Chapter 39: Final Preparations

Author's Note: For those interested, there are now two advanced chapters (we're on chapter 41) on P-atreon, which you can read for just $3.

And yes, I said there are 2 more chapters , because we have officially finished volume 1 of this story on my p-atreon!

There are still some things left to publish, like some extra stories about some other characters and the "what if" story or the side story depending on which one wins the poll that is posted on my p-atreon.

Also, I published the sixth chapter of my new story: "Tales of Saiyans, Demons and Gods". And the seventh one should be published in about 2 more days.

For now I'm prioritizing the multiversal chat story, so the TOSDAG updates won't be as frequent as this one, still, if you can, please go to my profile and check it out, and if you're interested you can see another 3 chapters on my P-atreon, it only costs $3.

Remove the spaces and dash: p-atreon/ Krakenian01

X-X-X-X-X

Ryuichi P.O.V

While I finished putting on my shoes at the entrance of my house, I looked back at the counter for the mission to begin, 28 hours, a little more than a full day until the "tutorial" I had been living since the chat appeared was over.

"I'll be right back." I said to my brother, who was eating breakfast sitting at the table.

He just looked at me a little worried before giving me a quick. "Take care"

Leaving my house, I went down the stairs and walked through the streets of Kuoh thinking about the things I had to do today.

A couple could be risky, but they were things that I had to do, and my first stop was the Kuoh Academy.

######

Ryuichi P.O.V

"You can come in." After knocking on a wooden door and being allowed by a familiar voice, I entered the place, and what I found were 4 devils, Rias, Sona, Akeno, and the girl who had been the referee in my duel with Kiba, Tsubaki.

"Excuse me." I said, walking in and sitting on the chair in front of the 4 girls.

"So." Sona started. "When you called you said you needed an urgent meeting with us, so I guess it's something really serious, right?" She asked me, staring at me, and after a few seconds, she narrowed her gaze a little, as if she had noticed something.

"I-" I started to speak, but Sona's raised hand stopped me.

"Did something happen to you? You seem… a little different, your expression seems to have changed a little, was it because of yesterday?" She said, looking at me carefully.

I didn't know how to respond, because it was obvious that it had to do with what had happened yesterday, but I didn't want to give any clue about what I did after the devils left the place.

"I didn't sleep well, that's all." I answered, using a fact that was true.

Sona seemed to want to say something, but in the end, she shook her head a few times. "So, what did you want to tell us?"

"Starting tomorrow, I will be away from Kuoh for a couple of weeks, I tell you this so you don't think about the weekly meetings"

I had decided to get straight to the point, today when I woke up some text had been added to the quest, and luckily, it had been something "beneficial", it turned out that no matter how long I was in that other world fulfilling the mission, here only 12 days would pass.

That was good and eliminated the problem of being away for too long in case the mission failed, but I was going to give it my all anyway, after all, I didn't want to screw it up and come back in less than half a month being closer to thirty than twenty if my luck was terrible.

So, to give myself some extra time in case any setbacks happened, like when I returned and was transported to some foreign country, I decided to round the time to 2 weeks, the 2 extra days should give me enough time to get my hands on some device with internet connection and ask for help.

At that moment, Rias decided to speak. "And the reason you are leaving is?"

I moved my head from right to left a couple of times, I was already expecting a question like that, and I had planned the closest thing to an answer. "I can't tell you"

Well, more or less an answer.

"Someone contacted you and is extorting you?" Sona asked.

"It's not that, there is simply something I have to do, but I can promise that it will not affect any of you or your peerage, I simply wanted to ask you to please be extra vigilant with any possible devil or threat to Kuoh, I will not be here to protect my brother or people at my school, and that worries me"

"You are aware of how suspicious this sounds, right?"

"Yes, but as I said before, it is not something that will harm you, in fact, in the worst-case scenario the only one affected will be me"

"And you need help?" Rias' question surprised me a little, but in the end, the answer was obvious.

"Surely yes, but this is something I am forced to do alone." I responded sighing lightly.

"That's all, I have some things I need to prepare, I won't take up any more of your time." I said standing up, neither of the two devils sitting on the furniture or those behind them said anything, so I assumed they had nothing else to say.

"Oh, and before I forget." I said after taking a few steps forward, looking over my shoulder at them. "The fallen incident, I can't be the only one who thinks it was incredibly strange, they supposedly should have known this was their territory, and yet they risked bringing Asia here, I don't know if you want my opinion, but it all seemed quite premeditated." I gave a hint of what I knew before moving toward the door again.

"We will investigate it thoroughly." It was Sona's voice that answered me.

"There's something I think you should know." Rias added. "Asia decided to join my peerage, so shortly after we left yesterday I decided to reincarnate her as a devil"

"I see." I said. "Based on what little I can infer from her, she doesn't seem to have lived a pleasant life as a human, so I hope she can find what she desires living as a devil"

I continued to move forward and when I opened the door, the voices of both heiresses spoke again.

"Good luck with whatever you have to do"

I paused for a couple of seconds, but then raised my hand and waved it in acknowledgment and goodbye before closing the door.

As I walked away, I couldn't help but think once again about whether devils were like Diodora in general, and these two seemed to be the exception, or it was just the opposite.

######

Ryuichi P.O.V

With the warning given to the devils, I walked through the streets of Kuoh towards my next stop, I was not going to tell them directly what I knew or show them the recording I had made by placing my phone on a branch before Diodora appeared.

Maybe we were on favorable terms, but the guy I killed was Beelzebub's younger brother, and I doubted the devils would stay quiet if they found out what had happened, so I decided to let them investigate and draw their own conclusions.

But if I had asked them for something fair, which was the meticulous protection of Kuoh in my absence, which was already their job, then now I was going to ask someone else for an unreasonable favor.

Standing in front of the door, I took a couple of breaths before raising my hand to knock, but before doing so, I heard a scream, and the door flew open.

A pink-haired woman dressed in the Tegumi School sports uniform came out, bumping into me.

This whole thing was so weird and sudden that I didn't react in time and ended up falling backward with my teacher on top of me.

"Kirisu-sensei? What happened?"

"T-that!" She pointed into her apartment without saying what she was so scared of, and when I looked up, I saw a cockroach in the hall, moving its antennae towards us as if it were watching us before moving towards us.

"Hye!" My teacher screamed and clung to me with her hands and legs as if I were a lifejacket in the middle of the sea, preventing me from moving properly to deal with the insect.

With no other option, I used the only free leg I had, lifting it and ending my teacher's nightmare with a stomp, although I almost missed the blow because I couldn't move properly with my teacher doing her best imitation of a koala.

But with the creature out of hell defeated, Kirisu-sensei's breathing normalized little by little until after a few seconds, I dared to ask. "Are you okay sensei?"

The older woman seemed to realize the situation we were in and she moved at a speed that almost made me think she was faster than Kiba, jumping away from me with her face redder than a ripe tomato.

"K-kaname-kun?" She asked, a little embarrassed.

"Hi, Kirisu-sensei." I greeted, trying to lighten the mood, although I had to admit that the situation embarrassed me a little too.

"What are you doing here? No, wait, you can't stay out here, if a neighbor comes out there could be a misunderstanding, please come in." She asked me, and I obeyed, after all, I called her sensei, and if anyone listened to me, might wonder why a student came to his teacher's home.

And I would never underestimate the power of gossip, I wouldn't care what they say about me, but it could affect Kirisu-sensei, after all, she was a teacher.

When we were inside, we sat on the cushions in front of the small coffee table she had in her room.

Seeing small apartments like this made me more aware of how lucky my brother and I had been to live in a fairly big one, which made me nod to myself, reaffirming my decision to agree to never contact my mother's family again in exchange for a pension and the apartment.

"So?" My teacher asked, entering the room with a couple of cups of iced tea. "Why are you here? Our next study meeting was scheduled for tomorrow"

"Oh, no, that's not why I came." I said before taking a sip of the tea. "It's actually something much more-" I was interrupted when, just as I put down the cup and lowered my arms, my fingers brushed against something made of cloth that was on the floor.

And when I raised my hand, I saw that what I was holding was a pastel pink bra with soft-red flower embellishments.

I was speechless, not only because I was holding what was probably my teacher's underwear, but also because I never expected the mess in this place to reach these levels.

The last time I had been here the worst thing I had found lying on the floor were some education magazines, dress clothes like pants, blouses, and shirts, along with some empty instant food containers.

Before I could think more, the bra was snatched from my hand, and Kirisu-sensei put it behind her back. "That didn't happen, do you hear me Kaname-kun? That never happened, understood?"

Even if she asked me that, I was hardly going to forget a sight like that, I didn't imagine that Kirisu-sensei would wear underwear such... how to say, ornate? Pretty?

Taking advantage of the fact that she was avoiding my gaze, I looked at her and almost automatically imagined her wearing the bra I had found, and in my opinion, it looked pretty good on her.

But it seemed like I stared at her too long, intensely enough to catch her attention, and as if she guessed my thoughts, she dropped the bra and hugged her body as if she trying to hide it from my sight.

"Indecent! What kind of things are you imagining?! I am your teacher!" She asked clearly embarrassed.

And surprisingly, I laughed, not only because of her words, but the whole situation was what made me laugh, not because it was really funny, but because I realized the contrast between the "normal" situations that I experienced when I was with "normal" people, unlike when I talked about topics related to the supernatural world.

I preferred the cliché situations that I would see in school series or romantic comedies to the magical scenarios full of danger where lives were at stake.

"W-why are you laughing? I knew it, my image as a teacher was completely destroyed, my life ended." My teacher said with a dead smile and a blank look.

"Hahaha, it's not that, sensei, it's just that after all the magical nonsense, I never thought I'd see someone alarmed by such normal problems." I explained once I finished laughing.

This seemed to calm her and unnerve her at the same time, keeping her in that state for a few seconds before she looked a little offended, crossing her arms, looking away while I could have even sworn that I had heard a "hmph" before she spoke. "Rude, well, I'm sorry for not being a person with powers who cares about incredibly important things"

"Hahaha, I wanted to talk to you about something a little serious, but with the atmosphere like this I don't think it would go well." I said, which caught her attention, and her expression changed to a worried one.

"Something happened?" I noticed that deep beneath the worry, there was a persistent fear, as if she were hiding it under an almost perfect mask that was built through constant practice, as if my teacher still was trying by all means to understand the new reality that she knew, but that still scared her.

"Don't worry so much, I promise it's nothing really serious, but before that, how about we clean up a little? That will help us to relax the atmosphere, as I said before, it is not something you have to worry about." I spoke in the calmest tone to reassure her.

I didn't want her to think that something incredibly dangerous would happen, I mean, counting my luck, the mission would probably be incredibly dangerous, but only for me, so she shouldn't worry about something bad happening to her.

Kirisu-sensei stared at me for a few seconds, her expression told me that my explanation did not convince her very much, but I held her gaze with my intentions clear, I wanted to give her time to breathe a couple of times and calm down.

In the end, she sighed in defeat and nodded. "Very well, but I want an explanation after that." She warned with a firm tone.

"That's what it will be like." I nodded, standing up, ready to clean this place.

######

Third Person P.O.V

Kirisu watched her student finish placing the trash into a black bag before tying it up and setting it aside.

She would admit it, he really was more than competent with all the household chores, she had seen him cleaning, cooking, ironing, and any other task that normally would be in the hands of a housewife.

And from what the younger brother, Touji, had told her, he was also in charge of properly organizing the monthly budgets based on the money they received, making sure to save a part for his brother's college fund.

Watching such a young person take care of all these responsibilities was... strange, and in some ways it made her feel a little envious, comparing herself, she was only efficient at her job, which had been questioned by several students and a couple of her coworkers.

Instead, Ryuichi now also had to deal with the hidden truth of the world they lived in, one where devils, angels, gods, monsters, and who knows what else existed.

She was envious of his ability to handle all of this somehow, but she felt even more sad and worried about the fact that he had to do it alone, after all, there was no one to support him, only she and Touji knew this secret.

"Eh?" At that moment, the voice of her student brought her out of her thoughts, seeing how he had just removed the blanket from her trophy case, and he looked at them a little surprised.

"Wow, that's a lot of trophies and medals." He said, looking at each prize curiously. "It reminds me of the one I have at home." He blurted out in a nostalgic tone.

At that moment, Kirisu remembered a piece of information, gymnastics, Ryuichi in middle school had been hailed as a gymnastics prodigy, winning competitions with astonishing ease.

"Right, you must have a lot of too, right?"

"Ah." He seemed a little embarrassed. "There aren't that many, in comparison, what you have here is much more impressive than anything I've achieved, I'm just-"

"Don't do it." She interrupted him, and he looked really confused.

"Excuse me?"

"Do not put yourself down, when a person performs actions worthy of praise but belittles his achievements, he reaches a point where it is uncomfortable for others because it comes to seem like simple vanity, the truth is that it is not a question of perspective about whether or not you think what you did is something remarkable, it is about whether you did it or not"

"You believe?" He asked, thinking about what she had told him.

"Yes." Was her simple response.

"I see, I promise I will take it into account." He said before looking back at the trophies. "But if that's the case, you should be very proud of what you achieved, as I said, I don't have even half of the awards you have"

"It is not like that." The teacher shook her head a few times. "Unlike you, I don't have to be proud of any of this." She said looking at the awards.

"What? But why?"

"Unlike you, who gymnastics was a part of the beginning of your life, one that you abandoned later when you noticed what was really important, I wasn't like that, I was engrossed in a dream, wasting time even when I should have already matured, the lifespan of skaters is incredibly short, at most 27 years, and I suppose it's similar in the world of gymnastics"

Ryuichi nodded reluctantly. "The highest points in the careers of professional gymnasts are mostly before reaching their thirties, where the body is at its peak in most aspects, flexibility, muscle strength, stamina, speed of recovery, and so on"

The teacher nodded. "That is precisely why I cannot feel pride, the me at that moment decided to live in a dream even when she knew there were risks, and it did not matter what kind of dream it was, when faced with the reality of the world, one that is much crueler than I thought it was before, the dream will crumble, and only disappointment will remain, that is why the experiences, the efforts or the laughter, and everything I did during that time is worthless"

Ryuichi said nothing, assimilating Mafuyu's words, until after a few seconds, a light of understanding shone in his eyes, and when he saw his teacher's eyes, it was as if he had made a decision, so he finally spoke.

"I understand why you think that way, really, but I don't agree." He said, and Kirisu was a little surprised, after all, although cold, her explanation and reasons were supported by logic, and she believed that someone like Ryuichi would understand her.

"Do you remember what I told you the first time I walked you home? The real world is chaotic and often unfair, you could try your hardest and have a stroke of bad luck that invalidates your effort, my opinion remains the same, and while it is true that all dreams do not come true, all those who achieve something is because their dreams drove them to achieve that goal, there is no goal to achieve if there is no desire that drives the person to move towards it"

"And about what you said about ice skating was a waste of time, tell me, do you hate the idea of skating or having done it?"

Kirisu always answered honestly, always being objective and direct, but before her mouth opened and responded, she stopped and seriously thought about what Ryuichi was asking her, did she hate skating? The answer was clear to her.

"I don't hate skating." She said, shaking her head a few times. "But I'm still disappointed in myself." And although small, her student noticed a frown on her expression.

"Why?" Ryuichi asked.

"Because I couldn't see what I was doing was leading me down a dead end." She responded a little exasperated.

"Why?" He asked the same question again.

"Because I was absorbed in a whim." This time she raised her voice a little and frowned a little, showing she didn't like hearing the same question twice.

"Why?"

"Because she was childish and immature, because I could do other more important things with all that time!" Her tone rose even higher, reaching the point where it was almost a scream.

"Do you really see it that way? What else so important could you have done? Get your degree as a teacher? Maybe it took you a little while but you didn't get it anyway? What I want to know is WHY every time you talk or remember the past you sound so hurt"

"BECAUSE IT MADE ME HAPPY!" She finally let out her answer with a frustrated cry.

"COMPETING MADE ME HAPPY, SKATING MADE ME HAPPY, THAT'S WHY WHEN IT ALL ENDED, IT WAS EVEN MORE PAINFUL, BECAUSE AT THAT MOMENT THOSE WHO SAID I WAS DOING THINGS WELL CHANGED THEIR MINDS, SAYING THAT IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT I WAS PURSUING SOMETHING IMPOSSIBLE, DREAMS ARE BEAUTIFUL ONLY WHILE THEY LAST, BECAUSE THE HAPPIER YOU ARE, THE MORE PAINFUL IT WILL BE WHEN THEY FINALLY END!" She let out her true thoughts, lowered her gaze, and squeezed her eyes shut as she clenched her fists.

She was an adult, she was the one who should be the reasonable person who controlled the situation, but she was the one who broke down first at the question "Why?"

It was frustrating, it was embarrassing, it was... painful, admit what she knew she felt deep in her heart but that she hadn't dared to think about it, much less verbalize it, until now.

This made her feel almost as if she was a little girl who didn't want to admit that she had made a mistake.

Her only consolation was that she had managed to suppress the tears that seemed to desperately want to come out, crying in front of her student would be childish, unacceptable of her, the height of recklessness, and the definitive end of her dignity as a teacher, she-

"!" Her thoughts were interrupted when Ryuichi placed a hand on her shoulder, drawing her attention, and making her raise her gaze to meet that of her student.

He was taller than her, her eyes were a little above his chin, but only then did she realize how different it felt to be standing in front of him in that position compared to seeing him sitting in his seat at school.

"I understand you." He said with a slightly nostalgic expression. "And I do it because it is the same for me, from the first time I practiced gymnastics it felt natural, as if it were something that I not only enjoyed because was funny, but I felt genuine happiness, and although it is as you say, and I understood that there were more things important, I have never regretted the time I was a gymnast." Ryuichi paused, observing his teacher's perplexed expression before continuing.

"And do you know why that is? Because it made me happy, and I didn't harm anyone, because we are not machines, we don't always make the most "logical or efficient" decisions, and that may hurt us and tear us down, but it is also what gives us the courage and the will to heal those wounds and get back up." Ryuichi smiled a little, with a very small hint of sadness, as if he remembered something that had happened to him a long time ago.

"So you don't have to feel ashamed every time you remember those moments, they are treasures that should be appreciated, using the happiness they gave you as fuel to move forward trying to be even happier"

And that was the last straw, Kirisu Mafuyu, an adult, a teacher, a normally cold and logical person, let tears of relief and acceptance run down her cheeks in front of her most precious student.

In the future, Mafuyu would remember this moment with equal parts shame and happiness.

X-X-X-X-X

Well, we're pretty close to the end, just a few more chapters and we'll be done with this first part, so let's tie up some loose ends, give a last bit of development to some secondary characters, and set up a couple of situations in the remaining chapters.

And remember that right now there are a couple of polls about what will happen in the future of this story, more specifically about the Side Stories or What If that we will have when we finish this volume and about whether or not there will be a harem for Ryuichi.

So far the most voted options are:

-The option of a Side Story about Touji during the events of this volume.

-And the harem route.

If you are interested in voting, you can go to my p-atreon and support me with a membership, it would be very helpful.

Remove the spaces and dash: p-atreon/ Krakenian01

Remember that if you like this story, you can leave a comment, review, and a power stone, that will inspire me to write more, see you in the next chapter.