The Hidden Piece

Things just got a bit complicated. Now I was sure that whoever attacked Rias wasn't supposed to exist in canon. The question is, how did I manage to make him appear here? Although I knew that things wouldn't be the same in the future due to my appearance, I tried to keep my involvement in the supernatural world to a minimum, to the point of stunting my growth. Although I was far superior to a low-class devil in both magic reserve and physical prowess, I could have been much stronger were it not for my attention to not attract too much attention from the big players.

Now that Rias told me what happened, I could already see other ways to get out of the mess I created, or more specifically try to get the same result I would have gotten if I could apply my previous plans. If I played my card right, this unknown enemy would be an excellent way to propel me to where I wanted to stand in the devil world. Still, I didn't expect things with Riser to take such a dangerous turn. It would be stupid to think that Rias, now without the backing of her family, would be able to resist the Phenex' family demands, with or without the law on her side. Rules were quickly forgotten when it came to people in power, something that Rias currently lacked.

Still, it didn't mean that what she did was stupid. She gave herself time to sort this situation; if she didn't, she would have been immediately married off to Riser. Now she had until the Phenex decided to push the marriage. The Gremory family could not help her in any way either, so she was truly alone.

The fact that her peerage abandoned her made me feel a bit of anger, but I could still understand why. Rias never honestly tried to heal their wound, despite being their King and showering them in affection and getting them the best teachers to help them grow for a time. It was nowhere near enough to have a functioning peerage. Koneko lost her arm and probably blamed her King for what happened, as Rias showed multiple times in canon that she was more than willing to put her peerage in danger if it meant not getting help from her family. She wanted to prove herself, and her peerage was in danger multiple times due to this. Contrary to what happened to canon, however, Rias' peerage was new, they didn't know each other for that long and thus had a weaker bond.

Also, in canon, the arrival of Issei was what allowed them to keep their bond together; in a way, he was the one carrying the peerage whenever something happened. They never experienced any loss like they just did yesterday expect when they lost Issei. Although when they lost him, they went into a depressive mood immediately, showing his importance in the peerage.

Now, they didn't have this pillar in their team, so Rias would have to finally show some qualities as a King and recover what was lost.

I looked at her who seemed a lot better after telling me what she had on the heart. " I see. Well, it seems that things didn't progress the way I wanted them to. " I said since I now planned to reveal a bit of my identity, there was no point hiding the fact that I knew far more about her situation than I should. I also decided to take this occasion to recruit Rias so that I could have better control over what is happening.

She looked at me with a raised eyebrow, obviously not particularly liking what she just heard. " What way are you talking about Mr Aellias? " she asked me, not using my name anymore. It seemed that she didn't like being manipulated. Not that anyone wanted it.

I sighed, " I have a lot to tell you as well it seems. We don't have time to do it but since you know my address, come to my house alone after school. " I said. Rias went through multiple emotions as she pondered the hidden meaning behind what I said. She took a few seconds to realize what I meant as her eyes widened, and she blushed profusely, but still smiled at the end as she accepted my proposition.

" I'll do that Deo. " she added before turning around and walking out of the class. I smirked when I noticed the extra sway she put on her hips as she exited the room.

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I sat around in the backyard of the kendo club. They had some sort of large private area that was supposed to be the place where another club building would have been placed, but ultimately it didn't come to fruition. Therefore the kendo club had quite a bit of extra space to work with. This was my favourite place to rest, although boring myself to death would be a better sentence for my case. Classes were fun to hold, but they didn't last long and teaching English was not precisely that interesting either. The reason why I preferred coming here was that I could advise the girls practising kendo. I was a bit known for doing it. Although I was no swordsman, I could give tips about fighting with a sword in general against different types of enemies just with my imagination and my knowledge that continued to grow each day.

Every time I exposed myself to a new form of martial arts, it was as if my brain because a PC downloading the information, tossing away everything unnecessary automatically before merging the latest information with what I already had. The problem was that I would not use martial arts against a lot of people in this world. Few were appropriate opponents for me to use martial arts in general. Although the martial arts ability in my status kept progressing, it was a skill that encompassed the physical ability to hurt someone with one's own body.

Giant creatures of various forms were not the type of opponent I could use martial arts on. I was currently sitting on one of the few benches that were put in the kendo club's back area. A silvery voice rang behind me and dissipated my thoughts.

" Well, well, well, if it isn't Mr Aellias? Coming here to give those girls advice? "

I turned around and saw the one I was searching for. She was currently wearing her usual kendo attire. Her long ebony locks, flowing freely, were sticking to her head due to the sweat, showing that she had just come out of her workout routine. Her eyes were a piercing hazel coupled with sharp eyebrows that were unusual on women but only added to her charm. Her plump lips were coloured by a pink that women usually tried to achieve with make-up and her thin nose contrasted to her stronger-than-average jawline that gave me the impression of facing a warrior.

She instinctively gave the feeling of being a female warrior, one that would have no trouble going up against her male counterparts. Despite having such traits, she was far from unattractive. Quite the opposite, her face fitted well her toned body, one that I had no problem to see through, even with her clothes on, revealing that she indulged in fights that were so exotic in the current era. She had seen more than one death, and she would see many more in the future. Clothed in a kimono that somehow clung to her skin, one could admire the curves of her body. Contrary to most women in this world, her bust was only slightly above the average that I would see in my previous world, making it seem excessively small for this world. Her bottom, however, was quite heavy, even for this world, through natural means and by the constant exercise she seemed to undergo.

She caught me checking her out, her senses, especially her sight, being ones that could potentially rival even mine, but she took no action to stop me, her little smirk indicating that she enjoyed the way my eyes roamed around her form. This moment only lasted a few seconds, before my eyes rejoined her gaze. I didn't take notice of the apparent blade scar that ran from the top of eyes, cutting through her left eyebrow to the middle of her cheek. Her demeanour was enough for me that this woman, captain of the kendo club, took school activities in kendo for nothing more than a play, a substitute to the real thing that she already experienced.

" If it isn't the prodigy itself, what brings you here? " I asked, purposefully deepening my already fruity voice. I met this woman quite a while ago, and she seemed to like disappearing over long periods like a ghost, before coming back and acting like nothing happened. To my surprise, the school was okay with it and didn't ask more from her, which raised my interest initially considering the strict nature of such a high-end school.

However, my interest peaked when I realized what her name was, and how both Sona and Rias simply didn't take notice of what kind of existence was hiding on school ground all this time.

At the word prodigy, her gaze hardened and her jaw clenched just a bit, barely enough for me to notice, but she soon relaxed once again. " Well, compared to the people here, I guess I could be called a prodigy, but in reality, I am only average, after all, it is a big world out there. "

In response, I only chuckled. She was also quite blunt in her words, but the implication behind her words was not missed. Someone with her name was aware of the supernatural world, possibly much more than me in the details, as most of my information came from what I knew of canon, so mainly significant events. Everything else, which in my opinion was more important than what I knew, was information that people that lived through the supernatural world their whole life. It was something that I desperately needed to coordinate my actions in the right direction.

" I don't think so; I think you'll do fine even in the big world. You have proven to be leaps and bounds above what I considered humanly possible after all. "

She smirked at my words and approached me. I knew that she knew what I was. The identity of everyone in this school was probably already figured out for her. Someone that could hide so efficiently from everyone in this school for so long, including devils, would pierce through my concealment with ease.

My whole body could feel it; it was her eyes.

The hazel coloured and seemingly only beautiful eyes if only piercing were the source of her abilities to see through people. The colour and form of the pupil was probably fake, a way to dissimulate her skills.

" Why thank you professor..." she paused, now right in front of me and even though she was tall for a women, she was barely at my eye level when I was sitting down on the bench. Still, I could feel the smidgen of arrogance in her voice, the bit of a challenge she just sent me by looking straight into my eyes. " Coming from someone as strong as you, it certainly is a compliment. " she continued, a smile making its way to her face.

My body temperature rose a little bit as if to ready itself to respond to the challenge this woman just issued. I didn't hide my terrifying smile anymore, as two pearly white elongated canines appeared on my face.

She didn't look afraid. Good.

" I still wonder what do you hide behind this wonderful body Mr Aellias. " she said in a deeper tone, retreating for a few steps. It seemed that she didn't know as much as I thought, or she was just leading me on. I responded, emphasizing her family name:

" Only if you tell me your secrets, Miyamoto Kamiko "