27 An Ordinary High-school Boy

"---! Hah…. Hah….---"

Kamijou opened his eyes and at the same time made a rough gasp. In such a situation, he was looking up at the ceiling and realised he was dreaming.

Taking a deep breath, he calmed down his chaotic heartbeat.

... What the hell was that? A monster?

It was a dream he couldn't explain or understand. He was already forgetting most of the details but he never forgot the most crucial detail.

His body began to tremble upon remembering the scene. It was a dream yet he felt like he was going to die. It was scary. Really scary.

Laying on his bed face up, Kamijou stared at his own right hand that he had brought up to his face.

... Could it be that monster and this right hand were connected?

Kamijou shook his head and discarded that thought. Why? It was because there was no proof the two of them were related. For all he knew, that was nothing but a bad dream.

He then looked at his clock. 4: 25 am. It seems he woke up a little too early. Maybe he should sleep for a while.

When he fell down on his bed, he immediately stood up and slapped his cheeks. He decided against sleeping for the time being.

Since he was around awake, he thought doing something productive for a change.

He changed out of his extremely comfortable pyjamas and wore a jersey before leaving his room.

On his way down the stairs to the living room, he came across the guest room and stood there momentarily before proceeding.

He wanted to check up on the person currently staying inside that room but he decided against it. Even if it was his house, he thought it will be rude to intrude especially since it was early in the morning.

The he left his house and started jogging, heading towards the park. Along the way, he began to think back.

One month ago, he fought against some stray priests and fallen angels in order to rescue a damsel in distress. Of course, he didn't fight them alone. He had the help of his best friend Saji and Koneko from the Occult research club.

After that incident, his life proceeded normally. Although, there were a small little few changes. The major change in his life was that Asia was staying with him since she didn't have anywhere else to go.

Ryuji didn't mind living with her since he had to take responsibility for his decision. Plus, the girl was cute but that didn't mean he would commit a crime. But he wasn't aware of one minor detail about Asia.

"She lacks common sense. And she can't even use a microwave without exploding something."

Kamijou resisted the urge to release a sigh.

He learnt first hand that was teaching a foreigner the customs of Japan was a very difficult process. As if that was not enough, she lacked general knowledge of the modern world.

She was the type to stand before a vending machine at the train station and say 'Welcome'. There was a time where she microwaved a store bento's sauce package, which exploded. She also tried to microwave two eggs for dinner and it exploded. At one point, She even tried to microwave a spoon when he was not looking. Does she like causing destruction with the microwave?

Was she trying to copy a certain anime girl that shouts the word Explosion?

(T/L: Can you guys guess the anime girl? Hehe.)

But just because she uses the microwave, doesn't mean the other appliances was safe from her. Her other victim was the freezer which she commonly used to cool herself. There were other appliances that were assaulted by the girl. Honestly, he didn't want to think about it.

For that reason, the status of Asia has changed. She was banned from using anything apart from the television and the washing machine without his permission first. He was scared she would start a fire when he was not looking.

What can I say but… Such misfortune.

Kamijou sighed.

However, It wasn't all bad. Asia did have their good qualities. One, she was a very good cook. Two, she helped around the house by cleaning and doing the laundry. Although he had to teach how to use the washing machine since he caught her trying to wash the clothes with her hands.

He was so thankful that Asia was not a freeloader that just ate all his food. Maybe he was being too hard on her.

More importantly, he wondered how he was going to explain Asia's situation to his parents. Yes, he has not told them right but he was planning on doing so. But it's not like he could say she was almost by fallen angels for some sort of ritual.

In any case, he had to think of a believable explanation to tell his parents. The term 'Believable Lie' were the words he was looking for.

"Huh?"

It seems he had gotten to his destination before he even realised. The place was empty. It will be strange to see anyone at the part at this hour. Well, the park was supposed to be empty.

Someone had appeared here before Kamijou. It was a girl around his age or a year older than he was. She was dressed in a red jersey and her crimson hair sway from side to side as she jogged around the park.

Rias Gremory. She's a senior and the school idol at Kuoh Academy which happened to be same high school he attended. She is also the president of the Occult Research Club. She looked like a normal girl but her real identity was a high class devil of the underworld.

When he says the 'Underworld', he doesn't mean a secret criminal organisation. He meant 'Underworld' as in 'Hell'. Yes, supernatural worlds like the underworld and heaven exists as well as dangerous beings like gods, devils, angels and fallen angels.

The girl that was eagerly jogging around was one of those dangerous beings. But the truth of the matter was she was just a helpless girl. Well, it was wrong to call her completely helpless given her nickname.

"Huh? Ah! It's you."

At some point, Rias noticed Kamijou's presence and began to wake towards him. She looked at him with a smile that warmed Kamijou's fragile heart.

If he was never aware of the occult existence, he would have never believed this girl was a devil that preyed on humans greed.

"Ryuji, what're you doing here at this early hour?"

"I could ask you the same."

"But I asked you first though."

"It's not a big story. I just happened to wake up early and noticed there was still time so I decided come out for a morning jog."

"I see."

"Anyways, what about you? It's a surprise to see you here. I thought devils don't need to exercise."

"Hmm," Rias tilted her head as if confused. "Where did you hear that from? Devils do need to exercise."

"Well, that's certainly strange. Aren't devils normally stronger than humans? So why do you guys need to exercise."

Rias giggled a bit as if she heard something funny.

"Well, you wouldn't know but we need to exercise. Let imagine a scenario where a devil constantly has to use his ability in battle but possesses very low stamina or energy. What will happen next is obvious, right?"

"He will run out of energy. It's like trying to win a 100 metres race with very low stamina."

"Exactly. Just like how humans exercise to build muscle or keep their bodies in shape, devils need to train in order to build stamina so they can control their abilities better. I hope I have satisfied your curiosity."

"Yeah, I guess so."

... I always thought devils and any other supernatural beings needed some sort of special training in order to increase their strength (Power). But I guess regular exercise also does it too.

"Ah!"

Kamijou suddenly remembered something.

"Hey Rias..."

"Hmm?"

"I was wondering what happened to Raynare?"

Kamijou asked but he was certain that Raynare was probably died. After all, the fallen angels stayed in the devil's territory for too long and started attacking their clients. It will be hard for the devils to forgive them for such a sin.

But if there was a possibility that she was spared then...

"She's alive. I spared her life."

Rias spoke nonchalantly and yawned as if it was no big deal.

"Why? Isn't that dangerous? What if she tries to take revenge?"

Kamijou was naturally worriedly. He was the one that defeated Raynare. So there was a high chance she will attack him or Asia in order to take revenge.

Noticing his reaction, Rias spoke in order to clear the misunderstanding.

"You don't have worry about her attacking you. I received word that she was heavily punished by the Grigori for lying and going against her superiors. I don't know what punishment she received but from the sound of it, it seems she's out of the equation for good."

"I'm glad."

Kamijou realised a sigh of relief. Now his heart can be at ease.

"Ah! That's reminds me. That nun is staying at your residence, right?"

... How did she know?

"You don't have to look all surprised. I just heard it from Sona, that's all."

"Sona?"

How did Sona know about Asia? It was certainly strange. Sona was not present when I rescued Asia so how did she know about her?

Suddenly, Kamijou's brows began to frown. There was only one explanation how she was able to get that information.

... Saji, that bastard! Now I get my hands on him.

Certainly, Saji was with him when he initiated that rescue operation and he just happened to belong to Sona's peerage. Kamijou promised he will have a talk Saji when he sees him next.

Kamijou took a breath to calm his heart and mind.

"Why are you asking about her?"

"I want to speak with her. Is that alright?"

I knew. Kamijou thought. Although she put as if she just wanted to have a casual talk with her, but the truth was that she was planning on recruiting her. Devils can be really sly.

"Okay, I will make sure to pass the message."

Of course, it was a lie. Kamijou didn't want Asia to associate with devils. Thankfully, detecting lies wasn't part of the devils skill register.

"You have my thanks."

"You're welcome. Ah! Will you look at that? I'm running late. I will see you later."

Kamijou made up some random excuse and began to walk away. He had to leave this place no matter what. Even so, Rias just waved as he slowly retracted.

... Wait, hold on a minute.

Kamijou stopped walked for some reason. If she was trying to recruit Asia, that would mean she was desperate. After all, she didn't try to recruit Asia during this past month. So why now?

... I see. So that incident is approaching.

If that was the case, it was understandable why she would be desperate to acquire new pieces. In the original route, she had both Issei and Asia. Even then, she still lost so it was safe to say she was doomed for failure.

Kamijou started to feel a little bit guilty. Because of his actions, the original timeline has changed. Two important chess pieces were missing from her peerage and it was his fault. It was obvious he would feel guilty. Even so, he didn't feel regret for his actions.

He turned his head and looked at Rias. She was just standing still and was thinking about something deeply. She was probably thinking of her next move.

Kamijou sighed. There was nothing he could do to help with her. In fact, there was no reason for him to help her. This whole situation could have been simply avoided by her actions.

Before he left the park, Kamijou called out to Rias with a solemn voice.

"Rias. Before I leave, I need to tell you something."

"... Huh? Wh-What?"

Rias forcefully snapped back to reality and looked at Kamijou. She was curious about what he wanted to say.

Kamijou looked left and right as if making sure they were alone. He seems to want to talk about something extremely important so Rias was on edge.

What did he want to say? She wondered. She didn't have wait long because Kamijou then looked Rias straight in the eyes and said with a serious face.

"Fried chicken tastes better with soy sauce."

"..."

"Bye."

While failing to elaborate further, Kamijou left the stunning Rias standing alone in the park.

After a short pause, Rias' laughter echoed. It was so loud that Kamijou could even hear it all from where he was standing.

Kamijou smiled too.

He knew Rias was currently under immense pressure that's why he told her that joke. Hopefully, his little joke should take her mind off things for a while.

This was the only thing he could do. After all, he was just an ordinary high-school boy that can be found anywhere.