Chapter 137 — Party People
Chapter 137 — Party People
Yuki
I was sitting between Yuuto and Koneko as we rode in the limousine to the hotel.
Yuuto was chatting to Xenovia who was seated on her other side and Koneko was listening to Gasper-kun who was sitting next to her and nodding along as he quietly spoke.
We were seated across from Rias, Asia, Issei, and Akeno.
Sona-Kaichou and her peerage were sitting in the back half of the limousine, talking quietly to each other.
The mood between the two groups was more tense after Rias challenged Kaichou in front of everyone.
It was a bit dramatic and over the top, but the two of them were like that when it came to their competitions.
From what I’d seen of their tennis match during the ball tournament, the two of them treated each other like shouen rivals.
There were plenty of declarations of victory and calls to challenge the other.
So with their peerages getting involved this time, things had become heavy with anticipation between our groups.
Asia and Akeno were talking quietly across from me and Rias had finished fixing Issei’s hair and clothes.
The protection Tannin gave us from the wind didn’t seem to have reached up to Issei while he rode on his head.
Rias was explaining the venue and area to Issei and I quietly listened along as the limousine came to a stop.
We exited the limousine and the staff outside bowed neatly.
We were then quickly escorted into the building by them.
The hotel was huge up close and the building looked even more grand as well.
The hotel had golden decorations, polished white marble pillars, and finely dressed staff moving about.
The further we walked into the building the more extravagant it looked around us.
Though it wasn’t that surprising to me, considering this was an event for high-class Devils.
The Maou wouldn’t settle for anything but gradure and luxury.
Akeno stepped forward to speak to a receptionist when we arrived at the front desk.
After they spoke for a moment we were directed to an elevator that we were all able to ride in together.
Rias pressed a button for the top floor and the elevator began to move.
“The party is taking place on the top floor. I’ve heard it is one huge room unlike the other floors,” Rias said to us, before looking at Issei. “Ise, if anyone from any distinguished family talks to you, be sure to greet them properly.”
He nodded quickly.
“Y-yes, Buchou!” He nervously said. “This party was put together by the Maou for the young Devils, right?”
Rias gave him a wry grin.
“That is what was said, but truthfully it’s not the case. It’s more of a yearly custom in Devil high society. If anything it’s more of a gathering of the noble families. They use it as a place to meet and discuss different matters between houses,” Rias let out a sigh. “So you won’t have to worry about too much attention being on us. We will be more of an afterthought than anything. The current family heads have already gathered before the event and have reserved some of the other facilities to continue on after the party is over.”
Rias grumbled at the end of her explanation.
I understood that she was annoyed that the gathering that was supposed to be about her and the other young Devils' future had turned into an excuse for the older generation to chat with each other and drink.
Yuuto and Akeno both were showing bitter smiles, like they already knew that this party would put Rias in a bad mood.
Hopefully her mood would improve as the night went on.
The elevator chimed as we arrived at the top floor.
We exited and were greeted with a wide hall already filled with finely dressed Devils.
The hall had massive, shining chandeliers.
The floor made a large decorative mural built into it.
There were large lavish tables of food to the side and a dance floor near the center of the room.
People began to notice Rias right away as we stepped further into the room.
There were murmurs and small sounds of admiration.
“Princess Rias has become even more beautiful…”
“…Sirzechs-sama must be proud…”
I gave Rias a questioning look.
Apparently she had been wrong that we would not draw any attention, as she was already drawing a small crowd to herself.
Issei puffed up his chest slightly as if he was proud of how popular Rias was.
He also had a silly grin on his face that made me think that part of his pride was due to something lewd he had thought of.
Knowing him, it was probably the case.
“Th-Th-There are so many people! It’s s-s-so scary…” Gasper-kun muttered to himself while hiding behind me.
I turned to him.
“Maybe you should stay with Issei-san rather than me, Gasper-kun,” I told him. “He will do a better job at keeping people away than I will.”
I glanced at Issei as I spoke.
He gave Gasper-kun a nod and a thumbs up.
“Just stay by me, Gasper. I’ll make sure nobody bothers you.”
“T-Thank you Issei-senpai.” Gasper-kun quietly said as he moved to hide behind Issei instead of me.
Issei could be harsh on Gasper-kun sometimes, but he only did it to try and get him out of his shell.
He was someone Gasper-kun trusted and would stick near when he was uncomfortable.
“Why did you tell Gasper-kun to stay with Ise-san, Yuki?” Asia asked me.
I sighed.
“I’ve been to similar events to this before. It’s usual for me to receive more attention due to being a Kitsune,” I explained. “Youkai reincarnated Devils are rare. People get interested and will approach me because of it.”
“That sounds troublesome. I hope that I won’t have too much attention on me. There’s too many important people here.” Asia said with a look of concern.
“You’ll be fine, Asia. You can always stick with someone who won’t mind telling people to leave, like Xenovia-san.”
“I can accompany you, Asia.” Xenovia said with a small nod.
Asia gave us a small smile.
“Thank you. That would be nice.”
I nodded to her before turning my gaze to the small crowd around us.
I had already started to attract a few stares from them as well.
I could see glances at my ears and tails, as well as the normal looks the women here would receive too.
Koneko was receiving similar looks at her cat traits too.
I shifted slightly closer to her to draw some of the attention she was receiving more unto myself.
She had only just recently started to show her Nekomata traits after hiding them for so long.
She didn’t need prideful nobles and arrogant scions to pester her over them.
I was much more used to receiving that kind of attention.
At least this was a formal event that would have people on their best behavior, or at least as good as some Devils could be.
“Ise, we should go make our first round of greetings,” Rias said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him with her.
He let out a confused noise as he was dragged towards the first of many conversations and greetings that he would have tonight.
As the possessor of the Boosted Gear and the one to defeat Riser Phenex, he would receive plenty of attention.
Hopefully that meant some of the night's attention would be taken off of the rest of us.
“Let’s go greet Buchou’s admirers, Yuki-chan,” Akeno said as she linked arms with me.
She gave me a mischievous smile that told me she was going to enjoy messing with as many people as she could tonight.
“Fine. As long as we keep their attention off of the others,” I said.
Her smile grew wider.
“Ara. I’m sure there will be plenty of eyes on us, Yuki-chan.”
I let out another sigh before composing my posture and schooling my expression. Then I stepping forward with her.
This was going to be a long night.
_________________________________________
Issei
I ended up being led around the hall by Buchou for a while.
She took me from one conversation to the next, and I surprisingly didn’t make a fool of myself.
The training that Buchou’s mother gave me on etiquette and gentlemanly behavior seemed to have paid off.
I was able to exchange greetings with the other Devils properly and politely.
I didn’t stumble over the parts that I would have expected to and managed to make Buchou look good.
I still forgot the name of each person I was introduced to moments after we left and began the next conversation.
There were far too many names to remember and Buchou would give me an explanation of each person we would talk to before we would greet them.
It definitely helped and made me even more impressed with Buchou than I already was.
She knew the name of almost every noble we talked to.
She must have spent hours memorizing each of them.
But by the time the rounds of greeting finally ended, I was mentally exhausted.
“I'm exhausted… How does Buchou do it…”
Asia, Gasper, and I ended up settling into chairs off to the side of the hall.
Asia had little interest in greeting more people and had awkwardly left her last conversation to hide after a third guy had blatantly hit on her.
It made me happy the Asia hadn’t had any interest on the handsome Devils who had talked to her, but I could understand why they did it.
Asia was incredibly cute and even surrounded by noble Devils she still stood out.
Meanwhile Gasper had fled to the empty chairs the second he was able too.
Despite being excited to wear his fancy dress, he was still terrified of all the people and attention.
Buchou and Akeno-san were a little distance away talking with some other female Devils.
Yuki-san had drifted away from Akeno-san and was talking to a small group of Devils.
One of the guys, who looked decently older than us, was standing a bit too close to her.
It was obvious enough that even I noticed.
If it bothered Yuki-san, she didn’t show any real reaction to it.
She had mentioned that she was used to people showing interest in her for being a Youkai.
Even so it rubbed me the wrong way how the people around her were acting.
Yuuto-san was on her own as well.
She was talking to a group of Devils our age.
She had been rather popular due to the elegant and refined impression she gave off.
She seemed to be handling the attention well and would get a reaction from the male and female Devils around her whenever she gave one of her small, soft smiles in response to something said.
I felt like the longer I watched the girls, the worse my mood would get from all the attention they were getting.
Koneko-chan had been hanging near the tables of food for a bit.
She had been grazing on some snacks and would give people an unblinking stare until they left if they tried to talk to her.
It seemed to be working for her.
Xenovia had left to grab some food and had just returned carrying a ridiculous amount of food.
She was being stared at as she came closer to us.
“Ise, Asia, Gasper, eat.”
“How did you get all that at once!?” I asked incredulously.
“I just grabbed what I wanted. No one told me to stop.” Xenovia replied.
I stared at her until I remembered that this was Xenovia and there was no point in trying to talk sense into her.
Asia accepted a drink from Xenovia with both hands, looking relieved.
“Thank you very much, Xenovia-san… I've been so nervous since we arrived and had to talk to so many people. I really needed something for my throat.
I picked up some food too and immediately appreciated the fact that there were chopsticks available.
It was convienient that there were so many reincarnated Devils.
It ensured that every type of food and utensil were available.
Then somone arrived at our table.
I looked up from my food.
A refined looking girl in a rather fancy dress was standing there staring at me very hard.
I knew her face.
After a second it clicked.
“Ah, you’re—”
“I-It has been some time, Sekiryuutei.”
“The sister of that yakitori bastard,” I said at the same time.
It was Riser’s little sister from the Rating Game.
The one who didn’t fight.
Ravel Phoenix.
Ravel reacted exactly like someone had stepped on her tail.
“It’s Ravel Phoenix! Honestly, this is why low-class are looked down on so badly.”.
She had the same sharp tongue as last time.
“Sorry, it was a knee jerk reaction,” I said with a weak laugh. “So, is your brother doing well?”
At that, Ravel sighed in a way that made her look much older than she was.
“…Thanks to you, he’s been in low spirits. It seems his defeat and having his engagement to Rias-sama broken by you was quite the shock. Well, he’s always relied on his natural talents as a high-class devil, so he became lazy and arrogant. Hopefully his loss will spur a positive change in him.”
She was harsh even with her own brother.
“Haha… you’re pretty merciless. Shouldn’t you be more kind to your brother since you’re a part of his peerage?” I asked.
Ravel gave a small huff, then lifted her chin. “I prefer calling it accuracy. Plus, I’m no longer a part of his peerage. I just finished the process of being traded to my mother’s peerage. Though it is only temporary until I find where I wish to belong permanently.”
“Trading?”
She blinked. “It’s a rather basic part of the Rating Games and peerages in general. You haven’t heard of it?”
“Wait, I have. I think Bucho mentioned that she traded her unused [Pawn] pieces away when Yuki-san joined our peerage.
Ravel nodded.
“That is exactly it. A [King] may trade a piece to another [King] as long as the pieces match. Though, when you say Yuki-san. you referring to the Kusari-sama, correct?”
I frowned immediately.
“She goes by Shiramine Yuki now. Pleaae don’t call her that name again.”
Ravel looked surprised at my reaction but nodded anyways.
“I understand. I will refer to her the way she prefers,” she said, before shifting slightly on her feet. “
“B-By the way, Sekiryuutei—”
“You really don’t have to call me Sekiryuutei,” I said, cutting her off. “My name’s Hyoudou Issei. We are about the same age right? So there is no reason for all the formality. You can just call me Ise, it’s what a lot of people do.”
Ravel froze.
Then she looked weirdly… happy.
“I-Is it really acceptable for me to call you by your name!?”
“Yeah? If you’re going to call Yuki-san how she likes, then I don’t see why this would be any different.”
I was confused at the shift in how she was acting.
She went from pompous and arrogant to happy and nervous.
Ravel coughed into one hand, trying and failing to recover her dignity.
“V-Very well. Then I shall call you Ise-sama.”
“Sama? I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“No, this is important!” She said quickly.
I was still trying to understand her when her eyes shifted past me.
Toward Yuki-san.
She looked confused for a moment.
“Does Shiramine Yuki have more tails now?
I blinked.
“Huh? Yeah. Yuki-san got another during the summit between the Three Factions.”
Ravel’s gaze stayed there.
Yuki-san had noticed being looked at by then and had turned our way.
She said something to the group she was talking with before turning and heading towards us.
Ravel took a breath, then in a way more politely than she’d approached me, turned more fully towards her and inclined her head slightly toward Yuki-san.
“Shiramine Yuki,” she said. “We have not had the chance to properly greet each other. I am Ravel Phoenix.”
Yuki-san looked mildly surprised.
“I know,” she said.
Ravel flushed faintly, then pressed on.
“I have heard a great deal about you, and I was greatly impressed by you during the match between Rias-sama and my brother.” Her hands tightened just slightly around the folds of her skirt. “If it would not offend you, may I call you Yuki-sama?”
That made me blink.
Yuki-san looked at me with a raised brow.
Then she looked back at Ravel and calmly replied.
“If you like.”
Ravel lit up so fast it made me wonder if her haughty personality before had been a lie.
“Thank you very much, Yuki-sama.”
She seemed pleased with herself.
Yuki-san seemed to have no idea what to do with that
She gave the smallest nod, clearly deciding that silence was safer than trying to untangle Ravel immediately.
That was probably correct.
Then another familiar woman appeared at Ravel’s side.
“Ravel-sama. Danna-sama’s friend is calling for you.”
It was Isabella, one of Riser’s [Rooks].
The Phoenix family onee-san who had nearly taken my face off with a flick before.
Also the same one whose clothes I had blown away during the match.
I hoped that she wasn't mad about it.
I did my best to keep my expression normal.
I was only partly successful.
Ravel nodded to Isabella, then turned back toward me.
“Ise-sama and Yuki-sama… if the chance presents itself next time, would either of you care to have tea with me?” She asked.
I blinked.
“Tea?”
Ravel nodded.
“And if it would be acceptable, I could prepare homemade cake as well.”
For a second, I forgot how to answer.
That wasn’t what I had expected at all.
Yuki-san looked like she had somehow been dragged into a very strange trap without moving from where she stood.
“…Tea sounds fine,” I said cautiously.
Ravel brightened at once.
Then she looked at Yuki-san.
“That would be all right,” she said.
Yuki-san seemed to decide that refusal would probably create more complications than acceptance,
Ravel looked absurdly pleased.
“Then I shall remember that, Yuki-sama. Ise-sama.”
She lifted the hem of her dress slightly, curtsied, and then left with Isabella.
I watched her go.
Then I looked at Yuki-san.
Yuki-san looked at me.
Yuki-san shrugged and walked off .
Honestly, I did not understand girls at all most of the time.
“Hey, Hyoudou Issei.”
I looked up again and saw that Isabella had lingered.
“Yes Isabella-san?”
“So you remembered me.” She smiled faintly. “You dealt me a fine blow, and now you look even. And…” her eyes slid once toward where Ravel had gone, then toward where Yuki-san had been, before returning to me, “Ravel-sama rarely takes this much interest in people. She’s spoken of you both more than once.”
“Both?”
“Your fight with Riser-sama impressed her. And Yuki-sama’s magic interests her in a rather different way.” Isabella’s smile sharpened just a little. “Please be kind to her.”
What did that even mean!?
I scratched my cheek. “Uh… okay?”
Isabella gave a small bow. “Then please enjoy the party.”
She left after that too, and I stared after her.
“I really don’t get the Phoenix family…”
Gasper, who had been listening with wide eyes the whole time, leaned toward me.
“…Ise-senpai, you sure have a lot of Devil friends.”
“Do I?”
I really wasn’t sure.
That thought had barely settled when movement at the edge of the room caught my eye.
Koneko-chan.
She was moving quickly toward the exit.
And her expression was wrong.
She looked far too focused on something past the doors, like she’d seen something she couldn’t ignore.
At the same moment, farther across the hall, Yuki-san looked up sharply towards Koneko-chan.
She turned to me to see if I had noticed, and when she saw that I had, she moved.
Quickly enough to cut through the crowd in the direction Koneko-chan had gone before I could think of what to do.
Something was wrong.
I stood at once.
Asia looked up from beside me. “Ise-san? What’s wrong? Maou-sama’s greeting will be starting soon.”
“No, there’s an acquaintance of mine here I want to go see,” I said quickly. “I’ll be back by the time the greeting starts!”
I did not want Asia or Xenovia following me if I was wrong that this was something serious.
“All right,” Asia said. “We’ll wait here.”
I moved quickly towards the doors.
Koneko-chan was already gone from sight.
Yuki-san too.
I made it into the side corridor just in time to see one of the elevator doors about to close.
I couldn’t tell who had already gotten on, but saw that the indicator began to drop.
I lunged for the next elevator and got inside just before the doors shut.
Then someone else slipped in with me.
I turned.
Buchou.
She pressed the button with total calm and looked over at me.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “I saw you run out of the room looking worried and decided to follow you.”
“I saw Koneko-chan suddenly leave like she was following something,” I said. “And Yuki-san noticed too. She went after her.”
Buchou’s face sharpened immediately.
“I see,” she said. “We will follow them together”
“Y-Yes. But… how did you know I was heading to the elevators?”
Buchou smiled.
The elevator continued downward.
“It’s because I’m always watching you.”