RSE CH 10 (Patreon)

The coffeeshop looked a little too pretentious for his taste, but he had to admit it was much cozier on the inside. Under the expected aroma of roasted coffee, it had the slightly musty smell of old paper from the half dozen book shelves full of worn hardback books. A pretty blonde in a pleated skirt and peach cashmere sweater stood from a table in the corner and waved when he walked in.

“Good afternoon, Leo Karteros. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

‘At least she is polite.’

When he’d agreed to meet Sharon Sitrin at this coffee shop just off campus, he had been prepared to be received with hostility and mockery. He was surprised to see that Sharon showed none of the stupid pride most devils always had ingrained in their bones.

Inspecting the room, he realized that there were four other people in the cozy coffee shop—and that included the barista with his man-bun and the student picking up her double ristretto, venti, half-soy, nonfat decaf, organic chocolate brownie, iced vanilla, double-shot, gingerbread frappuccino with foam whipped cream.

“Good afternoon. You must be Sharon Sitrin.” He turned to the other young woman sitting next to the blonde. “And you are…”

Leo stopped and tilted his head to the side, and frowned. It had been a long time, and she looked nothing like the little girl he remembered from his childhood, but he still recognized her at a glance.

“…Miyu ?”

Miyu smiled charmingly at Leo.

“Hello, Leo-san.” Miyu dipped her head in a brief bow of greeting.

“What are you doing in Spartanburg?” he blurted out.

Miyu was someone Leo would never forget because of her sacred gear and the situation she’d faced in her clan. Reaching out discretely with his aura to sense her energy, he frowned at her.

“Oh… You became a devil.”

“… Yes.” Miyu squeezed her eyes shut and wrung her hands, anticipating the harsh words that were sure to follow such a discovery.

Instead, she felt a warm hand on her forearm. “It must have been hard.”

He squeezed her arm gently.

Miyu’s eyes flew open, blinking rapidly in surprise and shock. This was the first time anyone—aside from her best friend Sharon—had said anything like that to her. When he pulled his hand back from her arm, she felt a tingling warmth where he had touched her.

“You…you aren’t disgusted? Or angry?”

Leo’s brows came together. “Why would I be angry?”

In the first place, Leo was part-devil himself. He had no particular prejudice against them. He often wasn’t a fan of the arrogance or sense of entitlement many of them wore like a chip on their shoulder, but devils didn’t disgust him. That did not mean all devils were good, of course. 

It was why he asked the next question. “Are you happy?”

His question left Miyu completely speechless. Blinking rapidly behind her glasses, she stared at him. But at the same time, a feeling of warmth filled her chest, and her heart beat faster. She understood this was his way of offering his support. If she said that she wasn’t happy, he would not hesitate to save her from her plight.

It left a weird feeling in her gut, like a kaleidoscope of butterflies had taken flight in her stomach. It was an unfamiliar feeling, but one she liked quite a bit.

A bright smile broke her usually stoic facade. She nodded. “Sharon is very good to me. I am far happier now than I was when I was human.”

“I see.”

Leo studied the woman he’d once called Miyu-chan. Her words, her expression, her heartbeat, even the sweat on her body… they all pointed to one conclusion. She was telling the truth.

That was enough for him. He was happy for her, happy that she’d found happiness here, in America, in Sharon’s circle.

He turned to Sharon, who’d stood there in silence this whole time. “My apologies, Sharon. Miyu and I met a long time ago, and though we haven’t seen each other in a dozen years, I still think of her as a friend. I just wanted to be sure that everything was alright with her.”

A corner of Sharon’s lips ticked up in a smirk. “Well, I would be lying if I said that it’s completely alright. But it’s normal to doubt devils.” She sighed. “Our predecessors made the bed my generation must lie in.”

The smirk blossomed into a grin. “I am glad to see you didn’t come with a light sword and blessed gun. Won’t you have a seat?” She gestured to the seat across the table from them.

Leo rolled his eyes, but understood from this exchange that Sharon knew more about him than he knew about her. A light sword and blessed gun were standard equipment for exorcists from the Vatican. Since devils were weak to holy magic, blessed bullets or light magic was the best way to hurt them.

He endured the teasing without protest. Anyone would have been angry if an unknown guy came up to their friend and asked such an intrusive and potentially volatile question to someone close to you. 

Doing as requested, Leo sat in the chair across from her and smiled at Sharon. Waiting for her to make the opening move, he studied the woman who had invited him here. 

‘She is a Sitrin…’

From what he remembered, though not as ancient or prestigious a clan as the Mephistos, the Sitrin were still a powerful family—even more so in the past twenty-five years, since one of the four Calamities, Famine, was a Sitrin.

Up close, he realized Sharon was even more beautiful than he had registered upon first seeing her. She was slender, lacking bountiful curves, but beauty was never about who had the biggest boobs or ass. Then again, it was exceedingly rare for a Devil not to be beautiful. 

It would be next to impossible to convince people to sell their soul to a hideous monster.

Taking out a chessboard and a bag that clinked from a bag at her feet, Sharon gave him another smirk. “Why don’t we play a game of chess?” she said.

“Chess?”

“Why not? I believe that chess is a good way to gauge people. It can reveal the way they think, their habits, and several other things.”

Leo hesitated before shrugging, agreeing to her request for a friendly match. “It’s been a while since I’ve played, so I’ll apologize up front if I’m not that good.”

All devils were, strangely enough, good chess players. This ‘talent’ came from the belief that being good at chess translated to being good at strategy… and thus good at war. Leo wasn’t sure why devils, as a race, had latched onto the idea. 

Only someone who never had fought would believe such a fallacy. Then again, playing chess developed the mind and taught you to think several moves ahead. He supposed it wasn’t all that far-fetched a convention.

Growing up, Leo used to play chess with his mother all the time. And though he always lost, he knew that he hadn’t been terrible at it. It had been years since he’d played—not since the event. 

…

…

…

“Checkmate. You lose.” Moving her queen across the board, Sharon knocked over his King. She grinned at Leo.

He had lost, though he had managed to take a number of her pieces. He knew that was largely because she had prolonged the game as long as she could as she studied his playing style. Oddly enough, he didn’t feel bad about it. 

“Incredible.” He dipped his head and returned her smile. “I must say, you are really good. I used to play with my mother regularly, but that’s the first time I’ve been beaten so thoroughly in years.” 

Sharon shook her head. “It was an enjoyable game.”

It had indeed been an enjoyable game, but he hadn’t accepted her invitation to meet her here to play a game of chess. Sitting back in his chair, he gripped the edge of the table. “Well, now that the pleasantries are done. Why don’t we talk about why I told your piece I was open to meeting with you?”

It was time to talk.

Sharon sat up straighter. “You hold yourself back, don’t you?”

Leo spoke bluntly. “I don’t like wasting time; I prefer to be direct.” He narrowed his eyes at the pretty blonde across the table from him. “Stop spying on me.”

After Spencer’s report, but more so from the game of chess she’d just played against him, Sharon believed she’d learned enough about his personality to understand who Leo was. Though he was soft spoken, and both looked and acted the part of a humble college student, he was colder than he let others see. 

Deep down, there was a great deal of pride in his heart. She could see it in his eyes. He held himself back, choosing not to reveal that side of himself. This made him cautious. Even when he had recognized Miyu—and she believed he still cared for her as a friend—his wariness had not abated in the slightest.

Like a calculating beast, he had observed and judged her. The whole time they’d played chess, he was deciding how much of himself he could afford to reveal. If she tried to bargain with him now, she was sure that would only make him more wary—it might even cause him to consider her his enemy.

Having the son of someone who could face a calamity decide you were his enemy was not an outcome she desired. She’d invited him here to ensure just the opposite. That’s why she smiled and nodded at his sudden demand.

“Of course. I owe you an apology for that… we shouldn’t have spied on you. But I hope you understand why I thought it was necessary. We didn’t know who you were, and I wanted to ensure you weren’t a danger to those of us at the school.”

“Hmm…” 

By ‘those of us’, Leo knew Sharon meant devils. It made sense, really. Hell, if he were in her shoes, he might have done the same thing—though he’d have checked out the newcomer himself rather than sending someone else to do so for him. His hands relaxed, and he set them on the table.

‘Good,’ Sharon noted, ‘he relaxed and isn’t as hostile.’

Thankfully, she’d prepared a good answer for what could have been a tense moment. But this wasn’t enough, was it? It was always better to strike the iron while it was hot. She wished that, after today’s meeting, there would be no hostility between her group and this powerful young man. If possible, she’d like to become his friend.

She’d even thought up a good plan to make a friendship not only possible, but likely. Just as Sharon was about to execute her plan, though, she was interrupted by a feminine voice. A voice that she recognized.

“Hey there, Sharon. Imagine meeting you here… with Leo Karteros. Please, don’t try to steal him from me before I have a chance to introduce myself.”

‘Oh, Great Satan below! Why did she have to pick this coffee shop to come to?!’