I glared at the offending item that was in front of me, a part of me hoping that I would spontaneously obtain Mystic Eyes that would grant me the ability of combustion to destroy the item before me. This has been with me for some time now since I have arrived to this world, constantly holding me back like a leash. This has been a thorn in my side and I would love to be rid of it in no time at all.
No time like the present.
"All right then." I nodded while as I took a light breath, "I choose this."
"Nope, that cannot work." Sona's voice cut my hope down like a tree. "The people from the Literature Club will argue that they have more rights."
"Then what about this?" I tried to pick another option only to be shot down by another person.
"That would only make the Kendo Club and Archery Club go together in arms and ask how the Judo Team got to have you in their group." Rias replied as she shook her head.
"Then what of…" Desperation was in my voice as I tried once more only for Tsubaki to interrupt.
"The cultural clubs would go on a witch-hunt at that point."
"Then…"
"The sport clubs will be sending each other to the hospital until next week." Akeno shot down my final choice.
"AH! Come on!" I threw the paper down in front of me on the table and raised my arms in exasperation. "How the hell can I join a club if you are basically rejecting every one of my choices?!"
"Because other clubs will step up their complaints, and honestly we already have enough craziness as it is without you joining one." Sona said as she shared in my exasperation. "I have heard of requests for talent from sports clubs, but this is becoming ridiculous. Everyone wants you in their clubs."
"Particularly the clubs which have zero male members. Quite a lady-killer you are, Emiya-kun." Rias commented while giving off a teasing smile. I groaned while putting a palm on my face.
Here was my problem: ever since the club orientation drive, the Kendo and Archery Clubs have been sending out their requests to have me in their clubs. It started with those two, but when I helped out in other clubs, they quickly found out I had talent in all areas, ranging from physical to intellectual and even domestic talents. That was when the number of requests rose exponentially to the point almost every club wanted me and the student council were getting swarmed with requests. This only gotten worse after the academy got wrecked and the members had to sort through the paperwork regarding memberships. The leaders of the clubs each tried to send in a form with my name on it, thus resulting with this situation where Sona was trying to get me to choose a club that would not have any arguments from the rest.
Give me a hunt with a Dead Apostle any day over this nonsense.
"So on that note, we can't just give you any club to get into. We need to make sure that you are in a club that no one would kick a fuss up." Sona said that as her final explanation. Too bad I got a counter for that.
"That would be most persuasive if not for the fact that both you and Rias tried that same trick." My words got both girls to look away with a red face while some of the others around me chuckled at that knowledge.
"Hmph~ so it seems that the princesses of the two clans would stoop to such low levels to get Shirou Emiya to their side." The voice of a certain excommunicated exorcist drew our attention to the blue haired knight dressed in the same academy uniform as us. "How disgraceful."
"Coming from someone who basically bailed out on getting caught by the Vatican? That is not exactly convincing." Akeno used her hand to cover the smirk on her mouth when Xenovia directed her glare at her. I merely replaced the palm to my face and shook my head.
It has been at least two and a half months since the invasion on the academy, and so far repairs were going good thanks to a combination of modern engineering techniques and a side-helping of magecraft to speed the process up. It has gotten to the point of allowing students to resume some of the lessons that did not require the use of the laboratories or the club rooms. It was during the first month that Sona and the others found out about the exorcists staying at the apartment next to mine during one of their visits. Not much to my surprise, Rias started to try and recruit them into her group with no such luck, one of her latest attempts ended with Xenovia bringing out Durandal and nearly destroying the apartment in the process.
I could tell that Sona wanted them in her Peerage as well, but that seemed to have taken the back seat when she realized that the two exorcists had no proper education or school life prior to coming here. She gave them the offer to transfer to the academy to see if they could 'integrate back into society' as she put it, and extended the offer to Mitelt as well. Irina jumped on the offer immediately for the prospect of reconnecting with her childhood friend, but Xenovia and Mitelt took a fair amount of persuasion before they willingly jumped on the wagon. So the two exorcists were now in the same year as me and Ise while Mitelt was at Koneko's class.
It was during this time that I was told that Xenovia was apparently adopted by Griselda Quarta and trained under her for many years before Irina came along, thus explaining some traits that reminded me of the woman during our short meeting over the Excalibur Shards.
But I digress. Time to go back to the present.
"Why can't you just let me off on this? I mean there are others with jobs beside me, not to mention." I used my thumb to point at Ise. "Before he became a devil, Ise and the other two did not join any clubs."
"For the other students, they were not as heavily fought over as you, nor did they caused this much craziness. And as for the three boys." Sona looked at Ise for a moment before replying in a flat tone. "I think you can understand why no clubs wanted them."
"I think I can understand that bit." Xenovia nodded her head and looking at Ise with a critical eye.
"Ise-kun, you really have gotten to the dark side!" Irina placed her hands on her cheeks and looked at Ise with disappointed eyes.
"Hey!" Ise let out an indigent sound while Rias patted his head with a wry smile.
"Be that as it may, the only viable option I have left aside from joining your clubs will be to create a club of my own." I grumbled as I looked at the form.
"True, though you would need some members for that." Sona pointed that out. "And I am not sure if I want to know the fallout that would come when you send out fliers for recruitment."
"Indeed, I am predicting a mass number of resignation papers from a lot of clubs." Rias said with a smirk.
"Bother…" I sighed heavily while massaging my forehead. This was so messed up; I mean, even my time back in high school was not this bad. I was allowed to have a job after quitting the Archery Club.
Then again, my previous school did not have Devils running the show.
"Okay, putting that aside, how are things going on with the different factions?" I decided to change the subject before I found myself getting waylaid by the devils.
"Well, that is a bit more manageable, though it is still delicate work on that side of matters." Rias let out a tired sigh while Sona removed her spectacles and rubbed the bridge of her nose in agreement. "At least the Grigori is willing to admit their mistakes of letting Kokabiel out of their sights, but the Church seems to be stone-walling us from contacting the Higher Angels, and some of the old people seemed intent on playing the blame game on the other factions or the other churches not in their circles."
"Seems some things won't change even with our departure." Xenovia remarked with a troubled expression. "The council of the Vatican have been a bit of an issue, with the old always being too caught up with the old ways. Many of the young members can't go against them due to the lack of support."
"The old stay back to plan and procrastinate, while the young go forth to lose their lives." I let out a dry snort as I thought back to my previous jobs as a part-time Executor. "No matter the day and age, no matter the location or society, that would always happen."
"That's… a pretty cynic way of thinking, Emiya-kun." Tsubaki remarked as she bit her lip lightly, the others looking on with uneasy expressions at my words.
"I am saying it as it is." I replied back while shrugging. It was somewhat problematic trying to maintain the appearance of a young teenager when the mind is that of an adult who has experienced the harshness of reality, doubly so for me since I traveled to other dimensions.
Damn I was getting old.
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A/N : The Story Needs More Power Stones ;)
PS : if we can reach 400 Stones by the end of the week, I will throw you an extra chapter
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