High School DxD: Fox of Ill Omen

Chapter 169 — An Intrusion And An Ominous Job

Issei

The room was quickly rearranged to have a meeting between Buchou and Diodora.

A table was set up near the center of the room.

Buchou and Diodora were sitting facing each other.

Azaze-sensei sat at the table to their side.

He was acting as a third-party moderator for their discussion.

Akeno-san was the only one of Buchou’s servants with her.

She poured tea for the three at the table and took a seat next to Buchou.

The rest of us were stationed near one of the corners of the room.

We had moved a couch and armchair over here to rest on as we watched the meeting.

Yuki-san was sitting in the armchair with Koneko-chan in her lap.

They were both watching Diodora.

Yuki-san was watching him like she was studying him and watching for sudden movements.

Her tails shifted back and forth behind her as her eyes never left Diodora.

Koneko-chan had a faint frown on her face and looked like she was trying to figure something out.

Yuuto-san stood leaning on the couch’s arm with crossed arms.

Asia sat in the middle of the couch with Xenovia and I on either side of her.

We were both worried about her with Diodora here.

We all were, but Xenovia and I wanted to comfort her as we sat together.

I held one of Asia’s hands while she wore a troubled expression.

She squeezed my hand as she held it.

Gasper was sitting on a chair between the armchair and couch.

Buchou had told him he couldn’t stay in his box for this meeting.

The setup of the room, with the high-class Devils in the middle at the meeting table, and the low-class Devils off to the side watching, reminded me of the meeting in the club room with Riser.

It definitely showed the difference in status between us.

But different from the meeting with Riser, this one was about marriage with Asia, not Buchou.

I glanced at Asia.

Xenovia was holding her other hand now, but Asia still looked worried.

I was concerned for her, but Buchou knew what she was doing.

She wouldn’t let anything happen that Asia didn’t want.

And I would protect Asia no matter what.

She was someone precious to me that I would keep safe, even if it meant fighting that jerk here and now.

I know that if something like that happened, I would have everyone else’s support.

I’d broken off Buchou’s engagement.

I could do it again.

I looked to the meeting table where talks were beginning.

“Rias-san. I will be straightforward with the reason I am here,” Diodora said to Buchou. “I would like to trade [Bishops] with you.”

I scowled at him.

Asia had rejected his advances and sent back his gifts, so now he was going to her master to try and obtain her.

If he traded for Asia, then he would become her master, and she wouldn’t have Buchou to help her anymore.

He could even force her to marry him if he wanted.

Gasper let out a gasp.

“Ahh! Is he talking about me?! Did he see me in my dress at the party and think I was cute?!”

He covered himself with his hands and tried to make himself smaller.

“What? Of course not!” I said.

Yuki-san reached out and patted his head.

“While you looked very cute, Gasper-kun. I think Diodora-san is asking about trading for Asia, not you.

Gasper blushed and looked down at his lap as Yuki-san patted his head.

“Oh… I, umm, I-I should have realized that.”

Gasper was still scared of a lot of things, but he had improved a lot since before his training in the Underworld.

If he was the same as then, he would have screamed and run to hide himself.

He’s really improved himself.

But the important thing is that Diodora is asking to trade for Asia.

When he asked for the trade, Asia’s hand gripped mine harder, and she trembled faintly.

“The servant I would like to revive from you, Rias-san, is obviously Asia Argento, your [Bishop],” Diodora said with a warm smile. “The servant that I would be offering—-“

Diodora brought out some paperwork with photos of his servants on them, but Buchou cut him off with a raised hand.

“I figured that this is what your visit would be about. But I am sorry. You have wasted your time. I don’t need to see any documents for your servants. I have no intention to trade Asia away. It’s not that your servants are lacking. I simply do not want to lose Asia. She is an important member of my family and a precious servant of mine.”

I smiled widely at Buchou as she said that.

I knew she wouldn’t give Asia away.

Asia let out a sigh of relief as her grip on my hand loosened.

Diodora’s smile didn’t waver, though.

“Is it because of her abilities? Or is it because you’ve been charged by her as an individual?” He asked, seemingly unconcerned with Buchou’s refusal.

“I value Asia for both. I think of her as a little sister.”

“…Buchou-san!” Asia said quietly, putting a hand over her mouth.

Her eyes were watery as she watched Buchou.

She seemed touched that Buchou thought of her as a little sister.

“We live together,” Buchou continued. “I’ve grown to care for her more over the time that we have. But regarding your offer, I don’t understand it. You trying to obtain Asia with such a method saddens me. She already turned down your proposal and repeated signs of affection. Why wasn’t that enough for you to give up?”

Buchou said it all politely, but her frown and the look in her eyes tell me she’s seriously angry.

Diodora was still smiling, though.

It was starting to become unnerving.

He let out a light-hearted sigh.

“I understand. I will leave for today, but I won’t stop my pursuit of Asia,” he said before standing.

Diodora walked over to us in the corner.

He stopped in front of Asia and got down on one knee.

“Asia. I love you. I truly do. I know that it is our destiny to be together. Even if the world seemed to be against us being together, I will ensure that we end up together,” he said as he went to take her hand.

He spoke as if he hadn’t just heard Buchou refuse him and Asia hadn’t been rejecting him and his gifts for weeks.

The way that he was completely ignoring what Asia wanted pissed me off to the point that I acted.

I grabbed his wrist before he could take Asia's hand and kiss it.

Diodora turned to me, still showing that same refreshing smile, but his eyes had gone cold.

“Could you let go of me? I'm disgusted to be touched by a filthy dragon. I feel as though it may make me sick.”

I was taken aback by his sudden and venomous words.

I was about to retort when Asia moved forward and slapped Diodora.

His head turned slightly to the side as Asia’s hand struck his cheek.

“Please don’t talk to Ise-san that way!” Asia shouted before hugging me.

The room was silent for a moment after the slap and her following shout.

Yuuto-san stood straight next to the couch.

Her one hand opened like she was ready to summon a sword.

Koneko-chan and Yuki-san moved together without communicating.

Koneko-chan quietly shifted from Yuki-san’s lap to the arm of the armchair.

Yuki-san shifted forward in her seat but didn’t stand yet.

She looked tense, like she was ready to move at a moment's notice.

Diodora’s cheek turned red from the slap as he stared at the two of us.

That creepy smile was still on his face, despite everything.

“I’m sorry that I made you upset, Asia. If Hyoudou Issei, the Sekiryuutei, wishes to stand in my way, I will defeat him in our upcoming match. After I show you that he cannot stand up to protect you, I hope that you will answer my love, Asia...” He said, gazing at Asia again.

“I won’t lose to you,” I replied angrily. “And Asia isn’t interested in you. Why can’t you accept that?”

“Sekiryuutei…….Hyoudou Issei. I will remove you as an obstacle from Asia and my fate. In our match, I will defeat you.”

I clenched my fist.

“I’ve taken down a high-class Devil before! And you’re not nearly as threatening as Riser Phenex. Diodora Astaroth, I will show the power of the Sekiryuutei and make you understand that you can’t have Asia!”

Diodora and I stared each other down.

I scowled at him while he continued smiling at me.

Then a phone rang.

Azazel-sensei pulled his phone out and answered it while stepping away.

He spoke for a few moments as we all stared.

Then he turned back towards us.

“It’s rather good timing that you came here, Diodora. Your match against Rias here has officially been decided upon. It will take place five days from now.” Azazel-senswi reported.

Diodora nodded.

“Good, then we will be able to settle this soon.” He turned to Buchou. “Rias-san, I apologize for my intrusion. I will see you on the day of our match,” then he turned to Asia. “And I will see you again, Asia. I hope after the game between Rias-san and me you will be able to see that we should be together.”

He then stepped away and activated another teleportation magic circle.

“You’re right that we will settle things on the day of our Rating Game, Diodora-san. But I will not be giving Asia up regardless of the outcome. And I intend to win.”

He glanced at Buchou before the magic circle activated and sent him away.

After he disappeared, it felt like everyone in the room let out a breath of relief.

“That was certainly dramatic,” Azazel-sensei said, breaking the silence with a grin.

Buchou sighed as she slumped in his seat.

“He is annoyingly persistent,” she said, ignoring him. “I had hoped when I told him directly that I wouldn’t be trading Asia away under any circumstances, but he still seems to think that the two of them will be together. It’s rather troublesome...”

I stood.

“That jerk doesn’t get it! He’s been told by Asia over and over, and now he tried to go through you, Buchou! I don’t think he understands that he can’t have her.” I said angrily.

“It is worrying that he would go so far as to ignore Asia’s wishes and try to obtain her through her master,” Yuki-san said, and Koneko-chan settled back into her lap. “But either way, we won’t let anyone take you away if you don’t want to leave Asia.”

Koneko-chan nodded.

“…Asia-senpai belongs here, with us.”

Asia teared up as she clutched her hands together.

“Everyone… thank you! I’m sorry I keep causing trouble for all of you…”

“Asia-san, none of us think this is your fault,” Yuuto-san said. “Diodora seems to be obsessed with you and refuses to listen to reason.”

“Yeah! That jerk is nuts! And kind of creepy!” I said, nodding my head.

“…He was strange…” Koneko-chan muttered to herself.

Buchou raised an eyebrow at that.

“Did you sense something in his spirit, Koneko?”

Koneko-chan shook her head.

“No, Buchou. He just seemed off somehow,” she replied.

Buchou looked at Yuki-san.

“Yuki, were you able to see anything of note while he was here?”

“I didn’t use my eye ability. I figured it would have gone over poorly if he had noticed somehow. I’m sorry, Buchou.”

Buchou waved her off.

“No need to apologize. He is certainly acting strange regarding Asia. Perhaps that’s all it was.”

Akeno-san stepped forward.

“Well, if we don’t have anything else important to discuss, why don’t we head back home? Asia-chan and I can make dinner for everyone tonight. Does that sound good, Asia-chan?” Akeno-san asked, smiling warmly.

“That would be nice, Akeno-san,” Asia replied with a small smile.

After that, we cleaned up and got ready to head home.

We had five days until our match against Diodora Astaroth.

And when I got the chance, I was going to make him understand that Asia wanted nothing to do with him.

It was the night after Diodora intruded into our club room.

I stood in a magic circle as I waited to be teleported to my contractor for tonight’s Devil work.

Tonight I have a new client.

It was a woman named Nishikawa Hiyou.

My services were recommended to her by her younger cousin, one of my regular clients, Nishikawa Kenta.

Since his first request led to me cleaning his room, he had called upon me occasionally.

He saw me as a way to motivate himself to change his life for the better, for some reason.

Since his first contract, I helped him with studies at his university, learning to cook for himself, advice on how to talk to other people and women, and other self-improvement contracts.

He seemed to be happier because of it.

So when his cousin mentioned an issue she was having, he recommended me to her and gave her a flyer with a summoning circle on it.

He had informed me of this during my last contract with him.

That was over a week ago.

I looked at the contract.

This would either be simple and easy, or tedious and messy.

It simply said, ‘Get rid of the monster in my apartment. Please.’

I looked around the club room.

Only Yuuto, Issei, and I had contracts tonight, so everyone besides Rias had gone home already.

Issei had already left on his bike while complaining about still having to ride a bike to his job.

I let out an amused huff as I thought of the bicycle Devil.

Yuuto was waiting in the magic circle with me as we both quietly waited for our jobs to start.

Rias sat at her desk working on her paperwork that seemed to never end.

I only had to wait a few moments longer before the magic circle began to glow beneath my feet.

I schooled my expression, corrected my posture, and let my wings appear

My ears and tail disappeared as I hid them.

Yuuto smiled at me.

“Good luck.”

I nodded to her.

The magic swelled as the light around me brightened.

Then the room faded away around me, and I arrived in a small apartment living room.

It smelled of stale air and tea.

The woman who had called me stood just outside the summoning circle with both hands clasped tightly together.

She looked to be in her late twenties and was dressed in office clothes with the jacket removed.

Her clothes looked disheveled and worn.

Her dark hair was pinned back messily, like she had redone it once or twice before giving up.

There were deep bags under her eyes.

The kind that had not come from one bad night.

I could see the family resemblance to Kenta-san.

It was faint, but there.

Her eyes locked onto my wings as she clutched a crumpled summoning flyer in her hand.

Her eyes snapped to my face, like she was worried that I would be upset with her staring.

“Good evening, Nishikawa Hiyou,” I said, breaking the silence. “My name is Shiramine Yuki. I am a Devil of the Gremory peerage. I have answered your summons to fulfill the contract.”

The woman was startled and then bowed deeply and quickly.

“G-Good evening! I-I’m sorry. I m-mean, th-thank you for coming,” She stumbled over herself trying to greet me.

“You summoned a Devil to deal with a ‘monster’ in this apartment?” I said, looking around the room.

It was a mess. There were clothes thrown over the back of the couch. Food containers were stacked on an end table, an armchair overturned, glass shattered on the floor, and one of the cushions on the couch had been slashed open.

There was a small gift box sitting on the middle of a coffee table in the middle of the room that caught my attention before I turned back to my contractor.

“Y-Yes. There's some kind of creature, or-or monster that’s been haunting me, and I think it has to do with that,” she said, pointing to the box on the coffee table. “Or at least I think it does…”

She sat on the damaged sofa as she put her head into her hands.

“I didn’t know what to do. I can’t sleep anymore, and people at work have noticed, and it’s affecting my performance, and…” She shook her head. “So when my cousin found out, he told me about you. He said that even if you were a Devil, you were kind, and that you could help me.”

I raised an eyebrow at that statement.

Apparently Kenta-san had a high opinion of me.

“I didn’t believe him at first, but then things got worse,” she said, gesturing at the room. “S-So I didn’t know what else to do. A-And now we are here.”

I nodded slowly.

“While I do think your cousin’s opinion of me is misguided, I will help you. For a price.”

“At this point I’ll give you anything. I-I need your help. I don’t know what this thing is going to do to me.”

She started to tremble.

I stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Tell me everything, from the beginning. Then I’ll see what I can do.” I said softly.