us all take a bath together."

He had no clue what was going on. It was just too out of context. Basara instantly tried to decline, but she told him "I cannot trust you when we do not take a bath together". Moreover, he had thought for sure that Mio would oppose, but she locked the door of the anteroom and sealed his escape route, telling him "…Please, go in with us". It looked like they would strip him down, so Basara resigned. He agreed to go in with them and reluctantly took off his clothes by himself.

Back-to-back and the towel covering his precious part, he had thought they wouldn't see it, but the shame of it still wasn't to be underestimated. His accelerated heartbeat surely wasn't just from the hot air in the bath. And opposite to the composed Maria, Mio seemed to be feeling the same as Basara.

"…….."

In the bathtub--- next to Maria, she flushed her cheeks in shame. A natural reaction.

She was still clad in a bath towel, but her big breasts would surely float in the water. The knot of the towel had been on the verge to come untied right away, so she had held up the towel with her hands at first, but in time she had given up and rested her breasts on the edge of the bathtub. In a posture that emphasized the volume of her breasts to the limit.

''…That was foul play…''

Even under normal circumstances it was already a trial for the reasoning of a boy in his teens to take a bath together with a girl, yet these breasts were tempting him even more. After all, Basara had already felt them up directly.

''---The incredible soft sensation that drove a boy crazy.''

Not to forget her embarrassed expression of biting down on her lips and her skin colored in a faint pink. Everything about Mio right now was erotic. Against his will, Basara ended up remembering the night when the contract was formed.

"Now then--- How about you wash Basara-san's back, Mio-sama?"

Maria, in the bathtub, suggested the unbelievable.

"---Eh? No need. I can wash myself."

"That will not do. It would defy the meaning of taking a bath together."

Basara tried to decline, but Maria declared decisively.

"Of course you can wash your back by yourself. However, here you should dare to openly expose your back to us--- That is precisely what trust is about, just like entrusting your backs to each other in a fight."

[[Image:Shinmai Vol1 0104.jpg|thumb]]

And then,

"Mio-sama and myself will properly wash your back for you--- But not only will we wash it, we will also respond to the trust of exposing your back to us. You can only trust someone, who openly exposes his back. Getting naked together in the bath, precisely a situation where you defenselessly bare your lives to each other builds up a mutual trust, would you not agree?"

"Uhh…"

After being told something reasonable, Basara was at a loss for words and sighed a 'HAH' before long.

"…Okay. If it makes you trust me, go ahead."

He was already sitting on the chair anyway. When he agreed and left his back to them,

"Y- Yeah… Got it."

Mio slowly got out of the bathtub and moved behind Basara.

After moving behind Basara, Mio sat down on the bath floor with her knees bent, her legs neatly side by side.

Then she soaked the sponge with the body soap.

"I, I'll start now…"

With a nervous expression, she started to wash Basara's back. It was her first time washing a boy's back. She already thought so to herself when she rode the bicycle behind him, but

''…This is what a boy's back feels like.''

It was broader than her own and more than anything it was sturdy from the muscles. Basara's body, which could still bring out incredible fighting skills in actual combat as he was a Hero in the past, was scarred all over. He most likely got them from training and actual combats. Each of the wounds were old.

Even Mio's eyes, inexperienced in that prospect, could tell that this body of his was well trained. Therefore she could comprehend that he cut down the enemy with one swing of his huge magic sword.

Naruse Mio realized once more. That she was saved by this person without doubt.

"…What's up?"

"Eh? N- No, nothing."

Asked by Basara doubtfully, Mio hastily started to move her stopped hand.

---Upon that, there suddenly was something in the edge of Mio's vision. It was Maria's expression as she was looking over from the bathtub. That expression clearly was criticizing her.

''…I, I get it…''

Mio remembered the words that Maria had told her before Basara came home.

It was an idea so that Yuki wouldn't steal Basara--- Maria's secret plan.

---At the café, Basara declared strongly that he would protect Mio. That was surely his true feelings.

And even now, he was openly entrusting his back to Mio. This showed that Basara trusted Mio. Then, she herself had to respond to that.

"…."

Mio cleared her throat with a gulp and unravelled the knot of the towel she was wearing. What if he turned around now--- While thinking like that, Mio got completely naked and brought her body closer to Basara's back. What first touched it was the part of Mio's body that inevitably stood out the most.

Her breasts.

"? H- Hey!?"

"---D- Don't move!!"

Basara raised a surprised voice and tried to get away, whereas Mio stopped him with an even louder voice.

"Please, stay like that… If you move, I'll kill you a hundred times."

Mio declared with a frail voice to the completely petrified Basara.

It was incredible embarrassing for her as well. Still, if this prevented Yuki from stealing Basara, then she could somehow withstand this level of embarrassment.

---Mio was told by Maria that her breasts were an effective weapon against Basara.

And indeed. Compared to girls her age, Mio's breasts were rather--- no, quite big.

At school or on the streets, she often felt the gazes of men not only to her face, but on her breasts too.

She never thought of that as a happy circumstance, but at least now it was different.

These breasts certainly were a weapon that Yuki lacked.

''…Basara…''

Mio looked. At the petrified Basara's upper body, which had become bright red from a rush of blood.

Basara was conscious of her--- For some reason that made her incredibly happy. Mio took the body soap bottle, poured the contents amply onto her breasts and made it foam.

"…."

She pressed her breasts determined onto him again, then started sliding to wash his back.

Upon that, Mio's voluminous breasts filled the muscle cavities on Basara's back with their movements, surprisingly lewdly changing shape. Gaining an unexpected shame, soon enough there started to be a change in Mio's body. What slowly welled up from inside her body was a sweet tickling heat.

''…Mm, Ah…''

Suddenly Mio noticed that the tip of her breasts were tense. She ended up feeling it herself.

That embarrassment flared up Mio's whole body with heat, colouring her body in a bright red very fast.

---But, Mio didn't remove her breasts from Basara's back. Because Basara was behaving embarrassed. Albeit not voicing it out, his body was clearly hot. Without doubt, Basara was only feeling conscious of Mio right now. That fact made Mio feel unsurpassable bliss.

''…Basara…Basaraa…''

Was this an effect from the Master and Servant Contract too? Normally, she absolutely wouldn't do something so indecent. Yet she was proud of herself of going this far for Basara--- for her Master.

"Mm… Fuh, Ah… Mm"

At some point, Mio entwined her arms around Basara's front and pressed onto him from behind as much as possible, immersing herself in sliding her breasts on the back in front of her eyes. Each time Mio moved, the foaming bubbles made a lewd and sticky sound. And when Mio's breasts had went all over Basara's back,

"…I, I think it's all clean now…"

Basara said flustered at his limits. Mio raised her drowsy face.

"W- Well… I just got a bit hungry. We hadn't had dinner yet. And I bought the cake and all."

So it's about time we go out--- was what Basara was trying to say.

"---Ah, no problem. I thought this might happen, so I brought your cake with me."

Wherever she pulled it out from, Maria held up the white paper box with the cake in it.

Then she swiftly opened the box, took a short cake and got out of the bathtub.

"Here, Basara-san… Say 'Ah'."

"W- Wait! Why did you bring the cake into the bath!?"

That's too novel, screamed Basara to stop Maria and their hands collided.

"Aw…"

The cake fell from Maria's hand onto Basara's shoulder, then dropped down from his upper arm to his elbow, lastly landing on the floor. The white fresh cream and sponge cake stained Basara's skin sticky.

"S- See, eating cake in the bath is too high level!"

So let's wash up quickly and get out, said Basara.

"---No, please wait. This is the cake you specially bought for us."

Maria stopped Basara and sat down on the floor next to him. Then,

"Wh- What are you doing?"

"You need to ask? ---I will gladly eat it up."

Maria told the bewildered Basara so without hesitation and started to lick up the fresh cream on his arm.

"UWAAAAH!?"

"Please stay still. I have to at least eat the portion that did not drop to the floor, or I would feel sorry for the cake."

Maria said nonchalant and licked over her lips like saying "Well done". Then,

"It is delicious, Mio-sama--- If you like, could you take care of the portion on his shoulder?"

"Eh…?"

Being told that, Mio looked at Basara's shoulder in front of her. It was the first place the cake fell onto, so it had plenty of fresh cream on it. Mio stared at it, like sucking it in.

"Hey, Mio… Don't tell me, you too…"

Basara was saying something, but it didn't reach Mio's ears right now.

---Before she noticed it, Mio had brought her lips closer to Basara and let her tongue roam.

The fresh cream with Basara's body temperature was surprisingly sweet. After tasting it plentiful on her tongue, she mixed it with accumulated thick saliva in her mouth and swallowed it down at once.

When she cleared her throat with gulp, she felt a bewitching sensation slowly slipping down in her body. It was like tickling her body from the inside. Mio let her body tremble in a shiver to this pleasure and soon enough leaked a passionate "Ahh…" moan.

---And then, she couldn't stop herself anymore.

Entering a delirium, Mio continued to lick up the fresh cream on Basara. It was delicious. Above all, while she licked Basara, her skin pressed onto him, making everything, her breasts, her stomach and her arms even more sensitive than before.

[[Image:Shinmai Vol1 0007.jpg|326px]]

Even after all the fresh cream was gone, Mio licked Basara's body and rubbed her own body against his.

Something had been completely switched on inside of Mio and she called Basara "Brother, Brother" numerous times.

At that time--- Basara suddenly stood up there and then.

"…You two."

Toujou Basara said with a low voice while looking down on Mio and Maria, who sat on the floor of the bath.

He didn't know if they were teasing him or testing his trust, but--- Mio and Maria were cute girls while Basara was a boy. Even under normal circumstances he often ended up seeing them as normal girls instead of family members while living together and had suppressed his feelings so far. Yet when they pulled a stunt like this that completely ignored his troubles, he certainly hit his limit.

Along with anger, his reasoning blew away.

"Fine… If that's what you want, then don't come crying to me later."

As soon as declaring so, Basara hung over Mio and Maria.

"Yahn… Basara, Broth-, Noo." "B- Basara-san, c- calm down."

Both of them hastily raised flustered voice, but it was too late. While holding them down, Basara squashed the remaining cakes in his hands and smeared it all over their bodies. Starting with their soft breasts, bottoms and thighs, he smeared the fresh cream, chocolate and strawberry mousse all over their bodies, then started to taste their sweet-painted skin with his tongue. Mio and Maria protested with damp voices, but Basara paid it no mind. In the bath, which was filled with a suffocating sweet fragrance, he licked Maria's body while fondling Mio's breasts or fiercely sucked on Mio's whole body while grabbing Maria's bottom.

Upon that, they initially showed a bit of resistance, but after a while they accepted Basara and raised alluring voices. Naturally. Basara was Mio's Master and Maria was Mio's subordinate. When Basara felt like doing so, the two of them had no right to protest.

And then--- laying the two of them with completely spellbound expressions next to each other on the floor,

"So that you never do such lascivious things again, I'll subjugate you thoroughly."

Basara reached out his hand slowly and tried to perfectly make them his.

There--- He awakened.

It was not like he returned to his senses. He simply woke up from a dream now.

He wasn't in the bath, but on his bed.

"Eh? It… was a… dream…?"

Basara was inadvertently dumbfounded and made a big sigh before long.

Good. If that had been reality, Basara would have been a real brute.

"Ahh… Good. It was all a dream."

Saying so, he made a sigh of relief. At that time.

"No, Basara-san--- It was reality until halfway."

Basara was startled by that voice. Then he finally realized that he was laying while embracing Maria. But, it was softer and warmer than any hugging pillow.

"Eh…? That just now, was reality until halfway?"

On his nervous question, Maria laughed with Fufu.

"Have you forgotten it? It really surprised me, when you suddenly stood up and then collapsed with an incredible nosebleed. The CSI would get an unbelievable luminal reaction in our bath."

"…I, I see."

That it was only reality halfway was a bit nagging in itself, but it meant that Basara didn't really do anything to Mio and Maria. Apparently he escaped from the worst case.

"Uhm--- By the way, Basara-san."

Maria said with a renewed tone.

"Could you remove your hand from my bottom now?"

"Eh? …--- Uwaah!?"

Basara's hands entwined around Maria's back and grabbing her cute bottom. Moreover, when he hastily tried to remove his hands, he noticed that his hands were touching her bottom directly under her underwear. Basara hastily pulled out his hands from her shorts, then took a distance by leaping back on the bed.

"S- Sorry…"

"No, it was my fault for crawling into your bed, Basara-san."

After Maria said so to the flustered Basara, she showed a roguish smile.

"But, unconsciously putting your hands into a girl's underwear while you sleep… This assertive side of you surprised me. But well, you were having such a dream after all."

"Eh… That earlier dream wasn't your doing?"

A succubus was a female devil that trapped males in a cage of pleasure by showing them lewd dreams.

She seemed to know the contents of it and even said that she crawled into his bed by herself. So he had thought for sure that dream was shown to him by her magic, but

"By no means. That was your own dream, Basara-san. I only took a little peek at it. Besides, if it had been a dream from my magic power, you would not have subjugated Mio-sama and myself, but would have been made to listen to our every word by seducing you mercilessly."

"Ugh… Right."

"No, no, I was surprised as well. Dreams represent one's desire or deep psyche, but to think your dream would look like that… You might have a surprisingly brutish sadist side to you."

"As if…"

He didn't even want to imagine it. Basara became weary, then

"…Reminds me, where's Mio?"

"She was worried about you after your collapse, but she has already gone to bed by now."

On his question, Maria told him outright. When he suddenly looked at the clock on the wall, it was already the middle of the night, 2 a.m.. Apparently quite some time had passed since he collapsed in the bath.

"I see… But good timing, I guess."

He was concerned about what had been reality and what a dream earlier, but Basara decided to ignore that for now. Because there was something he wanted to talk about with Maria without Mio hearing it.

"Maria… There's something I want to discuss with you."

"? What is the matter?"

Maria asked back puzzled, whereas Basara slowly opened his mouth.

It was the matter that he skipped when he told the two the whole story about Yuki after his return home.

A matter he didn't want Mio to hear. While talking to Maria, Basara ended up clenching his fists at some point.

He remembered Yuki's words on their separation.

''…Like hell will I let that happen.''

The Devils after the Devil Lord power sleeping inside of Mio were plenty enough for enemies.

To make an enemy even out of Yuki--- out of the Hero Tribe, he wouldn't let that happen.

===Part 8===

On the school grounds of Hijirigasaka Academy, the bell chimed, ending of the fourth period.

On her seat by the window, Mio sighed in relief.

''…Now it's lunch break.''

Just a bit longer, she said to herself. When she got through today, a Friday, tomorrow would be Saturday, a holiday. Thinking so, she felt a bit better.

---The curse of the Master and Servant Contract activates from guilty feelings towards the Master. However, the conditions for its activation were rather disadvantageous for Mio. She knew that Basara seriously tried to protect her, but despite that, some part of Mio still couldn't be honest with him.

Moreover, she unbelievably acted out character in front of Basara the other day in the bath.

Together with the shame from that, she sometimes ended up behaving crankily on reflex.

''…Still.''

At home, it was not a problem. Because the three of them knew the circumstances and could act with not activating the curse in mind.

---However, it was different for the school, where there were others that didn't know of their circumstances.

If she carelessly acted unnatural or awkward, others would doubt her. Ideally it would be best to not get involved with Basara at school, but that said, when it looked like she was unnaturally avoiding him or being cold to him, it just so happened that she would get a guilty consciousness.

And in that moment--- the curse would activate. The mark that appeared on her neck then was magical and thus couldn't be seen by normal humans, but she couldn't count the times she nevertheless hid in the toilet or infirmary in the last few days anymore. The sole ray of hope would be that her dishonest behaviour didn't activate such a strong curse. If she patiently waited for the surges to pass, it would cease after a few minutes.

"---Hey Basacchi~ Let's go grab some food."

Suddenly she saw her classmate Takigawa approach Basara in her field of vision.

"Sure, gimme a sec."

Basara gave a reply, then put away his textbook and notebook inside his deck and stood up.

"Where to today?" "Cafeteria, I say. The A-Set will be richer than usual since it's the end of week."

While having a natural talk, Basara and Takigawa left the classroom.

On the first day of his transfer, Basara didn't make an enemy out of just his classmates, but out of half of the boys in school. Mio was partly responsibility for that, so she was a bit worried, but apparently he managed to make a friend just fine.

Well--- That nickname was dubious though.

''…The problem is.''

Mio shifted her gaze to the other reason of Basara's isolation. The foremost seat in the same window row as Mio. The girl sitting there watched Basara leaving the classroom.

A beautiful girl with a cold aura. It was Nonaka Yuki, Basara's childhood friend and a Hero.

Yuki, watching Basara's back with longing eyes, suddenly noticed Mio's look.

"------"

Turning her expression into a cold one without emotions, she left the classroom like that.

''…Completely opposite from before.''

On Basara's transfer, Yuki had hugged onto Basara on their reunion. A bold action that surprised everyone nearby. Even doing something like that, Yuki stayed composed. Therefore--- She had thought for sure that Yuki would make more passes at Basara the next day; but against her expectations, Yuki didn't get involved with Basara anymore. Their seats were next to each other, but they hardly ever talked.

---She heard that Basara and Yuki didn't reach an agreement on their discussion at the café the other day.

That surely was the reason. The clueless others were confused by the sudden change.

''…It's my fault, isn't it.''

Basara, who tried to protect Mio, and Yuki, an outsider. The opinions of the close childhood friends stood in direct opposition to each other, which resulted in their current affair.

But. As her seat was behind theirs, Mio ended up seeing it. Even if Yuki didn't talk to him, even if she seemed to be cold. She was thinking of Basara. Occasionally, she looked at him.

And--- It was the same for Basara. Basara too was concerned about Yuki in some way.

''…I wonder why it is.''

That when she watched these two, it kind of hurt around her chest.

It was painful. Mio suddenly dropped her gaze to her desk.

"Naruse-san~ Let's have lunch." "If we don't hurry, all seats will be taken."

Bright voices called out to her. Therefore.

"…Yeah, I'm coming."

Mio stopped pondering further and slowly stood up from her seat.

In the end, school ended without the curse activating even once that day.

When Mio made a sigh of relief, Basara came over right after picking up his bag.

"Okay, let's go home." "Y- Yeah…"

Mio mumbled and stood up. At that time.

"---Nonaka, and Toujou, got a minute?"

Their homeroom teacher Sakasaki called the two to a stop. Basara asked "What is it, Sensei?" by turning around.

"Sorry, but I want you two to help me organize the summer vacation assignments," said Sakasaki with a refreshing smile.

"Wh- Why Basara too? That stuff is the class rep, Nonaka… -san's responsibility."

Mio uttered objection.

"Well, you have a point, but Toujou's transfer spared him from the assignment. So when he helps out with some odd jobs, it'll make it fair to the other students," said Sakasaki.

Basara scratched his head. "Mhm… Yeah, guess so."

Therefore,

"---So, Mio, will you wait until we're done? Or…"

Call Maria and go home with her, huh.

Basara's words were reasonable. But--- the second choice somehow gave Mio a bitter feeling in her heart. The restless feeling from the lunch break when she saw Basara and Yuki resurfaced.

After all. ''Either way, it didn't change the fact that Basara would help out Yuki.''

Waiting for them to finish would mean that she took a backseat to helping Yuki. And going home with Maria would look like Basara chose helping Yuki over her. She didn't want that.

"---Mio?"

Mio looked at Basara, who looked at her inquiringly.

Originally there were only two choices. But if she were to propose going home alone.

Instead of Yuki, Basara would choose---

''….No! What am I thinking…''

Not good. She had a nasty idea just now.

This is just like--- I'm not trusting Basara. The moment she thought so,

"Ah---…"

The curse of the Master and Servant Contract activated. ''Self-loathing from jealousy.'' It was one of the most extreme guilty feelings. Feeling the heat raising inside her body--- Mio could no longer stand.

Like that she suddenly was about to collapse.

"Don't tell me--- Whoops!"

Basara, noticing her state, hastily supported Mio's body. With just that,

"----!"

Mio trembled her body with a shiver. Right after, her breathing got rough.

"H- Hey, are you okay, Naruse…? Are you anemic or something?"

"Yeah--- Excuse me, I'll take her to the infirmary."

Basara replied to Takigawa, then he lifted up Mio and said with a voice only she could hear.

"…Bear with it for a bit."

After mumbling so, he rushed out of the classroom at once.

Basara took Mio to the infirmary, but apparently the nurse was absent.

No helper was there either and all the beds were empty. It was completely deserted.

But that was convenient for Basara and he laid Mio onto one of the three beds.

"…Are you okay?"

On the curtained off bed, Mio replied by just nodding while seemingly having a hard time.

''…Geez.''

Something must have activated the curse, but at this point she could only endure it for a few minutes until the effect ceased. But,

"Ah… Mm, Fuh… Mmg…"

While enduring the riling up sensation, Mio bit down on her lips to prevent her moaning. Her cheeks got red and dampened. Her breasts, so big that they were recognizable over her clothes, moved up and down many times over.

''…This is…''

Not good. If he were to keep watching, he would get truly nasty thoughts.

"…Ehm, I'll go outside for a bit. It must be embarrassing for you to have me stay here."

Saying so, he turned his back to her, whereupon

"…P- Please… Don't leave… me…"

"No, but… …Okay. I'll stay. So stop looking at me like that."

'Cause it made him feel weird. It looked like the curse was stronger than usual. But,

"But sorry… At least let me keep my back to you."

If he were to look at the current Mio, it seemed that his reasoning would be blown away.

Without saying anything, Mio tightly grabbed Basara's clothes--- the sleeve of his left arm.

Basara, taking that as a sign of her approval, sat down on a chair besides the bed with his back to her.

In the infirmary with just the two of them, only Mio's erotic moaning sounded.

Then, Mio's breathing calmed down before long. The effect of the curse seemed to be fading.

"…How's it? Feel better now?"

When he turned around, Mio let go of his sleeve and placed the back of her hand on her forehead.

"Mm… I think, it calmed down… a bit."

Saying so, she slowly straightened up her body.

"Still, how did this happen…?"

He recalled the conversation in the classroom earlier, but there was nothing that would make Mio have a guilty consciousness towards him. The curse was supposed to not activate as long as she didn't think bad of him. However, if there were other conditions for the curse activating,

''…Then we need to think of a counter-measure.''

When Basara was present like this time, he could back her up, but if the curse were to activate while Mio was alone or rather in the middle of a battle, Basara and Maria couldn't help her even if they were with her.

But on Basara's question,

"…Wh- Who knows. I suddenly got irritated by you… that's all."

Mio said so and averted her gaze, pouting.

"What the…"

Basara inadvertently lost his strength. There was nothing he could do about that.

That reason was too unreasonable. Of course the curse would activate strongly then. Basara made a sigh.

"If it has calmed down, you're alright now…? Then I'll go back first."

Since it was an emergency, he had abandoned the task from Sakasaki.

"Eh---…?"

Instantly, Mio made a surprised face. Then,

"…You're leaving?"

Mio's eyes, flickering with unrest, looked up to Basara.

Basara scratched his cheek with "Ehm" on the unexpected upturned gaze.

"Well… You know, I can't let Yuki do… the task from the teacher all by herself."

Besides,

"The curse has calmed down for now, right? Then---"

"…..Not yet."

Mio mumbled isolated.

"---Eh? Is that so?"

Not yet… but didn't she say it calmed down a bit a moment ago?

Ah, but the mark certainly was still on her neck. Though quite some time had already passed.

"…Hey, Basara. I'm… having a hard time."

She jerkily pulled on his sleeve again to check his intentions.

"Well… If you say so…"

Basara inadvertently turned red and spoke evasively. After all, he knew what Mio wanted to say.

---Truth be told, there was just one way to cancel the curse at once.

The curse of the Master and Servant Contract was activated from the Servant's mental betrayal of his Master.

In that case, if she was forcefully made to remember her loyalty--- if she was to be subjugated, the curse would lift.

In other words, he had to do the same thing he did as back then when he saved Mio, who rejected the contract at first.

"But, you don't want that again, right? Much less in the infirmary at school…"

"….Yeah. B- But… if you, Basara… ''Brother'' wants to do it, I'm… fine with it."

"Eh---?"

Basara inadvertently asked back. It shouldn't be his place to decide, since it was Mio, who was in pain.

He tried to say that, yet Mio called Basara "Brother" with wet eyes.

It was ''the sign that Mio wanted Basara to do a certain thing''. Basara couldn't say anything more.

Mio thought for sure she would avert her eyes. Actually, her cheeks were red. She was embarrassed.

She clearly understood what she had said.

But--- despite that, Mio did not avert her eyes from Basara. Her engulfing eyes. Before she noticed it, Basara had slowly reached out his hand. When he softly touched her cheek,

"…..Mm."

Mio reacted with a shiver and closed her eyes. But, she brought her cheek closer like that to lean it into Basara's palm. When he felt Mio's warmth through his palm, Mio softly opened her eyes.

Even without words, her eyes were speaking volumes. Therefore he had to make his resolve.

"…Okay."

Basara said just that, then loosened the ribbon on Mio's uniform.

"Ah…"

Mio's voice filled with a bit of happiness in all the embarrassment.

"---I'll set you at ease right away."

Saying so to her, Basara reached out his hand for her body.

At the same time his fingertips touched her--- the door of the infirmary suddenly opened clattering.

""---!?""
Hastily jumping back, Basara and Mio took a distance from each other.

"…Mh? What are you guys doing?"

A woman in a white robe looked at them from the entrance. And then, she suddenly noticed Mio.

"Oh, Naruse… Anemic again?"

"Y- Yes, Hasegawa-sensei…"

While hastily covering her chest, Mio nodded, whereupon the woman came over. Apparently she was the nurse. He knew of the infirmary, but as he had never used it, it was his first meeting with her. Still,

''…What a beauty.''

Beautiful features, a good figure and a nice aura. A stunning beauty in all aspects. Her breasts were even bigger than Mio's and matched her sexy voice, albeit with a manly tone, her feminine charm stood out alluring. Her appearance of walking with her robe fluttering looked quite stunning as well.

"…Your chaperon? Though he isn't a first aid helper."

Upon that, the merciless gaze of the nurse called Hasegawa pierced Basara.

"No, I'm…" "Sensei, he's…"

Right away, Basara and Mio raised their voices in harmony.

"I know. Toujou, right? You transferred here just recently."

"You know me?"

Hasegawa nodded a "Yeah" to the surprised Basara, then pointed with her chin towards Mio.

"She and Nonaka in your class are quite popular with the boys… So I have heard a few rumours about you. How does it feel to make all the boys your enemy on your first day, Mr. Lady-killer?"

"I knew it, such rumours were spreading…"

Like that, it would take quite some time to make friends besides Takigawa. Hasegawa laughed.

"Be careful. Intentionally or not, when you stand out more than others, it naturally makes you a target. And not necessarily one of affection. People hate those who are greatly different from them or have what they lack. Also, different from physiological neighbor-hate, instinctive feelings like jealousy or fear have an amplitude. Simple on one hand, but troublesome when compounding."

"….Right."

On Hasegawa's words, Basara nodded with a depressed tone. Basara painfully understood what she meant from experiences in the past. And right now, Hasegawa's words applied to Mio as well.

Because she was chased by the current Devil Lord for the Devil Lord's power that she inherited from her father.

"…What am I supposed to do when I make unwanted enemies?"

When he said so, along with a bitter smile that resembled self derision, Hasegawa said "It's easy" readily.

"If you made enemies, you just have to make even more allies. Then you can win against them and naturally the other party will avoid a conflict with you."

"Well… but all the boys in school seem to be my enemy."

"The 'amount' isn't important for enemies or allies. The 'quality' is."

"Well, that might be true…"

Currently, the only one speaking to Basara was Takigawa. No matter how good his quality was, it certainly couldn't cover the overwhelming difference in numbers.

''…Well, I don't care.''

The problem was the situation involving Mio. Yuki also warned him about it, but it was difficult for them alone to oppose the current Devil Lord faction. According to Jin, there was a chance for Mio not getting chased, but there was no guarantee it would work out well.

Quality over quantity. That was certainly true, but at times it was just a mere consolation.

Right now, the enemy refrained from doing anything flashy to prevent the Hero Tribe from interfering, so they could manage a resistance for now. However, if they forcefully outnumbered them without thinking of the consequences, they couldn't hope to win. Even though he--- decided to protect her.

"---Don't misunderstand the meaning of 'quality',"

A voice that saw through his doubts sounded. When he raised his head,

"You don't get it? I'm saying you can't weigh the odds of 'amount' and 'quality'."

Saying so, Hasegawa laughed. But, then suddenly the school broadcast sounded.

"Hasegawa-sensei, please come to the staff room at once. I repeat---"

"…Oh, right."

Hasegawa said so wearily and headed for her own desk on the opposite wall from the beds.

Then she took out documents from the drawer.

"Sorry, I have to attend a meeting for a while. Naruse, I can't look after you, but if you want, you can rest here a bit longer--- Also, Toujou,"

Saying so, she threw something silver to him. Basara promptly caught it.

"It's the key for the infirmary. I'll tell the teachers about it, so lock the door and return the key later."

After saying so, Hasegawa left the room as gallant as she had come.

Then she suddenly stopped at the door with "Ah, I forgot…".

"You might not know since you transferred here, so I'll tell you--- I hate idiots, Toujou. I don't care if you can't study, but I don't like cleaning up after idiots. ''You're at that age, so I won't tell you to not screw around'', but that's a sickbed. At least do it somewhere where we teachers don't see it. There are various spots around like behind the school building or the gym storeroom."

"Wha---"

They thought they had hid it, but it was completely exposed. Basara and Mio inadvertently turned red.

"Teachers aren't gods. There are things we can do, and things we can't. But you know, when you, our students, at least abide by the school rules to a minimum, then I'll properly protect you. I know you want to have a merry youth, but… don't do anything that makes us turn against you."

Saying so, Hasegawa left the room this time for sure.

"…….."

"…….."

Basara and Mio were dumbfounded for a while, then Basara's cell phone suddenly rang.

The name displayed on the screen was Takigawa. When he pressed the call button,

"Yo, Basacchi, still in the infirmary?"

He could hear a bright voice through the phone near his ear. When Basara replied with "Yeah",

"Really? The broadcast called for Hasegawa, but are you guys fine?"

"No problem. She lent us the key."

"I see. Good then… Ah, don't worry about Sakasaki's request. Nonaka and I will do it."

"Wait, that's my---"

Basara started to talk, when he suddenly met Mio's eyes. And then,

"-------"

He saw Mio cast down her eyes. With an expression of giving up on something.

Therefore, Basara turned his back to Mio.

"….Never mind. Sorry, can I ask you to do it?"

"---Eh?"

While hearing a voice filled with surprise behind him, Basara told Takigawa over the phone.

"Thanks… I'll treat you to whatever you want next time."

To the positive reply,

"Thanks a bunch. Tell Yuki and the teacher my apologies too…. Yeah, thanks," Basara said and hung up.

"…Are you sure?"

Mio said with a voice that she still couldn't believe it, whereas Basara turned around with "What else can I do".

"You said you're still in pain. Still, we can't continue from earlier, but I can't leave you alone now either. So I'll stay with you until you're all better."

"…Really?"

Mio asked worried.

"Yeah. The nurse lent us the key, so take the chance to get a good rest."

In addition to always being careful of an enemy attack, she also had to concentrate of not letting the curse activate here. The stress must have built up. Thus the symptoms were stronger too.

"Here, lie down… I'll call Maria and tell her that we'll come home a bit later."

"O- Okay…"

Obeying his words, Mio laid down on the bed. While pulling the blanket over her,

"I'll stay by your side, so don't get irritated for no reason anymore."

"I, I get it!"

When Basara told her so, Mio turned red and pulled the blanket over her face.

===Part 9===

The atmosphere in the infirmary was unique. A soft, pleasant and most comfortable atmosphere in the school.

Next to Mio sleeping on the bed, Basara dozed off too at some point.

"….Mm."

When Basara suddenly woke up, the sun had already set and it was night. When he checked the time,

"8 o'clock… I slept quite a while."

He scratched his cheek. However, on a look, Mio was still sleeping soundly on the bed.

…A bit longer shouldn't hurt.

Hasegawa said she would tell the teachers about it. Seeing as no teacher came to look for them so far, it wasn't a problem that they still stayed on the school grounds.

Thus, Basara quietly left the infirmary as not to wake up Mio. Then he took out his cell phone and called Maria, where he told her that they would be coming home late. Upon that,

"---I understand. Then I will come to pick you up in a while."

She would come pick them up in an hour.

"Now then…"

Basara twisted his neck that was stiff from the sleep, then slowly walked down the hallway.

The school building at a summer night--- Amidst the tepid atmosphere, he headed for the school store. A human's body consumed water even when just sleeping. Specially in this season, it was easy to get a heatstroke or dehydration. Basara got thirsty, so he decided to buy some drinks, including for Mio for when she woke up.

When he arrived at the store, it had already closed long ago. Needless to say, there was no one around. But the lights were on. The lights of the vending machines in the corner faintly illuminated the dark store.

"That works…"

They must have been set up for the teachers that stayed behind until late in the night. Basara bought two sport drinks at the operational vending machines. At the moment he tried to drink his own.

"---Oh? That you, Basacchi?"

Suddenly his nickname was called from behind. There was only one person who called Basara like that. Therefore,

"Takigawa… you're still here?"

When Basara turned around, Takigawa entered the store by saying "Right back at you".

"I was doing the task from Sakasaki. We finished just a moment ago."

"It took you till now?"

If that was true, it occupied him for more than four hours.

Though Sakasaki said they would finish before it got dark with two people.

"No, the work itself was done pretty quick. After all, Nonaka worked without saying a single word. The silence was so awkward that I regret offering my help a bit."

Takigawa said.

"But when we finished the work, Sakasaki said he would treat us to some food, so we ordered without reservation, but it was unexpectedly much. You can't underestimate Rairaiken.<ref>A restaurant chain http://www.rairaiken.com.ph/</ref> So, then I took a digestion nap."

So that how it was. Basara made a wry smile.

"Sorry, Takigawa. You really helped me out."

"No prob… Speaking of, was Naruse fine afterwards?"

"Well, kind of… She's still sleeping in the infirmary, but she's completely calmed down now."

"Glad to hear. It really surprised me that she suddenly collapsed."

But, said Takigawa.

"She looked a bit embarrassed with her cheeks red."

Ah, said Basara vaguely.

Her red face was due to the aphrodisiac effect, but she was embarrassed without doubt.

That said, he couldn't really tell Takigawa about that.

"Anyway, thank you. Like promised, I'll treat you next time--- Will Rairaiken be fine?"

"Ugh… Anything but that."

Takigawa said with a grimace.

"---Reminds me, Basacchi, have you seen Nonaka?"

"Yuki…? No, I haven't."

Takigawa stayed at school until now because he ate too much. Yuki wouldn't do something like that. Therefore he had thought for sure she had gone home already, but

"Huh? Strange… She was going to check up on you guys."

"Really?"

At least while Basara was in the infirmary, Yuki didn't come by… probably.

There was a possibility that she left without calling out to them out of consideration to their sleep, but--- No, even when Basara was sleeping, he wasn't so insensitive that he would keep sleeping soundly when someone entered the room. If so, then they missed each other on his way here?

But, he got the feeling that it wasn't a good idea to leave the two--- Mio and Yuki all alone at this point.

"Sorry, Takigawa. I gotta go back---"

Saying so, he started walking. At that time--- He suddenly couldn't see anything anymore due to the darkness of the night.

The light of the vending machines had vanished all of the sudden.

"---Uah? What, a blackout?"

Next to Takigawa, who made a bewildered voice, Basara darkened his expression. Don't tell me--- That feeling became reality. The faint emergency light showed Basara five shadows emerging from the darkness. Amongst them, one had a clearly non-human beast silhouette.

A devil.

"----"

To think the enemy would attack at school, a place that could easily turn into a scandal. Moreover,

''"Wh- What are these…"''

[[Image:Shinmai Vol1 0123.jpg|thumb]]

Basara heard Takigawa's dumbfounded voice. Yes--- The enemy had exposed themselves to Takigawa, a normal human. But, Basara panicked over something other than that fact. That the enemy made a forceful move like this meant that the current situation was favorable to them.

After all--- Mio was sleeping all alone in the infirmary right now.

''…What now!?''

The enemy was undoubtedly after Mio. The enemies in front of him came to stall him. Showing themselves in front of Takigawa just meant that they had to kill him off later. Unlike the moderate faction, average devils just considered humans as nothing but living trash.

---Of course a normal human couldn't see Basara's magic sword Brynhildr.

Even if he materialized it now, Takigawa wouldn't notice. But if he defeated the enemy with it here, Takigawa would witness the moment the "shadows" disappeared. That would drag him into their circumstances. And Takigawa would surely ask Basara. ---What's this?

He could ask Maria to erase his memories later. However, it would still take some time until she would be here. Right now he had to hurry over to Mio as fast as possible, but it was too dangerous to leave Takigawa alone with his confusion. He believed the enemy wouldn't do anything assertive against Takigawa to avoid letting things go out of hand, but on the hectic developing battlefield an unforeseen happening couldn't be ruled out.

''…Then, what do I do?''

Basara instantly came up with the answer to that. Then,

"---Sorry, Takigawa." "Eh…?"

Takigawa raised a puzzled voice--- And into his very torso, Basara suddenly slammed his elbow.

A blow to a vital point. It was a violent method, but most likely the least dangerous and fastest one.

Takigawa groaned a short "Ugh", then lost consciousness. Then Basara rested him on the floor.

"-----"

At the same time, the five shadows launched their attack at Basara.

---But Toujou Basara didn't panic. He immediately materialized Brynhildr.

Like that, he made a vertical slash, cutting the foremost human "shadow" into half. Then,

"Sorry, but I'm not playing along with your time-buying--- I'll make my way through."

At the same time he said so, he leaped forward at once.

<noinclude>

==Translator's Notes and References==
<references />

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| Back to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Chapter 2

2021-03-07T03:22:03Z

Zhanzhuang:

==Chapter 2: First Master and Servant Contract==

===Part 1===

Naruse Mio, chased out of the Toujo House, came to a park on a hill with Maria.

It was the park, where she had watched the sunset after cycling around the city on Basara's bicycle.

—30 minutes since they had arrived there. Mio silently watched the glow of the city at night.

It was a beautiful sight. The glow of the buildings and the light of cars or trains appeared just like an illumination. Mio thought, if that was how it looked when one looked down from the stars in the sky.

''…Just like he said.''

Remembering about the guy that taught her about this beautiful view, Mio frowned slightly.

"I knew coming together would be impossible…"

Back then, Mio had replied with a vague answer on Basara's suggestion. Because she had known. That there wouldn't be such a chance. Ever since they met, they had deceived Basara.

"Excuse me, Mio-sama… please do cheer up."

Maria next to her looked up at her with worried eyes. Her appearance was back to one of a human.

"We were just unlucky that they turned out to be Heroes. With someone else, I am sure—"

"No, Maria… let's put an end to all the deceiving."

Mio shook her head.

"I wanted a base ''without involving anyone if possible'', but… deceiving someone for that is certainly not to my liking."

It wasn't like they were penniless. Mio's late foster father left them plenty of savings. But for a base, a single house was the best. If they carelessly rented an apartment or mansion in a living complex, the other inhabitants might get dragged in.

However, Mio was a minor to begin with. Furthermore, without relatives. And Maria was a child by appearance.

Like this they obviously couldn't buy a place, nor rent. Of course it was possible that Maria manipulated memories with her magic, but she would have to manipulate the memories of a lot of people, if they wanted to buy a house as a minor and live without drawing the suspicion from the real estate office. Moreover, the memories would need to match each person's position and relationships. The memory manipulation magic wasn't that powerful.

That was why Mio and Maria had done such a roundabout way.

"I understand… I will abide by your words, Mio-sama."

Maria didn't object. She must have understood her feelings. With a soft smile,

"That is what makes you kind, Mio-sama… I personally do not see any problem with deceiving a human that approaches us with ulterior motives though."

"Maybe…"

Maria said something reasonable. After their current parents had passed away, the lawyer entrusted with the will had tried to deceive Mio to steal her inheritance. When Mio had walked around at night with Maria, guys had approached them worried, yet with the ulterior motive in the open. Therefore they became unable to trust anyone than themselves. However if guys like them existed, they thought it wouldn't be bad to deceive them. After all, both sides were lying.

—So, one month ago, when they were surrounded by delinquents in the city, Jin had come to their rescue.

They couldn't trust him either. He would just deceive them as well.

He would betray them in the end…That was what they thought.

That was the reason Maria manipulated his memories and planned to take over the house. But, by doing so, they turned into the same kind as these guys.

"…But, who could have imagined that these two were Heroes."

Mio showed a self-mocking smile. She wasn't blaming them for hiding their lineage. They had done the same. Of course they might be able to overwhelm Basara if they went back to the house now and fought at full power. There was a possibility to make that house their base then.

"But…"

Jin and Basara both had been different from the others they had deceived. She thought that she might have found people she could put her trust in, for the first time after the death of her parents.

''…But.''

What was the point of that now. It was too late. Time couldn't be turned back. Upon that,

"Mio-sama…"

Maria next to her called with a calm tone.

"Sorry… We need to figure out what to do from now on, but first we need a place to stay tonight."

But Maria lightly shook her head to the side. And then, she said with a slightly stiff voice.

"No— It looks like there is something we have to do before that."

On these words, Mio noticed the surrounding atmosphere.

Unnoticed, the park had become ominous quiet. An unnatural silence. Mio immediately understood what that meant. For the past half year, she had gotten the necessary knowledge.

"Magic to keep humans away…."

Mio or Maria hadn't used it. Then there was only one explanation.

"Please watch out… It is an enemy."

Maria glared in front of her. Upon that, there was a movement in the darkness there.

What appeared from the shadow were three ominous shades. These shades gradually changed shape.

One changed into a [shadow] that had a black humanoid silhouette with a long hilted scythe, like a death god.

The remaining two into magical lion beasts with wings— Manticores.

Without a doubt, it was devils. And most likely servants of the current Devil Lord. They emitted a blatant bloodlust. It exposed their existence. And also their aim. Therefore,

"I see… To think that you would come on your own accord."

Mio challengingly glared at the three [enemies].

Her squeezed out voice was faintly trembling. It wasn't out of fear. But out of—''anger.''

"Unforgivable… I'll avenge my parents…."

Needless to say, Mio learned the truth and her lineage from Maria after her parents' death. That she, Naruse Mio, was the only daughter of the previous Devil Lord. And that the two people she considered as her parents were just foster parents.

As unbelievable as it was, she accepted it when Maria showed her true appearance and magic.

Yes. Mio's parents weren't related by blood to her. They might just have raised and looked after her because of an order from her real father.

''….But.''

Naruse Mio thought. The two that raised her were surely her parents.

Rather than the real father she never met, they were her precious family.

That was why she would never forgive it. Mio certainly had yet to awaken the power of her father— of the Devil Lord. Still,

"Kindly getting rid of all humans… Fine, bring it on."

Mio inherited something in the blood of her father. That was— the talent for magic.

"Prepare yourselves… I'll kill you a hundred times."

At the same time she said that, Mio's body emitted a crimson aura. She released her own magical power.

—Usually. The magical aura was a negative black.

The magical surge emitted by the enemies right now was a jet black, darker than the night.

In regards to that, Maria or moderate Devils like Mio's father Wilbert had a blue aura. It was a color of those that had sworn to free themselves off the revenge against the God Tribe.

The aura of magical power changed color depending on the heart of the devil that used it.

But— Mio must have sworn revenge for her killed parents and chosen the path of hostility.

So when she learned how to use her magical power from Maria, her aura was neither black, nor blue, but a scarlet even more brilliant than blood. The kind of crimson color that burnt unforgivable enemies to ashes.

"—Okay, let's get started."

Special abilities like magic essentially didn't exist in this world. Average humans couldn't perceive that phenomena. Therefore they couldn't interfere here. And— Mio's words were the sign for the beginning of the battle.

The two manticore [shadows] closed in to them simultaneously. On this coordinated movement,

"Eat this!"

Mio released an offence magic. A flash and a explosion sounded at the same time. A lightning magic crashed down from the sky. But, the two shadows burst though the dust created by the attack.

Manticores. These keen-witted magical beasts must have dodged the lightning.

''…What about the scythe guy…''

She could no longer feel the presence of the enemy in the soaring dust. He must have been defeated by the lightning magic. In that case, Mio shifted her senses back to the two magical beasts.

"Mio-sama, I will go next."

Maria besides her kicked the ground and flew forward, standing in the way of the manticores. However it was a disadvantaged two vs. one with an overwhelming difference in physiques.

"———"

The manticores, deciding to finish off Maria, who gave an easy target, first, split up to the right and left and made a pinching movement from the sides. Closing the distance, one came at Maria with its fangs, the other with its claws. A combined attack from the side and top. The only available option for Maria to dodge it was retreating. However,

"Ahahaha, so foolish."

Along with a laughter, Maria leaped forward. She headed for the right leg of one of the manticores— the one that tried to kill her with its fangs. She closed the distance in an instant and when she was close enough to reach it with her hands,

"Please entertain me a bit."

Saying so, she swung down her right fist on the giant magical beast's head.

—Unlike Mio, Maria didn't specialize in offensive magic.

Then how was she fighting? That was answered— by a roar and an impact. The manticore, who received Maria's fist, crashed flattened into the ground. That impact hollowed the ground, making a crater. In its center, the manticore didn't move an inch anymore. It even lost its shape. Maria looked down on these remains and snorted scorning with a hmpf.

"Is that all… So boring. Please resist unsightly and make me wet."

Then she moved her gaze to a new target.

But the magical beast approaching Maria from the right changed his own course. It was plunging itself towards Mio. Mio didn't move. And the raised, sharp claw swung down on Mio.

KEEEEEK! With a metallic sound, the claw was repelled. The ferocious attack of the magical beasts had been fended off by a transparent wall that Mio had set up previously. Mio held up her right hand towards the manticore.

"It's over— Die a hundred times and try again."

At the same time she declared calmly, the red ball of light that Mio had created hit it directly.

After the explosion— there was not a single dust of it left.

"Are you unhurt, Mio-sama?"

On Maria's outcall from afar, Mio nodded with a "Yes".

''…These guys had finally made their move.''

It had been half a year since the murder of her parents— since the start of the tragedy.

The enemy hadn't used any flashy attacks so far, but now they had finally come after her.

"Fine… Just bring it on."

Naruse Mio would never forgive the enemy that killed her parents.

And she would definitely defeat the current Devil Lord that gave the order for it. At all costs.

"—Oh, we better get away from here."

By defeating the enemy, the magic to keep humans away should have been lifted. The place was a complete mess due to Mio and Maria's attacks.

They would get reported if a by-passer saw this.

''…But, before that.''

One last time, Mio looked at the night scenery of the city. At the scenery she was supposed to look at with the boy.

—That was an opening.

"Mio-sama!"

When she turned around on Maria's scream, a [shadow] stood in front of Mio.

The enemy that was supposed to be defeated by the first lightning magic. Its hand glowed with black magical power.

Not good— Mio immediately erected a barrier, but it was a bit too late. The [shadow] released a lightning attack magic, which lost steam midway by colliding with the barrier, but directly hit Mio nevertheless.

On that impact, Mio was blown backwards. The park was build on higher grounds— a hill. Mio had watched over the city from its edge. Right before the cliff.

The wooden fence to prevent falls was aging and couldn't absorb Mio's fall.

Therefore. Slung away over the cliff, Mio started to fall down.

"Kuh…!"

Mio tried to activate a wind magic right away, but failed to.

Due to the enemy's lightning attack, she couldn't move her body properly and couldn't focus her mind enough to cast magic.

''…At this rate…!''

It should be more than ten meters until the road below.

The ground was asphalt. Mio's body simply would be unable to endure the impact of the crash.

Mio cursed her own carelessness. Was dying here her fate?

Was this her life, dying without avenging the murder of her parents?

She tightly closed her eyes in despair and frustration—At that time. Mio heard a single sound.

It was a voice. A shouted voice that prolonged the vocal "o".

''….Eh?''

So Mio faced the voice. To right beside her. Upon that,

"—Oooooooh!"

On the tile of the concrete surface of the wall that guarded against soil slides. With that as his foothold, a single boy ran sideways with a terrific speed into her direction.

At the time Mio realized who it was, she was embraced in midair— by Toujou Basara.

"—Whoops!"

Catching Mio, Basara twisted his body in midair. Mio's vision alternated between top and bottom. And carrying Mio, Basara landed on the ground without troubles. There should have been still quite the distance to the ground. And Basara managed to cushion the landing by just using his lower body as an elastic spring.

"……….Fuh."

In his arms, Mio heard Basara making a breath of relief. Then she was slowly lowered onto the ground.

Still affected by the enemy's lightning magic, she sat on the ground.

"Why…"

Mio looked up to Basara. She still couldn't fully believe that she was saved.

Why did Basara save her? She didn't know the answer to that.

"Well, that's—"

Basara tried to save something awkwardly.

"—Watch out!"

It was negated by Maria's shout from the top of the cliff.

Naruse Mio looked. Behind Basara, who looked at her, the [shadow] came down jumping. Most likely as soon as it noticed Basara, it had jumped down the cliff in pursuit.

It had already gotten in range and was about to about launch a slash with its scythe.

—But, that slash didn't happen. Before it could, the torso of the [shadow] was perfectly split in half. It took only an instant. For the sword to appear in Basara's hand and cutting the enemy in a flash in the turning motion. An unbelievable agility and swift swordsmanship.

"………….."

In front of the now dumbfounded Mio, Basara erased the sword from his hand.

When he then turned around to her, his face had a somehow troubled expression.

"Ah… ehm, you see…"

He was looking for words. While scratching his cheeks, Basara let his gaze wander around a bit.

And then— He slowly held out his hand to her.

"……..We're going home."

Without making eye-contact with her, he said brusque.

===Part 2===

—For now, let's return home together.

After overcoming the predicament, Basara had proposed so, but Mio was still wary.

Basara was a Hero. Mio and Maria were devils. And Mio and Maria had deceived Basara. Taking all that into consideration, there was no reason whatsoever for Basara to save Mio.

She could tell that Basara had no hostility, but she was hesitant about her decision for a while. She must have considered the possibility of a trap. Amidst that, Maria convinced Mio as her follower. That there was no reason for Basara to trick them into a roundabout trap. If he wanted to kill them, he could have done so previously in the living room or could have not helped Mio just now.

So, before long Mio gave a small nod on Maria's persuasion.

And now presently— Toujou Basara was standing in the kitchen of his own house.

He took a well-cooled barley tea out of the fridge, poured it into a glass and took it with him into the living room.

"Ah, thank you."

When Maria took the glass, she drank the whole tea in one go. Basara inadvertently raised an eyebrow.

"…Now, you sure drank that without any hesitation."

Wasn't that too careless in any event?

"Well, sure it was me who said to come back here, but…"

"—be a bit more wary, you mean?"

With "I already said it", Maria set the empty glass on the table.

"You have no reason to do something so troublesome as to bring us back home and poison the drink after following us all the way to save us, despite throwing us out of the house once before."

Besides,

"You seriously were angered when you found out that we deceived you. That was because you truly considered us to be your family. Then these ten days we spent together, the time you came into contact with us, were by no means a lie. So I believe it is fine to trust you."

Maria shifted her gaze and asked "Or am I wrong?".

"I see…"

So she actually did give it some thoughts.

"…Well, Mio-sama's personality is like that, so she will be a bit obstinate for a bit longer."

Maria looked to the door of the living room.

"I hope she will settle down a bit in the bath."

Japanese summers were hot even at night. Fighting outside in this humidity, you would sweat by all means.

Therefore, Maria had recommended Mio to take a bath as soon as they got back to the house.

"—Anyway, may I ask at this point?"

Maria said.

"About why you, a Hero, wanted to help us devils."

"Even if you ask… I just heard about your circumstances from my dad."

While scratching his cheek, Basara told her his reason for saving them. It was about Mio's circumstances, the Devil's general situation and the moderate faction, which Jin had all looked up. Therefore,

"My dad couldn't leave you guys alone and neither could I… I could never abandon you while I know of your circumstances. I mean, she bears no sin."

Naruse Mio had been living as just a simple girl. Having her life in peril due to other's conveniences was just too much. When Basara finished his talk with a serious tone, a natural silence befell the living room. Maria, who had cast down her eyes while listening to him, soon

"… I see, Jin-san did."

said with a meek expression and then suddenly raised her face.

"That sounds thankworthy, but— staying quiet when he knew everything, he is the worst."

"Well, I won't deny that."

But, he believed that it wasn't really her place to say anything, seeing as they had deceived him as well.

"—But, I see that you two Heroes helped us simply because of that."

Saying so, Maria gave him a look that asked for his real intentions.

"Actually, the villagers' decision to put us under surveillance is the kind of reaction you would expect, is it not?"

Maria's doubt was reasonable. No matter how much one sympathized with their circumstances, there was no reason for a Hero to help a devil. Yeah—''Normally there wasn't'', but

"I already told you that I don't have any ties with the Heroes or Devils…. Some stuff happened in the past, you know. Because of that, my dad and I are no longer Heroes now. Just simple humans, unrelated to the village."

Though it gave Basara's heart a never-fading wound.

But well, he was no longer tied down by the Hero's destiny.

"If I want to protect something, I will do so… That's all to it."

"Even if it's a devil— one who has inherited the Devil Lord's power? By protecting Mio-sama, you are putting yourself in harm's way, Basara-san."

Basara nodded a "Yeah" to Maria's reminding observation.

"As long as you don't cause any harm to this world or its habitants."

Upon that, Maria showed a wry smile.

"…You are such good-hearted people, both you and Jin-san."

"Not really. We're just wilful…. Like father, like son."

Therefore, Jin had readily decided to throw away the Hero status on the day the tragedy befell the village, the time when Basara caused that incident. So now— it was Basara's turn.

"…I understand. If that is the case, I will take you up on your kindness. Right now… Mio-sama needs as many allies as possible."

Maria's calm tone was filled with a heavy pressure. Then Maria corrected her seating position and bowed down deeply into his direction.

"Basara-san… My apologies for deceiving you so far. You will be dragged into our peril, but please take care of us. Please lend us your power, so Mio-sama will be safe."

A formal tone. The words of a subordinate who's worried about her master from the bottom of her heart. Therefore,

"Yeah. That's the plan."

Basara once again spoke out his resolve. He couldn't keep running away from the past forever.

In that case, he would pick up the sword again and fight. To his current self, neither Hero nor Devil mattered.

I want to protect Mio— There was no lie in that feeling. He believed in that feeling.

"Well then, ehm… Maria-chan."

"Just Maria is fine. After all, we will be comrades now."

"I see— Then, Maria, except for the part with the attack, let's live together normally like we have until now. We're still not sure about the enemy's aim anyway."

"Eh? But, they directly came after Mio-sama…"

Maria asked back puzzled.

"Well… It just doesn't make sense to me."

Basara made a serious expression.

"The guys from the Devil Lord faction should be after the inherited power from the previous Devil Lord Wilbert itself, instead of Mio. Moreover, she hasn't fully awakened the power yet. If she dies now, no one knows who would inherit the power next— In the worst case, Wilbert's power might vanish just like that."

But,

"When you were attacked at the park, ''she could have died'' if I hadn't made it in time. Of course you never know what will happen in an actual battle, but…"

Was it just a coincidence, or were they after something different? He could think of a few possibilities, but time would surely solve it. After all, the enemy wouldn't pull back in silence now.

"I'm sure they also noticed that you guys have been put under surveillance by the Heroes. If they recklessly involved unrelated humans, they themselves will become termination targets next. It's unlikely they'll attack in crowded places."

That's precisely was why they used magic to keep away humans from the park this time.

"Well if they attack next time, we'll get them for sure."

Upon that, Maria said happily.

"So reassuring. I only saw a bit of it, but you seem rather strong, Basara-san."

"Well, don't expect too much… I haven't really fought for five years now."

He had managed to materialize the magic sword Brynhildr, but his body had grown quite dull.

It still wasn't in its former condition. He would have to train from scratch in his free time or it would turn out bad.

"But. Earlier you erased my wind magic here. I was really surprised by that."

"Mh? Ahh…"

On Maria's words, Basara made a peaceful expression and

"I'm afraid that— was a fluke."

Basara shrugged his shoulders, whereupon Maria sharpened her eyes with "Oh please".

"There is no way you can erase magic completely on a fluke. Just what kind of technique was it?"

Maria was full of curiosity, whereas Basara showed a wry smile and dropped his gaze to his right hand.

"Sorry, but it really was a fluke…"

—Yeah, it had to be a fluke.

After all, that technique— became unusable after that incident five years ago.

===Part 3===

If drenched in sweat in the middle of summer, a shower was the better choice.

At first, Mio had intended to do so. She wanted to get out after quickly rinsing off the sweat.


—However, right now she let her body immerse in the hot water of the bathtub.

"……….."

Mio tightly embraced her body in the bathtub. Even though it was summer, she felt surprisingly cold.

''…For the first time, I…''

Since half a year ago— ever since her parents were killed, Mio had trained in magic and combat by Maria's instruction.

Thanks to that, she became able to chant magic even stronger than Maria's.

But an actual combat… A fight with her life at stake, that was a first for her earlier. Defeating the enemy. A wrong step might lead to death. Without doubt, a fight to the death had taken place there. Yeah— if Basara hadn't come to save her, Mio might have smashed onto the asphalt like that and died. When she thought of that, her body trembled beyond control.

For already nearly thirty minutes, Mio sat in the bathtub hugging onto her knees.

—A while ago, Maria had come once to check on her. She must have been worried since Mio just wouldn't come out. When Mio replied to her, Maria seemed to be relieved in the anteroom.

And then, Maria told her about the conversation with Basara.

Including the reason why Basara saved her.

"I have to get out…"

She couldn't stay in the bath forever. Mio slowly left the bath.


When she wiped her wet body with a towel in the anteroom, she inadvertently leaked an isolated mumble.


"Is it really okay…?"

Mio was still uncertain if it was alright to rely on Basara.

It wasn't like she distrusted Basara. In the ten days they had spent together, she came to understand what kind of person Basara was, without having Maria tell her. He was the kind of boy that would come running over once he knew of their circumstances, regardless of being deceived before. And apparently him being a Hero was also a thing of the past. It was probably alright to trust him.

Mio put her feet one by one into the new shorts and pulled it up over her knees and thighs up to her bottom.

''…The problem is.''

Whether it was alright to drag Basara into Mio's circumstances. The parents who raised her were killed. Moreover, by the guys who also killed her real father. Even though she didn't do anything wrong, her family was unreasonably taken away from her— Naruse Mio remembered that day vividly.

She would never forgive them. No matter how many enemies she had to make, she would definitely avenge their deaths.

Vowing so in her heart, she had lived the past half-year. And today, the battle had finally started.

The enemy was the new Devil Lord who reigned over the demon realm. Most likely, battles like earlier— no, even harsher and more painful battles would take place from now on. Was it really alright to drag Basara and Jin into these battles that were unrelated to them? As they both had given up on battles along with their Hero status.

"……………"

Then Mio finished dressing. Night had already fallen, but they still had a lot to discuss about the future, so she didn't dress in pyjamas, but a rough casual wear.

Her own expression reflected in the bath's mirror looked unusually gloomy.

As Mio squeezed her own body, there was a reserved knock on the door of the anteroom from the outside.

"Sorry, Maria… I'll be right there."

Thinking that she made her worry again, Mio replied so, whereupon

"Ah… No, it's me."

On hearing the somewhat awkward voice beyond the door, Mio inadvertently gulped. She still wasn't sure what to say to Basara. She knew she couldn't keep quiet. But she found no words.

—Basara saved her life when she fell down the cliff after receiving that attack.

Mio had no words to say to that Basara. Upon that,

"Sorry. I thought about waiting until you were out, but… But there's one thing I absolutely want to tell you beforehand."

Just what is it— Before Mio could ask so, she received the answer.

"—Forgive me."

For a moment, she couldn't comprehend what Basara said.

"Wh- Why are you apologizing?"

When she inadvertently responded with a trembling voice, Basara continued apologetically from beyond the door.

"I heard about you from my dad and Maria. Sorry, I… didn't know anything about you. And then earlier, I just snapped… I'm really sorry."

"Th- That's…."

What to do? Even though she was the one that caused troubles by deceiving him. Despite that, the one who saved her life apologized. And even before she could. Now she was at a loss for words even more.

"<nowiki>~~~~~</nowiki>"

Her vision swayed. An indescribable feeling rose in her. Suddenly, Mio heard a loud noise. Before she noticed it, she had fallen on her backside on the floor. Before she understood that her legs had given in,

"H- Hey! Are you okay?"

Surprised by the sudden loud noise, the anteroom door opened and Basara came inside.

 
When Basara entered the anteroom, Mio had sunk down on the floor.

Her face was red. Staying in the bath close to an hour, she must have gotten dizzy.

"Don't stay so long in the bath that you're unable to stand anymore… C'mon, you okay?"

His offered hand was shaken off. And Mio made a teary expression even now.

"Why are you apologizing… Even though I deceived you."

In response, Basara scratched his head with his other hand.


"I also hid the fact about me being a Hero in the past. So we're even."

"B- But, we tried to take over this house… To chase you out. Can you still call that even?"

On Mio's strong tone, Basara bluntly declared.

"No… That certainly was your bad."

But, he said with a calm expression.

"You guys didn't know I was a Hero. If you just wanted a house, there should have been a better and faster method for that instead of manipulating memories with magic. By force, that is. But you didn't do that and tried to make me go back to the countryside."

Why?

"You did that— to keep me away from your battles, right?"

On Basara's uttered guess, Mio widened her eyes in surprise. Apparently he hit the bulls-eye.

"Why…"

Mio mumbled, dumbfounded.

"Logically speaking, the time we spent together would be an act and chasing me out of the house would be your real intention. But, I actually have an eye for people. I might have snapped at first, but after hearing the circumstances from my dad, I calmed down and understood it."
One breath.

"You didn't reveal your true colors— ''It's the opposite. You put on an act to chase me out of the house.''"

But, Basara continued.

"There's no longer a reason to keep doing that. Both my dad and I decided to protect you two. I mean, we're already a family."

"Wh- What are you saying… The remarriage was a complete lie."

Mio still wouldn't back down from her obstinate attitude, so Basara told her.

"So what. A family isn't just based on blood-relations or a family register. Living together with the desire to protect each other, that's already a family."

So he would protect her at all costs.

"I'm no longer a Hero. We have no blood-relation, nor a family register, but I'm your older brother. So, let me protect— you."

Declaring so, Basara then forcefully took Mio's hand and made her stand up.

"Yah… H- Hey!"

"Well then, let's get along again."

Facing each other, Basara grinned at her, whereupon Mio made a frustrated expression with "Muh~".

"St- Stop touching me already! Get out! I'll kill you a hundred times!"

"Oh my— Seems you two opened up to each other."

Saying so, Maria came into the anteroom. She trotted over to Mio.

"Well, though it seems that Mio-sama has not become fully honest yet."

"I, I'm not really, well…"

Mio turned red and hemmed and hawed, whereupon Maria, along with a smile,


"Then all is well. Truth be told, I have a little suggestion for you two now."

"Suggestion…?"

He knew that they had to discuss the future, but a "suggestion" rather than a "consultation"? Basara gave a doubtful silence, whereupon Maria nodded with a "Yeah".

"From now on, Basara-san will fight by my side to protect Mio-sama. Basara-san is Mio-sama's guard, so to speak. But with the current situation, he might not always be able to come to the aid if we end up separated for some reason."

"Well, yeah…"

Certainly, it was partly due to luck that Basara reached Mio. He had a strong hunch, since he told her at that park that they should come together again at night. So he left the house and headed there immediately. Of course, he had confirmed her position with the cell phone GPS, but he caught the falling Mio on a close call. He couldn't deny the possibility that he would have been too late if he had checked her position on the GPS before starting to run.

"But, there is nothing we can do about that. We should be careful from now on that we don't get separated and in case we do, the GPS—"

"That's too naïve! You never know when a cell phone breaks down or runs out of battery! At a crucial time the reception might be bad as well or you could drop it on an enemy's attack! If you keep relying on such a thing, you might even fall into a trap in the worst case! Blindly trusting in modern science will do you no good!"

"Well, you have a point, but…"

Basara was overwhelmed by Maria's sudden passionate outburst. Upon that, Mio besides him, said:

"But, is there any other way? There isn't any perfect detection magic."

Exactly, was what Basara thought. Detection magic itself was rudimentary. However, in a fight it was one's first priority not to get found. Therefore there were various spells like magic barriers or decoy magic that prevented or mislead detection, so detection magic was pretty pointless for actual combat. But, Maria showed a smile,

"It is possible, to track down a special target. With the 'Master and Servant Contract Magic"— when you link your souls."

 
Something completely covered the floor of the living room.

The interweaving runes drawn by magic, were a huge magical circle for a ritual.

"…Are we really going to do it?"

In front of the magic circle, Basara said with an unenthusiastic voice.

The Master and Servant Magic turned one into a master and the other into the servant. But Mio might become the future Devil Lord. Position and personality-wise, there was no way she would become Basara's servant.

Naturally, Maria also had suggested it on the condition that Basara would become the servant. But,

"Please do not give it too much thought, Basara-san. With this, you two will be able to feel each other's presence. It certainly will form a Master-Servant contract, but it will just be a formality."

On Maria's persuasion, Basara was still indecisive.

"Linking each others souls with magic… That's all good for pinpointing each other's position, but when you even end up knowing about the other's thoughts, it'll be quite awkward."

There would no longer be any privacy. However, Maria shook her head.

"Do not worry about that— That is not the purpose of the magic."

Purpose? Basara frowned. Upon that, Maria

"More importantly, this magic is special as it can only be used in this world on a night with a full moon. If we let this chance go by, we have no other method. Besides, if any inconveniences arise from the contract, we can always annul it on the next full moon. Now then, please stand here already, Basara-san."

"Well… even if you say all that."

Besides, wasn't it harder on a girl than on a boy? Basara turned around.

"Say something. You don't want to have your soul linked to mine by magic, right?"

He called out to Mio, who had stayed silent the whole time. Upon that,

"…..N- Not really. I'm fine with it."

He got an unexpected reply. Inadvertently Basara frowned as he thought that he heard wrong.

"I, If you're alright with it… I don't mind either."

Saying so bashful, Mio gave him a quick glance. And then,

"Basara— you're against it?"

"Eh? Well, rather than being against it… But are you really fine with it?"

"…Yeah. If it's just about each other's locations."

Ohh, it seemed she was serious.

''…Master and Servant Contract, huh.''

As her guard, it certainly was an attractive offer to be able to track down Mio's position.

Normally, a Hero becoming a devil's servant was out of the question, but sadly enough Basara was just a battlewise average human. With the reliable Jin currently absent, he would like to eliminate all possible uneasiness for the future. Still— if possible, Basara wanted to stay on equal terms with Mio. Because he thought it would be better to stay as a family, as her older brother. And because Mio was raised by humans, even though her father was the Devil Lord, and lived as a normal human girl so far.

''…But.''

Toujou Basara remembered. The expression he saw on Mio's face, slumped down on the floor, when he came into the anteroom.

Her expression back then had been quite gloomy. And— the exact same face was now in front of Basara's eyes. Most likely, Mio was full of worry, which made her accept the Master and Servant contract. So, if forming the contract eased even a little bit of Mio's worries— it wasn't such a bad deal. The contract wasn't forever and only a formality with the possibility of annulling it. With that, he could temporarily form a contract with her until Jin came back. Therefore, Basara made a sigh.

"Okay——So? What do I have to do for that Master and Servant contract?"

Upon that, Maria, hearing his acceptance, instantly formed a smile on her face.

"Thank you. Well then, Basara-san, please stand on the side of the entrance… Yes, right there. That is the side for the servant. And, Mio-sama, please stand by the window side."

When both of them stood in their positions, the preparations for the magic started at once.

"Now then— Mio-sama, please hold my hand."

"Your hand? I just have to hold it?"

Seeing Mio obeying Maria by taking her hand,

"Huh… Mio and my souls are going to be linked, yet she's going to hold your hand, Maria?"

Wouldn't the three of them get linked then? Upon that, Maria nodded a "Yes".

"Mio-sama is using this magic for the first time, so I will take part as an assistance this time. Besides, I think it will be more effective if Mio-sama chants the spell with my magical powers, instead of her own."

Well, if that was the case. Then Mio, after getting told the chant by Maria, took a deep breath.

"Th- Then let's start…"

Saying so with a bit of a nervous expression— she started the chant. Instantly, first the magic circle on the floor started glowing, then Mio's body and following even Basara's body was bathed in the same light.

Seemed it was right that she was only lending her magical power, as Maria's body stayed as it was.

And then— When Mio finished the chant before long, Maria faced him.

"Soon enough a magic circle will appear on Mio's right hand for a while. So please take her hand, Basara-san, and place a kiss on the magic circle before it disappears. With that the Master and Servant contract will be established."

"—Huh? Kiss?"

He didn't really mind a kiss on the hand, but it must have been a formality needed for the contract. When Basara shrugged it off, the magic circle faintly raised up.

But for some reason not towards Mio's hand— but onto Basara's.

"Eh…?"

As she couldn't comprehend the situation, Mio blinked her eyes. In regards, Basara said doubtful.

"Hey… This got on my hand, but is that okay?"

"H- Hey! Just what is going on!?"

Mio changed her expression, grabbed Maria next to her by the collar and shook her. Maria tilted her head.

"O- Oh my? That is strange… Did I make a mistake somewhere?"

"What now!? Th- This is…"

Basara wouldn't become Mio's servant, but Mio would become his.

"Ehm, for now, how about you kiss Basara-san's hand, Mio-sama? You see, the contract will be reversed, but you still will be able to tell each other's position, like originally planned."

The moment Maria said that, Mio's face turned bright red.

"Y- You must be joking! Why would I have to become Basara's slave!"

No, slave kind of set a different nuance. Basara was against that as well.

"However, at this rate… Ah."

Looking on Maria's raised voice, the magic circle on Basara's hand was about to vanish.

"Mio-sama, hurry up! The magic circle, it is vanishing! We can annul the contract later on, so please kiss it for now!"

"B- But… we can only annul it on the next full moon, right? That's…"

Maria was impatient, but Mio was still hesitant, whereupon the magic circle faded before long.

"Ahh…"

Seeing that, Maria raised a fragile voice. At that time,

"Mm… Eh? Wh- What… the!?"

Mio, as her body suddenly trembled with a shiver, raised a confused voice. And then,

"No way… N- No…"

Turning red, she mumbled, then she slumped down on the floor. And then her body started to shiver bit by bit.

"H- Hey… are you okay?"

Saying so, Basara grabbed Mio's shoulder. In that moment,

"—Hyaahn!"

Mio made a sweet outcry and also shivered her body greatly.

"Wh- What…!?"

When Basara removed his hand from the sudden reaction, Maria next to him raised a flustered voice.

"Ahh… The curse is already in effect." "—''The curse?''" "Aww…"

Maria made a face like she had screwed up, which Basara quickly took a hold of.

"Tell me more—without leaving out anything."

"Ah, Ahaha…."

When he brought his face as close as possible, Maria made a dry laughter.

"Eh- Ehm, you know, the 'Master and Servant Contract' not only lets you grasp each other's position, but the actual important part also is that it always sustains the servant's loyalty. When the servant betrays his master or feels guilty, the curse activates as a kind of punishment. The curse normally is influenced by the chanter's characteristics, but this time we used my magical power for the chant."

Still collapsed on the floor, Mio continued to make sweet and heavy breathing along with turning red. Basara looked at her.

"Maria… if I'm right, you're a succubus."

"Yes. I can fight man-to-man, but usually I am a seductive devil."

"In other words— your succubus' aphrodisiac power turned into the curse?"

"…I am afraid so."

"YOU IDIOOOT!"

Basara inadvertently shouted in a loud voice. Of course there was also a problem with her trying to set a weird magic, but

"Why didn't you just let Mio use her own magical power? What would you have done if I assaulted you guys due to the influence of the aphrodisiac!"

"Ah, there is no reason to worry about that. The curse gets stronger when the servant tries to oppose his master and assaulting one's master is the ultimate form of betrayal. If it was attempted, the mind and body can no longer control the pleasure and one will faint or have one's brain roasted."

"The latter is too scary!"

That was the most nasty kind of death.

"Above all, it would most likely have been dangerous to have Mio-sama's ability characteristic. I mean, Mio-sama became able to use magic after Wilbert-sama's death, after she inherited his strength. It is yet to fully awaken, but it is highly likeable that she also inherited Wilbert-sama's characteristic. Incidentally someone, who opposed Wilbert-sama's contract in the past, seemed to have died by being crushed by an invisible power. Therefore I skilfully bypassed the danger of turning into a lump of meat due to the curse on a screw up with my quick wittedness. Yeah, truly by a hair's breadth."

"What are you proud of? This situation is just as dangerous."

"Hah… R- Right!"

On Basara's retort, Maria was greatly perplexed and looked down on Mio.

"At this rate, Mio-sama will go to heaven, in a double meaning! Wh- What should we do, Basara-san!?"

"Nah, a devil doesn't go to heaven upon death."

Basara said so wearily.

"But, the magic circle disappeared before the kiss. Doesn't that mean the spell failed?"

"Yes… however, the magic had already been activated by finishing the chant. And not kissing the magic circle means opposing loyalty itself."

"And so the curse activated strongly…"

This was the worst.

"Wh… Whatever, Mmh, just… just help me…"

Mio, with a completely enchanted expression, raised a bewitching voice and bent her body back and forth.

It was quite erotic. Basara inadvertently gulped.

"…How do we stop the curse?"

"Since it is the Master and Servant Contract magic, the curse will stop when the servant vows their loyalty to the Master. After the establishment of the contract, a light curse will stop after a set time, but this time the contract itself was opposed— so first you have to completely subdue her and properly bind the Master and Servant Contract."

"Subdue her… What should I do?"

"It is simple— Please touch Mio-sama."

"Eh? T- Touch? …Where?"

Would a dispelling magical circle appear then? Upon that, Maria said composed.

"Anywhere is fine. Right now, Mio-sama's senses are increased a lot due to the aphrodisiac effect of the curse. Remember how she sensitively reacted to your touch on her shoulder earlier? Mio-sama has no experiences with men whatsoever, so she is unfamiliar with pleasure, nor has any resistance against it. I believe she will become obedient and vow her loyalty to you, Basara-san, if you touch her for about five minutes."

"W- Wait, Maria… What, are you saying…"

Maria showed a luxuriously affectionate expression to the startled Mio.

"Please bear with it a bit longer, Mio-sama. Right now, Basara-san will make you feel better— yes, better indeed. It is by no means because I, a succubus, want to see you fall into pleasure or anything. Now then, Basara-san, please touch Mio-sama's embarrassing places already and make her feel better."

"Didn't you say I could touch her wherever?"

"Yes. Still, I want to save Mio-sama as fast as possible. The longer it takes, the greater the burden on her mind and body. If you truly want to help her, I believe you should touch her most effective places to make her submit as soon as possible. Well, if you prefer to tease her bit by bit, I do not mind. I am also into that kind of thing."

"Kuh….. Aw, geez, I get it."

He couldn't let Mio die from something this stupid. Basara sat down next to Mio.

"Yah… St- Stay away, idiot… If you do something weird, I'll kill you a hundred times… Mm."

"…Sorry, but give up on that. I'll make it quick."

Basara calmly told Mio, who writhed her body along with hot and long breathing, and reached out his hand for her.

First, he firmly held down her two arms, so that she wouldn't resist him.

"——FUAAHN"

From just that, Mio leaped up her body in a shiver. The skin he touched was clearly hot.

This heat and her erotic reaction nearly made him get discouraged already, but

"Basara-san— This is for Mio-sama's sake. You are helping her."

"…Yeah, I know."

On Maria's murmured voice, Basara replaced his thinking.

In short, he just needed to make Mio submit and swear her loyalty to him.

If that was the case.

Of course he never did something like that to a girl, but— as a Hero, he was born with the talent for supernatural power.

To otherwise awaken a power, one must get acknowledged by the spirits in this world and form a contract.

In other words, one must make the spirits acknowledge oneself.

Most likely even now the Master and Servant Contract would be formed once Mio acknowledged Basara as her Master.

Therefore Basara calmed his heart and just thought about making Mio acknowledge him.

To accomplish that, he had to touch Mio's weak spots, like Maria had said.

"Yah… Ah, Mm… Mm."

Basara searched for Mio's weakest spot over her clothes, touching her all over.

The curse must have been pretty strong. Wherever he touched, Mio reacted sensitive and shivered her body while leaking a sweet voice. But— After a while,

"Ah— HYAAAHN!?"

The moment Basara touched a certain place, Mio showed an unbelievable reaction. Along with a remarkable loud voice, she fiercely shivered her whole body. Basara inadvertently gulped and Maria showed a smile.

"Apparently you found it… Mio-sama's weak spot."

What he looked at was, the symbols of a woman, two soft swellings— Her breasts.

Therefore— Basara took a deep breath. Then he reached out for the most sensitive spot.

With her whole body controlled by a sweet sensation, Naruse Mio looked.

Basara's hand slowly reached out for her own breasts.

"N- No…"

She somehow managed to utter words of resistance, but Basara didn't stop. Staring at her with eyes that seem to be from a whole different person, he didn't allow Mio to resist any further.

''…Wh- What now…. At this rate, I…''

Mio clearly remembered the sweet stimulus that ran through her whole body in the moment when Basara touched her breasts earlier. Soon enough it would come again. Thinking so, she relaxed her body.

"A, Ahh…"

Finally Basara's hand touched Mio's breasts. In that moment, a sweet sensation rushed through her whole body and Mio fiercely shivered her body. It was the same sensation as earlier— No, an even stronger one.

"Yah… Not there, not…. Basaraa…"

Under Basara's body, Mio writhed her hips and said pleading words with an enchanted voice.

But, Basara still didn't remove his hands from Mio's breasts.

And then— Mio finally saw her own breasts changing shape on Basara's touch. She recognized the sweet sensation, but also how soft and sensitive her own breasts were. Mio's big breasts were at a size, where they spilled out of Basara's hands. Like accepting his five fingers despite that, they crowded out between his finger on every rub, lewdly changing shape.

Therefore she wouldn't deceive herself any longer. Naruse Mio knew that the current sensation was pleasure.

This sweet sensation robbed the notion called thoughts from Mio. And then the moment suddenly came.

"Ah— Y- YAAAAAAH!?"

After a moment of sense blankness— A fierce pleasure spark colored Mio's vision snow-white.

A pleasant feeling gushed out from every pore of her body and she felt like she was floating.

Her body stiffened up on its own and Mio forgot to breathe for a moment.

"…, Ah… Hah… Ahh…"

Before long, she exhaled a long breath filled with a sweet heat. The white fog cleared and her vision faintly came back.

''…No way. Just now, I…''

As a high school girl, Mio possessed an average knowledge. Therefore, she understood what kind of state Basara had driven her to. In that moment— Mio trembled her body in a shiver. But,

"Yah… Wh- Why…?"

Mio raised a confused voice. She had thought for sure that this would be the end. Yet, the sweet sensation didn't vanish from Mio's body. Not just that, it got even stronger.

"That will not do, Mio-sama…. This curse is activated due to opposing the Master and Servant contract."

While saying so, Maria lowered Mio's head onto her own two thighs.

In this lap pillow position, her small hands held Mio's head from the sides.

"As long as you do not vow your loyalty to Basara-san from the bottom of your heart, this sensation will not vanish. Listen… Right now in front of your eyes is your future Master. The one you will swear your loyalty to."

"Master… Loyalty…"

Maria's voice was sinking into Mio's conscious that was completely blurred already from the sensation. Therefore, Mio shifted her dizzy eyes back to the front.

Upon that, there was a boy looking at her— Basara.

Basara's eyes looking at her were so powerful that they sucked her in.

''…Basara… He, is my Master…''

The moment she thought so, Mio felt a trembling happiness. Loyalty to an overwhelming existence— This joy spread in Mio's body at once and she was about to swear her loyalty to him like that. But,

"N- No… That, I…"

Still, with her last reasoning, Mio spoke out her hesitation about this sweet temptation, whereupon Maria made a sigh.

And then, she said something unbelievable.

"Basara-san, please fondle her breasts not over the clothes— but directly."

"Th…"

When Mio inadvertently reacted with a shiver, Basara asked Maria with calm eyes.

"…Is that okay?"

"Yes. If you hold back, you will never be able to set Mio-sama at peace."

While softly petting Mio's cheeks, Maria said in a calm tone to Basara. Upon that,

"—Okay."

When Basara said so shortly, his hand moved from Mio's breasts to the bottom.

"N- No way…"

While dumbfounded, she no longer had any strength to resist. Mio saw Basara's two hands going under the hem of her bra top. And then, these hands slowly started heading upwards towards her breasts. The hem was stuck at Basara's wrist and her bra top was rolled up bit by bit.

"Mm… Ahh, Yah…Don't, ''Broth- Brother, stop it''…"

The cornered Mio called Basara "Brother" on the spur of the moment.

On this reaction, Basara suddenly stopped his hands. There Mio was taken aback.

''… O, Oh no. I unconsciously…''

Her face turned red. Naruse Mio realized her own true feelings that she wasn't aware of herself. After he saved her at the park, she wanted to call the all so reliable Basara that from the bottom of her heart.

Upon that, looking at her, Basara

"Sorry… Bear with this embarrassment for a bit longer."

declared so, whereupon Mio's clothes once again started to roll up.

"Mm… Ah, …. Yah… Mm."

The shame from having her upper body gradually getting exposed and the sensation from Basara's hands gliding up her stomach made Mio's body twist. However, that was all the resistance she could offer. Before long, her clothes had rolled up to her breasts. It meant that there no longer was anything between Basara's hand and her breasts. Unable to endure the shame, she inadvertently tried to avert her face, whereupon

"You cannot avert your eyes or close them, Mio-sama… Please properly witness with your own eyes what is going to happen now."

Maria, in whose lap she laid, used her hands to make Mio's head face in front— to Basara.

She couldn't escape. And then,

"…Here I go."

Right after Basara declared just that— Mio saw her own breasts touched directly by Basara's hand.

Immediately, her breasts were fondled— Once she understood what that meant,

"————"

Naruse Mio leaked the sweetest voice ever so far and fiercely shivered her body.

[[Image:Shinmai Vol1 0077.jpg|thumb]]

And then— The curse on Mio lifted before long.

"Ah… Mm, Hah… Ah…"

As the sensation wasn't completely gone yet, Mio lay completely exhausted on the sofa.

"''Nine times''… Nothing less from you, Mio-sama. You were more persistent than I thought."

"Hey… aren't you technically her servant? Shouldn't you say something else?"

On Maria's mumbling in front of Mio, Basara said wearily.

—After that. Even after doing all that, Mio's heart still didn't submit to Basara.

Therefore, he had continued to fondle Mio's breasts numerous times until she swore her loyalty to her Master from the bottom of her heart.

After repeatedly giving Mio's body the sensation that shivered her whole body, Mio soon after released a sweet voice and kept calling Basara "Brother" in a delirium. After the ninth time, as Maria had said, she finally swore her loyalty to Basara and Mio was freed of the curse of pleasure.

Maria showed Basara, who wearily looked at her, a roguish smile.

"Oh please~ You, yourself were quite into it after a while."

"Wha, that's not…"

Turning red, Basara hastily denied.

"Even though Mio-sama was so against it, you never stopped your hands."

"Th- That's… You said I had to hurry."

"But when Mio-sama started to call you 'Brother' midway— you shuddered."

"Uh…"

Certainly, at that time his reasoning was inadvertently about to crumble… wait, no!

"S- So, what now? We can really annul the contract, right?"

"Please rest assured. As I said previously, on the master and servant's consent, the contract can be nullified by chanting the same magic on the next full moon."

"The next full moon… That means, it won't be annulled for almost a month."

Upon pondering deeply, he fell into a light depression. Well, until then he should maintain a harmonic relationship with Mio.

If things like this now kept happening, it would be too dangerous in various ways.

And then. Basara asked the essential question, as the situation was resolved.

"—By the way Maria, why did you keep quiet about the curse?"

Ah that is, with that Maria made a sorry expression.

"Because you finally were interested in helping Mio-sama, I kept quiet just in case, so you would not change your mind midway… It is the truth that the contract can be annulled, so I thought that there would not be a problem. I'm sorry."

"I see…"

Basara made a sigh.

"Huh… You're not angry? I believed for sure you would give me a genuine lecture until morning."

Basara nodded a "Yeah" to Maria, who starred in puzzlement. And then,

"—'Cause that's not my part."

At the same time he said that, Maria's head was firmly grabbed from behind. It didn't even need to be said who it was. Maria instantly broke out in a cold sweat and a penetrating cold voice called out to her.

"…Maria, we gotta talk. Come with me."

Grabbing Maria's head like a clamp, Mio left the living room, dragging Maria along.

"Aww, Mio-sama, my head, it hurts! It was not… It was not on purpose!"

Maria raised a scream, but Mio ignored it completely. They could be heard going up the stairs.

Upon that, there was a sound of a door on the second floor yanking open— then a fierce scream and a vibration of something heavy being knocked over. Moreover, loud crushing sounds of breaking something echoed in succession, but Basara pretended to not hear anything of that. Because he thought she should at least continue until she was satisfied.

And then— the noise in the Toujou household passed over the whole night, not stopping until dawn.

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| Back to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Chapter 1

2021-03-07T02:40:33Z

Zhanzhuang: Grammar & Syntax

==Chapter 1: The Way to Conquer your Little Stepsister==

===Part 1===

---Again a dream about that time.

With just his consciousness floating in the scenery of the past, Basara realized that he was dreaming. Deep crimson. The crazy eyes with that colour had looked down on Basara in the past.

The angry voices of a large crowd. The crying voice of a precious friend in the background.

Amidst that, a black silhouette slowly came closer.

"------"

Oblivious of all around. He had to do something--- that was all he thought.

But Basara's mind neared its limit on this tragedy happening before his eyes.

And in the next moment--- Basara's vision was coloured white.

His consciousness slowly faded away. He didn't know if he was saved or not.

Just--- Basara had heard someone's shout at the end.

Toujou Basara hadn't forgotten these words even now. The crying shout of a female repeated endlessly. Just like a curse--- It said, please give back that child.

===Part 2===

"---! Hah…. Hah….---"

Basara opened his eyes and at the same time made a rough gasp. In a situation, where he looked up to the ceiling, he realized that he had woken up. Taking a deep breath, he calmed down his chaotic
heartbeat.

''…No matter how often I see that dream, I just can't get used to it…''

Laying on his bed face up, Basara stared at his own right hand that he had brought up to his face.

"…Huh? Somehow, it's still hard to breathe…"

Even though he woke up from his dream, he still couldn't breathe properly. There,

"Ah---You're finally awake."

A sudden voice. When he lowered his gaze, on top of his summer blanket that he used instead of the normal bedspread--- a girl was mounting Basara around his hips with him pinched between her thighs. She had placed both her hands on his chest and showed an impish expression. That girl--- Naruse Mio looked down on Basara.

"Morning."

"….Morning."

Basara returned the morning greeting on reflex. Either Mio was just too light or it was because of the blanket, but he couldn't really feel that much of a weight. Still, this realistic feeling made Basara remember his current situation.

--- That he and she had started living together from yesterday on.

The movers had been requested to do everything from packing and sending the things over, for some extra pay.

And their work was good and speedy. It has been one week since they first met at the family restaurant.

The Toujou and Naruse Families safely started their living together after renting a single house. But,

"Ehm… What are you doing?"

"What you ask, waking you up of course. I thought boys would be happy about that."

On Basara's unmeant question, Mio smiled with "It's a service".

Most likely, Mio herself had intended for it, but--- this certainly was a ''service''.

Usually in such cases, one would get on top of the stomach. But maybe she couldn't tell his posture due to the blanket, as Mio was sitting on Basara's hips. This was just like the cow-girl position.

[[Image:Shinmai Vol1 0026.jpg|thumb]]

Furthermore, the current season was midsummer. The season where a girl's clothes at the highest exposure rate of the year. In short, lightly dressed. Mio's attire this morning was a camisole-type brassiere top and hot pants. Her exposed thighs were dazzling his eyes and the feeling of her mounting him was the best as well.

But more importantly--- Basara's eyes were inadvertently attracted to some other spot.

''….They sure are huge.''

It had been on his mind ever since he saw her in the family restaurant. Mio's breasts were rather voluminous. Her corpulent swellings stretched out the highly elastic brassiere top all the way. The cleavage, where multiple fingers would fit in, wasn't to be ignored either, but sideline of her too big breasts--- a skin-coloured curve completely showed out from the side of the brassiere top.

"Hey, stop with the dumb face and get up already."

"Y- Yeah…"

What to do. She herself didn't seem to have noticed, but every time Mio's hands pressed on Basara's chest, her breasts shook and gave an all too superb sight. Inadvertently, Basara didn't move, whereupon-

"Hey, get up already or… Eh?"

As she suddenly noticed something, her expression changed into a doubtful one. And then, while confirming a sensation with her hand,

"…H- Hey, somehow… I feel something hard?"

Oh my? Basara tilted his head. Could it be, the effect of having her sit on his hips backfired?

"Ehm…is this the physiological phenomenon unique only to boys?"

"N- No! I wonder what it is… Maybe my cell?"

Yeah, Basara remembered. Last night he couldn't fall asleep, so he played on the portable game console. At some point he had had fallen asleep, but that had to be it. Actually,

"I'm grateful that you came to wake me up, but you're not sitting on my stomach, but my hips. When a girls sits there and a real ''physiological phenomenon'' happens, I can't be held responsible."

On Basara's words, Mio instantly turned bright red. She must have finally noticed her own defenselessness. He thought for sure that she would jump off and step on him in a panic.

"Y- Yeah…I can't deny that. Y- You're a boy after all."

Surprisingly enough, she withstood it. Most likely she wanted to stay emotionally superior to Basara. But it was quite obvious that she was agitated. Apparently she was fine when the things went the way she wanted, but was weak in unexpected situations. So to test it, Basara decided to tease her a bit.

"…Now then, guess I'll get up."

"Fueh!? Y- You're getting up?"

Basara said a "Yeah" to Mio, who immediately started to be restless.

"I can't really laze around here forever, can I. And you took the trouble of coming to wake me up."

"R- Right…. B- But"

Basara gave a wry smile to the flustered Mio. While looking up to Mio from below,

"If it's that troubling for you, wake me up normally next time. Not sitting on my hips."

It was meant as a gentle warning. But, Mio made a frustrated, red face.

"I, I'm not really troubled…. It, it's just a simple physiological phenomenon."

She was obstinate on a strange orientation. Basara had no time to stop her.

"C- C'mon, get up already!"

She grabbed Basara's blanket and pulled it off.

Upon that, something instantly shot up from under the blanket into the air--- into Mio's direction.

"Eh….?"

Inadvertently letting go of the blanket, Mio caught it. It was neither a cell phone nor a gaming console. Of course, it wasn't a physiological phenomenon either. It was a remarkable something that came from between his groin and shot up into the air. Then what was it? Basara's eyes fell onto the plastic case. It was something often used for games or an image editor software---or rather, a kind of software itself. The back of the package was facing his way, so Basara could read its title.

The name of the product with a cute girl on the cover was:

"Youth Special Edition: My real little stepsister and I"

It was a game about a little sister.

"Hi….Kya--!?"

Mio threw the software onto Basara's stomach and fell from the bed, as she lost her balance in that very moment.

"H- Hey, are you oka---Mh?"

Upon that, the package had turned upside down. Now Mio was looking at the backside with the summary written on it. The game screenshots of the cute girl were full of naked skin and mosaics.

---In short, it was an erotic game. Moreover, it was a training style game, betraying the light title.

The supposedly fresh morning atmosphere turned into the most awkward scene in the world for a moment.

"Wh- Why is such a thing in my bed…?"

Basara was fifteen years old. He didn't remember buying such a thing. However, while Mio was shivering on the floor,

"Y- Yo- You…You were playing such a game on the night where we started to live together? I knew it… you want to do the stuff from the game to us as well, right?"

"What do you mean you knew it! Actually, there's no way I have--- Oh?"

"Yah, hey….Kyaa!?"

When Basara hastily denied it while trying to get off the bed, he also lost his balance and fell onto the floor. His lower body must have been numb due to Mio sitting on it. At once, he was hanging over.

"Ah…."

Just like being pushed down. At a distance where the breath could be felt, their faces were close to each other.

So close that it made you hesitate to speak. The sweet aroma of a girl.

The moment he had collapsed, both straps of Mio's brassiere top slipped down her arms and her big breasts were about to spill out. It had slipped down so much that the tip was nearly visible.

Furthermore, one of Basara's knees was between her charming thighs that appeared out from her hot pants and if he were to move even just one millimetre, he would touch a place that he wasn't supposed to touch by
all means.

And in a silence of a few seconds, which felt like an eternity, unable to make even a quiver,

"Y…."

"…Y?"

Mio finally uttered a voice and Basara repeated it.

"You perveeeeert!"

"Guaaaaaaah!?"

Mio's raised knee hit right into Basara's solar plexus. And while Basara's body floated a tiny bit, Mio escaped from the spot. At the door, she turned around to the writhing Basara on the floor,

"N- Next time you do anything weird to me, I'll kill you a hundred times!"

After saying so shouting, she left the room. Only Basara was left behind, writhing on the floor.

"Wait, it's a misunderstanding…"

Reaching out his hand, he mumbled moaning, but no one heard it.

From atop of his bed, the adorable illustration girl looked at him like she was sneering at him. The heroine of "Youth Special Edition: My little stepsister and I"--- made a gentle smile.

"Damn you… Dad. To plant such a crude thing into my bed."

As it was summer vacation, Basara headed down the stairs to the first floor, still in his pyjamas.

Actually, Jin would be troubled if Basara was hated. Did he not care if the remarriage blew up? Well, regardless of how the remarriage went, he wouldn't stand for having his character doubted on a misunderstanding.

"For starters, I have to properly clear up the misunderstanding later…"

When he opened the door to the living room, a delicious smell instantly tickled his nasal cavities.

Especially the aroma of roasted bread made his stomach react.

"Ah, Basara-san. Good morning."

At the end of his line of sight, Maria, cooking in the kitchen across, noticed him.

"Ah, yeah… Morning."

Basara lowered his head a bit. Apparently Mio hadn't talked about the earlier misunderstanding yet.

Jin and Mio weren't in the living room. They must be either at the toilet or in the bath, readying themselves. Making a sigh of relief, Basara headed for the kitchen.

"Mh~ Hop…"

There he could see Maria perfectly handling a big fry pan with her small body.

Even while being the youngest, Maria had taken on all house chores, partly due to the fact that she didn't go to school. Either way, she had been boasting how she had taken care of the chores before their living together as well.

Maria wore a white apron with frills, like a newly-wed wife would wear. Equipped on the young-looking Maria it actually gave off a rather erotic feeling, which troubled him.

Basara opened the refrigerator with a cup, which he had taken out of the cupboard, in one hand and poured milk from a pack in it.

"Please wait just a bit longer. I'll be done real soon!"

"Yeah, than---PFFT!?" 

Inadvertently Basara snorted out the milk from his mouth, which gave birth to a little rainbow in the air.

Because he got a full look at Maria, who had turned around to face him, from the front.

"Oh my, you spilled it. You're so mischievous in the morning already, Basara-san."

Maria showed a calm smile and came closer trotting.

"H- Hey! Wait, Maria-chan!"

Basara hastily put up both of his hands in front to stop her.

"Eh? What's the matter?"

Maria tilted her head. It was a cute behaviour like from a penguin. It made you inadvertently incline your body as well. But, more importantly,

"Right back at you, what's with that outfit in the morning…?"

Basara pointed out. After all, she was naked in an apron--- A real naked apron. Even though it was already the 21th century. Not good, he had to calm down. It was a penguin. If he thought about it as a naked penguin in an apron, it somehow should--- as if!

"Ehm… Something wrong with it?"

Without time for Basara to stop her, Maria spun around on the spot once more. However,

"….H- Huh?"

Maria was properly wearing clothes. Because she wore a combination of a camisole and miniskirt underneath, it only looked like she was naked under the apron from the front. Then Maria,

"…Hohoho~n, I see."

When she looked down on her own attire, she smirked, as she had noticed what Basara had gotten so flustered about.

"You are an adolescent boy after all, Basara-san… Was it too stimulating for you? Did it arouse you?"

It certainly was quite stimulating. In a mainly pathetic way.

"…Did you have any weird thoughts?"

"No, no."

"Please get excited."

"Haha."

Basara wondered if this conversation wasn't a bit strange for siblings.

"Oh right. Earlier, Mio-chan went to wake you up, but how did it go?"

"….Thanks to that I'm fully awake now."

He couldn't really tell her that he received a knee kick before breakfast. However,

"No, no, that's not what I meant."

Maria shook her hand with that and with a serious expression,

"That software like thing that I smuggled into your bed--- Did Mio-chan see it?"

"SO IT WAS YOUUUUUUUUU!"

Basara screamed at once. Culprit found. To think that it would be Maria.

"Just what for did you place such a crude thing there…"

"What for..? Because you seemed to be unfamiliar with training your little stepsister."

"I don't even want to be familiar with it! Besides, why do I have to train her anyway!"

"Eh? B- But…"

There Maria was suddenly bewildered.

"Except for training, there are no other usages for a little stepsister, are there?"

"THERE ARE! Actually, what do you mean with ''usages''!"

Oh god. He knew that middle schoolers these days couldn't be underestimated, but what exactly did this loli little sister take her older sister for? There Maria shook her clenched fists wildly up and down.

"B- But… that game seems rather great? In the end, your little stepsister becomes your complete slave and just with verbal abuse, she makes a stupid lustful expression and squirts all over. So you should learn from it, Basara-san."

"I don't care! Why do I have to learn from something like that!"

"I, I mean… Except for making a stupid lustful expression and squirting all over, a little stepsister has no raison d'être---"

"She has! A lot of them!"

Apologize to all 3D and 2D little stepsisters! No, more importantly,

"Ehm, Maria-san…?"

While using a respectful calling, Basara started to ask her. He didn't want to believe--- but on the possibility,

"That game… could it be yours?"

What should he do if it was hers? Basara gulped.

"Oh please, Basara-san, how could that be? I am still in middle school."

Maria shook her hand while laughing an Ahaha.

"You are going to take care of us now, Basara-san, so it's a kind of moving in gift."

"That's the worst for a moving in gift. Make it something more decent."

"…In other words, you're saying 'The game isn't satisfying, give me a decent body'?"

"Eh…?"

"I, I understand. It's embarrassing, but if that's what you desire, Basara-san…"

In front of Basara, whose eyes were on fire, Maria took off her apron. Shyly, she reached her hand into her miniskirt and when she rolled it up, she fidgeted around purposefully.

"Uh- Uhm… I'm not that familiar with training, but starting with it in the bright morning is a rather high level, isn't it?"

"Like hell I'm doing it! Besides, training itself is already something unmanageable for a middle/high schooler!"

"Mhm, what's the ruckus about?"

There was a voice from the door of the living room. It was Jin in pyjamas and the newspaper pinched under his arm. Basara hastily tried to make an excuse, but Maria reddened her cheeks before that.

"Ehm… Actually, I'm going to get my first training from Basara now."

"I already told you, I'm not going to---"

"---Hee, is that so."

Following, Mio came into the living room and sent Basara a glance like she was looking at a beast.

"Earlier… you pushed me down and now you're having a Youth Special Edition with Maria. Hee."

"Don't make me out to be the bad guy. My legs were just numb!"

And then Basara remembered with "Oh right".

"Listen, about the earlier software, Maria had---"

"Eh? What are you talking about?"

Instantly she played dumb.

"I have no idea what you mean. Basara-san, please do not push the responsibilities of your hobbies onto me."

"Kuh… Making an innocent face only now."

Even though she had put her hand into her skirt and was ready for training before, just to tease him.

"Dad…say something."

Father and son had lived together for years. His thoughts should be conveyed. Upon that, Jin, who had sat down at the table earlier, raised his head from the newspaper with a "Huh?", then rested his chin on his hand with a "Mhm".

"I understand that you're in high spirits over getting two cute little sisters--- but please, no crimes."

"It didn't convey at all!"

So unreasonable, Basara thought. This was supposed to be his home, yet why did he feel so away?

===Part 3===

When starting a new living together, there were absolutely necessary things.

That day. While cleaning up the remaining luggage from the moving in that morning, they all went to the furniture store in the afternoon and bought newly needed things like curtains or sheets. Just looking around once in the broad store took a surprising amount of time. When they returned home, the sun was already setting.

---And presently. Toujou Basara was pedalling his bicycle.

To get to know the new city they moved to even a little better, he went around the neighbourhood.

"The evening is a bit more relaxing."

His muttered words were not a monologue. On the luggage carrier behind him sat Mio.

"Why do I have to…"

She mumbled dissatisfied while twining her arms around his waist. Riding a bicycle together with a girl. Moreover, one with huge breasts. A heart-pounding event for a man, yet the atmosphere was really strained.

"Don't say that… I don't know my way around here, but ''you come here often''."

The high school Mio attended was close to the house they moved in to. Therefore when he went out, he had asked Mio if she could show him around the city. It seemed like she had understood that the software from this morning was a prank from Maria, but the awkwardness wouldn't disappear so easily. Mio had openly made a displeased expression and complained, but in the end she accepted to show him around.

"Hey… Basara, are you really attending the same school as me?"

"Seems so."

In response to the question from behind, Basara spoke words of affirmation.

---The school transfer was suggested by Jin. He could have commuted to his old school from the new house, but Mio's high school was in the walking distance. It also had a good tradition, so he decided to transfer.

He merely spent one term as a high schooler yet. Of course it wasn't like he hadn't gotten along with his classmates, but he had no regrets about leaving that school.

…Besides.

There was the stuff about Mio getting attacked previously. If Basara could ward off such a thing or risk even a little bit by attending the same school, a transfer was standing for reason.

Behind Mio just said "Mhm", not stating if she was against it or not. Basara and Mio slowly advanced on the bicycle in the madder red coloured city.

"…Hey. Can I ask what kind of dream you had this morning?"

"….Aw."

Suddenly asked with a casual tone, Basara scratched his cheek. Before Mio came to wake up him, he should have had a fierce nightmare. From Mio's viewpoint, it was an obvious question.

…I made her be anxious about me.

Basara ruminated what to do in an atmosphere, where Mio wouldn't urge him to answer.

Unfortunately, ''he couldn't tell an ordinary person like Mio'' about his circumstances. Therefore,

"In the past… when I lived in the country-side, lots of stuff happened. You could call it a trauma… Even now I sometimes dream of that time."

"…I see."

Mio said so shortly and didn't question any further. Still, for a little bit, he felt the atmosphere between them soften up. This must have been Mio's consideration.

Thanks.

If Basara were to tell her everything--- he would most likely be unable to live together with Mio and Maria any longer.

Since they were asked to buy some ingredients along with their touring, Basara and Mio headed for the supermarket.

"We bought a lot…"

As they had just moved, they ended up not just buying ingredients, but also all kinds of seasonings.

"I'll go get the bicycle first. The stuff here is heavy, so just come to the exit with the cart."

"Mm, okay."

Leaving the nodding Mio behind, Basara left the store first.

He arrived at the parking lot for the bicycles and unlocked his bicycle lock, whereupon

"---Can I ask what kind of dream you had this morning?"

He remembered Mio's words and the bad dream from this morning flashbacked in his mind. Instantly,

"……---!"

Basara forgot how to breathe for a moment and pressed onto his chest as his heartbeat jumped up.

---How better would it be, if he could just forget. But, he couldn't afford to forget.

The incident five years ago. Basara was the victim and at the same time also the assailant.

Therefore, Toujou Basara was going to shoulder this pain for the rest of his life.

"…Aw, not good."

Remembering that Mio was waiting for him, Basara pushed his bicycle to the store's doorway. Upon that, he immediately spotted Mio crowded by people.

Geh, Basara grimaced. Mio was surrounded by four obviously bad guys.

And, Mio was shaking off the arm that was over-familiar put on her shoulder and glared at the guys fiercely.

"---Don't touch me. I'll kill you a hundred times, if you touch me! Hey, Basara!"

Such aggressiveness. An average high school boy might have gotten frightened by it. But unfortunately it had no real effect on these four guys. With a smirk on their faces, they didn't leave Mio alone.

"…Ehm, do you have any business with my companion?"

So for now, Basara tried to call out to them peacefully.

"---Huh? Who are you?"

"Well, her companion."

"Mhm… So what?"

Huh? Wouldn't one normally back off when realizing the girl had a guy with her?

In this kind of tense atmosphere, Mio looked at him with a stiff expression.

''…Well, what now?''

When Basara was pondering, the closest guy came closer with his head inclined diagonally while chewing messily on his gum. It was unknown if it was to threat or to provoke, either way he was good at making a pissed face.

"Basara, huh? What a lame name---"

"---Not so much as your face."

Saying so displeased, Basara pulled on the handlebar of his bicycle to raise it up. Letting the front wheel floating on the spot, the bicycle made a wheelie.

"Huh---?"

The guy looked up to it attracted and into his very face, Basara drove down the tire.

A direct hit. "Gueh", raising a short voice, the guy was knocked over to the back.

---On this sudden happening, everyone present there was dumbfounded.

Basara naturally made his bicycle stand again, then passed through the remaining three guys to reach Mio. There he grabbed the cloth bag with the purchased goods in the cart's basket.

"Bastard---!"

With an eye for the situation, Basara quickly opened the cap of the newly bought small bottle of seasoning and threw the contents at the guys that came to attack him.

"Guah!?"

"Ass, hole… Acchoo!"

"My, My eyes, it hurts…. Acchoo!"

Well, of course. It was 298 yen priced, plain old pepper.

"---Hey, stop standing there dumbfounded and run!"

"Eh? Eh?"

Grabbing the hand of the confused Mio and the cloth bag from the cart's basket, he ran off.

Right now, getting away from here as quickly as possible took priority. Basara rashly pushed the cloth bag into the bicycle front basket.

"Hold on, we're gonna drive!"

Letting Mio sit on behind, he took off at full speed. At the same time.

"Guah----!?"

The bicycle treaded on something. Most likely, it was the guy that was still laying on the ground after being hit with the tire. However, there was no time to feel sorry.

Basara pedalled standing up, retreating from the place at full speed.

And then--- they roared down the main road together on the bicycle for a while.

They shouldn't chase after them anymore, just with that timing, the traffic light turned red.

"Fuh, we should be safe here…"

His breathing was a bit out of order from the dash in midsummer and sweat gradually spread over his forehead. There,

"…Sorry. It's my fault."

Suddenly, Mio's voice from behind became audible. Mio placed her forehead on Basara's back and leaned her body a bit against him. Basara turned around over his shoulder and looked at Mio. As she was fretting over having Basara involved in her own troubles, Mio had cast down her eyes and was looking down with a bitter expression.

''…So she can make a face like this too…''

A new expression on Mio was before his eyes. But, Basara didn't want her to keep that expression. He couldn't find any suitable words to say---Still,

"Ehm--- How about we take a little detour home?"

At the same time the traffic light turned green, Basara turned the handlebar, which had started to let the bicycle run.

"…Eh?"

Mio raised a surprised voice on the change of course away from their house.

But Basara didn't stop. It was evening. If they went now, they should arrive at a perfect time.

The place Basara took Mio to was a park, proud of its broad ground.

There existed also a scenic outpost called the setting sun hill, but since it was famous with the locals, Mio, who attended school here, must have known about it. Therefore, Basara dared to take her to a rarely visited place.

It wasn't a public viewing platform, but a point where you could get an entire view of the city.

"Waah…!"

Mio, looking down on the cityscape, raised a voice of surprise and delight. Just like Basara had predicted, they had arrived at the perfect timing. The world was equivalently coloured in a gentle madder red, a spanning sunset scenery.

"So pretty… But you just moved here, so how did you know of this place?"

"When my dad decided on the house, I was with him and I heard that the park was famous, so I came here alone while dad signed the contract. And then I found this place by chance."

Basara lined up beside Mio.

"Quite the splendid view, isn't it."

"Yeah. I never knew… that there was a place like this here."

"Let's come at night next time. The night scenery at the park is famous as well. I'm sure it'll be pretty from here as well."

He suggested a little promise for the future. Upon that,

"Yeah… You're right. …Next time then."

Suddenly Mio's expression clouded. From their position they could see the earlier supermarket as well. She might have remembered about the quarrel with the guys. Basara scratched his cheek with his finger and an

"Ehm".

"Today… This morning, you came to wake me up."

On these words, Mio looked at him. So, Basara spoke with a slow tone.

"A family, you see--- is probably something where any troubles or bothers for each other can be forgiven."

"Eh…?"

"To you, I'm a somewhat favourable existence, on the level of coming to wake me up, right now, correct? Of course it's not completely settled yet if our parents will marry… But we're going to live together anyway. By helping each other out with trivial things and acknowledging each other, I believe we're slowly becoming a family."

Because

"At least, I think that what I did at the supermarket was a natural thing to do. I'm sure, it's the same for my dad. If you or Maria-chan would get into that kind of trouble again, my dad or me will help you anytime. But, that's not something you should worry or feel reluctant about. I mean, it's the same natural thing as coming to wake me up in the morning."

For now, he had tried to somehow put his feelings into words.

"…….."

However, Mio shut her mouth and stayed quiet. Maybe he was too roundabout?

''…I'm not good with words after all.''

At times like this, Jin would have been able to convey it with more plain and simple words, but to his regret, Basara couldn't speak as confident as his father.

"Ehm, what I mean is."

Dropping his gaze to the ground, he tried to somehow consolidate his words, whereupon,

"…So cheeky."

Mio suddenly mumbled, to which Basara raised his head. Besides him, Mio wore a smile.

"Right now, you might have a been a bit like a big brother."

"…Really?"

"Yeah. Just a bit though."

Ohh. Kind of a good mood.

"Then how about we forgive and forget the incidents at---"

"Not yet."

Said coldly, Mio's voice was yet bright. The earlier tense atmosphere seemed like a lie. So Basara thought. Their way to becoming a real family might still be long though.

But right now, Mio and he might have shortened the distance by a step. Therefore,

"Now then, about time we go back. I'm getting hungry anyways."

Back to the same house--- like a family. Basara turned on his heels and headed for the parked bicycle.

"…Yeah. Maria and Jin-san are also waiting."

He heard Mio's calm voice from behind, then her footsteps followed.
Their two shadows slowly advanced in the same direction.

---But,

"------"

With his back to her and only seeing her shadow, Basara couldn't see Mio's expression at that time.

Mio's bitter expression that was filled with an even greater sadness than before.

===Part 4===

A week had passed, since they started to live together.

All the same, they still hadn't got away from the "More than acquaintances, less than family" stage.

Still, compared to the beginning, a lot of the awkwardness had disappeared--- At that time,

"---It turns out I'm going overseas for work tomorrow for a while."

"Eh…?"

Upon coming home, Basara inadvertently asked in return on Jin's sudden words at the front door.

Mio and Maria couldn't hear it. Right now, the two of them were preparing dinner in the kitchen.

"An Italian customer wants a picture of Arabia. So I'm making a quick visit to Dubai."

Jin's job was a freelancer photographer. A professional that lived on taking pictures.

For that, he sometimes had to go overseas to take pictures, but

"H- Hold your horses!"

Basara hastily chased after Jin, who was slowly going up the stairs after giving him a light clap on the shoulder.

"What do you suddenly mean with Dubai!"

Following after Jin into his room, Basara asked. However, Jin said shortly.

"It's a well trusted customer, so I have no choice."

Preparing for tomorrow's job, Jin started to put the lens on his camera.

Jin was a renowned photographer with customers all over the world. The name [JIN] was rather famous in part of the business and his pictures itself were evaluated to have an artistic nature, like paintings. He had a lot of fans and his annual income was one or two digits higher than an average photographer in the business.

"I know that clients are important, but… can't you turn it down?"

Presently it was an important and delicate period as they just had started to live together with Mio and Maria.

If the only adult left the house now, the mental support would be gone.

"We already have enough savings to make a decent living…"

"Trust is the most important thing in freelancing. When I turn him down once, he won't come requesting me anymore."

"But… you're the head of our family. It's your job to protect the family."

"''That's precisely why I'm going''. Listen, while I'm gone, it's your job as the eldest son to protect the family."

"That's…"

Told convincing like that, Basara had no words to argue back. Jin lightly rested his hand on Basara's shoulder.

He smiled.

"Don't worry. You can do it--- After all, you're the son I'm so proud of."

---And then the night of the next day.

"Okay, take care of the house."

With these short words, Jin left in a taxi.

"Geez…"

Basara dropped his gaze onto the object in his hands--- A single picture that Jin handed him. It was the commemorative picture of the four of them in front of the house, taken yesterday. Like expected, Basara's expression was stiff on it.

"…Mh?"

However, Basara suddenly felt something amiss with the picture.

In the picture, Mio and Maria were certainly showing a smile. Yet,

''…Just my imagination?''

Probably due to the effect of the light, Mio's face looked somewhat sad. She indeed might feel worried with the adult, Jin, out of the house.

"---Okay."

Basara left his room determined. While going down the stairs, he thought about ordering Sushi or Eel today. Jin had given him the credit card and eating delicious food was the best way to cheer up at such times.

So Basara opened the door of the living room

"Hey girls, about tonight's dinner---"

He could only say that much. As he then noticed the heavy atmosphere in the room.

"…….."

"…….."

Mio, sitting on the sofa, and Maria, sitting on a chair at the dining table, stayed quiet on Basara calling. But there was a reaction. They gave him a freezing cold glare.

---That was why Basara sighed wearily.

Aww, here it was. At last. He thought it was definitely strange to suddenly get two cute little sisters, even if there was a slight problem with their personalities.

It had finally come, ''the backlash of all the good luck so far''.

Understandable. Not only did the only adult leave, but the young girls and boy were going to live under the same roof all by themselves now. Of course they would get cautious upon being suddenly thrown into such a situation. Still,

"……………….."

"……………….."

wasn't this silence a bit too long? It was just like with a complete outage of TV or radio.

"Uhm, how about we order something… Like Sushi or Eel."

Even the high-grade one is acceptable, was what he suggested with a subtle polite tone. Upon that,

"…You know, Basara, I have a favor to ask."

Mio finally opened her tight-lipped mouth.

"Yeah, sure, what's it? If there's something you want, just say it."

Basara immediately closed in to Mio.

She wanted a favor. That trivial matter alone made him quite happy.

And then--- Toujou Basara heard Mio's "favor". It was said with a marrow and bone piercing cold voice.

"---Get out of this house."

Basara froze up for a moment and searched for words to say.

"Ehm…"

Yeah. Kind of shocking. He was a bit surprised. After all she asked him to leave the house without any pretext.

There was a limit to talking past each other.

"…Sorry, but can you say that again?"

For now, Basara wished that he misheard her--- though there was little hope.

"------"

Upon that, Maria raised her hand lightly in his direction. The hand was raised for a proposal--- No, not really. The palm of the small hand was held up towards Basara.

"Eh---?"

Maria's hand glowed--- At that moment.

''Basara was suddenly hit by a kind of gust and blown against the wall.''

"Guah---!?"

An impact on his back. Losing his breath for a moment, he inadvertently coughed violently. There,

"---Basara-san, did you not hear what ''Mio-sama'' said?"

Who knows when she got there, but Maria was standing right before him.

She showed a ruthless expression, which made her appear like a different person from until now.

"Just now… what was that. Who are you…?"

On Basara's sudden--- no, inevitable question,

"Hee… You are staying rather calm."

Maria said a bit surprised. The decisive words that would change Toujou Basara's life.

"''Humans, who see magic for the first time, usually fall into a panic.''"

"''Magic…?''"

Maria affirmed the frowning Basara with a "Yes".

"Did you believe it to be a product of fiction or fantasy? Magic actually exists--- No, not just magic. Races apart from humans do as well."

At the same time she said that, something spread on Maria's back with a blue radiance. Something that humans absolutely didn't possess---''Black wings''. Her ears also changed into a pointed shape unlike before.

Not human. Even if they didn't believe in their existence, everyone knew their name.

"So you were a devil?"

"Exactly."

The moment he mumbled it, there came an instant reply without pause.

An affirmation. At once he didn't want to believe it, but it seemed to be true.

"And we will have you leave, Basara-san. Mio-sama will take this house."

Maria said with her chest puffed up, whereas Mio stayed silent ever since her "Get out".

''…Mio-sama, huh…''

Maria had changed her way of calling Mio, so Basara understood their relationship. Therefore he asked.

"…What's going on, Mio? Is this your doing?"

"Watch your tongue, Basara-san. You, a mere human, are being too disrespectful to the future Devil Lord."

Maria replied to Basara's question from the side.

"Devil Lord…. she?"

"There is a race called Devils. It is only natural to have someone rule over them. Just like our archenemies, the God Tribe, has a high-ranking God as a ruler.

By the way, your so called Heroes do exist as well, though they are basically living in an isolated village to hide their existence, so normal humans do not know about them."

"…………"

Basara replied with silence to the calmly told story. Even when he was suddenly told all that, he still couldn't believe the situation he was in.

[[Image:Shinmai Vol1 0044.jpg|thumb]]

"…What does the Devil Lord want with my house? I'm sure a Lord will have a huge mansion in the Demon Realm."

"There are all kind of circumstances to it. I have no obligation to tell you about it. Anyway. Mio-sama and I will take this house--- To make it our base in the human world."

It was all a scheme to get a base of operation in the human world. Then,

"Then the remarriage between our parents---"

"''Now that is something non-existent''. We met Jin-san by coincidence on the street. He looked like a generous good person, really… So I altered his memories with my succubus magic."

Succubus. A seductive devil that takes the form of a female and appears in dreams. If that was what Maria truly was, she would have no trouble to make a dream appear as reality.

"So you tricked my dad with magic by creating false memories of meeting your mother, who doesn't even exist, and even remarrying her…"

"Yes. And you are the next one, Basara-san."

Saying so, Maria held up her hand towards Basara.

"Basara-san leaves the house until Jin-san comes back, because he couldn't adapt to living with two girls after Jin-san left--- That kind of memory should do."

In regards to that, Basara still stayed silent and watched at Maria, then at Mio.

Upon that, Mio quietly stood up from the sofa and finally returned Basara's gaze.

"Sorry, but--- We'll take this house."

She declared coldly. With the same look in the eyes as at the incident with the delinquents the other day.

"Obediently receive Maria's magic and get out of the house already. Otherwise I'll scream and give you a memory about how you used violence against us and that you have to turn yourself in. Then I'll call the police. You don't really want to go into the brig for violence against your sisters, do you?"

"…….I see."

Basara looked downward on Mio's words and just looked short and isolated.

Upon that, Maria's hand facing him glowed.

"What will it be, Mio-sama? It might be summer, but I do feel a bit sorry for letting him sleep outside. Returning to the countryside, where he was born, and living with his relatives…. how does that sound?"

"…Yeah, that's good."

Mio said.

"Bye, bye, ''Brother''…It was not for long, but it was kind of fun."

With these words as a signal, the light in Maria's hand was released towards Basara.

What Maria had set free was a succubus magic that manipulated memories by showing a dream.

Because of that, Basara's memories got altered and he left his own house--- or so it was supposed to be. However,

"….Oh?"

The memory manipulation magic certainly affected Basara--- yet, he didn't move.

''…How strange.''

While tilting her head, she was about to release another memory manipulation magic towards Basara.

"Eh…?"

Maria suddenly blinked her eyes. Basara, who was supposed to be in front of her, had disappeared.

On the small possibility, Maria turned around right away--- to her blind spot.

Upon that, in the middle of the living room--- there stood Basara.

In a moment he had gotten behind her. Maria gulped on that fact.

"A- Are you resisting? …Then it will be painful."

She sent Basara a fierce glare. She didn't want to hurt him, but now there was no other choice. Maria chanted the wind magic that had blown away Basara earlier and released it. The produced wind went straight for Basara--- At that moment. KEEEK, with a shrill roar, ''the wind magic was erased.''

"Wha….?"

For a moment, she thought that she saw a white line coming from the side--- And in the next moment, her magic was erased. Maria looked in surprise. Basara in front of her eyes was suddenly holding a huge sword in his hands. That his arm was covered in armor up to the elbow was mostly due to a contract with the sword.

The power of a contracted weapon feed back even onto the user's body.

"…What are you surprised for?"

Basara slowly raised his head. He glared at her with a sharp glance, almost like a different person.

"You said it yourself. That Devils like you and the God Tribe, your enemies, exist."

A breath.

"And also---''that a tribe of Heroes exists.''"

"No way… How?"

Next to him, Mio raised a voice dumbfounded.

"I mean, the Heroes are in hiding… Why are you here, living like a normal human…"

"Now I don't have any obligation to tell you that."

Maria gave Basara, who coldly disregarded her, a surprised glance.

''…How could this be…''

No wonder the memory manipulation magic didn't work. Succubus could only manipulate memories by dreams on someone with weaker magical power--- Namely, normal humans, who were defenseless against magical power. It didn't work on anti-devil experts like Heroes.

But--- Maria was more confused about a different surprise than this fact.

Impossible, she thought. Namely, Basara's action just now.

Sure enough Maria didn't use an offence wind magic. She wanted to give him a bit of pain by sending him flying, so she just hit him with aviation magic. It wasn't harmful, nor powerful. So it wasn't all that strange that a Hero repelled or cut it off.

---Still, Basara had erased Maria's magic by swinging his sword. No, not just that. Once magic was activated, it generated some kind of magical remains, no matter the protection against it. Despite that, ''there was not a single trace left'' of the magic that Basara had cut off. It was completely erased. As if it had never existed to begin with.

"I no longer… have any ties to Heroes or Devils."

Basara slowly took a step forward.

"But unfortunately for you, I have no plans to go down silently."

Saying so, Basara moved flicking.

A Godspeed that closed the distance between them in an instant as if it had never been there.

"------!"

Not good. Maria stood before Mio right away to cover her. At the same time.

Basara's sword swung down on Maria and Mio.

 
 

"------"

Toujou Basara looked at the two girls, who were tightly shutting their eyes, that he tried to slash.

The sword in his hand--- stopped a paper-length away from them.

"….Ah."

Maria and Mio, realizing that they were safe, sunk down on the floor.

Their legs had given in. That was why Basara undid the incarnation of his magic sword--- Brynhildr.

"Why…"

On Mio's dumbfounded question, Basara turned his back to them wordless.

He felt a fierce rage towards them. Something that could never be forgiven. Yet,

"…Get out."

Basara muttered isolated.

"I don't care if you're Devils or the Devil Lord. But, our household hasn't the time to sustain folks that deceive me and more importantly my dad. I'll let you off for now. I'll send your luggage after you later, so---hurry up and get out."

 
 

Then, after a few minutes---the living room of the Toujou Household was enveloped in silence.

After regaining their strength in their legs, Mio and Maria had left the house.

Basara turned his magic sword Brynhildr back into its stand-by form, a pendant-chain, and sat on the sofa.

"……"

Grinding his teeth, he held down his right hand, which wouldn't stop shaking.

''…It's okay.''

Basara desperately persuaded himself. He hadn't fought in a long time. His flair for it hadn't returned yet. That was why it was a complete
coincidence that he activated ''that skill.''

---Five years ago, when he was at the village of the Hero Tribe, Toujou Basara caused a grave problem.

[A certain incident] made his own power go out of control.

Originally it caused so much damage that it wouldn't allow him to live like he was now.

Still, as a result of all kinds of circumstances, it turned into him leaving the village together with Jin. In other words, he was chased out. And coming to Tokyo, father and son started to live in the unfamiliar city lifestyle.

"…..Damn."

Basara muttered loathsome. But, it wasn't directed at Mio or Maria.

Of course, Toujou Basara had no intention to forgive them. It was an inevitable fact that they tried to deceive Jin and him. But there was another one, who he couldn't stand.

---It was the guy, who was once called the strongest of all Heroes.

It was a Hero with an even greater power than himself, his father---Jin.

''There was no way that this man didn't catch up on Mio and Maria's scheme.'' Maria had said that she manipulated his memories with magic, but Jin should have fended that off without doubt.

That was why Basara took the phone and dialed Jin's cell phone number.

"---Hello. What's up?"

After a few seconds of ringing, an all too familiar voice spilled out of the phone and Basara replied with a low voice.

"Dad… Do you have a minute?"

"Sure. The taxi driver is kind of tight-lipped anyway, so I'm bored."

Mixed in Jin's casual tone, he could faintly hear the sound of a low wind blowing. Most likely, the taxi Jin was in was currently driving on the highway. The driver would get to hear their conversation, but Jin would surely come up with some kind of excuses. Therefore,

"---''What's the idea''?"

Basara asked. Even as he tried to stay calm, anger resonated in his voice. Upon that,

"That was quick… You already noticed it? I expected you to take a bit longer."

Jin said freely without any sign of shame.

"I knew it. You were aware that they were devils---Since when?"

Tightly clenching the phone, Basara asked impassive.

"''Right from the beginning.'' I knew them before they found me in the city."

"…''Found?'' What do you mean…?"

On Jin's words, Basara frowned. Maria had said "We met Jin by chance in the city".

"Well, I'm sure those two thought it was just a coincidence."

Jin said in a nonchalant tone, then continued with "But".

"A while ago, I got some news that the [village] was secretly on the move. It's been close to five years that we left the village. It didn't seem like they were going to bother with us after all this time, so I just kept an eye on things for a while….but then the situation took a sudden change not long ago. It was relatively close by, so I decided to check out who it was, just in case."

A breath.

"After all---The elders gave them the surveillance rank S-."

"Surveillance rank S-? Those two?"

Basara's Tribe gave devils a ranking according to the threat they posed. And the Rank S- was one of the highest. Only S and S+ were higher.

''….For real?''

The devils usually lived in a different world from the human world--- called the Demon Realm. Of course some of them came over to the human world and caused some trouble at times, but it had been only low-ranked devils. Basically they didn't leave their own world.

Because presently, there was a truce between the devils and the Heroes.

---The fight between Heroes and Devils in this world had gone on for so long that neither side knew how long exactly it had lasted. But that was a thing from before Basara's birth--- His father's generation had put an end to it. The new Devil Lord had put a hold on the fight with the Heroes and God Tribe and withdrawn all devils from the human world.

So the devils that came to the human worlds were all rogue devils with low surveillance ranks, like E or D, or termination targets.

"These two are S-…"

Basara mumbled in disbelief. And then he looked at the palm of his right hand.

Even if they were just -, he had never believed to meet two S ranks in his life.

"To be more precise, Mio got the surveillance rank S-. Maria is only under watch as someone by her side."

"Mio…"

There Basara suddenly remembered Maria's words. The earlier battle in the living room. Even if they let their guard down as they didn't know that he was a Hero, as far as he could tell, Mio didn't pose that much of a danger. Therefore he had taken Maria's words as a made-up threat, but

"So she… really is the future Devil Lord?"

Saying so, Basara still denied that possibility. That couldn't be. After all,

"I mean, the Devil Lord has always been a man…. Even presently."

Wilbert--- the name of the current Devil Lord that had withdrawn the devils from the human world and was known for his moderate policy. Originally the devils' enemy was the God Tribe, "archenemy" as Maria had called it. So the devils only thought of humans as insects and merely tried to overthrow the human world for the sake of launching an attack on Heaven. From all these devils, Wilbert was the first moderate one that abstained from revenge against the Gods and was laying the path for a peaceful living in the Demon Realm. Above all, it should have been forbidden for them to hurt humans recklessly.

That precisely was the reason that the human world was so peaceful in the last six years.

However. Jin's voice through the phone overturned Basara's thoughts.

"The Devil Lord Wilbert died--- Roughly one year ago, it seems."

"Eh---?"

Basara couldn't comprehend the reported shocking truth at first.

"I, never heard of…"

"Because we cut all ties with the [village]. I only learned about it quite recently."

Besides, Jin added.

"If I had told you carelessly--- You would just have ''had that nightmare again.''"

"That's…"

Basara paused inadvertently. After all, he just had that nightmare the other day.

"But… that means, Mio is the next Devil Lord?"

"No. Apparently some other high-class Devil currently reigns in Wilbert's stead over the Demon Realm. And he seems to be quite the hardliner… He's after Mio, as she's Wilbert's only daughter and the successor of his power."

The Devil Lord Wilbert was known for his moderate politics, but his power stood out in the history of previous Devil Lords. That precisely was the reason as to why he could convince the combative devils to stop the fights and withdraw from the human world. If Mio had inherited that power of the strongest Devil Lord,

Then she was indispensable for someone that wanted to rule as the new Devil Lord. But,

"Wait a sec…"

There was still something he didn't understand. It was,

"I get the gist of things…. But, ''why did you take in these two then?''"

That was--- beyond him by all means. By doing so, not just the Devils, but even the village would turn against him. It also contradicted the fact that he hid the previous Devil Lord's death to Basara just out of consideration.

"I told you that I have to check on things, right?"

Then, with the same casual tone like before, Jin's words were filled with seriousness.

"The moderate Wilbert had a lot of enemies amongst the Devils. For these guys the daughter of their hated Devil Lord would make a perfect hostage. Wilbert himself surely understood that the best. I heard that as soon as his daughter was born, he sent her to the human world and let her be raised as a human in absolutely secrecy by subordinates that played the parents…."

Even if it meant being apart from her--- he did it for the happiness of his beloved daughter.

That surely must have been a heart-breaking decision.

"But ironically, after Wilbert's death--- His enormous power was transferred to Naruse Mio, whom he had sent away to keep her away from the dispute. She was a normal girl in middle school at that time… I'm sure you know what happened afterwards."

The new Devil Lord couldn't ignore Mio's existence. Nor the subordinates that played her parents. ''And right now, the parents that raised her were gone.'' It wasn't hard to guess what tragedy had befallen Mio.

"How… How can that be."

Basara said by squeezing out his voice.

"Our tribe and Devils can use supernatural powers because we know of the laws beyond the human world. Half a year ago, she was just an average girl, not knowing of it. Right now she mostly knows how to use her power, but she only inherited the Devil Lord's power itself and it's still not fully awakened. That's why the village set her as a surveillance target instead of a termination one."

Moreover, Jin added.

"The moderate faction lost a lot of power after Wilbert's death. That fact that Maria is her only guard is proof enough of that. Unfortunately, I don't believe that these two alone can oppose the current Devil Lord's faction. If left alone, they will lose their lives sooner or later."

"So, you pretended to be manipulated…"

He finally understood Jin's intention.

Basara sighed and shouted his words into the phone in the next moment.

"You damn imbecile--- Tell me this earlier!"

Then Basara could have helped.

"Sorry. I had decided from the beginning that you three would stand on equal grounds."

Jin said with a laugh.

"I hid the fact that they were devils and we had been Heroes. If one side were to know the truth about the other, they would think they had been deceived and all trust would be gone. But if both hid something, then it's a shared pain, right? Both sides had been deceived, giving you guys room for compromising---''with me, aware of everything, as the bad guy.''"

"…That means that job offer also was a lie?"

If it was just to protect Mio and Maria, staying with them would be best. That Jin left the house despite that meant that he had a reason for doing so.

"Well, guess so. Sorry, but I have to check upon a few things---''so I'm off to the Demon Realm for a bit.''"

That meant getting behind the enemy's line. Of course, Jin had once been heralded as the strongest Hero. And amidst the great battles, he apparently had went numerous times into the Demon Realm, but

"Is that… safe?"

"Yeah, don't worry. I can't tell you any details, but I just want to get in touch with someone. If all goes well, Mio might not be chased anymore."

Aha. So he would do something about the source. Then,

"Okay… Leave things here to me. I'll do something about it."

"I'm counting on you, my son. So? How are the girls? Well, from the look of it, I guess---"

Jin was still saying something, but Basara put down the phone, ending the call.

And then, he was already running in the next moment--- towards the front door.

<noinclude>

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| Back to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Prologue|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 6 Chapter 4

2021-03-06T05:08:27Z

Zhanzhuang: /* Chapter 4: Accompanying You Before You Depart */

==Chapter 4: Accompanying You Before You Depart==
===Part 1===

“Well then, for everyone’s hard work put into the Sports Festival – Kanpai!”<ref>A toast (like ‘Cheers!’)</ref>

『Kanpai~!』

Hijirigasaka Academy Student Council Vice-President Kajiura Rikka, who was also the president of the Organising Committee, called out, and the people at the table echoed in unison, lightly tapping each other’s glass cups.

The people in the Organising Committee from the Student Council this year, numbered four.

Right now, this dinner party, is their celebration.

--the celebration for the Organising Committee itself, was held recently not too long ago.

However – the Student Council members who was in charge of the students’ school life were different from the normal students who could return to their usual school life after being done with the matters of the Organising Committee. They had to review the activity reports of every department and check if there were any deficiencies during the preparatory processes of the entirety of the Sports Festival, picking out on points that needed to be reflected or improved on and prepare a Student Council activity report, for consideration in the coming year.

Of course, when they were attending to the matters of the Organising Committee, they also had to deal with the daily matters of the Student Council at the same time, as well as their Finals. Hence, if any of the past second years couldn’t finish settling the after-event matters of the Sports Festival in the second semester, it’ll become a headache-inducing problem; thus the student council members who participated in the preparations of the Sports Festival, would customarily finish it in the last day of the second semester – in other words, they would keep themselves busy until December 25, and hold a celebration on that very night.

The time right now is a little after five in the evening, and they were at an Italian restaurant that only connoisseurs know about near the station – at the innermost seats. There were only four from the student council that participated in the Sports Festival, yet there were six chairs, and they were all filled.

That was because other than the student council members, Kajiura had also invited two other persons.

One of them is the stunning infirmary teacher that no one in Hijirigasaka Academy doesn’t know of – Hasegawa Chisato.

“—Hasegawa-sensei, thanks for your help on that day.”

Kajiura put down her glass cup down on the table, and expressed her thanks with a shallow bow.

“No need to thank me again after so long, it feels weird… looking after you is part of my daily work, so it wouldn’t become something special just because it’s during the Sports Festival.”

Hasegawa gave a slight smile, and at that moment not just the table Kajiura and the other were at, the atmosphere of the whole restaurant raised immediately.

''…I had thought that I knew the extent of the beauty of this person.''

Kajiura Rikka once again became surprised at the beauty and presence of Hasegawa who sat opposite her towards her left.

--tonight, Hasegawa wasn’t wearing the usual white robe Kajiura and the other students would usually see her wearing in school.

Instead, she was wearing a ring-necked evening dress that daringly had a big hole at the front of the dress showing her breasts, and with the addition of long black tulle gloves, she was extremely glamorous. Occasionally on television shows there would be exquisite girls advertising high-class hotels or clubs; right now Hasegawa is radiating the dark beauty of a night butterfly, that could take the breath away from even the Hollywood Stars in the Oscars Avenue of Fame. Since she was beautiful to that degree, Kajiura couldn’t be jealous even if she wanted to, she was completely moved. She was already beautiful enough with the white robe she usually wore—

''…This way surpasses from when at school.''

When they left the school after classes ended, Hasegawa had already changed into this. According to some of what Kajiura has heard, some students had saw across her in the corridors and seen her enter a taxi before speeding away from the staff entrance became very excited, causing a small commotion.

“I-It’s okay… We students do usually receive sensei care after all.”

The expressing of thanks for the [Duties] that Hasegawa said, was referring to Tachibana Nanao whom anyone would think that it was a female wearing the male’s uniform. Indeed, not only did Hasegawa just contribute greatly as a support staff during the Sports Festival, during normal school days, everyone in the school including students and staff were all cared for by her.

“That’s why… Hasegawa-sensei, we are really grateful for you usually taking care of us.”

Nanao thanked Hasegawa somewhat shyly. At a gathering with few people, Nanao would inevitably attract everyone’s eyes; the reason the introverted Nanao still said that despite knowing that, is because the physically weak him regularly entered the infirmary and received no less care from Hasegawa. After that, the remaining student council members sitting on Kajiura’s left and right… first-year student Takei Touko from General Affairs, and second-year student Kanou Santa from Accounting added:

“That right. The one looking after the whole school, is just only sensei.”

“Thus we want to give a reward to sensei, on behalf of the students.”

Kanou said as if from the heart:

“To have a meal with Hasegawa-sensei who is worshiped by the most number of people in our school, and to be able to see you dressed up… to us, that is the greatest Christmas gift! Right, Tachibana?”

“Y…Yes, Kanou is right.”

Hasegawa giggled seeing Tachibana awkwardly nodding while answering, and Kajiura hurried tried to smooth things over:

“…I’m sorry, sensei. Kanou is speaking loosely again.”

“Don’t worry about it… I was just remembered something someone had said to me a long time ago.”

“Eh? Does that mean that sensei has had a meal with a man somewhere before?”

“…Well, what do you think?”

Hasegawa said carefreely, dodging Takei’s excited questioning.

“Speaking of which, today is the last day of the second semester, and I’ve heard that the staff would also hold a gathering every year… Is sensei coming here really fine?”

“It’s fine… interacting with the adults there with alcohol, doesn’t really go with my personality.”

Hasegawa gave a bitter while replying Kanou, and her smile suddenly changed into a mischievous one.

“Actually, you inviting me really helped me. Usually for gatherings like those, I would make up some reason for not going… but the principal and dean had been nagging me since last week for me to at least just show up at the end of the banquet, so I had used this gathering today as an excuse to escape.”

For a great beauty like Hasegawa, simply just attending the staff meal would cause some troublesome or unpleasant things. Wearing such an outfit, is to add more weight to the excuse of this gathering. For sensei to prepare herself to this degree, Kajiura who was the vice-president really wanted to give her as much hospitality as possible, hence—

“Sensei… thank you for thinking so much about our small gathering, I hope sensei will enjoy herself.”

Kajiura said pleasantly to Hasegawa who was tasting the red wine, and then turned her line of sight to straight ahead – sitting opposite her and sandwiched between hasegawa and Nanao, is the second person the student council had invited today.

Like Hasegawa, Kajiura and the others felt that this person had also contributed greatly to the success of the Sports Festival.

Hence, Kajiura Rikka’s thanks, -- came from her heart:

“Toujou-kun too, thank you for your help… It was that with your assistance, that everything was as smooth as it had been.”

Hearing Kajiura who sat opposite him say so honestly:

“No… I didn’t really do a lot.”

Toujou Basara was flattered. It was not modesty… Despite how he had taken up the task of the student council like Kajiura and Nanao to supervise the Sports Festival’s Organising Committee’s work due to circumstantial reasons, what he mainly did was just sorting out and checking through the documents, as well as occasionally confirming the progress of the various departments and doing some errands for the staff and clubs when there was a need, and had done nothing that was really worthy of receiving an invite from the management group; besides, Basara had already participated in the Organising Committee’s celebration with Mio and Yuki, as well as Sakaki and AIkawa.

“…Additionally, I had caused some trouble with those third-year senpais…”

During the preparation period, Basara had a confrontation with the males from the respective Factions, causing a small commotion.

--of course, it was something that couldn’t be helped. The third-year students – especially Donoue’s harsh words towards Kajiura, Basara couldn’t pretend that he hadn’t seen them.

…But.

Basara’s conflict with Donoue and the others, was just merely his sense of justice for not overlooking Kajiura being insulted by them.

Back then – when Basara was on his way back from Hasegawa’s apartment, someone had controlled the normal civilians to attack him; but couldn’t find any leads on that perpetrator and was only able to merely just put Donoue on his suspect list. Basara’s active provocation, is mainly to observe Donoue’s reactions.

…However.

Similarly, Basara could not deny that his actions had implicated Kajiura and the others managing the Organising Committee. If it was a student who wholeheartedly wanted the success of the Sports Festival in his place, that student would have chosen an even safer way – since there were many such ways to handle the situation. Yet—

“P-Please don’t think that way!”

Nanao by his said suddenly said loudly. Seeing the frail Nanao reacting like this, everyone present looked at him, shocked; because of that, Tachibana seemed to suddenly realise what he had just done and his face reddened, yet he still said while looking into Basara’s eyes:

“…Because what Toujou-kun has done has helped us a lot, right?”

“I-Is that so…?"

It’s great if that is the case. But, Tachibana… why are you so cute today?

As Basara’s heart was unconsciously moved—

“Tachibana’s right. That Donoue-senpai suddenly becoming so obedient after that, is because you were there in the first place.”

“No… You’re giving me too much praise.”

And that was true. Even if Basara did teach a lesson to those defiant third-years in the organising committee, the real reason they became peaceful was due to Nanao using the demonic eye, with Basara’s teacher Sakazaki controlling them to attack Basara; yet in the eyes of those who didn’t know about it, it seemed as if like Basara had intimidated Donoue.

“All I did, was just make Donoue-senpai even more angry…”

“—you’re mistaken, Toujou-kun.”

Kajiura gently interrupted Basara, and said while shaking her head:

“Indeed, directly confronting Donoue-senpai isn’t an action really encouraged… but, if you hadn’t stopped them back then, the organising committee would’ve been thrown into a mess because of them, and there would be no room no salvage the situation.”

“………”

“Then again – even if that situation didn’t happen, I feel that you had contributed a lot. Because you were there to settle the miscellaneous tasks, you had lightened our workload by a lot!”

“That’s right. Toujou-kun does things really smooth and quick, and not only can you do the office work, you are also really strong. It feels as if… not only can you make decisions really quick, you seem to also be able to predict what’ll happen next.”

Takei added on to what Kajiura said, causing Basara to give a forced smile.

Predicting what to do next, and continuously quickly making minute decisions – these words, were just as if describing the way a {{furigana|speed-type fighter|Infinite Slayer}} like him fights.

“Thank you, everyone… for thinking of me so greatly.”

Although Toujou Basara no longer has the identity of a Hero, his past experiences – obtained from his time spent with his companions, still remains with him solidly to this day. Thanks to that, he could protect Mio who was implicated in a dispute and fight alongside her. Originally he was supposed to be satisfied with just that; but if could have a normal life where he could also help others—

''…That would also be great.''

Even if it was impossible to return to the past – he could leave his painful memories behind along with it.

Those precious moments in the past, can create their own value for things other than battle—

To Toujou Basara, this is a form of salvation.

『……………』

Basara’s expression and tone unconsciously turned solemn, causing him to naturally become imposing. Shit, this is a rare celebration with everyone happy, I can’t mess up the atmosphere.

“—but, is it really fine? I mean, reserving the whole place”

Basara said hastily while looking around the interior of the place. Even if this is a small restaurant with less than twenty seats for customers, reserving the whole place should probably require at least ten people. Not every couple would have time to be together on Christmas Eve, and adding on that it is the season for year-end parties and that this place is near the station, the number of potential customers aren’t small. To this question—

“Ah, it’s fine. This restaurant, is willing to let us book the whole place every year on this day… and at a low price too. If anything, it seems that this has happened for almost twenty years.”

Kanou smiled while saying that, and Kajiura added:

“It started seventeen years ago to be exact. The legendary vice-president at that time was highly capable, completely revolutionizing our school’s originally neat and orderly<ref>i.e. boring, routine</ref> Sports Festival and Cultural Festival to be as lively as it is now in only just a short period of time after transferring to our school. The unisex three-legged obstacle race that Toujou-kun had participated in, was originally his idea too.”

“Heh… I didn’t know that it had such a long history.”

I had thought that ''that'' was something thought up recently by person on a whim.

“I had heard that he was a mass of charisma and had many worshipping him, and that many people had joined the student council because he joined, causing the student council of that term to have an extraordinary amount of people. Soon, the boss of this shop got on well with him, and began to let our student council rent the place to host the celebration for the Sports Festival at a low price.”

“If I remember correctly, Azuma was the person’s surname, right?”

Takei asked, and Kajiura nodded with a ‘Correct’, and said:

“Azuma Takehito-san – unfortunately, he soon transferred schools again and there was no contact from him anymore after that.”

“ ! –Gaha, Koho…!”<ref>SFX of chokes and coughs from while drinking</ref>

Upon hearing that name, Basara who was holding a glass cup and drinking Oolong tea suddenly choked.

“To-Toujou-kun!? Are you okay?!”

“I-I’m fine… I’m sorry, it seems it accidently went into the trachea<ref>i.e. choked on the drink</ref>.”

Basara thanked the worried Tachibana who was helping him pat his back, and thought—

''…What the hell were you doing playing around, dad!?.''<ref>to put it another way, he is thinking something like [WTF, dad!?]</ref>

Basara suddenly wanted to bury his head in his hands. The name Azuma Takehito, is the pseudonym frequently used by his father Jin. Just by changing the readings and positions of the phonetics, the name {{furigana|'''東'''城迅|'''Tou'''jou Jin}} would become {{furigana|'''東'''丈人|'''Azuma''' Takehito}}. It was incredibly sloppy, but his personality in the first place thinks that things like this would be better if it was made simple.

He had not expected that the three-legged obstacle race was something that Jin had created. Hearing their explanation just now, he had thought that the idiot was from a long time ago, but he didn’t expect for that idiot to be his father; and the son had participated in that race as if to repay the debt the father had incurred. History is indeed really scary.

''…If that’s the case, my dad would be my senior.''

According to history, seventeen years ago would be the end stage of the Great War in the Demon Realm. Since the fighting was beginning to end, it is possible that Jin would become a student of Hijirigasaka Academy for a mission; if he had to return to the battlefield mid-way, an excuse for quickly transferring schools again could be created. Jin becoming friends with the boss here, was probably due to frequently making contact with each other during the undercover mission.

As Basara thought about Jin’s past, he steadied his breathing with Nanao’s help. Just then—

“—say, Toujou-kun, do you want to join the student council?”

“Eh… you mean me?”

Kajiura’s sudden question, caused Basara to ask back, shocked.

“Seeing you become this surprised is making me become embarrassed… As I said just now, you performance this time had really helped us a lot; that’s why I think that you’ll definitely be able to show even more of your worth after joining the student council, and I had also heard that you didn’t join any clubs! How about it?”

Kajiura then continued:

“We, plan to continue to remain in the student council for the next year. The four of us including you that organised the Sports Festival, will become the core members of the Student Council… If we can draw on your strength, we can feel more secure.”

Unconsciously, Kajiura’s expression became very honest. Not just her, Nanao, Kanou and Takei also earnestly looked at Basara, showing that it was not just Kajiura who thought that.

''…I see, so…''

To tell the truth, Basara could somewhat guess the reason for being invited to the celebration; Kajiura having him sit at the seat opposite her, was to make it easy for her to speak to him.

''This is really touching.'' In Basara’s heart, being regarded this highly by Kajiura and the others, made him truly happy.

“Speaking of which, the preparations for the Cultural Festival that will be held in spring usually begins in the winter break from the previous year… Toujou, do you have anything on during the winter break?”

“…I’m sorry, Kanou-senpai. From tomorrow, I’ll be going somewhere far for something.”

Basara apologised with a shallow bow, and Hasegawa who sat beside him holding red wine asked:

“Somewhere far, is it… You’ll be going overseas with Naruse and Nonaka?”

Basara nodded while replying: [Yes, that’s it] and brought the topic to a halt. Since he can’t say out the truth, it’ll be better to not let the topic develop.

“Uwa~ A person with a real life…”<ref>Takei says [Riajuu-san], Riajuu – short for riaru juujitsu </ref>

Takei said while making the whites of the eyes show<ref>rolling eyes</ref>, and Basara could only smile bitterly while scratching his cheek.

--from a certain angle, Takei was right.

For the winter break this year, Basara and the other’s ‘real life’<ref>text says their ‘juujitsu’, from riaru juujitsu</ref> will become even intense.

''…Since.''

Later – Basara and the others will be heading to the Demon Realm with Maria’s sister Lucia guiding them.

“So, I’m sorry… I’m not able to help during the winter break.”

Seeing Basara apologise with his head lowered, Kajiura’s eyes met with Kanou’s with a self-blaming look, and then said:

“Don’t worry about it. In the first place, asking you to help out during the winter break when this is the first time raising the topic is already inconsiderate… Kanou, you only just wan to slack off a bit more, don’t you?”

Kanou laughed unapologetically with a [Well…], and Kajiura sighed.

“So, Toujou-kun… I’m not asking you to decide now. If possible, may I ask you to consider it carefully over the winter break?”

“……I understand.”

There was no point in endlessly dragging out the deadlock atmosphere, so Basara nodded, and—

“Umm – Hasegawa-sensei.”

Using the opportunity, he raised to Hasegawa a question.

“When going overseas… is there anything to take note of?”

Not long later, Basara and the others will be going to the Demon Realm to take care of the various problems surrounding Mio.

What they will be facing, will either be the Demon Lord Leohart or the high-class demons making up the Council – there will inevitably be a big battle with them.

Though he had psychologically prepared himself for that, Basara would still like to hear what Hasegawa has to say before departing.

In the past, every time Basara spoke to Hasegawa about his thoughts, she was always able to direct him down a path.

Just like, magic, she had often helped Basara to overcome difficulties.

Hence – despite knowing that he was being imprudent, Basara still asked Hasegawa for advice. Then—

“Well, it’s not just restricted to going overseas…”

Hasegawa said as if after the prelude:

“When going overseas, usually there won’t be much time… because the original plans has to keep up with the changes in situation. Of course, I’m not asking you to not plan; but if you stubbornly keep to the original plan, you’ll easily forget what the most important thing is.”

“What the most important thing…is?”

Basara asked, and Hasegawa nodded and said:

“Yes. When going overseas, your attention can easily be attracted by the fresh things before your eyes, causing you to not see the things far away clearly. Going to a foreign soil, something like that is probably inevitable; but try to always remind yourself, to try to be more flexible. If, there is someplace that you must go or something that you must do, then put all of your mind to complete those goals.”

''Listen closely.''

“Don’t think of completing everything in just a single trip… No matter how far that place is, if you have the heart, you can go there once more anytime. For things that can be postponed, leave it to next time.”

“…I see, you’re right.”

''Thank goodness I asked…'' Basara was glad from the bottom of his heart. The advice Hasegawa provides, always a feeling of enlightenment. Things that can be done anytime, and things that he wants to do no matter what, although the two might seem similar, they are in fact different; and as the destination is the Demon Realm, it produces a feeling that there might not be a next time, but in fact—

''…If there’s a need, retreat first, and then look for an opportunity to make a move.''

Basara and the others originally thought that they had to deal with all the problems no matter what – but that way of thinking is too conceited, and would easily cut off all their options.

While there are somethings that he must not give up on… the need to thoroughly deal with everything nicely is non-existent. Especially what Mio was carrying and implicated the conflict between the Moderates Faction and the Current Demon Lord Faction, affecting the whole of the Demon Realm; wishing to settle everything at one go, is just wishful thinking.

“—so, did that help you?”

“Yes… Thank you.”

As Basara nodded and answered the lightly smiling Hasegawa—

“—sorry to keep you waiting.”

The female waitress came to the table carrying plates with the appetizer, bringing this topic to an end.

“Umm, Toujou-kun…”

As the waitress served the plates to everyone on the table one by one, Nanao beside him gently pulled on his sleeve, and whispered into his ear:

“About that thing from just now… If it’s possible, can you also consult Naruse-san and Nonaka-san? If they accompany you, you’ll probably enjoy yourself more.”

“……I see, you’re right. I understand, I’ll consider it.”

Basara once again whispered: ‘Thanks’, and Nanao happily smiled with a ‘Nn’.

''…That’s true.''

Basara thought positively. Right now they were in a situation with the two biggest powers in the Demon Realm focusing on them –if the issue couldn’t be settled, he wouldn’t have the heart to join the student council.

''…But.''

If these messy and troublesome matters can be settled… It was a choice worth considering.

Mio and Yuki, as well as himself, sincerely wish to enjoy the school life.

Enjoy – the life that was taken for granted.

===Part 2===

When the appetizers have been served to everyone, the meal started.

First up are three types of platters like ham and cheese, followed up by Italian pasta with an abundance of mushrooms, before coming to the main dish for Christmas.

It was large roasted turkey meat with sauce made from sherry vinegar and grilled onions.

''…This is really high-class.''

From at the ala carte menu, although the prices are more reasonable than the high-class restaurants, it still wasn’t at a level really affordable for a high-schooler. With the meals, the beverages were free-flow, so naturally it wasn’t really much cheaper.

It looks like the bill will go into the student council’s budget; either they have got sufficient funds, or there was a special discount from the fact that Jin and the boss are old friends. Basara looked around through the corners of his eyes, and saw the others focusing on the dishes, eating heartedly.

…Nevermind, this isn’t something I should be worrying about.

We've already begun eating already, so worrying about it would do nothing.

Following the others, Basara cut out a piece of meat with a knife and fork and put it into his mouth, and the flavours of the meat and sauce immediately spread, a refreshing vanilla fragrance filling his nose… probably rosemary was added to whether the sauce or oil.

“Delicious…!”

“Is that so… Glad that you like it.”

Seeing Basara give praise, Kajiura gave a gentle smile.

That was an elegant expression that he had never seen on the Organising Committee… Kajiura’s unexpected side, caused Basara so unconsciously stare at her.

“——————!?”

And he almost dropped the knife and fork, but that was not because his hand slipped due to Kajiura causing his mind to wander off. There was a hand, suddenly pinching the inner side of his thighs. Looking down, Hasegawa who sat beside him had put her left hand under the white table cloth—

“………”

As Hasegawa was wearing a sexy dress that attracts glances to the breasts unconsciously, Basara tried to avoid looking at her as much as possible, but she made an attack on him while he was in a disarray… Basara sent a sideway look at her saying ‘What are you doing’, and Hasegawa quietly stopped moving that hand; however, that hand still remained on Basaras thigh, and it remained like that even after finishing the wine in the cup. She ordered another cup, and the waitress came with the bottle. Just then—

''…Wha…!''

Toujou Basara’s whole body suddenly stiffened. Hasegawa’s fingertips had then begun gliding over his thighs, indigenously using just enough force to almost make him let out the wrong sounds – it past the stage of producing an itching sensation, a provocative caress.

“Is this much fine…?” “Ah, yes… Thank you.”

As Hasegawa thanked the waitress that poured wine, she kept her hand at a dead spot where the others couldn’t see, nonchalantly caressing Basara’s thigh.

“………!”

To Hasegawa, that might me a small prank, but Basara couldn't stand it anymore.

Basara sent a sideway glance to Hasegawa for her to stop, but she just continued chatting with Takei before her, while using her fingertips to write ‘cheater’<ref>It was originally Uwakimono(うわきもの), referring to a cheater; unfaithful person; adulterer</ref> on his thigh.

''…What!?''

Basara became protested in his heart, and his sentiments accidentally appeared on his face—

“ ? Toujou-kun, is anything wrong?” “…No, nothing’s wrong…!”

Basara hurriedly evaded it, pretending to be calm and turned his attention to the food. Since in the situation with him holding on to a knife and fork, he would be at Hasegawa’s mercy.

“Oya, what’s the matter, Toujou-kun? Why did you suddenly begin eating so hastily?”

At that moment, Hasegawa took a dig at Basara with a carefree smile.

“ ! …It’s because the turkey is very delicious, and I can’t stop once accidentally let myself go…”

“I see – since you like it so much, I’ll let you have half of my portion too.”

Saying that, Hasegawa then pushed her own plate to Basara who had a tight expression.

“I’ve already cut them into pieces already, so don’t worry about hygiene and eat with a peace of mind.”

Looking down, half of Hasegawa’s turkey meat has already been cut into bite-sized pieces.

''…S-She can predict what I will say…?''

Doing this much preparation for a under-the-table prank was definitely too thoughtful.

“You don’t have to, sensei shouldn’t…”

“Young people shouldn’t hematite about something like this. Also, don’t start eating so quick so suddenly… it might cause indigestion, okay?”

Hasegawa revealed an exquisite smile to Basara who declined, but Kajiura asked worriedly:

“Sensei – is it not to your taste? It’s still early now, I can go to the kitchen to ask for a change of dish for you, is it okay?”

''Nice one, senpai!'' – Basara cried out happily in his heart.

“No need, the food is delicious… it’s just that lately, I’m on a diet.”

“Nonono, Hasegawa-sensei has got such a nice figure, there’s no need for any diet?”

Kanou said in an irresistible tone to Hasegawa who had a wry smile, but unexpectedly—

“I’m also a woman – once I find a man that I love, of course I would want to become even more beautiful for him, no?”

Hasegawa instead replied openly.

『……………』

After the sudden confession caused everyone to widen their eyes—

“Eh～～～～～～! So sensei does have a boyfriend~!”

Takei’s upper body leaned towards Hasegawa, and said with sparkles in the eyes:

“Many people in the school was saying, sensei becoming especially beautiful for the past month…is definitely because you have found a boyfriend!”

Basara originally thought that Kajiura whose personality is to go by the book would stop Takei who was trying to conceal the excitement from showing – but in the end she was still a girl, and asked while shocked and curious:

“Could sensei be going for a date after this?”

“No, but if the other person wants to, then I guess we will.”

Hasegawa shot a glance at Basara after saying that.

''…Uh…''

He already had a headache from the prank under the table, and now the topic is becoming dangerous. As he became even more uneasy—

“—sensei, please give me the meat.”

To halt the topic, Basara moved the turkey meat to his plate, inserted the meat quickly into his mouth one after another.

“Delicious… This turkey meat really is amazing!”

However, no one wanted to look as Basara gobbled the food.

“It’s probably a workplace love! Could it be, sensei’s lover is someone in the school?”

“Well, what do you think…?”

At Takei’s questioning, Hasegawa calmly smile and evaded the question.

“Then at least tell us if the person’s age is bigger or smaller than yours! Sensei is usually so cool, could it be that you’re different when the two of you are alone?”

“Well… his age is smaller than mine. As for whether I’m the same when we’re alone, I also don’t really know; but…”

Hasegawa moved the hand that was caressing Basara’s thigh further in, and said:

“Usually I don’t really care about the gender between me and other people… But before him, I will often remember that I’m a woman; so I want to show to him, the appearance of a woman that no one else will see.”

『………!』

Hasegawa’s bewitching appearance of Hasegawa giggling took everyone’s breath away, and words to tease her couldn’t be voiced out.

“ ! –thank you sensei!”

Just then, Toujou Basara put down his knife and fork after finishing all of his meat and the portion sensei’s had given, and moved a hand under the table to grab Hasegawa’s hand that was caressing his thigh.

However – Hasegawa had already expected that he would do this.

“Why did you finish it so quickly, Toujou… Is it really that delicious?”

“Thanks to you…”

Basara’s words to Hasegawa had an irony that only she understood, and that exquisite and glamorous infirmary teacher giggled while her fingers crossed with Basara’s in a lover’s grip, and raised her index finger and began moving it towards Basara’s thigh, and drew a few heart shapes ♥.

“T-Toujou-kun… You’re really sweating a lot?”

“I-I’m alright… The turkey’s spices probably helps perspiration.”

Basara tried to muddle past it, and said something like that.

“—would you like to have the deserts served now?”

Seeing everyone’s plates are now empty, the waitress came forward and asked.

“O-Okay… I see, please do so.”

Only then did Kajiura return to herself and hurriedly nodded while replying.

“Today’s desserts are Tiramisu<ref> an Italian dessert consisting of layers of sponge cake soaked in coffee and brandy or liqueur with powdered chocolate and mascarpone cheese </ref>, ice cream, and mixed berries. What would everyone here like?”

Everyone here immediately chose their own favourites from the waitress’s provided options.

When she went back to the kitchen to submit the orders, the atmosphere at the table changed—

“…Since only the deserts are left, I guess we can probably start that presents exchange now.”

“The Student Council tradition is finally here… Then time to take it out.”

''…Ah…''

After Kajiura's suggestion got Kanou's echo, Hasegawa’s hand drawing heart shapes on Basara’s thigh under the table finally stopped. ‘’At least it stopped…’’ Basara cautiously let go of Hasegawa’s hand, and Hasegawa hand slowly appeared from under the tablecloth.

“Fufu…”

And with a satisfied smile, she used her hand to naturally unhook the hair behind her ear.

''…Finally.''

Basara heaved a sigh of relief, reached for the storage basket under the table, and took out the paper bag containing the presents. He had known beforehand that there would be an exchange of presents today, and had not forgotten to bring presents. The budget was up to two thousand yen, and to respect the intentions, handmade gifts are fine too; but probably no one wants a gift handmade by a male, thus what Basara were gifts bought using the budget given.

When everyone got their presents ready, Kanou went to retrieve a square box about 30cm wide on each side over from a neighbouring empty table; on four sides of the box plus the top, holes 15cm wide have been made, which made Basara who had noticed this strange box early on curious.

“So it really was prepared by senpais… Just what is that?”

“This? This is a student council tradition our Hijirigasaka Academy passed down from generation to generation, 『Doki Doki Box-kun Z』.

Kanou placed the box on the table and sat back down, and said:

“As the celebration was held at Christmas, the Student Council president at that time had suggested for everyone to exchange presents… and the legendary vice-president I had told you about before said that simply just exchanging presidents is boring, and thought up of a game that used this box.”

“There’s five holes on the box, right? In every one of those holes, there are paper strips. The top is『Assigning Numbers』, and the holes at the sides are for『What Number to Receive Present From』, 『How Long or How Many Times』, 『By Yourself or With What Number』, and 『What To Do』.”

Kajiura then continued:

“In other words, this is while drawing lots to exchange presents… it is a game where you have to do what is written on the paper strip.”

“ ? For some reason, Kajiura-senpai seems very reluctant to play this…”

Basara felt that there was something wrong from Kajiura’s tone and expression.

“It’s because some of the instructions are quite audacious… it all depends on your luck, and the instructions were all prepared by the senpai back then. Just like the game of Kings<ref>a game where an appointed ‘King’ gives an order for someone to do something</ref> where you can give reckless instructions to someone, it can do things like breaking down relations between people to the point where it cannot be salvaged.”

“…I-Is that so?”

''What the hell was that damned dad thinking?'' – amazed, Basara asked:

“Then, inside that large white bag over there is…”

“Yes, there are many items that the instruction will use, and they’re all in here.”

''What a scary Christmas gift pack.'' Speaking of which—

“Um… If you really do not want to play, you can just simply exchange presents, okay?”

Jin is the idiot that thought up of the stupid race of being sandwiched between females in that year, so everything in the box will definitely be instructions filled with bursting youthful exuberance.

“No… This is something that must be done.”

Unexpectedly, Kajiura shook her head and said:

“Didn’t I just say ‘tradition’? That generation of Student Council that created that unprecedented grand Sports Festival, is the legend of our school… so to gain some of the atmosphere of success, the tradition gift exchange held at this restaurant will begin.”

“Rather than saying tradition, it feels more like a curse. Because—“

Kanou said:

“In the past, there were many who didn’t want to play this game, or had changed the instructions to be a little lighter… but at the next Sports Festival, there were unexpected calamities”

“You mean…?”

Basara asked as he looked at Nanao and Takei talking.

“…Nn, I’ve only heard about it today.”

“If we don’t play it this time, something will go wrong for the next generation who will be organising the Sports Festival.”

The two of them gave a bitter smile to Basara.

“…Is there really such a thing? It feels more like a superstition…”

“Probably.” Kanou said to the doubtful Basara:

“Wasn’t there the issue of too many people in the Organising committee this year, the quarrel with the third years, the sudden tornado on the day itself and many other problems…? To tell the truth, at last year’s celebration, there was a red-face that said [I won’t do as this instruction says!], making some big talk that she won’t lose to this curse and will definitely make the Sports Festival we had organised this time a success.”

“……!”

Hearing Kanou’s words, someone’s body twitched, and the face turned red.

That person, was none other than Kajiura. Seeing her reaction, Kajou added on with a wry smile:

“But from my point of view, the Sports Festival this year wasn’t really successful… so in consideration for next year’s Sports Festival, I hope you can respect this curse.”

“I see…”

“…I’m sorry, Toujou-kun. It looks like I had dragged you into it.”

“No, that…”

That was not something Kajiura should be apologising for. If anything, Basara wanted to apologise for Jin’s mismanagement.

“Hasegawa-sensei… For that reason, we’ll probably become very noisy later on, so we’ll need to have you bear with it.”

Kajiura said, embarrassed:

“Of course, we won’t do something illegal like drinking alcohol.”

“Isn’t this something that went on for over ten years and is like a tradition? After so long, I had not heard of any trouble caused after the previous student councils play it, and we had also reserved the whole shop; if we play it here, there probably won’t be any troubles… so don’t worry, I won’t be a wet blanket and not let you play because of just a little noise. Besides—“

Hasegawa continued:

“I had never seen such a game… I’ll be watching as the audience, so you guys enjoy yourselves.”

“—sorry to keep you waiting.”

As Hasegawa said while smiling, the waitress arrived with their deserts.

“Now then – we’ll start as we eat the deserts.”

After that, Hijirigasaka Academy’s gift exchange tradition began with Kanou’s words.

===Part 3===

Firstly, everyone drew a number from the top hole and decided on everyone’s number.

What Basara drew was Number 4 – which means that he will be the fourth person to draw a present and instruction from the box, and—

''…As long as no one else draws number 4, I won’t be dragged into someone’s order.''

Basically, this is like Russian roulette. Kajiura had said that, it can break down human relations; from another angle, under this condition, the morals and views of the person drawing the lot plays a role, doing as the instruction says no matter how heartless it is.

“Now – it my turn then.”

Kanou who had drawn number 1 drew a piece of paper which has been folded twice from every hole at the sides.

Instead of opening the paper strips, he passed all of them to Takei.

Making the person with the next number read out the contents, was a rule made for increasing the tension of the atmosphere.

“—Kanou-senpai gets gift from number 3.”

Takei opened the strip with the present number first, and announced to the audience, and Nanao then slightly raised her hand and said:

“Um, I am number 3… um, here you go, Kanou-senpai”

“Oh, Thank you!”

Once Kanou received the gift, the gift wrapping was quickly taken apart, and the gift inside the small box is—

“Uh… clock? No, it’s a step counter?”

“Yes, to be precise, it’s an activity gauge… It can track things like the distance walked and how many calories was burnt.”

Nanao nodded, and said shyly:

“It’s because my body isn’t really healthy, so I wanted to gift something that’s good to the health… If senpai doesn’t mind, can senpai try it?”

From the implications of him saying ‘can senpai try it’ instead of ‘why don’t senpai try it out?’, it shows that Nanao’s cuteness isn’t merely just in his appearances only, his appearance was also cute, igniting some warmth in Basara’s heart.

“Okay, I’ll try it out then… Takei, hurry up and see what instruction I had drawn.”

Takei nodded while saying ‘okay’, and opened the rest of the paper stirps. First one was [Thirty Minutes], and next is [Alone], which caused everyone to sigh in relief, while Kanou pouted.

“Tch, no one’s collateral damage?”

Lastly, Takei opened the paper strip containing the instructions.

“…『Run around the neighbourhood』.”

“This is the Sports Festival celebration, and you want me to run that long alone in the cold?”

Kanou’s face turned into a look of anguish.

“Ara, Tachibana’s gift will come in handy right away, isn’t that right?”

Kajiura then said as if to retort Kanou’s whining, while laughing:

“Make sure you don’t slack off, and just looking at the activity tracker will reveal if you cheated.”

“No way… Right, I think that there are some items to use?”

“…Um, it’s this?”

Kanou retrieved a black waist fanny from the large white bag and said:

“Here you go. There’s a towel to wipe your sweat and a T-shirt for you to change into inside.”

“Way too thoughtful… Damn.”

Kanou took the fanny from Takei’s hands and took out the activity tracker from the box Nanao gave, installed the batteries and put it on the wrist, and said after stuffing all of the Tiramisu on the plate into the mouth:

“Well, at least I won’t be dragged into the instructions after this one. I’m off then.”

At this moment, Hasegawa stopped Kanou.

“Hold on, Kanou. Wear a jacket before you go."

“No need for that, since I’ll take it off after running one round when I become too hot… And since I’ll be coming back here, it’ll be much easier this way.”

“You have to consider the state where your body will before cold after you sweat. Also, as the infirmary teacher, I don’t really approve of running right after eating… If you want to run, it’s best to do a slow jog for thirty minutes first to warm up your body.”

“Eh… so it’ll turn into an hour?”

“Tomorrow’s the winter break already, you do not want to spend it on the bed due to indigestion or a cold, do you?”

Saying that, Hasegawa then retrieved a 500 yen coin from her purse, and flipped it at Kanou through the air.

After Kanou caught the coin that flew through the air, Hasegawa continued:

“Even if it's winter, sweating a lot will cause your body to lose water… so don’t forget to buy some water half-way through.”

“…Okay, I’ll be going then.”

After listening to Hasegawa’s advice, Kanou nodded and then exited through the entrance after putting on a jacket.

After everyone watched Kanou leave—

“—well then, I’m next.”

Number 2 Takei drew the lots and handed them to number 3 Nanao. The number 5 present Takei drawn – was the leather nook slipcases Kajiura prepared.

“Um, 『Until the end of the game』 and 『With Number 5』.”

“Ah~ Even after receiving your present, I’m sorry to have to drag you down with me.”

“Can’t be helped, it’s the game rules…”

Kajiura smiled bitterly while replying. Yet, she didn’t know – that this leisure acceptance won’t last long.

“What’s wrong, Tachibana?”

Basara suddenly felt that Tachibana was acting weird, and asked, a bit worried.

“………Well…”

Only to see Nanao’s face turn red, and instead of reading it aloud, he showed the paper strip to everyone.

“………!”

A few minutes later, Kajiura’s face was reddened to the point where people would sympathise with her as she sat opposite of Basara. The instruction Takei had drawn was [Remove underwear] – and Kajiura also had to do it.

“Um, Kajiura-senpai… I’m sorry.”

Takei who awkwardly apologised was seemingly not as embarrassed as Kajiura, and that was because Takei had worn shorts under her skirt. Even if was somewhat embarrassing to not wear underwear on the upper half of her body and to directly wear panties under the skirt, it was still much better than Kajiura’s situation, since she is really not wearing any underwear both on top and below. The violating predicament curse was witnessed by Hasegawa personally, so it was really followed through.

Kajiura usually wears black tights, yet today she came wearing nothing else between her legs; which means, Kajiura who was dragged along was in a worse situation than Takei.

“To think that last year’s debt, would still hound this year…”

Kajiura couldn’t help but to lament. Ironically, this instruction is the very instruction that she had refused to follow last year. Normally speaking, she would’ve worn some shorts under her skirts this year as a precaution due to experience like Takei did… but having experienced the powerful jinx of this game, Kajiura was apparently scared that appearing in the same outfit as last year would cause history to repeat itself.

And in the end, that thinking had backfired on her.

“Senpai, the instruction is for until the end of the game… so let quickly finish the game.”

“…Oh. You’re right. Thank you, Toujou-kun.”

Basara saw Kajiura who was a little tearful cheer up a little and nod.

“Then, I’m next…”

Nanao gulped, nervous, and handed the paper strips to Basara after drawing them. The gift is Takei’s gift box of chocolate of a name brand, and the contents of the instructions—

“Time is 『Twenty Minutes』, and method is 『Done by someone of the same sex』… which will be me, since Kanou-senpai is not here.”

“Uh … S-Sorry, Toujou-kun.”

“No, it’s fine… Don’t worry about it.”

The duration drawn was shorter than Takei, and since it’s with Nanao, it seems more like helping instead of being implicated. Hence, Basara opened the last paper strip – and immediately widened his eyes.

“W-What’s wrong, Toujou-kun? Could it be something really bad?”

“Not really… It’s probably still fine, I think.”

Basara said so hesitantly, and showed the instruction to the others.

“Indeed, it’s still fine.” ‘That’s right, there’s no problems at all.” “How lucky to have drawn an easy one~ Tachibana-kun”

Kajiura, Hasegawa, and Takei immediately expressed their agreement. However, only Nanao –

“—w-why? This is obviously really shameful!”

Expressed rejection with a bright red face. What was written in that strip was—

『Cross-dress as the opposite sex. 』

The reaction of Kajiura and the others made Nanao dissatisfied and sigh. ‘Ugh~’

That was to be expected. Just simply changing by himself is simple enough, but having Basara do it would mean Basara would have to take off Tachibana’s clothes and personally put on female clothes onto him. Having two males do such a thing, is a very horrible punishment game equally to both the executer and the receiver.

Yet when compared to Kanou who had to run in the cold winter night, and Takei and the implicated Kajiura who had to not wear underwear, this indeed is much lighter.

Nanao took out a red pouch from the white bag, and asked while looking at him:

“…Toujou-kun, because it’s embarrassing to change here, can we go to the toilet?”

“O-Okay… You’re right.”

This made Basara’s heart to suddenly become tense, and he then followed Nanao into the male’s toilet, and locked the cubicle door to prevent people from straying in.

“…So, what kind of female attire is it? Is it difficult to wear?”

''Taking off the clothes would not be a problem…'' Both Nanao and Basara are wearing the same male’s uniform; but if the female’s wear were some special kind of attire, things could become complicated.

“Uh, it appears to be the girls’ uniform of our school…”

Nanao released a sigh in relief after checking the pouch’s contents.

“That’s great… You’re used to removing our school’s girls’ uniform, so there’ll won’t be any problems.”

“……Well, I guess so…”

Nanao was probably referring to Mio and Yuki.

--after the events of the Sports Festival, Basara and Nanao know each other’s true identity.

Thus, Basara told Nanao of the fact that he was no longer a Hero, as well as the Master-Servant Contract with Mio and Yuki. As the chances of the curse of the Master-Servant Contract activating in school was not zero, he felt that explaining it to Nanao beforehand would help in preventing misunderstandings.

However, being told by him with a cute smile that he was ‘used to it’ and that ‘there won’t be any problems’ really feels awkward.

''…Although it is a fact that I am used to it…''

To relieve Mio and Yuki when they activate the curse of the Master-Servant Contract, Basara often needed to take off the girls’ school uniform when are wearing – if they had to do it at school or at a place that is not at home, Basara would help them wear their clothes again when they bodies become limp after being hit by climaxes head-on. Hence, the speed at which Basara assisted them in removing their uniforms became faster and faster, and a recent side effect of this effect was Maria quipping:

“As expected of a speed-type… Not only just in battle you’re also very fast in taking off girls’ clothes.”

Whenever he remember the annoying expression Maria had back then, Basara would become slightly angry. At that moment, Nanao said shyly:

“To-Toujou-kun, this would drag ''that'' of Kajiura-senpai… Should we get moving?”

“Ah… I almost forgot.”

Before this ridiculous game ends, Takei would have to go without a bra while Kajiura had to go without underwear, and Nanao would have to wear this girls’ outfit for twenty minutes.

“Th-Then excuse me, I’ll be taking it off now, Tachibana.

“U-Un…”

Nanao nodded, and Basara’s hands then began taking off the clothes of this cute friend of his; removing the student jacket<ref>jacket, or blazer</ref> after undoing all the buttons, and after undoing the belt, he got ready to pull down the pants.

“Eh—…?”

“W-What’s wrong… Is this fine?”

Nanao’s shock caused Basara to become flustered.

“N-Nothing, I’m fine… Please continue.”

But Nanao only shook his head and urged Basara on, and Basara slowly pulled the pants down slowly.

“Nn……”

Before Basara’s eyes, Nanao twisted his body about embarrassedly. The image of those thin white thighs crossing caused great sense of guilt in his heart, making him feel as if he’s a criminal.

“……Tachibana…remove your foot.” “…Un.”

The red-faced Nanao nodded to Basara, and did as he said.

After hanging the jacket and long pants on the cubicle door, as Basara was about to take off Nanao’s shirt, he said as if unable to hold it back anymore:

“U-Umm Toujou-kun… I, would like to wear the skirt first.”

“I-I see…?”

Basara had removed the clothes in the order he was used to, and had not taken into account Nanao’s feelings.

“Right now is different from when helping Naruse-san or Nonaka-san take off their clothes, as we only just need to change clothes. Also…”

Nanao said shyly, embarrassedly:

“To tell the truth, my body right now…”

“ ! –I-I understand…! I-I’m sorry…!”

Basara hurriedly apologised. Just like as Basara who revealed his true self and the Master-Servant Contract with Mio and the others, Nanao also had told Basara of another secret about his body apart from him being a vampire; and Basara had accepted that secret to not have their friendship deteriorate, and after wrecking his mind over it, he has decided to see Nanao as a male.

''...So he is actually this shy…''

As Basara finally realised the reason why Nanao had protested against Kajiura and the others—

“…Say, Toujou-kun. If it was a girl like me, would you feel anything?”

Nanao suddenly asked with puppy-dog eyes.

“W-Well… I’m not sure…”

Basara forced himself to answer vaguely. If this question from Nanao was purely due to feeling inferiority towards his own feminine appearance, Basara would immediately deny it, and even scold him.

--however, these words spoken by Nanao in this current state, held a completely different meaning.

Despite that – what Toujou Basara valued, is the person known as Nanao.

“But to me… No matter what, you’re still you.”

And Basara honestly said to Tachibana that no matter which of it was his appearance, his thoughts wouldn’t change.

“……Nn, Thank you.”

Nanao gave a slight smile shyly, and said:

“But – I would really prefer to wear the skirt first.”

“Ah, right… Of course!”

Basara nodding desperately made Nanao laugh, and Nanao took the skirt from the pouch—

“Eh – this… W-What to do, Toujou-kun?”

And stared into the pouch, and pleaded Basara for help.

“W-What is it…what’s wrong?”

After that, Nanao took out the thing stuffed right at the bottom of the pouch to before Basara.

It was something obviously different from the uniform; a complete set of cute underwear.

“…………” “…………”

Seeing such attention-drawing women's items, Basara and Nanao looked at each other, not speaking a word.

“……Please do it, Toujou-kun.”

In the end, Nanao put the underwear into Basara’s hands.

“Nonowait, this is really just…”

“It’s fine… Otherwise Kajiura-senpai, Takei-san, and Kanou-senpai’s efforts will go to waste. So—“

Nanao continued:

“Please follow what you are used to… and treat me as a girl.”

Seeing Nanao resolving himself while trying to suppress his shyness, Toujou Basara strongly nodded.

“I understand… I’ll try to make it fast, so please endure it.”

After that, Basara sped up in doing that. After being removed of his shirt and the T-shirt as the undershirt, Nanao upper half was now naked, save except for his boxers.

“Aahh…”

Revealing his own chest to someone else, caused Nanao to tremble from being embarrassed.

However, Nanao put up no protest to Basara; in order to quickly end the game, he gave himself up to Basara. Thus after Basara went around to behind Nanao’s back, and after putting the bra onto his friend’s chest and doing the back hook, he raised both of Nanao’s hands, and quickly helped him put on the sailor suit shirt.

Despite Nanao's chest area had bulges now, and at the tips of those bulges were something obviously different from a males, and that he had incidentally touched something soft while putting it on just now; Basara didn't think about it, and focused on his current task.

“——————”

Basara quietly hooked his fingers into the boxers – pulled it down in one shot.

“ ! ———— “

Perfectly round buttocks was exposed, causing Nanao to almost scream out. He had covered his mouth and held it back.

To his friend working so hard, Basara had him lift up his left and right legs a little successively, and took off the boxers. As he had went behind Nanao first, he couldn’t see how his front looked like… but seeing from the changes in his upper body, this is probably not good. But despite saying tha—

“Nn… Aahh, Toujou-kun…!”

Probably because it’s his first time revealing his body to Basara, Nanao was extremely embarrassed; even to the point where just like when Mio and Yuki fell into the aphrodisiac curse, he unconsciously began to twist about.

“Sorry… Please endure for a bit longer.”

Thus Basara said some words to give him some comfort, and after putting the girls’ panty onto his legs, he said:

“—here I go, Tachibana.”

And pulled it up to his waist holding it by the sides in one breath. But because of the influence from nervousness, the panty was pulled a little higher than planned—

“ ! ～～～～～～～“

And dug in between his thighs, causing Nanao to throw back his back and head, his whole body becoming tense.

“Ah… Haah… Aahh… ♥”

And then collapsed like how a girl would after reaching climax, backwards against Basara. Basara then put the skirt onto Nanao, and after doing the zipper and buttons, he whispered into his ear:

“I’m sorry. I was too nervous, and became a little too rough… Let your breathing calm down first, no need to go back quickly.”

Nanao raised his head in a daze—

“Nn… I’m alright, so… Toujou-kun, I think we should return quickly…?”

''If not, this game will never end'' – at the end, Nanao used his eyes to say.

“I see… It’s okay if you’re fine with that.”

Toujou Basara changed his thoughts as he nodded. For Tachibana, and for Kajiura and Takei who was forced to remove their underwear, he had to focus on ending this game as quickly as possible; and then, Kanou who had to run around outside wouldn’t have to be dragged into the rest of the game.

Hence – Basara helped Nanao leave the cubicle with an action that was like a hug, and returned to the table where everyone was waiting.

"Ah, they’re back—…”

[[Image: SMnT V06 009.png|thumb]]

The first to realise it, was Takei. It seems like she was going to say something to Nanao who had changed into female clothes, but could not while keeping her mouth open; Kajiura then turn around to look due to this unexpected reaction from Takei, and gasped, speechless. Not sure if it was because Nanao wearing the female uniform was too cute, or that it was because was more feminine than a girl's.

There was only one person – Hasegawa, who calmly raised her wine glass to sip the red wine.

"--sorry to keep you all waiting."

Basara returned to his own seat, while supporting the waist of Nanao whose face still held traces of blankness to sit back down at his seat beside him.

“It’s my turn now then…”

And straightforwardly drew the paper strips, and handed them all to Kajiura who was next.

Kajiura seemed to have gotten a shock from Basara suddenly acting differently, and read out the contents a little nervously. Time was「Ten Seconds」, person was「Done to Number 3」, and—

“Uh… It says『Kiss』.”

“……I got it.”

Basara only said just that to Kajiura who announced that a little disturbed, and didn’t give it too much thought.

What’s of utmost priority right now, is to end this game.

“…Is it okay, Tachibana?” “Nn… If Toujou-kun’s fine with it, I’m okay with it too…”

Nanao nodded clearly, and Basara said:

“Okay… Here I come.”

Not only was Nanao still cute as usual, there was also an air of blatant sexual appeal around him with him leaning towards Basara, and Basara immediately lifted his chin—

“Eh! –are you two really—!”

Basara ignored Takei’s shout, and moved towards Nanao’s lips, and then kissed. At that moment—

“Nn! –Aa, Fuaahh!”

Nanao cutely screamed, and violently tensed up, and trembled non-stop.

--the reason Nanao could scream, was because what Basara had kissed was not his lips, but his neck.

Even if he wanted to quickly end the game, Basara was not unswerving to the point where he would kiss lips to lips; since the instruction was simply just「Kiss」 without specifying a place, this should probably be fine. It’s just that Nanao gave an extremely sensitive reaction, causing everyone present to misunderstand… After ten long seconds had passed, Nanao slowly collapsed towards him, and Basara asked worriedly while holding his thin shoulders:

“ ! Are you alright Tachibana…?”

''Was the effects from changing clothes still lingering?'' Nanao then released a deep breath ‘Nn…’, and slowly pushed himself upright away from Basara’s body; in his misty eyes focusing on somewhere far away, a slight red glow seemed to appear—

“…Der Meister…”<ref>Captain Obvious: This is German, translates to ‘The Master/Champion’</ref>

And murmured something in a very small voice that even Basara who was in front his him had trouble hearing.

“Tachibana…?”

“……Nothing, don’t mind that. I’m sorry, for suddenly scaring you with such a weird shout…”

Nanao gave a smile, and said nothing else.

--and that was why, Basara had only found out later, about the implications that his own actions and his words to Nanao carried.

Vampires sucked blood from the neck and injected their own blood to turn people into their subordinates – to Tachibana who was a half-blooded vampire, voluntarily revealing his own neck to let others touch it, was an action that carried significant implications.

“A-Are you really alright…?” “Yes… I’m alright.”

Nanao smiled at Kajiura who showed concern.

“Now, last up is Kajiura-senpai… Let’s quickly end this game.”

And urged her to quickly draw the last lots.

Kajiura Rikka nervously stared at the box for a while, and—

“………”

She stole a glance at Basara and Nanao who sat opposite her.

--ever since they returned from the toilet, Nanao seemed to have become another person.

Right now he had changed into girls’ clothes because of the instructions, and his appearance was really different now.

''…But''

Even if Nanao had always been this cute – the attire is obviously not the reason now.

The Nanao before Kajiura’s eyes had not only just changed into girls’ clothes, he had practically turned into a real girl.

And also – there was also another person before her whose atmosphere around him is now completely different from usual.

''…Toujou-kun…''

From Kajiura’s viewpoint, is much calmer than usual – to the point where it was ice-cold. Who knows, making him play this game had made him angry; but—

“——————”

This Basara, fascinated Kajiura Rikka. Right now, Kajiura Rikka saw the figure of the one who had stopped the third-year Donoue from insulting her back on that day.

--ever since from that day onwards, Kajiura had paid special attention to Basara.

So, inviting Basara into the student council was not simply just because his performance was great, it was also for her who prefers to take things seriously, to see if she had taken an attraction to someone of the opposite sex.

“—Kajiura-senpai?”

Basara felt Kajiura staring at him, and asked.

“ ! …S-Sorry, I’ll draw the strips now.”

Kajiura hurriedly put her hand into the box. As number 1 Kanou is not present, the paper strips were given to number 2 Takei to view. The present was the Storm Glass<ref> a sealed tube containing a liquid, the clarity of which was thought to change when storms approach</ref> Kanou had prepared, and—

“Time is『Ten Minutes』, and person is『Done by Number 4』…”

“—it’s me again.”

“ ! …S-Sorry.”

Kajiura couldn’t help but to apologise to Basara who sighed.

“It's fine, senpai shouldn’t worry about it… Drawing lots is something that depends on luck after all.”

“…Nn, thanks.”

Basara gave a forced thoughtful smile, which almost moved Kajiura to tears – but at the same time, she was afraid that the instruction would destroy her relationship with Basara, so no matter what, she had to avoid that ending.

Hence, she resolved herself to endure any possible instruction, and strive to become a respectable senpai.

And so – five minutes after she announced to herself in her heart—

“Yaah! Aahh… Toujou-kun ♥ Nnff! Ya—haahhh”

Kajiura Rikka experienced a woman’s pleasure under Basara’s hands,

--reason being that the instruction Kajiura had drawn was「Have Someone Rub Your Chest」.

Kajiura was dragged into Takei’s instruction and had taken off her underwear – so she had originally wanted to refuse it. Yet this year’s Sports Festival had run into many troubles, and it might very well be a result of her refusing the instruction during last year’s celebration; then again the others had followed the instructions obediently so as to not cause disaster to next year’s Sports Festival, so Kajiura couldn’t have just herself refusing the order and letting Basara think that she is a selfish and headstrong person.

Although Kajiura who was often criticized by her peers to be too serious had never experienced something like this, she had heard from them often that they had played games with an even heavier taste when in a relationship. Since this was nothing in comparison… everything will turn out to be fine if she just endures the embarrassment and itching feeling for ten minutes.

Kajiura Rikka had accepted the instruction with such a mindset.

However – she of course wouldn’t know that Basara had the experience of making Mio and Yuki reach climax and be subjugated countless times; and coincidently – Basara thinks that the reason he was able to make Mio and Yuki fall so deep into pleasure is due to the effects of the curse of the Master-Servant Contract.

In actual fact, even though Hasegawa was not under the effects of the aphrodisiac curse, she was delivered also the equally deep pleasure. Basara had been aiming to be more efficient and faster in subjugating Mio and Yuki and today, he had unconsciously gained the skill of being able send someone into the abyss of pleasure even if the person is not under the effects of the aphrodisiac curse – thus, in the blink of an eye, Kajiura could no longer think.

All she knew, was that the hotness piling up in her lower abdomen continuously leaked from her embarrassing part, and despite the fact that she was not wearing anything under her skirt, her legs slowly widened under the urging of the pleasure, and she no longer cared that Nanao, Takei and Hasegawa was watching.

Having her breasts massaged by Basara, what Kajiura felt was an amazing womanly pleasure that didn’t feel like her first experience.

“—one more minute to go.”

Thus, after this had gone on for nine minutes, at the same time Nanao who was in charge in the time said that—

“…No… Ahh… Ha-aa – Fuuaahhhhh! ♥”

Kajura Rikka reached climax vigorously. Despite this being her first time having her breasts massaged by a boy, this was already her third climax. Basara’s hands had already long ago went under her clothes to make direct contact with her skin; they had started with his hands over her clothes, but Nanao had said that it’ll be easily noticed by the people outside. As for what Kajiura had answered him with when Basara asked ‘Why’, she could no longer remember it; Basara massaging her breasts directly and rubbing the tips of her breasts right now, was probably her answer back than.

“Kajiura-senpai, ten more seconds! Nine, eight—“

Nanao counted down the seconds, which made Kajiura almost taste the relief of the task being over, and thus put away her modesty as a reward for enduring it all up till now.

“ ! ..Haahhh… Toujou-kun… Toujou-kun…!”

Kajiura turned her head left backwards, and used her glazed eyes to look at Basara. Although letting him see her face right now was very embarrassing – Kajiura hoped, to burn the face of the one she had fallen in love with into her eyes, and the one behind her back—

“—almost finished, senpai.”

In the moment she heard his words – Kajiura Rikka’s desires exploded along with her breasts being massaged.

===Part 4===

After Kajiura had lost consciousness after reaching climax four times just from basara massaging her breasts.

The tradition gift exchange came to an end, as did today’s celebration dinner.

Right now – Toujou Basara is currently sitting in the back of a taxi. The colourful Christmas neon lights outside the window formed a shiny mirage; however—

“……………………………”

Basara who was filled with deep regret and self-loathing was unable to enjoy the view.

…Aaah, what…

''—have I even done? Young people these days...'' Lately, the younger generation have begun to openly deviate from the values of the older generations, and Kajiura and Takei removing their underwear after receiving that order, as well as Nanao being stripped down and changed into female clothes by his hand, became nothing serious; when Kajiura had drawn the instruction for Basara to massage her breasts, Takei seemed to be very enthusiastic about it, and despite Kajiura appearing to be very embarrassed about it, she had agreed to it in the end. Hence to Basara who had no experience with friendship, he had originally thought that here wouldn’t be any problems… In the end it had resulted in Kajiura losing consciousness from that action, bringing even more confusion to where the ‘safe’ border line is. Although he had not made any friends with any more males in his class to where he could go out with them, he had to subjugate Mio and Yuki whom he had a Master-Servant Contract with in his free time often and his values are slowly being moulded to the ideals of the succubus Maria, causing Basara who recently just managed to escape from being isolated in his class to not be sure on the boundary line between sexes. But before all that, Basara held some faint expectations to his relationship with Mio and Yuki… and he told himself that all that was definitely not normal. Speaking of which—

''…Tachibana really made me helpless.''

Nanao who also had no friendship experience just like Basara, was also not sure of where the appropriate boundary for friendship lie back than as he still had not completely recovered from when Basara helped him change into female clothes. Thus, after Basara stopped massaging Kajiura’s breasts, he found that the cold atmosphere in the shop was extremely awkward, and so he used his demonic eyes to modify the memories of the shop staff and Kajiura and the others. Of course, manipulating someone’s memories is something that’s not supposed to be done, so what was done was just the very basics, and s that in their memories, Kajiura had never reached climax from having her breasts massaged.

So, although it was already too late for Basara to be regretful, at least Kajiura’s reputation has been protected.

After Kanou finished the marathon and had the activity tracker checked, everyone left the restaurant and wished each other a good New Years, agreeing to see each other again after the new semester starts. Takei flagged a taxi and sent Kajiura back home, and Nanao left together with Kanou, so the only one left apart from him is—

“Sensei… I won’t run away, so can you please let go of my hand?”

“—no.”

Basara request received a pouting refusal. Sitting beside him while leaning her head against his shoulder and having her hand hooked with Basara’s tightly, is the extremely beautiful infirmary teacher.

Currently, Basara and Hasegawa had boarded the same taxi/ After saying their goodbyes to the student council – Basara had flagged a taxi for Hasegawa, but she had pulled him into the taxi before he was able to send her on her way; amidst the panic, Hasegawa had asked the taxi driver to move off.

--after boarding the taxi, Hasegawa had been pouting ever since. Basara had tried appeasing her, but Hasegawa only flirtingly asked for a present.

At the gift exchange game just now, Basara had forgotten to draw a present, and since Kajiura had not drawn his present, his prepared present was not given away in the end; and since something like that had happened with Kajiura later on, he could only just bring his presents back quietly. And Hasegawa wanted that present he had brought.

After receiving the present, Hasegawa seemed to have cheered up a little… but she was still tightly holding on to Basara’s hand, unwilling to let go no matter what he said. It would still be fine if it was just that, but she had very intently intentionally kept pushing her breasts that were almost spilling out from her revealing dress onto Basara’s body.

“I do understand that you live together with Naruse and Nonaka… In a place I can’t see, I wouldn’t care no matter who you do it with; if it’s before other staff and students, I would go along with the stance of the other teachers. But—“

Hasegawa raised her wet eyes, and said:

“You playing with Kajiura’s breasts like that before me, was just like giving me a pinch… very naughty.”

“ ! …that was just how the game is supposed to be, so it can’t be—…?”

Despite Hasegawa’s body fragrance and adult-charm was breaking down his rationality, he still tried to convince the jealous Hasegawa; but before he even finished, his body suddenly stiffened up. The reason for that, was because Hasegawa had brought her mouth towards the side of Basara’s head, and grabbed onto his ear with her mouth.

“Hey… Sensei, that’s not good.”

They were currently on a taxi, and Basara was still wearing the school uniform and called Hasegawa ‘Sensei’; although the person at the driver’s seat said nothing, since the taxi was not very big, everything they said must’ve been heard. For now, he could still say that Hasegawa was drunk; if it progressed to the next stage, there was no guarantee that the driver wouldn’t report it to the school. Thus, Basara hurriedly grabbed both of Hasegawa’s shoulders to stop her, and she only giggled—

“I know… we’ll continue at my home.”

And whispered into his ear at a volume which only he could hear.

--right now, Toujou Basara and Hasegawa Chisato had a secret relationship.

On the day he helped Hasegawa take off the swimsuit with the stuck zipper, not only had Basara had food that she had personally cooked, and agreed to a request to help her with the occasional student love problems, helping her in experiencing various acts between a man and woman, and it eventually went into her bathroom.

Hasegawa had unsuspectingly used her large breasts to scrub Basara’s back, using it to the point where it broke down Basara’s reasoning – causing him to take the lead and leak out some of his desires.

The two of them had not crossed the final line in the end, but traces of their naked lust had remained on their bodies; Hasegawa had reached climax from Basara’s attack on her breasts, but although Basara had lost consciousness mid-way through, they had reached the final stages with Hasegawa’s breasts. But even though they had such a relationship, Basara had listened to Sakazaki’s calumny of Hasegawa and maintained his distance and was guarded about her. When things have been settled and Basara came to the infirmary after classes ended – to apologise for intentionally avoiding her, and Hasegawa had accepted it, with a certain condition.

--and that condition, is to have their relationship develop in a more special direction.

Even if it was a woman’s intuition or her experience from receiving countless confessions as the infirmary teacher – Hasegawa saw that Basara was wholeheartedly trying to endure it, to not let his rationality towards Mio and Yuki be thrown aside and cross the final line; and she thus requested for Basara to relieve himself using her as Mio and Yuki’s substitute.

What Hasegawa had mentioned was just basically to let Basara take advantage of her, causing it to be a little scary, and was a form of betrayal to Mio and Yuki. That was what Basara originally thought, but Hasegawa suddenly hugged him tightly—

『Ever since you’ve done ''that'' to me, something about me has become very strange…』

And confessed to him with wet eyes. Since the day Hasegawa and Basara mutually pleasured each other, Hasegawa had felt that something within her has been opened up, and her mind has been filled with thoughts about Basara all day; knowing that they had a student and teacher relationship and yet couldn’t suppress it, gave her much pain.

『…Save me, Toujou. 』

When he heard her plea – the option of [Rejecting] no longer existed within basara’s heart.

The reason Basara and helped Maria and Mio was that he was not willing to put off a girl in danger. Without the Hasegawa’s flexibility to different situations, he wouldn’t be able to do what he have done so far.

Additionally, Hasegawa’s advice has helped Basara numerous times. In Toujou Basara’s heart, the woman known as Hasegawa Chisato already accounted for a very significant portion. Hence, when he heard Hasegawa pleading him, Basara had no other choice but to accept.

--and thus, Basara had agreed to Hasegawa’s condition, with some conditions.

Firstly, to maintain their relationship as a teacher and student, this relationship of theirs had to be kept a secret; Secondly, they cannot cross the final line.

By now, Basara no longer worried about the ways that would make him betray Mio and Yuki.

When his relationship with Hasegawa happened, Basara had already betrayed them. And even though that is the case, Basara drawing a line in his heart that he must never cross with Hasegawa, was because of her feelings for him, but that might be a misinterpretation due to her having her very first experience with him.

For Mio and Yuki who had done a Master-Servant Contract with him, a similar situation might have taken place. Thus, Basara tried his best to not let their current status evolve into a love relationship; even if those emotions are just due to their misconceptions – Basara didn’t wish to see them become hurt because of it.

As long as the both of them respected this condition, Basara would agree to fulfil Hasegawa’s request as much as possible. Then again – being maturely courted by a woman with such peerless charm, is by itself is already irresistible.

Hasegawa immediately agreed to that happily, and took the initiative to kiss him.

Hence, after their four lips and two tongues met – Basara and Hasegawa, alone, in the infirmary with the door locked and curtains drawn, once again carefully examined the special parts of each other.

--from that day onwards, Toujou Basara and Hasegawa’s secret relationship began.

===Part 5===

The time the taxi arrived at Hasegawa’s apartment, was not long after half past eight.

After Hasegawa paid the driver in full, Toujou Basara followed her into the foyer.

Wearing high heels, her attractive round butt swayed left and right charmingly.

“……!”

''Soon, I, that butt'' – when that thought surfaced with his excitement, Basara felt his rationality gradually being worn away.

--whenever the two of them were alone, Hasegawa would always flirt and drop hints for him to spoil her more.

Despite how alluring Mio and Yuki were whenever they activated the Master-Servant curse, he was barely able to know where he should stop.

However – Basara could only do that during his first time with her in her bathroom. With the further temptation from Hasegawa after that, he was unable to sustain it forever and gradually demanded more and more from her, and that was not accounting for times where Hasegawa would make a move on him by herself. So even though he could maintain his rationality before Mio and Yuki when they were under the aphrodisiac curse, before Hasegawa—

‘’…I have to be careful…’’

As Takei has said, when Hasegawa and Basara’s relationship happened, her charms grew even more. If he just let it all go in the sweet warmth of the ‘bigger sister’ Hasegawa, Basara will definitely never be able to leave her side.

At that moment – after swiping the key card through the electric lock, Hasegawa beside him pressed the up button to call for the elevator, and asked while looking up to see the current position of the elevator:

“…How long will you be able to stay for tonight?”

--from Hasegawa’s apartment to the Toujou residence, taking the train and walking back home would take around an hour.

But taking the taxi only required thirty minutes. So as long as he leave this place at eleven, he wouldn’t have any problems in making it back home in time before Lucia arrives. But despite that—

“About… two hours, I think.”

To avoid being carried away, the time Basara allocated for himself was even shorter.

“……I see.”

As Hasegawa murmured, the elevator doors opened before them.

Basara entered the elevator first, and moved towards the floors panel.

But Hasegawa who entered after him put her hand in between the panel and Basara, and pulled him into a hug after pressing the top-most floor – the handbag has not yet fallen onto the floor, but Toujou Basara was already in an intense kiss.

He was even pushed into the back of the elevator, his back pressed up against the wall.

“Nn! –S-Sensei…?”

The situation changed too quickly, and Basara didn’t even have the chance to press the button to close the elevator doors, so the doors were still wide open. Basara grabbed Hasegawa’s shoulders, and after separating their mouths with much difficulty, he raised that as to why Haseegawa was suddenly so anxious and urgent.

“…We only have two hours, and you want to wait until we go through the front door to start?”

Hasegawa looked up at him with tears flowing from her eyes.

“Toujou, I’m also someone who also gets jealous… I hope you will remember that.”

“ ! …Well…”

Being looked at in such a close distance erotically, caused Basara to draw a breath.

“—before entering my apartment, I want you to chase away the other women from your mind.”

Hasegawa gave a seductive smile, pulled Basara’s right wrist onto her breasts.

For this dress which prominently displayed her breasts, Hasegawa was not wearing a bra – hence, when Basara touched those breasts that was almost spilling out—

''…Ah…'' He realised that the tips of Hasegawa’s breasts were already swollen and stiff.

Just thinking about what Basara will do, already made her excited to this extent.

Just how long – she couldn’t have already been like that ever since we boarded the taxi?

“……Toujou.”

With her back facing the elevator doors that were slowly closing, Hasegawa broke the silence with a sexy intoxicating smile and voicing out Basara’s name, strongly expressing her sexual excitement and her request to him – when the lift began moving upwards, traces of thoughts of calming down Hasegawa vanished from his mind.

“————!”

Toujou Basara pushed his lips onto Hasegawa’s and put his tongue into action, while at the same time using his left hand to tightly embrace Hasegawa’s waist and pull her towards him, and his right hand began furiously fondling her breasts.

“Nnn, Toujou… Nchuru, nfu…Kchu… Aah…Haaa♥”

Hasegawa twisted her hips about happily, and let out happy sounds with her arms wrapped around Basara’s neck, seeking for more – Basara didn’t disappoint her, and the left hand that was around her waist went downwards and began playing with her butt.

At the moment, the lift stopped moving, and the doors slowly opened—

“——————”

The young woman outside the elevator stared at the both of them, speechless. From her simple attire of home clothes, she was probably either on her way back home or just going down to the nearby convenience store to buy something. Hasegawa temporarily stopped her mouth movements, and said carefreely to the transfixed woman:

“…Can you take the next one?”

And the elevator doors closed by itself before the young woman could give any reaction, and Basara and Hasegawa continued their intimate activity.

This time, the elevator didn’t stop.

But even when the elevator reached the top floor and opened the doors, Hasegawa still held on to Basara and was unwilling to let go; so Basara could only stretch a hand to pick up the handbag on the ground, and also carried Hasegawa up in a princess carry while he was at it too.

That action pulled on Hasegawa’s dress, and caused her bare right breast to finally spill out from the dress.

With both of his hands busy – Basara could only just use his face. He bent his head down towards her right breast, and the pink tip that was bulging even more than just now as if desiring for something entered his view – thus Basara opened his mouth, and sucked the nipple into his mouth whole.

“ ! –Haaaahhh♥”

Hasegawa twisted lovely and gently in his arms, and the arms around his neck tightened even more. Under this condition, Basara could only continue sucking on Hasegawa’s nipple while walking towards the entrance of her apartment.

When he reach the door, Basara released Hasegawa’s nipple from his mouth and put her back down on the floor, and said:

“—Sensei, the key.”

Hasegawa whose breasts now looked erotic from being fondled retrieved her handbag from Basara’s arm, and took out the key for the front door. After they entered, the two of them once again kissed intensely as if unable to wait any longer – after roughly removing their shoes at the entrance, hasegawa’s handbag and gloves, as well as Basara’s jacket were all thrown down in the corridor.
“Nn…let’s go into the bedroom today.”

Basara complied with Hasegawa who was breathing heavily and opened the door to the bedroom that he had never touched before, and walked in – and then put her down on the bed. Hasegawa who was by the bed then pulled apart the chest area of the dress, and the large breasts trembled from the motions—

“Come, Toujou… Let me pamper you lots today.”

And tempted Basara while curling the edges of her mouth seductively. Thus Basara got onto the bed, and the both of them then begun removing each other’s clothes.

Taking off Hasegawa’s clothes was simple. He only had to give a simple pull to undo the knots of her clothes behind her back, to quickly turn the dress into a simple bundle of cloth – after removing the dress, Basara finally saw her underwear.

It was a sexy corset that only covered up to half of her breasts,

“This goes well with my dress today…it’s bought specially for you.”

Hasegawa said with a smile while taking off Basara’s shirt and undershirt.

''So that dress and this sexy corset were worn specially just for me…'' When that thought came up, Basara’s excitement grew even further; Hasegawa who was undoing the belt to take off his pants, very quickly noticed the change in Basara.

“You’ve already become so excited for me…”

Hasegawa’s eyes that looked up into his eyes, already already filled with lust.

“…I’m very happy.”

After taking off Basara’s pants – Hasegawa cupped her breasts with both her hands as if it was something she was supposed to do, and entrapped Basara’s swollen private part deeply within her large breasts, rubbing her breasts against each other left and right and up and downwards.

“ ! …Ah…!”

Hearing Basara moaning from the pleasure—

“Nn… Aahn… Fufu, my skill has already improved, right?”

Hasegawa who serviced him with her breasts also began to concentrate on enjoying the stimulation brought about by it.

“How does it feel, to turn me… to turn the older girl into such a lewd woman?”

And lust-filled eyes, she asked with a teasing smile.

“ ! …It my own fault…?”

Since after all, this relationship between them was all started by Hasegawa herself. Basara who was unable to accept this and protested, moved a hand to begin caressing her head. This was the agreed signal between the two of them.

“To say something like this after making me do all that…what a guy you are.”

Hasegawa giggled, and began servicing Basara, this time using not her breasts, but her mouth.

She cheerfully sucked and stimulated it, using her tongue precisely to apply her saliva on it, causing Basara’s penis to become even bigger – Hasegawa’s lewd expression that couldn’t be imagined since just now, causing Basara who was having difficulties in controlling himself, to exponentially increase the pleasure he experienced.

“Fufu…you can’t, not now.”

Just as Basara was about to explode in Hasegawa’s mouth, she released it from her mouth, and just laid down on the bed. ''Just what is she…?'' – Just as that thought came to his mind, Hasegawa dipped her index finger in and out of her large breasts and said:

“…Tonight, would you like to thoroughly devastate me?”

And unhesitatingly said out something that shook Basara’s base instincts.

“You’ve always been thinking for me and doing as I wished… and have never done what you wanted, no? That one time in the bathroom was the only time you’ve taken the initiative.”

“ ! …That…but I…”

What Hasegawa said was the truth. Basara had done that, so as to not cause harm to Hasegawa. If he let loose with his male instincts on her, he would’ve definitely cause harm to her.

From the beginning, Basara does not want to do anything that would cause harm to Hasegawa, yet—

“Toujou…For my sake, I want you to let loose and go wild with me, okay?”

Hasegawa coaxed Basara – with a smile like a goddess that forgave everything, and said out warm words that killed his reasoning.

“It’ll be fine even if you’re a little rough… Let me see your manly side.”

“——————”

Hence, Basara straddled on Hasegawa’s breasts, and inserted his own ‘’part’’ in between her breasts; and after pushing the breasts towards each other with even leaving a gap, he slowly began to pump.

--using Hasegawa’s breasts, he forcibly used the breasts to perform fellatio on himself.

With every stroke of Basara’s, Hasegawa’s breasts shook heavily, and at the same time—

“Yah, Haann… Fuu, Toujouu… Ha, Fuahh… Haahhh♥”

Her breasts being ravaged by Basara, caused Hasegawa to tremble non-stop in the unprecedented pleasure.

''…That Hasegawa-sensei…!''

The woman that was more beautiful and more unyielding than anyone else, the breasts of such a person being devastated by him – this fact, already gave Basara much excitement.

“——————!”

For the first time in the way he desired, he unleashed his own seminal on Hasegawa’s breasts.

===Part 6===

Hasegawa Chisato felt a fiery pulsation come from Basara’s penis in between her breasts.

The vigorous release of seminal, dyed Hasegawa’s breasts white.

“Fufu… That’s an amazing amount…”

As Hasegawa said with an intoxicated smile, Basara slowly pulled away his hips – Hasegawa saw ‘’that thing’’ being pulled out with squishy sounds from within her breasts, the liquids consisted of his seminal and Hasegawa’s saliva.

“Now, I’ll make it clean…”

Hence Hasegawa rose up, and began using her tongue to lick up the residues of Basara’s pleasure.

“………”

Mid-way, Basara’s hands came over and began fondling her breasts.

“Nchu… H-Hey… such mischievousness… Fuaan… Chupu…”

Additionally, his fingertips also started pinching the buds at the tip of her breasts and played with them. Hasegawa carefully used her tongue to clean the thing in her mouth, indulging in the sensations of Basara fondling her breasts into many different shapes, and at the same time—

''…He’s becoming more and more sadistic…''

Hasegawa Chisato felt a definite change in Basara.

--the reason Hasegawa Chisato pampered Basara, is to give him love.

Of course, she was not denying her real emotions towards Basara.

Her asking Basara to have an relationship that cannot be disclosed to anyone, is a result of her treating Basara as one of the opposite sex.

However – tempting Basara like ''this'', is to increase his power.

The usual Basara excessively suppresses his own tendencies, and that is probably in order to suppress the ferocious nature of Brynhildr. When his body sustained fatal injuries during the battle with Sakazaki, Brynhildr had went wild by itself, proving that point.

Back then, Basara’s battle power suddenly rose explosively, and released [Banishing Shift] continuously in succession.

That was a result of the demonic sword Brynhildr utilizing Basara’s original battle potential.

…And

Basara will require that power, to be able to fight to the end in the war in the Demon Realm.

--Hasegawa knows, that Basara will be heading to the Demon Realm after leaving her apartment.

The advice she gave at the restaurant, was also for that.

Just like how Yuki had gotten the approval of the spirit sword [Sakuya], Basara will need to bring out the true power of Brynhildr and himself; if not in the war with the Current Demon lord Faction, he will easily lose his life.

That was because the opponent he will face, is just that strong.

''…I will absolutely not let you die.''

Many years ago, Hasegawa Chisato had lost the important woman that was like her older sister in her heart; so that’s why she had resolved herself, that she will protect the Basara that ''that woman'' had left to her no matter what – this is something she will never concede on.

So Hasegawa Chisato wanted to help Basara by making him cast aside his rationality and strengthen his animalistic side, letting him synchronise more easily with the ferocious Brynhildr, and teach him to use his latent strength consciously. Basara might have noticed, that in the past month since his relationship with Hasegawa has started, there was a substantial progress in the synchronisation between himself and Brynhildr.

Most ideally, is to have him be able to use as much power as when he cornered Sakazaki. As of now in the short period of time, he had grown and had learnt new moves; if he could find the chance in his future battles, he will probably change. So—

“Chu… Chumm, Nfuu… Chupu… S-See, it’s very clean now.”

When Hasegawa released her mouth, the penis that was covered in kinky shiny saliva, once again hotly swelled up.

“…Sensei…!”

In Basara’s eyes as he looked downwards at her, there was a manly imposing air.

''…Showing me that face…''

“You really are energetic… come this way then.”

Squeezing Basara’s penis with wet sounds with her hand, she gave a flirtatious smile.

To increase the chances of making Basara even stronger.

Toujou Basara got off the bed being pulled along by Hasegawa’s hand, and the two of them moved towards the window. Hasegawa’s right hand rested against the full-length windows, and said to Basara while looking back:

“This time, use this place…”

And she then pushed her butt upwards tempting Basara… and did something unbelievable. She used the thumb of her left hand – and after bringing it into the space between her thighs, she revealed ''it''.

“ ! ———— “

This action caused Basara to gasp.

[[Image: SMnT V06 010.png|thumb]]

As ''it'' was not pulled aside horizontally, Hasegawa’s ''femininity'' couldn’t be seen; yet Hasegawa who looked backwards in such a posture, presented a lewdness that Basara had never seen before.

“I have not forgotten our promise… but just using the inside of the panty is fine, right?”

''So come to the inside of my panty, from behind by back—''

“………”

When Basara heard Hasegawa say that, he then moved right behind Hasegawa as if he was sucked there. Despite how bright and brilliant the street lights are in the night view outside the window, he did not see it at all – because something even more beautiful was right in front of him.

In the holy night, the view of Hasegawa’s body was illuminated by pale moonlight, making her beautiful just like a goddess… at where her fingers was under the strip of cloth, sweet nectar flowed non-stop from the mouth under it, giving her inner thighs a further shine under the moonlight. That place… is undoubtedly the woman’s secret place that Basara could insert himself into.

Hence Basara used his left hand to hold steady Hasegawa’s hips, and used his right hand to adjust his own position – slowly advancing towards that kinky gap.

Although the inside of it was pretty narrow, but once the head went past it, he could move straight directly. Basara straightened his back and pushed in further, and that hot wet slit that’s a real female organ tightly rubbed against him.

“ ! …Ah…”

Amidst the sensation that sapped his strength, Basara who continued on moving in the same direction would naturally collide into Hasegawa’s butt. In the moment when that happened—

“ ! …Ah…Haahhh… ♥”

Hasegawa cried out lewdly, overwhelmed with what she was feeling. The face that was reflected in the window was intoxicated, revealing an expression that was even more satisfied than ever.

“Ku… Aahh!”

Thus, Toujou Basara grabbed Hasegawa’s waist with both his hands, and began to grind.

“Haah! Nn! …Toujou… ♥ Ah! Haah—Fuaaahhhh!”

Hasegawa gave a sensitive reaction, throwing back her loose waist-length black hair and released a womanly cry of pleasure. To hear more of Hasegawa’s cries, Basara collided with her again by moving his waist forward, knocking some ripples that appeared on her body from her white butt, going wild on her – at the place where both of their bodies made contact, white foam was soon grinded out, along with some loud wet sounds.

“Yaah! Aahh… Toujou, your… moving…!”

Hasegawa’s intoxicated moans made Basara look straight ahead at the reflection in the window, the sharp images of two persons indulging in pleasure – Basara’s intense grinding, caused Hasegawa’s large breasts to be pressed up against the window, and her panty had a bulge that was of Basara’s shape.

--however, what this view brought to Basara was not excitement, but instead, a fact.

As the underside of Hasegawa’s panty was already very wet and in a mess, he had not realised that his angle to the opening of her crotch is slanted and has deviated, and is not touching Hasegawa’s actual spot – her most sensitive place.

This made Basara suddenly stop moving, and he then gulped.

“Nnu… Toujou…?”

Hasegawa looked backwards with a pained look. That expression she had, was like she had never thought that Basara would notice the truth. Thus, Toujou Basara wanted to see it even more – see what Hasegawa would turn like, when experiencing even stronger womanly pleasure.

“………”

Hence, Basara adjusted his angle, and tried bottoming out against his target. In that moment—

“Ya—Fuuaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh——————♥”

Hasegawa suddenly convulsed, raising a scream that shook even the full-length window, while at the same time a certain hot substance soaked the entire panty.

''…T-This is…''

A reaction far exceeding his imagination, and with the hotness felt on his ''thing'' that he inserted there, Basara realised what it was. Hasegawa who had climaxed from having her sensitive spot rubbed, had a lascivious ''shower'' gush out from there.

Hasegawa’s body had turned flushed from the pleasure, her skin being dyed cherry pink. The view of that body violently climaxing under the pale moonlight, was a peerless beauty.

“————————”

Seeing such a Hasegawa, a place within his heart exploded.

“ ! …Ah…Aahh… Haa, Nn… Ah…!”

A climax on a completely different level from those she experienced, caused her to continue moaning with saliva trickling from her mouth, and her limbs lost all energy and slid downwards pressed against the window; Basara’s hands holding on to her waist then slid up her belly, catching her breasts with his hands to hold her up.

“ ! —Haaahhhh ♥”

With the lingering of the tremendous climax just now gone, Hasegawa climaxed lightly again from her breasts being grabbed.

--the usual Basara, would probably stop right here.

To not hurt Hasegawa – however, the him right now, is not the usual him.

Hence that was why Basara didn’t stop. With Hasegawa’s breasts overflowing from his fingers, he began kneading them roughly and started his grinding again.

“Yaahhh! …Toujou, don’t… Toujou—Aahhhhhh ♥”

Hasegawa pleasure peaked again for the third time, yet Basara still continued hounding her.

The appearance of Hasegawa having unimaginable climaxes continuously every time he attacked ''that place'', is just so beautiful – it made Basara even more excited, to send Hasegawa to the peak again and again.

--hence, Basara could no longer remember how many times both sides has reached the peak.

He only knew that Hasegawa was already used to being at the peak—

“Haah… Toujou, Toujou…♥”

To the point where she could match her movements and lewdly move her hips along with him.

Just any error in the angles and positions would send them into the ‘danger zone’, thus giving Basara and Hasegawa even more excitement – he could vaguely recall Hasegawa who tremendously climaxed again and again squirted out ''showers'', and he discharged along with her.

At the end, Hasegawa’s hair seemed to release a golden glow – was it his imagination?

===Part 7===

It was ten minutes after Basara and Hasegawa came very close to sexual intercourse by the window.

Hasegawa who was together with Basara who had lost consciousness pressed up against the window, finally recovered enough to the point where she could move her four limbs.

“…It was unexpected, for me to not even be able to maintain my human form.”

At the apex of the God Realm was the Ten Gods – in the state of Afreyja, Hasegawa Chisato said while having a bitter smile on. Although doing something like that with Basara would make her emotions run wild, she had not expected to experience such strong pleasure to the point where it could eliminate a high-class seal; along with the elimination of the seal, the clothes she was wearing on her body was also gone.

“My my… Basara really like those clothes.”

When she maintained her consciousness usually, such a mistake would never have been made – it was rare for Basara to ‘’shoot’’ seven times, and she had not even had enough time to enjoy it, it was really such a waste.

“Fufu… I’ll let it go this time.”

Since, this was Basara’s first time Basara had thrown aside his rationality so thoroughly. To Hasegawa who wanted to raise Basara’s battle power by enhancing his synchronization with Brynhildr, this was a fortunate mistake. Also—

“That just shows how much you want me…”

Hasegawa gave a slight smile, and did a short distance transfer with Basara who breathed shallowly and had collapsed on her back, to her bed – to under the blanket.

Her legs entwined with Basara’s legs, and her hands began warmly caressing his head. She then buried his face into her breasts, and began operating the phone in her handbag using her psychic power.

“—I’m going to call a taxi.”

When the call connected, Hasegawa sent her voice into her handbag, preparing his transport back home. The time when it would arrive, is of course not long before the time Basara had said he had to leave by the latest.

But thinking about it, the two of them could still interact for more than an hour. Hence Hasegawa planned to lie down just like this for a while, and wake up Basara in the last thirty minutes, and take a bath together.

“You’ll need to return to how you usually look like before that…”

As she said with a wry smile – she heard something unbelievable.

“…Hasegawa…sensei…”

Her name was said out in his sleep talk. Toujou Basara will be leaving for the Demon Realm after this, but what he was thinking about was not Naruse Mio, not Nonaka Yuki, nor was it Naruse Maria, but instead her.

“——————”

This fact caused a ripple in Hasegawa’s heart, and she couldn’t control herself for a moment. Even though it was restrained and limited, once she released the current full power of the Ten Gods’. She could easily delay the time flow of this lower dimension; if the range was set to just this room, not only could she do what happened just now again, combining as man and woman could last for almost forever.

--however, she did not do that.

If she did that, she’ll need to show her current appearance to Basara – and she couldn’t reveal her true identity to him yet. Of course, he’ll definitely still accept her even if he find out that she is one from the God Realm, but the problem is—

“…After you wake up, you definitely will want to return to Naruse Mio and the others.”

That is not because Basara will choose them – it was to help the one that was the daughter of the previous Demon Lord who had inherited his power and bloodline, and free her from her cruel fate.

Thus, Hasegawa got on all fours with Basara under her, and kissed his lips.

--Basara’s body then released a faint golden glow. Hasegawa was sending him power through their lips, for him to regain his strength. She couldn’t let Basara leave for the Demon realm in his current state, and as the two of them had a relationship, she couldn’t let him die with the death battle in the Demon Realm right before his eyes.

“After you overcome your difficulties, come back and subjugate me again… And it’ll be through the entire night next time.”

After restoring Basara’s body energy, Hasegawa said while smiling after separating their lips, and then once again kissed his lips – what went across this time was her tongue and saliva.

“Aahh… Nn, chu… Fuu, chu… Nmu… Chupu… Uo, Nnchu…”

This was not to restore strength, but simply just a kiss expression love.

--there were still thirty minutes to the time she had to wake him up.

Before that time came, Hasegawa gazed at Basara’s sleeping face.

She silently huddled up against him – and just like having their roles swapped, she fawned on Basara.

<noinclude>

==Translator's Notes and References==
<References/>

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