A Life Kept Simple (DxD/Hentai Chaos Gacha OC-SI) — Chapter 32 (Patreon)

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Pretty quickly, and disappointingly, Ravel cleared up the misunderstanding. Turns out she would not be participating in our Rating Game as a member of Mary’s peerage. I’m not even sure that’s possible. And if it is, well, the old bastards would surely find some way to stymie that effort or penalise Mary for it. Ravel was lent to us in her capacity as a strategist, not a Bishop, which I’m still very grateful for, don’t get me wrong.

Another high-class combatant aside from Miyata and Kyouka would’ve been nice, though.

After the first Rating Game, Ravel gives us a bit of a history lesson on Sairaorg Bael. At one point, he was, in effect, ousted from the family because he didn’t possess the clan’s signature trait: the Power of Destruction (the very same one wielded by Rias Gremory and Sirzechs Lucifer, inherited from their mother, Venelana Gremory, neé Bael). His mother then fell into a coma, and Sairaorg vanished for years.

He returned to the Bael clan wielding Regulus Nemea, a Longinus, defeated his younger half-brother for the position of heir, and from there, received his Evil Pieces, and the rest was history.

Now, her first declaration as our official strategist isn’t exactly groundbreaking stuff. It comes after we’ve watched through the four Rating Games, all dominant performances that make it easy to see why Sairaorg and his peerage are so vaunted.

“Just to make sure I’m correct here, aside from Arima, his oni familiar, Mary, you three are the only ones able to fight back against some of Sairaorg Bael’s peerage.” Ravel points at Kyouka, Murata, and Miyata, while everyone else sinks in their chairs. Noticing them, she smiles apologetically. “...It’s just a shame that the rest of his peerage is varying degrees of high-class.”

Leona folds her arms across her meagre chest. “...Seto and I can heal.”

“And that is useful,” Ravel says with a kind smile. “Healers are very much in demand since Phoenix Tears are a controlled substance. Each peerage is limited to only two vials. Ooh! Speaking of, here.”

An orange magic circle, small at first, blooms above the silver ring on her finger, growing to about the width of her hand. Then, the circle fills out with orange light, almost solid-looking, yet flat. Ravel pushes her hand inside, pulling out two familiar vials of reddish liquid.

“These are for you,” she says. “I’m sure you could’ve bought them on your own, but Riser wanted to do his part to stick it to the elders.”

Mary accepts the Phoenix Tears gingerly. “First you, now these Phoenix Tears. ...I’m feeling a little indebted.”

“Don’t. My brother says, and I quote, ‘Now Arima ought to give me that spar he promised me.’”

“Doesn’t he have a match with Seekvaira Agares to worry about?” I say, shaking my head wryly.

The other first-round match-ups were declared the day after the Gathering. Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri are set to fight next on August 5th, and two days after that Riser and Seekvaira are set to go head to head.

“Hmph! My brother shall win it easily. I foresee Rias Gremory’s peerage coming out on top against Sona Sitri’s, thus pitting the two against each other.” Her smile dips a little. “...I’m not sure who will win between my brother and her, though. As for your match, the odds are certainly not in your favour.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Murata grumbles.

“But there is a chance. Provided Kuisha Abbadon, Gandoma Balam, and Regulus Nemea are contained by Mary, Ibaraki, and either Kyouka or Miyata, the rest of you merely need to—”

“Lemme guess, wait for Arima to come out on top?”

Ravel smiles wryly. “What’s the human phrase again… it’s not rocket science, I’m afraid. Unfortunately, the biggest threat to your peerage is not Sairaorg Bael, but rather his Rook, Gandoma Balam.”

“That was that rock-dude, yeah?” Murata asks. “What the hell’s up with him? He was tanking those spells like it was nothing.”

“As a descendant of the now-extinct Balam clan, he is highly resistant to magic,” Ravel says primly. “As you saw, that makes for a very effective battering ram to hurl at the enemy. Between Kuisha Abbadon directing the battle from on high, teleporting her allies using Hole… it’s no wonder that Sairaorg Bael rarely needs to lift a finger these days.”

Mary stands. “Magically resistant, you said?”

“Mhm. More so than others. In the same manner that magic below high-class is entirely ineffective on me, a high-class devil. Only, his clan trait further amplifies that resistance to ridiculous levels. Even those as strong as him would struggle to damage Gandoma Balam through magical means.”

Mary raises one hand and curls the fingers as she brings the limb down suddenly. Ravel jerks upright in her chair.

“That leaves pure physical force—!”

She twists her wrist outwards with a flourish, and Ravel’s arm shoots out to the side, nearly smacking Murata in the face. He ducks with a yelp. “H-Hey! I told you to warn me before you do that sick shit!”

Ravel’s eyes widen. She stands stiffly on the other side of the table.

“Don’t worry, that’s just me,” Mary says. “Can you try breaking out of it?”

“B-But I can’t! You’re as strong as my brother,” Ravel says.

“I’m holding back a little. This isn’t an attack you’re outclassed by.”

A wash of orange light bursts around her body. Plates rattle against the table. The curtains billow out as a howling wind tears through the dining room and sends a stack of napkins flying. Ravel grits her teeth, trembling from head to toe. Sweltering magical energy pours off her, intensifying the wind to the point that my hair’s whipping around my face. I catch a fork before it nails me in the face, watching Eunice grab fistfuls of her maid’s dress in irritation. 

I give her a tight smile in apology, whatever good it’ll do when she inevitably has to clean this all up.

Mary’s hand moves slightly, then Ravel’s arm follows it. She intentionally pours out even more magical energy in an attempt to break free. The wind buffets her chair against the wall behind her. Ravel’s face wrinkles with effort as she tries to force her arm down. Mary tilts her wrist and Ravel’s arm straightens overhead.

“I… I-I can’t,” she strains out eventually, the tempestuous winds petering off as she leashes her power.

Ravel stumbles forwards when Mary drops her hand back down, catching herself against the table as she gasps. Smoothing out her dress, she looks at Mary with new eyes, the corners of her lips twisting into a beatific smile.

“...Well. That was certainly an experience, to say the least. It’s left me with a bevy of ideas, too~!”

【—〄—】

Murata’s fist misses my jaw by about an inch. Which is impressive, considering I’m pretty sure he was aiming for my nose. Of course, I’m not really trying. It’s about a few hours after a detailed brainstorming session with Ravel. She’s gone home, and everyone’s apparently decided that the best way to vent that energy is to attack me.

We’re out on the Naamah grounds again, fighting under open skies with a sparse forest in the distance. Now, they say it’s to test out some new strategies… but I think they want an excuse to hit me for being a Negative Nancy. 

I lean away from Murata’s follow-up, catch him by the wrist, and barely get the chance to twist before several hundred pounds of Miyata barrels into me from the side. My shoes dig two deep grooves through the grass. And since I’ve got my hands full with Miyata the Furball, Murata takes advantage of my occupied hands to cock his fist back again.

I toss Miyata into the air with a strained grunt. Limiting myself to just my bare hands and magical energy is tough, but nothing stops me from smashing a high kick into his descending snout. The poor werewolf goes sailing head over heels with a yelp.

Murata’s fist smashes into my cheek.

“HAH!”

I turn back, giving him a deadpan stare.

His grin disappears. “...Oh.”

I punch him through a tree. In the distance, Seto nocks a water arrow in his ethereal bow. I hunch over, ready to dodge it, but it skims my head instead. Water floods over my back and shoulders as the thing bursts apart far sooner than I expected. …Wait, water?

Seto fires another water arrow, except this one stays connected to his fingers. Ice races along the tether, solidifying the damp bits of my clothes. The puddles around my feet harden, freezing me to the spot.

“Oh, you motherfuckers—”

Kyouka bounds across the grass, laughing at the top of her lungs. As usual, she’s wearing some variation of all-too-short shorts and a crop top so her tail doesn’t rip a hole through her clothes. I debate breaking out of the ice but decide against it. It was a well-thought-out scheme. Thus, I tank Kyouka’s ridiculously acrobatic kick as she chases me on all fours, her claws shearing straight through the ice. I’m not so nice when she pounces this time, slamming a sidekick into her stomach.

I pivot on my foot and whip her overhead. She curses loudly, twisting in midair. A pink magical circle flashes beneath her, solid brown earth parting the grass. Kyouka lands on a pillar wide enough to stand on and immediately blasts off. The earthen pillar shatters under the force of her jump.

“You’re welcome!” Leona harrumphs some distance to Seto’s left.

Though instead of going straight at me like I expect her to, she slams onto all fours and feints. I actually fall for it, too, raising my hands to protect my face only to feel every knuckle of that punch. I leave the ground, flipping over and landing on my feet as Kyouka comes at me again. She’s still nowhere near as technically skilled as she ought to be, but a month with Mary has at least taught her not to wind up every punch with the intention to end it all.

I glance at Miyata bounding towards me and make the split-second decision to toss Kyouka into him after I catch her fist. Really, it’s her fault for being too slow on the return.

“Shit!” Surprisingly, Miyata manages to catch Kyouka, but it means abandoning his charge. “S-Sorry.”

With that threat mitigated, I don’t have the time to relax because Seto’s seen fit to pincushion me with dozens of ice arrows. If nothing else, it was a spot of genius for Murata to recommend he ape Licht Regen from Uryu Ishida. Could stand to work on his aim, though. About half those arrows miss me completely and…

Shit. After all those exchanges, Seto circled out to my front, leaving Leona to my back. Mary’s somewhere under my Cloak of Invisibility, but she hasn’t made a move yet. The other half of those arrows went straight towards Saki. She throws both arms over her face as the first arrow bursts against her shoulder, covering it in hoarfrost. The next salvo shatters against Saki’s body in rapid succession. The translucent layer over her skin appears almost immediately behind the cold vapour.

Saki squeaks, turning her shoulder into the barrage.

I barrel across the grass towards Seto before she can fully adapt, but the ground jumps up as a stone slab takes me in the chest. I skid back and twist back to Leona. She gives me this coquettish look, and three more slabs converge to try and crush me. I weave around them and punch through the next one she throws at me, coming out the other side covered in dirt while Seto’s arrows keep screaming overhead.

“YES!”

Fuck. And there goes Waterbending neutralised. Looks like I held back a little too much, huh? I groan, letting Seto scramble back around as the combat resets. Through the dust, I see hints of fire. Flames spread across the rest of her body a second later, swallowing her completely without so much as singeing her clothes. The ice coating the grass around her hisses into steam beneath her feet as she stands completely wreathed in fire.

My entire body locks up, legs going rigid under me. Mary’s smirking, disembodied head pops up twenty metres away, red hair spilling out while the rest of her remains entirely invisible. She’s grinning from ear to ear, disappearing almost immediately before anyone else can see her.

“GET HIM!”

Kyouka and Miyata come tearing towards me together while Murata rushes in from the opposite direction, covered in wood shavings. Seto draws a crackling lightning arrow. Leona raises both hands as they begin to spark, with Saki pooling her fire into a ball in front of her. Meanwhile, I try to move my arm to absolutely no avail. Instead, it wrenches behind my back unpleasantly.

I push against her hold, all the magical energy I can muster surging through me. It grows past the general high-class level I’ve been restricting my attacks to, but my arm stays exactly where she’s keeping it. My friends’ advance slows dramatically under the pressure of my entire pool of magical energy, which buys me a little more time.

…Honestly, I’m finding an entirely new appreciation for Bloodbending. I might not have had much reason to use it before, but I sure have one now. My magical energy fucks with Seto and Leona’s spells, forcing them to abandon them, which is a nice coincidence, but Kyouka, Miyata, and Murata are still coming.

And so is Saki’s huge fireball.

I grit my teeth and tap into my base of life. The blue aura surging around me lightens into teal, and Mary’s hold over me snaps. My arm jerks free so violently I nearly punch myself in the stomach. I stumble forward, catching myself on one foot. Mary shrugs off the cloak and rushes towards me, looking worried.

“You broke out,” she says. “With touki.”

Kyouka’s face falls. “...Fuck.”

If I can do it, so can Sairaorg. Those in earshot realise it a moment later, given just how palpable the drop in mood is. …Is it wrong of me to be kind of happy? Of course, I want my girlfriend to do well. Especially if it means ruining those old bastards’ days. But I have to admit it, being able to fight Sairaorg on the big screen and win for Notus’ sake is far more of an attractive way to win.

Mary glowers at me, definitely sensing my relief.

“C’mon,” I say, raising my hands. “Sairaorg is the only person on his peerage who can use touki. You’ve got tons of other targets to pick on, right?”

“I guess,” she concedes with a huff.

Reaching into my pocket, I uncap Riptide and plunge my offhand into my inventory. Out comes the bronze shield Notus gave to me. They all take a few steps back, making me chuckle, because I’m not exactly done. My heartbeat kicks into overdrive. Blood thunders through my veins faster and faster as I push straight through to Second Gear to the point where it boils up against my skin.

“That just means we can turn this thing into an entirely different kind of training.”

Kyouka’s ears flatten against her head. “...G-Guys?” 

“Like what?” Murata dares to ask, making me grin.

“What it feels like to fight against someone monstrously stronger than you, of course. Payback time, you evil motherfuckers. C’mere!”

The next few minutes are cathartic… at least for me, anyway. Murata learns rather quickly that he can’t get away with just throwing himself at me anymore. Though I did need to bash his nose with my bronze shield. Miyata lasts a little longer, mostly because he’s faster and stronger. But also because he has the good sense to attack me alongside Kyouka rather than taking me on alone.

They come at me from opposite sides, claws flashing. I pivot, bring the shield up, and catch Kyouka’s next punch against bronze. Her fist rings against it hard enough to make my arm shudder.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?”

“Shut up!” She swings again. As I weave past it, a bolt of lightning roars to meet me where I am.

“Full Counter.” I reflect it right back at Leona, not even forced back a step as she stiffens up with a scream. Seto nocks an arrow into his bow, but I suddenly appear in front of him. His face goes pale.

Riptide takes his feet out from under him. The thing is, the ground beneath me bursts apart before I can follow up, launching me high into the air. I immediately locate Mary. Her fist is wreathed in lightning as she blurs up to meet me.

“You can’t use that for a few minutes now,” she says, smiling.

“This is still a magic shield,” I tell her as I block her punch with it. The force sends me into a flip, and Miyata barrels into me the instant I touch down on the grass. He tries to turn me underneath him, so I let him, planting both feet into his stomach to kick him off.

He craters the ground, and Saki’s fireball comes next. I jump, letting it wash over him right as Kyouka launches herself at me. Her legs settle over my shoulders, wrapping tight around my nape. Her crotch grinds into my face as she leans back. I stop her from flipping me over by dropping Riptide to hook an arm around the small of her back.

Then I jump up and dive.

“W-Wait—!”

Kyouka’s back slams into the grass with enough force to bounce her off it. Her legs loosen around my neck, and I roll forwards, catching both ankles before she can recover. Kyouka sails screaming across the field and takes Murata out just as he’s finally gotten back up.  This is maybe the twelfth exchange so far, and they’re all exhausted. I’ve seen what I wanted to see, anyway. If Sairaorg’s peerage gets the upper hand, these idiots aren’t going to roll over because somebody’s stronger than them but aren’t stupid enough to try the same thing over and over again… which is nice.

It’s also incredibly fucking irritating when I’m the stronger person.

“All right, I think—”

I raised my lowered shield out of reflex more than anything else. The impact against it blows the grass around us completely flat. I slide a decent bit backwards. That was the strongest hit so far, a decent bit more powerful than anything Mary’s thrown at me since. I peer over the top of my shield to find golden eyes staring back at me. Ibaraki’s still in her pyjamas, which is to say my pyjamas. She’s barefoot in the grass, her clawed red feet digging to find purchase in the soil.

Her fist is still pressed flat against the middle of Notus’ shield, golden eyes peeking over the rim.

“...You’re fighting.”

“We were fighting. You’re a little late. Besides, you’ve shown absolutely no interest in everything so far.”

Her eyes flick past me. Her gaze moves over everyone, lingering on the dirt and around the snapped trees and ruined grass, with all their bruises and burns.

She snorts. “You needlessly weakened yourself in all those sessions before. It was beneath me. But this… why was I not awakened?”

“Because you were asleep!”

“That is no excuse!”

I blink. “You’re mad because I… didn’t wake you up?”

“For depriving me of battle!”

“I was just about to call it, actually.”

“No.” She draws her fist back.

I sigh and lower the shield. “Look, they’re all knackered. We can spar privately later if you really—”

Ibaraki punches me in the face. Seeing that she’s got as much magical energy as me… that makes her patently stronger than Mary. It also means it actually hurts, even if I’m a decent bit stronger than her. My head snaps sideways. I slowly look back at her. She’s smiling.

“...Well, this is your funeral.” I smash my bronze shield across her stomach. Ibaraki folds over and flies. She tears through the grass, bounces once, and smashes through the trunk of a tree, bringing it down with her.

“Kuhahaha...!” Ibaraki emerges from beneath the branches with blood running down her chin, seemingly delighted. “Again!”

I barely get my shield up before her knee crashes against it. By then I’ve uncapped Riptide. She lands, ducks under Riptide, and drives both claws towards my stomach. I twist aside, but one catches my shirt and tears straight through it.

Ibaraki laughs again. Her pupils are thinner. The little trickle of blood beneath her mouth doesn’t seem to register at all. She stumbles after I bash the pommel into her stomach, wiping her chin on the back of her hand. Ibaraki looks at the smear and licks it.

I sometimes forget because she spends most of her days eating my food, watching television, and harassing Sir Blob, that the couch potato living in my house is an oni. 

Ibaraki barrels into my shield again.

“Come now, Takezo!” She laughs when I shove her away. “Surely thou hast more than that!”

“You’re slipping again. I thought you said you wouldn’t use ‘thou’ and ‘thy’ anymore!”

I kick her, but she catches my leg. I let myself go with her yank, twisting in the air and smashing my other heel across her temple. Her grip disappears. I land on one hand, spring back upright only for Mary to punch me in the kidney. I grunt, tumbling onto my side, weapons still in my grasp.

“Sorry!” Clearly she isn’t, judging by the smile on her face.

I spin after her, but Ibaraki crashes into me before I can take two steps. I catch her by the face with my shield and shove. A rush of icy water slithers around my ankles and solidifies. Frowning, I look into the distance to find Seto nocking a water arrow into his bow. Behind me, a massive stone wall rises courtesy of Leona. Thankfully, Saki’s not got the juice to keep her adaptation up anymore.

Ibaraki suddenly whirls around as Seto lets loose. A huge bone sword materialises in her hands. Flames burst along its broadside as she swings, sending a wave of fire not just towards Seto, but Saki and Leona as well. Naturally, the wave of water arrows evaporates under her oni-fire.

“Those weren’t even aimed at you!” Seto howls, but she’s not really listening.

Ibaraki’s grin goes positively feral. She swings at me, and Riptide meets her bone sword. The impact sends a shockwave across the field, but I’m the one who wins out despite the sweltering heat. Ibaraki’s feet leave the ground. I ram Notus’ shield into her chest before she can recover and send her hurtling away, then twist as a lightning arrow comes screaming towards my head.

Seto nocks a fire arrow, and as he lets loose, multiplies it into a volley. I raise my shield and laugh under my breath.

“Full Counter.”

Seto dives behind Leona’s cover, taking Saki with him as the explosive arrows rush towards the three of them. Miyata comes from behind. I elbow him in the snout. Then Kyouka comes from the front and also takes a shield to the face.

“FUCK!”

I come out the other side, smoking slightly, and find Ibaraki already waiting. The fire’s around more than just her sword. Her magical energy is practically fire itself, or at least fire-aspected. Its heat stings my face. I point Riptide and blast her with Hydro Pump. It turns to steam instantly and blankets us in a cloud of vapour. She cuts it apart, banishing it with a single swing and rushing towards me. I dodge the blade. Fire follows her swing and sets the grass alight for nearly a hundred metres. I slam a series of punches into her open, muscled stomach, sending her skipping across the field.

She catches herself on the bone sword, carving a long trench through the dirt before finally stopping. By now, everyone’s mostly given up on fighting around her to sit back and watch the sudden 1v1. Ibaraki’s ample chest rises and falls rapidly. Her eyes are wide. Pupils narrowed to slits.

“To think you were this much stronger!” she says ecstatically. She raises her right arm. The air shimmers moments before a wave of fire explodes around her. “But perhaps this may even the odds!”

Oh shit.

“Don’t—!”

“Rashoumon Daiengi!”

Her right arm detaches. What was a small clawed hand becomes a gigantic flaming arm, red oni-fire boiling around it until the entire thing is practically a meteor coming straight at me and torching swathes of the field beside. As soon as she utters the words, her magical energy spikes. I’m facing an attack no weaker than myself. My eyes fall to my shield. I could deflect it with Full Counter, but it’d destroy my shield. And if I dodge it, that’s the forest—and probably the lake—gone.

I’ve not got any choice except to take it, really. Gritting my teeth, I toss my shield into the inventory and focus entirely on reinforcing myself with magical energy, bracing my feet for all the good that does. The demonic right arm hits with force. I roar, muscles straining as I barely knock it aside with Riptide, sent hurtling skyward in the process. Riptide goes spinning out of my hand as it screeches away beneath me into the forest.

Half the fucking treeline disappears behind fire while the arm rises to finish me off in the air. I baulk at the sight and lift my arms.

“Nue!” The red-feathered shikigami appears out of the familiar subspace in a flash of prismatic light, flying me down to the ground. We drop like a stone through the air. Heat bears down on my back. I look over my shoulder and find her giant hand still coming, with fingers spread wide enough to grab the both of us.

“Nue, drop me!”

She vanishes, and I fall the remaining twenty metres. Ibaraki looks up. Her grin falters when she realises exactly where I’m going. I twist in the air. The enormous hand changes direction with me as I hit the ground beside her and immediately launch myself away.

The burning hand comes screaming down after me and straight towards its owner.

“YOU COWARD!”

I chase her. “Turn it off!”

“I SHALL DO NO SUCH—”

Ibaraki yelps and throws herself sideways as her own Noble Phantasm ploughs into the earth where she was standing. Fire erupts in every direction. I skid backwards with both arms over my face. Dirt and burning clumps of grass rain down around me. When I look again, there’s a huge crater in Baron Naamah’s grounds with Ibaraki standing at the edge of it. Her enormous arm is already looping back around.

I run straight at her.

“That is hardly sporting!” she yells at me. “Stop running in!”

“I’m not getting punched by a meteor because you think it’s sporting!”

Ibaraki actually tries to keep it going, turning in place as I repeatedly put her between myself and the Noble Phantasm. Eventually she clicks her tongue, and the enormous arm erupts into fire with a demonic yowl. It shrinks as it burns, scattering embers across the ruined field before disappearing altogether.

Ibaraki’s normal arm reappears a moment later. “...There.”

“Great. We’re done.”

She frowns, so I gesture around us. The grounds look like someone bombed them. A sizeable chunk of the forest is on fire.

“I-Is it over?” Saki asks weakly.

Mary just raises both hands. “Yeah. I’m done.”

“Same,” Leona groans.

Seto weakly lifts one arm. “Seconded.”

Ibaraki looks between all of them in disbelief. I’m pretty sure Murata is out cold, and Miyata can’t exactly speak, but he looks haggard enough, even in his werewolf form.

“But we have only just begun!” Ibaraki protests.

“You’ve only just begun,” Leona huffs. “We’ve been at this for ages.”

“Then continue!”

A burning tree chooses that exact moment to collapse. We all watch it fall.

Ibaraki looks back at me. “...One more exchange.” She huffs, bone sword resting over one shoulder as she looks around for support, but finds no support in anyone.

Kyouka shakes her head. “Fuck that noise. We’re tired. Take the hint!”

Ibaraki looks so betrayed as we walk away that I can’t help but laugh. Her eyes light up at the noise. She jogs after us, slapping my back as she catches up.

“You called an end to the battle after my attack.”

I narrow my eyes.

“You ended the battle.” She folds her arms beneath her bust with a smug smile. “Therefore victory is mine.”

“Sure.” I laugh again and walk past her. “Yeah, yeah. Congratulations on torching Baron Naamah’s garden.”

She follows after me, loudly insisting that the forest is a small price to pay for witnessing her glorious victory. It goes on all the way into the house, where the maids look out in horror at the destruction that she’s mostly wrought. We all split up to take the various showers around the house as the evening drags on.

There’s ash in my hair and dirt everywhere else. Ibaraki ruined one of my shirts with her claws, and the comedown from Advance is starting to make every muscle in my body feel like shit. I denied a blowjob from Mary, mostly because I know where shower encounters lead. I can’t let her score another win after caving into her demands this morning!

Thus, I make do with using the shower water to heal myself. It’s a careful and meditative process, too, right until the door explodes off its hinges. I pop my head out of the curtain.

“What the fuck, Ibaraki? Did you just break the door?”

“It would not open.”

“Because I locked it!”

Ibaraki frowns, undoing the lock from the inside, and then locks the door again. “...There.”

“Well, as you can see, this one’s occupied. Get out so I can finish showering.”

“No.” She turns her chin up at me. “I came here for my spoils. I won.”

“You won on a technicality!”

“A victory is a victory.”

Naturally, she shuts me up by stripping, leaving me gawking at her nudity as she rips open the shower curtain. She steps in with me. The water wets her hair and runs over broad shoulders and down the hard lines of her stomach, following every ridge of muscle before disappearing further down, past the surprisingly well-kept jungle she’s got. I gawk at thighs that should have no business being that muscled, and as if to taunt me, Ibaraki gives one a quick flex.

“Have you had your fill yet?” She catches me staring and grins, pushing me against the tiled shower wall. “I defeated you, Takezo. Did you think an oni would simply leave her spoils unclaimed?”

“The no-sex rule applies to you, too.”

“Ah, you mean the temporary celibacy?” Her grin widens. “Well, I have it on good authority that your impish mate broke that rule this morning. The other impish girl is currently—”

“I know,” I say, cutting her off with a grimace. Leona’s skirting the no-sex rule slightly with Tantric Healing to deal with Murata’s Advance side effects. Honestly, with everyone finding these loopholes to do shit provided they don’t get off, I should’ve thrown this all in the bin, but we’re two days out from the Rating Game. 

A claw-tipped finger trails down my chest, sending a shiver down my spine.

“...I’ll concede that point.”

“Good!”

“W-Whoa!”

Ibaraki hoists me up before I can react. My stomach drops as I end up across her shoulders, legs dangling down her back. “You do seem less opposed to defeat below the belt.”

“Again, you didn’t win!” Her arms wrap possessively around my lower back as she laughs. 

“Such insolence from my spoils won’t be tolerated. Though this ought to put an end to that~!”

Ibaraki shifts me higher and pulls me into her mouth, proving herself completely and utterly right—not that I’m complaining.

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