TSSG - Chapter 14 : Demonic Pianist & Accusations of Porcelain Doll...... (Patreon)

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

Lucifaad, Underworld

–Shin–

He watched as Sirzechs, after taking a moment to check in with the guards stationed at the place, began directing the children, who instantly switched from chaotic gremlins to orderly soldiers who began taking their positions when told about it only once. All of them had their instruments near them, some of them looking hilariously small compared to their instruments. 

Sirzechs was among the kids, kneeling next to some kids, talking softly to them, high fiving a few, ruffling the hair of many, and overall having a lot of fun for someone who was the heir of a Pillar House and, as such, most definitely had intel regarding what was coming in the future. There was no way Sirzechs was not aware of the intentions of the Satan Descendants and what would happen to the Underworld and, consequently, to his precious choir group if the Satan Descendants had their way.

Even if House Gremory itself was keeping stuff from their heir, Sirzechs had Ajuka on his side, and if he was not wrong, Ajuka was basically capable of looking at data and doing limited precognition with ease. Even if he was weaker than his prime and had his range reduced, basic pattern recognition would give him basically the same answer anyway.

“Focus.” Nat’s stern voice made him snap out of the what-ifs his mind continued to ensnare him with. It was something he had noticed recently.

Sirzechs was apparently done with the preparations and was now taking his place in front of the choir, beaming with obvious pride as the kids looked at each other before beginning. By this point, the square was now chock full of people, with many devils occupying the seats above the floating stage created for the choir as well. Fortunately, the staggered seating did not cover the entirety of the floating stage, so most of them were able to see and listen to the choir sing without having to pay for the privilege of looking down at the choir from above.

Judging by the clothing on the Devils who were listening from up above, and looking down at the rest of the devils gathered at ground level, he could tell that all of them were nobility and, from the looks of it, had it not been for Sirzechs, they would have preferred to be anywhere but here. Away from the peasants was what their minds would have told them.

Moving on from the stuffy nobles, who were not really worthy of his attention tonight, he focused on the choir, as the kids had begun singing, with Sirzechs directing the group.

They were good. Despite having zero taste in the art, he could tell that the kids were good, and as their teacher, Sirzechs was good as well. It went on for quite a while, but he never got bored of listening to the kids, who seemed to have switched into some kind of uber professional mode as they began singing.

He blinked as the performance ended, amongst a shower of applause and cheers. Eventually, the calls for once more had become too loud to ignore, and Sirzechs was clearly all the more willing to indulge the crowd as well as the kids.

“Okay, just once more, okay? We still have practice for tomorrow. We don’t want to overexert anything, alright?” Sirzechs was speaking to the children, but everyone in the square heard it, likely because of the application of some kind of magic, or maybe Devils of that level could just naturally do it. He had no idea, and it kind of burned him inside not to know that.

He could instantly tell, as could many others, that the words were directed at both the kids as well as the crowd. He was indirectly telling the people not to ask for a second performance, as it might injure the kids somehow. The question was why Sirzechs would think devil children could be exhausted by something as easy as that, when even human children could have done this with ease.

The crowd erupted in hushed whispers as he looked at the stage and saw that Sirzechs had taken a seat right next to the kids as well; only he was not on the stage. He was floating mid air, with a small chair beneath him, also floating, cracking his knuckles and neck, as if getting ready for some delinquent activities.

A flash of crimson later, a devilish looking piano appeared in front of Sirzechs, all blazing red, with wisps of demonic energy escaping the frame of the piano. He gulped as he could feel the pressure coming from the piano itself, as if he was witnessing death in the face. He had no doubt in his mind that even without using an ounce of his Power of Destruction, just by utilising the power already present in that piano, Sirzechs could have massacred every single devil in the square.

Including the stuffy nobles looking down at Sirzechs. He glanced up at the nobles, as he had repositioned himself to be able to take a good look at the gallery, and smirked as he saw all of them looking pale as well. Maybe they recognised the piano? Or maybe they just saw death in the face and knew what kind of monster was smiling and playing piano in front of them.

Was this another scare tactic from Srizechs to make sure the kids were not badgered for another song request? Could the soon to be Crimson Satan really be that protective of a choir group?

His mind flashed to the overprotective tendencies he displayed in the future when it came to his sister and his family, and he realised that yes, Sirzechs could be that protective right now. That might even increase in the future if something happened to the kids here.

Smiling at the kids, Sirzechs nodded before he looked at the piano and……his fingers just started dancing.

That was all he could say about that piano performance, because that’s all he could remember about the whole thing. It was as if the first couple of keys being pressed on that piano made him slip into a trance, and only when Sirzechs wanted to, did he slip out of that trance.

He broke out in a cold sweat at the thought, as he finally heard Nat’s frantic shouting in his mind, “Shin! SHIN!” 

Goosebumps rose on his arm as he snapped and took a step back, looking at the crowd of people all smiling and swaying to the tune of the piano; then his gaze went to the nobility who were doing the same as well, which confirmed for him that there was a magical component to the performance.

It made total sense, in hindsight. How else could a Devil of that power emerge in the future if all he really did was focus on his choir group and overall practice an art that does not seem to have combat applications? Sirzechs, even now, when doing his hobbies, was training, and that piano seemed particularly lethal, atleast in terms of crowd management.

This was all without taking into account the overwhelming power that Sirzechs can bring to bear if he ever entered his True Form.

For some reason, it had entered his mind that for a being with such natural innate power, they would not bother learning other forms, and he was proven wrong here.

“Shin, look!” Nat’s frantic scream made him look up, and he inevitably made eye contact with Sirzechs Gremory, the Strongest Devil alive. Or he will be in the future, but that little fact did not matter much to him, not when he seemed to be staring death in the face.

The sight of Sirzechs floating mid air, his eyes gleaming red and purple, with a purple sky behind him, seated on a floating stool, his fingers flying across a piano that was so saturated in Demonic Energy that it was constantly leaking it in wisps of fire, was pant shitting terrifying.

He gulped, feeling the gaze of the Devil lock onto his shivering form, and in that moment, he did the one thing that anyone in his place would have done. Anyone who says otherwise would be lying, he thought to himself in a vain attempt to console himself as he just turned tail and ran.

He ran as far as he could, without any aim even, until Natasha's calm voice made him snap out of his fear as he slowed down a bit, and began walking back to take the safe path back home. The moment he calmed down, he realised that it was probably an overreaction to just jump and run away, as all that had done was single him out of a huge crowd that was probably still hypnotised by the music.

Great! Sirzechs now knew his face and knew that he could break out of the magical trance, something that not even the nobility could do.

Even knowing that he could potentially be a person of interest to Heir Gremory, he had no plans of fleeing the city, not right now anyway. Where would he even go, and what would he even do? He was sure he would not be able to flee from Sirzechs for sure.

So, with a resigned mood, he walked back home, barely noting the absolute lack of any criminal activity on his way home. Not to mention the criminals, there were no other people in sight, not even regular workers. It was as if something had cleared the entire area of all devils before his arrival.

The thought had barely registered in his mind before he flinched, hearing a loud bang right next to him. Mechanically turning his head, he sighed before slumping as he saw that it was just a trash can that had fallen to the ground.

Shaking his head, he accepted that he was just going to be jumpy for quite some time before heading back home. Hopefully, he was not going to be picked up in his sleep because he had garnered the interest of Sirzechs. He did not seem to be the kind of Devil who would do that purposefully to a low class devil, but then again, his notions about Sirzechs seem to have been painted by what he knew of the man Sirzechs could become in the future.

That was a huge mistake, and he was going to stop doing that from now on.

Turning the key, he stopped for a moment before swinging the door wide open, just in case someone was hiding behind the door. As childish as it might seem, the fact that the door hit the wall hard, and no one came out to jump him, made him smile in slight relief before he got inside.

He could feel Nat trying to make her way out of the soulscape the moment he closed the door, but he clamped down on that exit, forcing her in the soulscape. He did not want to risk her appearing in his bedroom when they were potentially under surveillance.

___xx__

It was the next day, and he was going to work, and this time too, the crime that had happened in the past two days was non-existent. Nat was grumpy and angry with him for keeping her locked in the soulscape like a porcelain doll. Those were her words, not his.

He could definitely understand her frustration, and he had a hunch that he was due for a long lecture sometime in the near future, but for now, he was going to keep her safe, as he did not want to give any more indications of being interesting to beings on Sirzechs’ level.

He walked to his job, just like he usually would. He then changed into his work clothing, like he usually would. He then did his job, like he usually would, for the entire shift.

And not a single damned thing happened. No one came to confront him, no feeling of being watched, no creepy security wandering around him, no order from his supervisor for a meeting. Nothing.

What did happen, however, was that he scared himself by thinking that a mop left out around a corner of the building was a dead body. 

The entire time, he was so high-strung that by the time his shift was about to end, it felt like he had been working for days on end without any breaks in between.

Entering the janitor closet, he put on his own clothes and just stood there for a moment. Then, he took a deep breath and swung the door open, only to choke as he saw Sirzechs Gremory standing there, hands in his pockets, smiling openly at him.

He swung the door back so hard the frame rattled, as he locked himself in the janitor's closet, with only one way out.

What a Great thing to do, Shin!