I Took A Succubus's First Time

The joint training between the two factions had officially begun, marking the start of what was supposed to be a useful opportunity for both sides to test their abilities against people they were not already familiar with. It was one thing to train with the same people repeatedly, because after enough time, everyone naturally became accustomed to one another's habits, techniques, and little combat quirks. Fighting someone from another faction was different, though, since their movements and strategies were less predictable, which made the whole thing considerably more useful as actual training.

Although the Yano Faction had described this as a joint training session, there were only two members from their side currently present at the mansion. Kouhei had initially expected there to be considerably more people involved, especially after hearing that the Yano Faction had several capable fighters, but the situation turned out to be much smaller than he had imagined.

The two members who were present were Yamashita Saki and Totsuka Kokoro, and from what Kouhei could tell, they were apparently the only fighters from the Yano Faction currently available to participate.

In reality, the faction had at least ten fighters altogether, but unfortunately, the other eight members were not at the mansion at the moment. They were currently somewhere else, which meant that Saki and Kokoro were the only ones available to represent their faction during the training session. It was slightly unfortunate, but Kouhei did not think it was worth making a big deal about, especially since the entire arrangement had been decided rather quickly.

"I'm sorry about this, Kouhei-sama," Yuka said, sounding genuinely apologetic as she explained the situation. "I wanted more of my faction members to participate in the training, but it would take some time for them to return here, since most of them are currently away from the mansion."

She paused briefly before adding, "Even though I was the one who invited you here in the first place, I realize this probably isn't exactly what you were expecting."

"It's fine," Kouhei said, waving his hand dismissively. "I don't think it's really that much of a problem. We're the ones who came here as guests, after all, so I don't think it would be right for us to suddenly expect your members to make a rushed trip back here just because we made a decision without giving them much notice."

Kouhei shrugged before continuing, "Honestly, our decision was made pretty quickly in the first place, so making your people rush back home immediately just because we're here would be unreasonable."

"I see," Yuka replied, looking somewhat relieved by his response. "If that's how you see it, then I'm glad we don't have a problem."

Yuka then turned her attention toward the two women standing beside her, briefly looking at Saki and Kokoro before shifting her gaze back toward Kouhei. Both women appeared ready to participate, although their expressions suggested that they were also curious about what kind of training they would be doing.

"Then, Kouhei-sama, who would you like to train with first?" Yuka asked.

"I'm sorry, but..." Kouhei paused for a moment before giving her his answer. "I won't actually be participating in the training."

Yuka's eyes widened slightly, and the surprise on her face was obvious enough that Kouhei almost felt bad for catching her off guard.

"You're not going to participate?"

"I want the others to take this opportunity to improve themselves," Kouhei explained, keeping his voice calm and casual. "I'm not saying that because I think my members aren't capable enough, either. I actually think they're more than capable of handling themselves."

He glanced toward the others before adding, "Honestly, some of them are probably more capable than I am in certain areas, so I'd rather let them take advantage of this opportunity instead of having me jump in and take the spotlight."

Yuka smiled when she heard that answer, apparently understanding his reasoning.

"I see," she said. "Well, I respect your decision, Kouhei-sama, but one of my people actually wants to challenge you."

Yuka looked toward him with a slightly amused expression before continuing.

"Would you at least permit her to have one fight against you?"

Kouhei became quiet for a moment as he considered the offer.

The idea did not exactly sound bad, although he could not immediately think of anything particularly special about accepting the challenge either. He had already decided that he wanted the others to use this opportunity to improve, and participating in the training himself would somewhat undermine the reason behind his original decision.

At the same time, Kouhei did not think rejecting Yuka's offer outright would be the right thing to do.

He was currently staying inside the mansion of one of the candidates who could potentially become a demon lord, after all. More importantly, Yuka herself was technically someone who could eventually become his rival for that position. Being overly suspicious of her would be understandable, but deliberately refusing a relatively harmless challenge from someone in her faction could make things unnecessarily awkward.

Kouhei had already gotten the impression that Yuka was not a bad person, either.

Developing some kind of friendship with her might be unconventional considering their circumstances, but Kouhei did not think there was anything inherently wrong with it. They could be rivals and still maintain a reasonable relationship, especially if they were capable of separating their personal feelings from whatever competition might eventually come between them.

Of course, Kouhei was not stupid enough to completely lower his guard.

Being friendly with someone did not mean he had to blindly trust them, and he still intended to watch his back whenever necessary. He simply did not see any reason to treat Yuka like an enemy when she had given him no reason to do so.

"I will," Kouhei finally said after thinking it over.

"Thank you," Yuka replied with a smile.

After a short while, the training finally started.

The first matchup involved Yamashita Saki and Aria, who would be training against one another in a mock battle centered primarily around swordsmanship.

Saki was proficient with blades herself, and unlike Aria, she was a dual wielder who fought with two swords at once. That alone gave her a natural advantage, since having two weapons meant that she could attack from different directions while also using one blade defensively.

Aria, meanwhile, only had a single sword in her hands.

Under normal circumstances, that difference could have become a significant problem, especially against someone who was already skilled enough to use two blades effectively. However, Aria did not appear particularly intimidated by the disadvantage, and judging from the look in her eyes, she seemed more interested in proving that she could overcome it.

Both women stood across from one another for a brief moment, carefully watching their opponent and waiting for the right opportunity to move.

Then they both dashed toward one another.

Their swords collided almost immediately, producing a sharp metallic sound that echoed through the training area. The two fighters moved quickly, exchanging attacks and defensive maneuvers while constantly adjusting their positions.

Kouhei watched the battle closely, and it quickly became obvious that Saki and Aria were much closer in ability than he had initially expected.

Saki's use of two swords gave her an advantage, but Aria was doing an impressive job of compensating for the difference. She managed to block incoming attacks, reposition herself, and prevent Saki from easily taking advantage of her second blade.

Whenever Saki tried to attack from another angle, Aria adjusted accordingly, using her single sword carefully rather than attempting to match two blades with one through brute force.

The fight was surprisingly balanced.

Dual wielding naturally provided an advantage over someone using only a single sword, but Aria was managing to keep the difference from becoming overwhelming. She was not simply surviving against Saki, either. She was actively fighting back, forcing Saki to take her seriously rather than allowing herself to become an easy target.

Kouhei could tell that both women were taking the mock battle seriously.

Despite being a training session, neither of them was treating the fight like some casual exercise where they could simply swing their weapons around without putting much effort into it. Their movements were deliberate, their attacks were fast, and their reactions showed that they were both genuinely trying to win.

Aria, in particular, seemed to be taking the fight extremely seriously.

Kouhei had a pretty good idea why.

During the battle against Via, Aria had been practically helpless when she wanted to contribute the most. She had been unable to do much in a situation where everyone around her was fighting desperately, and Kouhei suspected that the experience had stayed with her much more deeply than she had allowed anyone to see.

She clearly did not want that to happen again.

Watching her fight now made that much obvious.

Her movements were sharper than before, and there was considerably more determination behind her attacks. She was not simply trying to win against Saki for the sake of winning. She seemed to be testing herself, almost as if she wanted to find out how far she had actually come since that previous battle.

Kouhei continued watching the fight for a while before suddenly becoming aware of someone staring at him.

When he glanced to the side, he found Asami looking directly at him.

She was blushing.

Actually, she was blushing quite heavily, and the way she was staring at him was so intense that Kouhei almost felt like she was trying to drill an actual hole through his head with nothing but her eyes.

"Uh... Inogashira-san?" Kouhei began, slightly confused by the situation.

He was about to ask whether something was wrong when Asami suddenly looked away from him.

Kouhei blinked several times, still trying to figure out what had just happened.

For some reason, Asami's face had become incredibly red, and he could not understand what had caused such an obvious reaction. He briefly wondered whether he had done something without realizing it, but after thinking about it for a moment, he could not come up with anything that would explain her behavior.

Yuka had also noticed what Asami was doing.

Judging from her expression, she was just as confused as Kouhei was. Yuka apparently had no idea why Asami had suddenly started staring at Kouhei like that, although she seemed curious enough to keep an eye on the situation.

Kouhei decided that it was probably better not to ask about it again for the moment.

He turned his attention back toward the ongoing battle just as the exchange between Aria and Saki became more intense.

The two women continued trading attacks for several more moments, with neither one willing to give the other an easy opening. Aria managed to defend against another series of attacks, but Saki eventually found the opportunity she had been looking for.

The battle finally came to an end.

The winner was Saki.

Aria was on the ground, breathing heavily after the intense exchange, while Saki stood over her with both blades positioned against her neck. The two swords were crossed together like a pair of scissors that were ready to close, leaving Aria in a position where it was completely obvious that she had been defeated.