Me? Human? : Chapter 18 : Good Cop, Bad Cop (Patreon)

Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters appearing in High School DXD or the Anime or the manga whatsoever.

ORC, Kuoh, Japan

–Motohama Kenji–

“K-Kenji?” She said as he just hugged her tighter, “I thought you were at the school camp. What are you doing home early?"

He took a step back and replied, feeling very guilty at the concerned and confused look on her face, “I managed to convince them to let me go home to sleep.”

“Ah, ok,” She said as they walked into the house, “I have some leftovers from last night. I don’t know why I made so much, especially since I was the only one in the house, but they should last even you a few days.”

That was because you were stressed, he thought but didn’t say out loud. Instead, he just ate and finished the leftovers, as he smiled at her and went into his room. In there, he waited for her to go to sleep, her breath evening out after only about 20 minutes, as he sighed and got up, taking a look at the magnifying lens setup he’d built to gain resistance to light of all things.

Fat load of good it did. When push came to shove, Raynare had easily pushed his innards out and created a hole in his torso with her Light spear. He shook his head, and used it once more, and when he didn’t feel anything despite the timer going beyond 30 minutes, he concluded that either he had adapted to the Light or it was something to do with the extra characteristics he might have gained.

A combination of both, maybe?

His power was adaptive in nature, but maybe it could assimilate stuff as well?

His imagination immediately supplied him with very tempting images, as he immediately zeroed in on supernatural beings that didn’t even remotely look human. He could see himself justifying eating draconic beings by thinking of them as lizards, and the moment he finished processing that line of thinking, he nearly vomited.

Setting down the contraption, he slapped himself, hard. That thankfully did not wake up Mom, as he made up his mind.

No, I am not going to hunt down and eat sentient beings, all so I can get a power up.

Even last night, it had only been due to the combination of his extreme rage at Raynare and the fear of dying and leaving his mother behind in this death world that allowed his mind to ignore the repulsion he would have normally felt at the thought of eating a Fallen Angel’s wing.

He would much rather deforest an entire area than eat a sentient being, even if they were evil. Yes, he still had some remnants of morals from his previous two lives. Plus, the only reason he couldn't find a path ahead was because he had been running out of both things to adapt to, and the fuel required to finish that adaptation.

If things were what he thought they were, he now had an in with the local Devil peerage, someone who could supply him with pretty hardcore stuff to adapt to, and a new energy source within his body. 

Even if it was deficient right now, the great thing about humans was their ability to grow fast. He was sure that expanding that energy source was only a matter of time, as was his entry into the higher tiers of Supernatural powers.

With that in mind, he quickly scribbled a note for his mom to read and slipped out of the house, on his way back to the Occult Research Club. He had time and felt no need to sleep or stay at home any longer than he had to. He would only end up feeling restless.

Plus, the sooner he could come to a deal with the Devils in the town, the sooner he could figure out some sort of protection for his mom. It would be best if he could get her a Work from Home type job and then ward the entire house so no one can enter unauthorised.

His biggest fear right now was the Fallen and the exorcists they had with them. Raynare had seen his face, and it would not take long for them to figure out who he was, if they hadn’t already. He had felt some minute buzzing around his house, the same amount as he felt when he neared the walls of Rias’ office, which he took to mean that she was at least monitoring his house for threats, which was nice.

The fact that there were no solid protections that would keep the likes of Freed out only made him hasten his pace as he reached the school and entered the Occult Research Club. He felt the same buzz when he crossed an invisible boundary, but he was in no mood, nor did he have the time to investigate the fascinating new field that had just opened up for him.

Knocking on the office door, his assumption that the inside of the office was completely isolated was true, as he could feel nothing from the other end. Not until the door was opened from the inside by no one?

Nah, it was opened by someone who was vertically challenged. He looked down at Koneko, noting the absence of any cat-like features. It made sense if she was still rejecting that part of her heritage, which was a foolish thing in his opinion, but what did he know? He hadn’t gone through the same things she has.

Dismissing those thoughts, he said, “Hi! I am—”

“Pervert.” She quietly interrupted him, judgmental eyes boring into him.

He smiled awkwardly at that before clearing his throat, “I am Motohama Kenji. I need to meet with Rias, your King.”

Koneko, or Shirone, looked at him for a moment longer, then stepped forward and sniffed him. Whatever it was, it satisfied and made her more suspicious at the same time, as she let him enter but was clearly keeping him in her sight.

Rias looked up at him from a fat stack of papers on her desk, smiling as if she had expected him to come back, “Ah, Kenji. I trust you found your mom safe and sound?”

He sat down in front of her, and nodded, “Yes. I also felt something else. Did you put protections around our house?”

Rias nodded with a so-so gesture, “Those are just monitoring wards, just in case the Fallen track you down and try to attack your abode. Installing protection wards requires far more time and, more importantly, cooperation from the owner of the house, as it is not subtle in the slightest.”

“I see.”

“So,” Rias said after setting aside the file she was working on and disintegrating the rest of it, as a casual application of her bloodline trait, an act that drew visible eye rolls from her Queen, who was now standing behind Rias, “I assume you know of my role here?”

She asked the question in a way that made him think she was just testing him, and didn't actually expect him to answer correctly.

“You are the overseer of Kuoh Town, along with Sona Sitri, if I am not wrong.”

Akeno’s and Rias’ eyes sharpened at that, as Rias replied, “I see. So, who is your teacher?”

“Teacher?”

“You have no supernatural lineage. You are not a member of the Church. You are not a magician; we checked. Your magic is undeveloped. You were mortally wounded by a Fallen Angel, so we can rule out the Grigori. You have a strong physical body, far more so than should be possible for a human, but aside from that, you have no way of knowing about the supernatural world. So, who is your teacher?”

Hmm. That was actually surprisingly logical of them. After all, who would think of reincarnation as the answer? Well, cross universe reincarnation anyway. There were plenty of Hero reincarnations in the world, with some of them running around with a Human supremacist faction who would love to have him as their member. If only they weren’t also likely brainwashing their members and were xenophobic, to the point of being unreasonable.

Putting a pin on that thought since he was resistant to mind magics right now, though he would have to be far stronger if he was to resist some Longinus tier magic shit, he answered Rias’ question, “No. I don’t have a teacher.”

“Hmm,” Rias eyed him with suspicion, and before she could ask him something else, they did this whole song and dance a few more times before they came to the point, he skipped everything. “So, what is being done about the Fallen?”

“Whatever it is, I need some protection for my Mom as well. I can help you take them down.”

Akeno snorted at that, “How do you propose you do that? Sure, your trick,” Wow, the condescension in the voice was a work of art, “--Could help you survive, but there is no amount of grass that is going to save you if you have your head blown off. You barely survived a Two Winged Fallen, and that was all because you surprised her.”

He narrowed his eyes at Akeno, “So, I assume you read Issei’s memories. Did you even ask?”

Akeno smirked and leaned forward, as something bounced, though he made sure to keep that in the periphery of his vision. “He was too busy drooling to notice.”

“Yeah,” He deadpanned at her, “That sounds like him.”

Rias then took over, playing the role of good cop here, “As for your mother, don’t worry. She can move in here. Sorry, I can’t invest resources in securing your house if it is going to be a temporary thing.”

Ah, I see.

So, that’s what their angle was. Dangle his mother’s safety in front of him to get him in her peerage or atleast in their debt. They could then use that debt to get either a better read on him, since as of now, he was a complete unknown, or drag him deeper into her life, ultimately culminating in him becoming a member of her Peerage as well.

A good strategy, he must say.

“I don't want anything for free. I will help with the Fallen in exchange for Mom moving in here. When are you moving to attack them?”

Rias exchanged glances with Akeno as she replied, “Soon. We are waiting for–”

His senses buzzed once more as the door to the office was swung open. Turning around, he saw Sona with her Queen.