LP CH 9: NEW FRIENDS?

“Good afternoon, Toujou-Kun. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

‘Heh…she is rather polite.’

When he previously set this meeting with Sona Sitri, he had been prepared to be received with hostility and mockery.

Surprisingly though, Sona showed none of the stupid pride some devils always had ingrained in their bones.

Inspecting the surroundings he realized that there were only three people in the room.

“Good afternoon. Sona-Kaicho and…”

There, Basara stopped and tilted his head, and frowned. It had been a long time and she had matured greatly, but he could still recognize her with a single glance.

“…Tsubaki ?”

Tsubaki smiled charmingly at Basara,

“Hello, Basara-Kun.”

“… It’s really you.”

Tsubaki was someone Basara easily recognized because of her sacred gear and her situation in her clan.

Feeling her energy quietly, he gave her a complicated glance as he said.

“So you became a devil.”

“… Yes.”

Tsubaki closed her eyes, already anticipating the look of scorn or harsh words that would be directed towards her.

But surprisingly…

“It must have been hard.”

Tsubaki opened her eyes wide. Blinking rapidly in surprise and shock, It was the first time anyone, aside from Sona, had said anything like this to her.

“You…you aren’t angry? Or disgusted?”

“Why would I?”

In the first place, Basara himself was partially a devil so he had no particular prejudice against them.

That did not mean all devils were good, however. It was why he asked that question.

“Are you happy?”

This time Tsubaki was completely speechless but, at the same time, a feeling of warmth filled her heart, making it beat a tad bit faster.

She understood that this was his way of showing his support. If she ever said that she wasn’t happy, he would not hesitate to save her from her misery.

It was a very weird and complex feeling, but it was one she liked quite a bit.

She nodded and showed a bright smile, breaking her usually stoic face.

“Sona is very good to me. I am far happier here than I ever was when I was human.”

“I see.”

Basara examined her deeply. Her words, her expression, her heartbeat, the sweat on her body…The conclusion was the same.

She wasn’t lying.

This was more than enough for him. He was happy that she found her happiness here, being with Sona’s peerage.

Turning towards Sona he continued,

“I apologize for my indiscretion. Tsubaki is someone I see as a friend. I just wanted to be sure that everything was alright for her.”

It was a matter of courtesy. Anyone would have been angry if some unknown guy came and asked such a question to someone close to you.

“Well. It would be a lie to say that it’s completely alright but it’s normal to doubt devils. In fact… I am surprised you didn’t simply come with a light sword and a gun. By the way, please sit down.”

Those were the standard equipment of exorcists in the Vatican. Since devils were rather weak to holy magic, this was the best way to wound and injure them.

Doing as he was told, Basara sat with tranquility and looked at Sona.

‘She is a Sitri…’

From what he remembered, while a little lower in scale compared to the Gremory, the Sitri was still a very powerful family.

Even more so since one of the four Maous, Leviathan, came from that family.

From up close, Sona was even more beautiful. She lacked bountiful curves, but beauty was never about who had the bigger boobs or ass.

Then again, it was rare for a Devil to be anything but beautiful. 

It would be far harder to convince people to sell a part of their souls to you if you looked like a hideous monster.

Taking out a chessboard, Sona showed a smile full of confirmation as she asked,

“Why don’t we play some chess?”

“Chess?”

“Yes. I believe that chess is a good way to gauge people. You can understand their way of thinking, their habits, and a lot more things.”

Basara hesitated a little before shrugging, agreeing to her request for a friendly chess match.

Devils were strangely all good chess players. This ‘talent’ came from the belief that being good at chess meant that you were good at strategy and war.

It was pretty funny honestly. Only someone who never had to fight would believe such stupidity. 

Then again, playing chess did help in developing the mind, so it wasn’t all that far-fetched.

He had played regularly against his mother and though he generally lost, he knew that he wasn’t too bad at it. 

…

…

…

“Checkmate. You lose.”

Moving the last piece and knocking down his own, she smiled as she looked at Basara.

He had lost.

Even though he had managed to eat many of her pieces, he knew that it was because she had prolonged the game as long as possible to study his playing style.

Weirdly, he didn’t really feel bad about it. 

“Incredible. I must say, you are very good. I regularly played with my mother, but it’s the first time I was beaten so thoroughly.”

Sona shook her head, “It was an enjoyable game.”

It had indeed been an enjoyable game, to say the least.

But this wasn’t why he was here, was he?

“Well, now that the pleasantries are done. Why don’t we talk about why I am here?”

It was time to talk.

—–

“Well. I don’t like wasting time, so I will be direct— Stop tailing me.”

Basara spoke bluntly. Something that did not surprise Sona.

After the report of Saji and her game against him, she managed to piece together a little bit of his personality and understand who Basara was.

Even though he looked and acted in a humble and soft-spoken way, deep down, there was a great amount of pride and coldness in his heart.

She could see it in his eyes. Even though he had recognized Tsubaki and did indeed have good feelings for her, his wariness had not abated in the slightest.

Like a calculative beast, he was observing and judging her. Deciding whether he should be hostile to her or not.

If she tried to bargain now, she was sure that he would become even warier and might designate her as an enemy.

Having the son of someone who could face a Maou as an enemy was not a prospect she appreciated.

That’s why she smiled and nodded,

“Of course. In the first place, we shouldn’t have done so. But I hope you understand it was necessary. We did not know who you were and did not wish to create problems in the school.”

“Hmm…”

‘Good. His hostility lowered.’

Thankfully she had given a good answer.

But this wasn’t enough, was it? It was better to strike the iron while it was hot.

She wished that after this was done, there would be no hostility left between her group and him.

“Hello! Sona, are you there? We need to discuss. Please, don’t try to steal him from me.”

Just as Sona was about to execute her plan, she was interrupted by a feminine voice.

A voice that she recognized easily.

‘Oh the Great Satans below, why did she have to choose this time to come?’

The door opened and two people, one busty girl with red hair and one black-haired girl bustier than the previous one entered.

Stopping short, the red-haired girl finally noticed Basara that was sitting down in the room and could only give a slightly awkward smile.

“H-hello.”

The situation suddenly became very awkward, filled with an unnerving silence as Basara eyed the duo with cold eyes.

PATREON

LP CH 8: NEW DAY (2)

LP CH 10: NEW RELATIONSHIP (1)