Taste of Madness

6 | Familiarity

"Gremory... just what are you?"

Those words slowly disappeared along with the Nexus-powered Halo upon the savior's head as he drifted to the realm of slumber as the futon he slept on engulfed Jebediah with a form of rare comfort, something he couldn't afford to achieve in his old residence in Nevada.

Slowly but surely, the savior descended into the land of dreams as the moon had finally made its presence known throughout the pitch-black sky, slowly illuminating the room with a dreamy silver. 

---
Sometime later...
5:30 AM
Christoff Apartment Residence
---

The room's previously silver lighting had seemingly changed into a more orange settling color as the light from the Earth's mother star made itself known by piercing the cloudy sky above, it was as if you could catch a glimpse of heaven itself shining its divine light upon the earth.

"I still can't get used to a sunrise." Jebediah groaned, "Can't have things like that in Nevada."

Realizing that he was talking to himself, he opted to make his way over to the kitchen area.

The distinct yet satisfying scent of brewing coffee swept throughout the Christoff residence as Jebediah opened his balcony door, allowing the mild morning breeze to mix with the coffee's scent.

After looking around for some semblance of entertainment within his residence, he found an old-looking TV within his closet and radio which sat peacefully on a kitchen counter.

He switched the radio on flipping through various stations until settling on one in particular.

"Yo!" A male voice blared from the radio, "You're listening to 110.1 MHz FM, Kuoh Local Radio!"

Jebediah sat down, his coffee now successfully brewed.

"We're gonna bring things back an era or two!" The voice continued, "So let's get funky with this morning's song request!" 

OST: Meiko Nakahara - Fantasy

The seemingly catchy tune made its way throughout the savior's place of residence, the lyrics of the song disappearing into the beautiful sunrise which completed the peaceful scene that conflicted with the Nevadian from a world of madness.

"This coffee really needs some work," Jebediah mumbled as he prepared himself a decent breakfast.

His breakfast wasn't anything remarkable or special at all, just a sunny-side-up egg along with some bacon to finish off his usual breakfast combo. Digging into the crunchy, tasty, and satisfying meal he prepared himself, the savior finished rather quickly.

Allowing the song to flow into his listening ears, he looked towards the Kuoh Academy Uniform neatly folded on the end of his futon, his eyes unconsciously moved towards the futon.

"A bit more rest couldn't be that bad..." Jebediah persuaded himself, "Kuoh Academy's class times start in around 3 hours."

Those were the only words spoken before the savior turned off the radio, and went to sleep...

---
2 hours and 15 minutes Later...
8:15
Christoff Apartment Residence
---

Groggily waking up from his temporary slumber, the first thing that came into Jebediah Christoff's mind was the time that he potentially woke up within. Quickly springing out of bed, he looked towards his clock, the dreaded time showing up.

8:15 AM

"15 minutes left?!" Jebediah exclaimed at the sight of the time, "I should've set an alarm!"

Within a 6 minute timeframe, Jebediah has already taken a quick yet efficient shower, brushed his teeth, prepared his uniform, and made himself look presentable. Dawning his usual shades, a light bag with the bare school necessities, and his halo fragments which are hidden.

With 9 minutes left, Jebediah debated using his nexus energy to ease the burden of traveling.

"But it would be better to work on my physical body..." Jebediah sighed to himself.

Deciding that he would knock out two birds with one stone, he opted to run to Kuoh Academy.

He walked out of his apartment and jumped down the main staircase towards the bottom area.

The savior made his way towards the prestigious Kuoh Academy.

---
9 Minutes Later
Kuoh Academy
8:30
---

Jebediah had arrived at Kuoh Academy, frantically running towards his homeroom class where the 5-minute attendance check would begin, his shades were raised towards his forehead as the hair behind them swayed due to the running savior.

He quickly passed by several groups of students in the hallways, dodging and weaving as he made a final mad dash towards the classroom, bystanders could describe him being a complete blur as he ran by.

Quickly opening the door to his classroom, the teacher simply looked at the sweating Jebediah and marked something down on her clipboard.

"I'm not late, am I?" Jebediah spoke between breaths.

"Not at all..." The teacher replied, "You managed to slip in a minute beforehand."

The savior tiredly made his way towards his desk, students eyeing him in astonishment.

"This guy must be some sort of rushing professional..." A male student deadpanned.

"Do you see him though?" A female student commented, "He looks awfully tired."

The student's ramblings were interrupted by a sudden uproar within the classroom, mostly by the female population, and the males reacting to that sudden disturbance.

Dragging his tired eyes towards the source, It revealed a blond boy who had seemed to captivate every female within the radius of a classroom. The boy himself didn't look like much, he dawned dashing blonde hair paired with blue eyes, from what Jebediah could identify, this kid was popular among the ladies.

Jebediah simply assumed he wanted to stop by.

But it seemed that fate had different plans for the savior, the boy's blue eyes locked onto Jebediah's opposing crimson eyes, a familiar aura leaking from him.

'It feels like that strange aura that Gremory had...'

'So this is the Jebediah Christoff that buchou wished to talk to...'

Both boys thought to themselves about the other, their eyes equally as observant.

The blonde simply smiled, walking towards the savior.

Jebediah tensed up, ready to call the Halo Fragments towards his side once more.

Noticing that the savior seemed tense, the blonde initiated a conversation.

"You are Jebediah Christoff, am I correct?" The blonde asked.

Jebediah responded in a weary tone, "Yes... I am."

"My name is Kiba Yuuto, it is nice to meet you."

"The same goes to you."

The newly introduced Kiba Yuuto then spoke up, "As much as I want to continue chatting, I'm here for an errand from Rias Gremory."

'Gremory?!' Jebediah thought to himself, 'So he really is affiliated with her.'

"I assume you already know her?" Kiba continued, "So that should make things a bit easier."

"Let me guess, you're going to bring me to her?" Jebediah questioned.

"Yeah, so just come with me, okay?" Kiba walked out of the classroom with Jebediah following.

The hallways were quieter in comparison to the more active one he had seen earlier, it was almost as if a supernatural force had quieted the entire section down. There were no students at all, simply a long walk through the hall.

An awkward silence was the only thing looming in the hall between the two boys as they continued walking down the hall.

"So why did Gremory bother to even deal with me?" Questioned Jebediah.

"You wanted answers to your questions, correct?" Kiba chuckled, "You'll get them from her."

"But!" Kiba continued, "We've gotta pick up another individual first, you might know him as Hyoudou Issei?"

Quickly making their way to the halls towards Issei's homeroom, Kiba opened the door with Jebediah in tow.

More squeals were heard by the entirety of the school as every female student in the room screamed simultaneously, not only was the Kiba Yuuto there, but the new shade-donning student was behind him.

A crowd quickly formed around the two boys.

"It's Kiba!" One of them squealed.

"Kiba-san!" Another screamed, "Are you here for me?!"

"It's that new kid!" A student screamed, "He looks so cool!"

Another compliment was fired towards the savior, "Those shades are great!" 

Jebediah whispered towards Kiba about the crowd.

"Seems like you have one hell of a Fanclub." Jebediah commented, "But is there any way we can move them?"

"I have this handled, don't you worry about it." Kiba assured Jebediah.

"Please, excuse me." He told the crowd, "My friend and I need some space to move."

As soon as those words were uttered, the crowd dispersed to allow Jebediah and Kiba to move through towards the young Hyoudou who stared at the two in confusion.

"Jeb?" Issei questioned the two boys, "And Kiba Yuuto?"

Deciding to get straight to the point, Jebediah decides to speak.

"Yuuto over here is going to escort us to Rias Gremory herself." The savior relays the info.

"But why Rias, isn't she the queen of the school?" Issei raised an eyebrow, "What's she gotta do with someone like me?"

Issei continues before Jebediah could respond, "Ah screw that! I can meet Rias Gremory, hell yeah I'm heading over!"

"That was easy..." Kiba deadpanned from behind Jebediah.

The girls that were formerly in the crowd started speaking out in protest.

"Kiba-san with that sleazy Hyoudou?!" 

"Don't let him contaminate you!"

"No, this can't be!"

Before Kiba could respond, Jebediah grabbed both boys and made a mad dash out into the hallway.

The two boys stared confusingly at the savior, who in turn shrugged.

"Sorry, I'm just not in the mood to deal with needless problems today." Jebediah sighed, "So Yuuto, can you guide us to where Gremory is happening to meet us at?"

Snapping himself out of confusion, Kiba responds, "Alright, I sure will."

---
10 minutes later...
Kuoh Academy, Occult Research Club 
8:50 AM
---

After traversing the school hallways and making it out of the main academy grounds, Kiba guided both Issei and Jebediah across the sports field towards a more obscure area, revealing a detailed yet simplistic structure, the three boys were currently at the door to the building.

"We're here," Kiba announced towards Issei and Jebediah.

"This place looks kinda old-fashioned." Issei commented, "Whaddya think, Jeb?"

"It looks alright, I guess?" Jebediah said in a tone that could be counted as both an answer and a question.

The door suddenly opened to reveal the building's main room in its faded glory.

Jebediah observed the room in question, it was a mostly dim room with a form of architecture not uncommon in an older era he had forgotten about. There were only ominous-looking candles that illuminated the dim room, their light spreading across the table.

Looking towards the left, Jebediah saw a white-haired girl sitting on one of the neatly placed seats.

"I-Isn't that...?" Issei tried to form a sentence but failed to.

Jebediah turned towards Kiba with a questioning look.

As if he had read Jebediah's mind, Kiba spoke, "That is Koneko Toujou, a first-year."

'There's that strange aura again...' 

"This is Issei Hyoudou, and Jebediah Christoff." Kiba introduced the two to Koneko.

She simply looked at the two of them, uninterested, and went back to eating what seemed to be a chocolate cake.

Jebediah turned to Issei, "Are you there?"

The only response he got back was a seemingly zoned-out Issei.

Kiba had already made his way towards a nearby window, a black-haired woman standing beside him.

"Ara ara~" The black-haired woman spoke, "It seems our guests have arrived~"

Turning back to Issei, Jebediah spotted a goofy grin on his face.

"Issei?" Jebediah tried snapping the teen out of his trance Koneko spoke up.

"That facial expression..." She commented, "What a lewd look on your face."

That comment definitely snapped Issei back to reality, as he straightened up and looked towards the approaching woman.

"You are the newcomers, am I correct?" The woman smiled, "It's a pleasure to meet you~"

"Oh!" Issei coughed, "I-Issei Hyoudou, the pleasure is all mine!"

"Ara~" Her smile remained, "You're a nervous one, aren't you?"

She turned to Jebediah, "You are Jebediah Christoff, are you not?"

"In the flesh..." The savior responded, "Mind telling me your name?"

"Apologies, my name is Akeno Himejima." The newly introduced Akeno spoke, "It is a pleasure that you have accepted buchou's request in coming here."

"Mind if I ask you something real quick?" Jebediah requested, "Every time someone belonging to this group finds me, they already know my name even though you have never met me personally, did Gremory tell you?"

"She did, although it was in an indirect fashion." Akeno answered, "Buchou hasn't stopped mentioning you all day~"

Their little conversation was interrupted by Rias appearing from a nearby doorway in her school uniform, with a towel hanging over her shoulder.

"Ah!" Rias exclaimed, "Christoff-san, Hyoudou-san, you two have arrived!"

"R-Rias Gremory!" Issei squealed, "It is a pleasure to meet you!"

"The pleasure is completely mine." She replied, "How have you been Christoff-san?"

The only answer received from the savior was him taking off his shades, and giving the redheaded Rias a deadpanned stare.

"Oh... I guess you want answers?" Rias awkwardly spoke.

Jebediah nodded.

Rias continued, "Since you two are here, I might as well fill you in." 

Only one question left Rias Gremory's mouth.

"Do you believe in the supernatural?"

END

A/N: I rushed this thing.... be sure to comment what you like and dislike so I can make this story better.