Hildegarde
During the time that Taka and Oga had their standoff with Nene Omori and Chiaki Tanimura, on the other side of the school, Hilda had already found her target.
Standing in front of her, she lifted her pink umbrella with a faint flick of her wrist. "You are Kunieda, yes? I could tell at just a glance." She pointed the umbrella directly at Kunieda.
'This is Oga's wife. What does she want with me? Wait, do not tell me she knows about what he said to me' Kunieda felt her stomach twist as her thoughts ran wild.
Hilda observed her calmly. "Yes, you seem like the kind of person who could do it." Her tone was thoughtful, which only poured gasoline on Kunieda's misconceptions.
"No, not at all, I mean I was not trying to steal" Kunieda started waving her hands defensively.
"Shall we dispense with the long-winded speeches?" Hilda said. Her aura flared around her in a sharp pulse of pressure. "Let us get on with this already." She lowered into a stance, ready to strike.
Kunieda exhaled slowly. 'It does not seem like talking is going to accomplish anything.' She drew her wooden sword, settling into her own disciplined stance.
Hilda smirked and moved first. She seemed to vanish for a heartbeat before appearing overhead, umbrella raised in a downward slash.
Kunieda reacted in time to block. The clash sent a shockwave of compressed air bursting through the courtyard, both girls sliding back across the ground. 'Fast,' she thought.
"You have excellent reaction time," Hilda praised, stepping aside as Kunieda lunged.
"Heart Moon School, third technique!" Kunieda slashed in rapid succession, each strike carving deep gashes into the wall behind Hilda. Dust and fragments scattered across the floor.
Hilda slipped through each attack with smooth precision, never letting a blade graze her. Once Kunieda finished her sequence, Hilda snapped her umbrella open, momentarily blocking her view.
"Wha" Kunieda started to say, cut off by Hilda striking from behind.
"Interesting. You should feel honoured to have forced me to draw my sword." Hilda lifted her hand and summoned a dark pillar of light that erupted skyward, blowing apart the surroundings with a thunderous boom.
Moments later, Hilda landed lightly on her feet. When the smoke lifted, Kunieda was on one knee, bruised and panting, but not broken.
'How magnificent. She managed to survive that. She is certainly strong. However, it is unfortunate, but she is not at the same level as him.' Hilda frowned slightly, disappointment tugging at her expression. She had come all this way to test the girl, to see if she was worthy of caring for her young master. Instead, she was left unsatisfied.
Kunieda pushed herself upright again, raising her sword once more, determined to keep fighting. Before either of them could move, shouting echoed down the hall.
"Boss! We have big trouble!" Two Red Tail members sprinted toward them. "Ryoko and Kaoru are in the infirmary!"
"What?"
----
Kunieda rushed to the infirmary. She threw the door open and froze. Two members of Red Tail lay in hospital beds, bruised, battered, and completely unconscious. The antiseptic smell made the room feel even colder.
"What happened here?" Kunieda asked, her voice sharper than she intended.
Yuka stepped forward, looking shaken. "Nene and Chiaki said they were going to talk with Oga and Furuichi. These two wanted to do the same, so they split up to look for them."
Kunieda's jaw tightened. Her grip on her wooden sword whitened. A single name burned through her thoughts.
'Tatsumi Oga.' Her anger rose like a wave, steady and cold.
----
Takayuki Furuichi
As Nene, Chiaki and I made our way through the school in search of Oga and Kunieda, we started getting a lot of strange looks from the student body. People cleared out of our path, whispering behind their hands. The air felt heavier with every step, like rumours were spreading faster than we were walking.
That was when the murmurs finally reached us.
"What are they doing together?"
"Didn't they hate each other this morning?"
"After what Oga did to those two Red Tail members, you'd think it would be on sight for his best friend."
That last one made all three of us stop at the same time. Nene's eyes narrowed. Chiaki's fingers slid toward her skirt holster. I turned toward the direction of the voice.
"Hey, you. Come here," I said.
The guy who had spoken froze. The three of us closed in on him, and the fear on his face told me he realized he had messed up the moment the words left his mouth.
"What was that you just said about members of Red Tail?" Nene asked, stepping forward with a glare sharp enough to cut him in half.
"I... I... what?" he stammered, shaking so violently his teeth nearly chattered.
"That thing you just said! Tell me!" Nene grabbed his shirt, her eyes blazing.
"W-what?!"
I cut in, raising an eyebrow. "What country are you from?"
"What?!"
"'What' ain't no country I've ever heard of. They speak Japanese in 'what'?"
"Wha- what?!"
"Japanese, motherfucker, do you speak it?"
"Y-yes!"
"Then answer the questions! What is it that you just said before we walked up to you?"
"Th-that Oga beat up some girls from Red Tail! They're in the infirmary!" he finally squeaked out.
"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" Nene said, dropping him. He crumpled to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
I shook my head as Nene said. "Looks like we're too late. Let's check the infirmary and see if Aoi's there. We need to warn her about Miwa."
It didn't take long to get there, only for a bunch of Red Tail girls to surround me as I approached.
"Nene! Chiaki! What are you doing with that guy?" Yuka, the strawberry blonde who would eventually become Kanzaki's girlfriend, glared at me.
"All of you relax, he's with us. Yuka, tell us what happened." Nene got into leader mode, and I couldn't help but notice how damn attractive she looked when she took charge.
"Tsk. After you and Chiaki split up from Ryoko and Kaoru to find him and Oga," Yuka pointed at me, "they were brought back soon after being injured. So tell me again why you're with one of the guys who did it?"
"Well-" I started, but Nene quickly pressed her palm over my mouth to silence me before she spoke.
"Oga and Furuichi didn't do this. Chiaki and I were the ones who found them, and we didn't even fight. But we were attacked by a member of MK5. After we beat him, he said we weren't the only targets," Nene explained quickly.
"This is all part of Miwa's plan to get Oga to fight and possibly defeat Aoi so he can take over the queen title from her," Chiaki finished quietly.
"What? We need to warn Aoi!" Yuka exclaimed.
"That's why we're here. Where is she?" Nene asked.
"She's already gone to the roof to face him," Yuka replied.
I was just watching the scene unfold at this point, and Nene's hand was still covering my face. To get it off, I licked her palm, causing her to let out a cute squeak. "Ahh!"
With my mouth now free, I smiled. "Right, so shall we be on our way then?"
Nene didn't respond, just blushed and turned away. I had to admit, the way she tried to act stern while clearly flustered made her look even more attractive.
"I'll take that as a yes, so let's go." Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Chiaki smirking at our interaction, and Yuka, who had at first been confused, now sported a teasing grin.
----
The four of us made our way to the stairs leading to the roof, only to find several more members of Red Tail unconscious along the way.
We checked on them. None were badly hurt, mostly just out cold and a bit bruised. "You guys go on ahead. I'll take them to the infirmary," Yuka said, hoisting two girls at once and heading back the way we came.
As we continued up the stairs, we were blocked by what was left of MK5, excluding the red-shirt guy.
"Uh oh, dead end," the bald one muttered.
"You pricks really do kill the mood," Nene snapped, glaring at them.
"Seriously. You guys are really starting to annoy me," I muttered. They were like cockroaches; I could even see where they were patched up earlier after Hilda beat them down.
The stairwell to the roof was narrow, the walls echoing every footstep. The remaining MK5 blocked our path: the scarred bald one, the blonde with a heart tattoo under his eye, and the long-haired giant.
Nene and Chiaki moved into positions beside me, their stances sharp, ready for anything. I could see the tension in Nene's shoulders, the way Chiaki's eyes analyzed every angle, and I knew this would be easy; these guys were cannon fodder after all, but at least I know how to make this fun.
The scarred bald one stepped forward first, cracking his knuckles. "Looks like we caught the leftovers," he sneered.
The blonde with the tattoo smirked, twirling a knife lazily in one hand. "Don't tell me you three are serious about stopping us."
The long-haired one simply crossed his arms, towering over the others, like a wall waiting to crush anyone who came near.
I shrugged. "Well, lucky for you, we're feeling generous today."
Nene narrowed her eyes. "Oh, please, you three think you can actually stop us?"
Chiaki's grip tightened on her water gun, her calm expression unshaken. "They can't," she said quietly.
I took a step forward. "Alright, cannon fodder, step forward and get put down."
That seemed to trigger them because the bald one swung first, trying to land a heavy punch. Nene's fists glowed faint crimson as she reinforced them with her magecraft. She met his strike head-on, shoving him back with a force that rattled the railing.
The long-haired giant barreled forward, his size making him seem unstoppable. I sidestepped, letting him smash into the wall, then jabbed him in the ribs. He groaned, clutching the impact spot.
The blonde with the heart tattoo lunged next, with a metal pipe. Chiaki raised her modified water gun, a high-pressure jet bursting out and hitting him square in the chest. The force knocked him back against the steps, leaving a dent in the concrete.
The bald one recovered and charged me again. I grabbed his wrist mid-swing, twisted it, and shoved him down a step. He groaned, trying to scramble up.
Nene leapt, her reinforced fists glowing brighter as she struck the long-haired one square in the jaw, sending him stumbling down the steps and nearly crashing into the wall.
The blonde tried to regain his footing, pipe flashing. Chiaki's water gun spat another shot, hitting his shoulder with enough pressure to make him yelp and drop the weapon. I kicked it out of reach as he slid backward.
The bald one aimed another punch at me, but Nene was quicker, striking his chest with a reinforced fist that knocked the air from his lungs. He coughed, staggering backward.
Chiaki's movements were precise, spraying bursts of high-pressure water to keep the blonde off balance while I stepped in, landing a solid punch to his midsection. He grunted and slumped onto the stairs, defeated.
All three MK5 members were down, groaning, bruised, and clearly outmatched. Nene and Chiaki stood against the railing, chests heaving but eyes sharp, ready for anything else that might appear. I smirked, brushing dust off my hands.
"Well, that was… entertaining," I said, glancing between the two of them.
Nene's glare was fierce, but the subtle twitch at the corner of her mouth betrayed her satisfaction. Chiaki tilted her head, giving me a quiet, approving nod.
"Alright, girls, let's–" Before I could finish, we heard a loud boom from the roof. 'There's no way he still lets himself get beaten up! I know he doesn't like fighting girls, but come on, man!'
The three of us glanced at each other before rushing up to the roof, only to find Oga lying on the ground with Beel sitting on top of him. 'Oh for fuck!'
"Aoi, stop! It's a trap! Oga didn't hurt Kaoru and Ryoko! It was Miwa and his boys!" Nene and Chiaki rushed over to her as I calmly walked over to the downed Oga.
"Checkmate, Kunieda!" A flamboyant voice rolled in. We all turned to see Miwa and Ikari standing there.
"What's going on?" Kunieda asked, panting. She was tired from both the fight she had with Hilda and now Oga.
"This was all my plan to make you and Oga fight, and thanks to that, you're barely standing! That's dangerous, you know." Miwa spoke with a smug smile, circling Kunieda. "Could you even fight back against me now? I doubt it."
As the dumbass over there spoke, I glanced down at Oga. "You gonna get up anytime soon?"
"In a second," he mumbled into the ground.
"So I understand your dumb rule about not getting serious against girls, but as you can see, that backfired! I mean, the least you could have done is dodge until she ran out of energy!" I continued.
"Yeah, but if I did that, Beel would never see how strong she was and wouldn't get attached!" Oga argued, sitting up.
"So Kunieda, let's end this, shall we?" Miwa said loudly, making us look over.
"Hey, dumbass!" I yelled at him. "Your stupid plan only kinda worked, considering me, Nene, and Chiaki are not tired, and we could just jump you and red shirt over there!" I pointed out, making him pause for a moment.
In that moment, Oga jumped up, kicked the red shirt in the chin, knocking him out, then grabbed Miwa and slammed his face into the concrete floor!
"...Or that could happen too," I deadpanned at the scene.
"Do you have any idea how hard it was to sit back and take all that?!" Oga spoke as his Zebel spell surged. He grabbed Miwa's head, pulled him up, and slammed it down again!
"What... have you done to me, you jackass?!" Miwa shot up. "And why the fuck are you moving?! Weren't you beaten up like a second ago?! Get with the mood, jeez! She and I were supposed to have a battle to decide who's the queen! Damn it all!" Miwa started ranting like a lunatic.
Instead of answering, Oga grabbed Miwa's head again and slammed it into the ground!
"Nobody cares." Oga's face grew into the kind of evil smile only a demon could love, and the demon baby on his shoulder was clapping along, watching the violence with his own matching smile.
"W-wait!" Miwa started, but Oga shut him up by slamming his face into the ground over and over again! By the time he was done, Miwa was buried up to his waist in the floor!
"Ah, finally peace and quiet." Oga wiped his brow with a relieved smile while Beel cheered. "Ohh, you're back in a better mood now, Beel?" Oga patted his head.
"Now then, shall we continue where we left off?" Oga turned to Kunieda.
Pausing for a moment, she just smiled and sighed, "This is my loss."
"Huh?" Oga let out.
"Or, well, that's not right. I should apologize. How should I put this?..." Kunieda started, but before she could finish, Oga interrupted her.
"Oh? Then here." He held Beel out to her. "Dabu," Beel made a noise, kicking his feet lightly.
"Uhh, what?" She was confused, blinking as she leaned back from the baby.
"If I endured all your attacks, you'd agreed to take him, right?" Oga spoke with a big goofy smile on his face, completely missing the mood.
'Where'd that rule come from?' Kunieda, Nene, and Chiaki all thought at the same time.
At this point, I took a step back and turned around to laugh silently, my shoulders shaking. Nene noticed immediately.
"You knew he was gonna do that, didn't you?" Nene asked suspiciously.
"...I don't know what you're talking about..." I said, trying to keep the smile from slipping through. It was absolutely slipping through.
Nene got very close and stared me down, eyes narrowed, but I refused to break. Thankfully, I was saved just in time.
"I'm highly disappointed in that man." A certain blonde spoke up behind us.
"Oh, Hilda, what a surprise, please do explain," I said nonchalantly. Nene rolled her eyes, but I ignored her and faced Hilda.
"I had thought his ruthlessness was his one redeeming quality, but he will not even fight a woman? Worthless piece of trash." She tore into Oga without hesitation. Honestly, valid. He really does need to learn to fight back against girls, but if he doesn't, well, not my life.
"Who is this?" Nene asked, but I just waved it off. "Don't worry about her. Let's go back to the others; it looks like they're finishing up." I walked back toward the group, the girls following close behind.
As we moved over, we overheard the end of the conversation between Kunieda and Oga.
"Wait, what do you mean, take him? Isn't the kid yours?" Kunieda looked so confused it was almost painful.
"Haa? He's not my kid, I've just been forced to raise him, that's all."
"So that blonde woman is not your wife?" she asked, and both Nene and I glanced at each other. We could actually hear the hope in Kunieda's voice.
"Not even close. She's... how do I put this?... a total demon!" Oga said. I let out a quiet chuckle at that, which of course made Nene look at me again with suspicion.
'A demon?' Kunieda's mind was clearly running wild. You could practically see the gears grinding.
"How much longer are you going to waste time spouting nonsense? We are going home," Hilda said sharply from behind Kunieda, making the girl jump.
"That woman is not suitable," she added to Oga in an annoyed tone before doing a complete one-eighty as she took Beel from his arms. "Come on, little one, let's go home."
"Wait, hold on!" Oga went after her.
"Wait a moment!" Kunieda snapped, glaring at Hilda. "Don't you feel ashamed? Forcing another person to take care of your child?"
"Hmph, if you've got a problem, then get stronger and come at me again," I swear, I could see sparks crackling between the two women. Hilda turned and left without another word, Beel tucked under her arm, and Oga had no choice but to follow behind her.
This left me alone with the three girls on the rooftop. "Well, this has been a day full of fights, fun and misunderstandings, but I think I've had enough for today, so I'm heading out. Later~" I waved while walking away.
"Wait!" Nene called out, stepping toward me. "I still want to speak to you about what happened earlier." She tapped her hand, indicating her magic circuits pulsing faintly under the skin.
"Another day, Red." I continued walking.
"S-Stop calling me that," she stammered, face warming as she crossed her arms.
I turned and flashed her a big grin.
"Never."
"Ugh!" she let out, stomping her foot.
'She's fun.'
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If you like this story, leave a review in English. It helps. Love you, bye ;)