Demonic Duo (Highschool DxD)

Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Summer

"Illusion Stinger!"

"RUINOUS IMPACT!!!"

"Panzer...Buster!"

"Supreme Punishment..."

The space known as Lilith's backyard was in pieces, littered with craters caused by explosions and blows, as the four of us threw skill after skill, attack after attack, and injury after injury at each other. Blue flames, purple lightning, and white electricity roared around the battlefield, as we all flew at each of our opponents in this free for all.

Summer had come, according to Chelsea, which meant that we didn't have to go to school. If I didn't have to go to classes, then what better way to pass the time then through training? Ever since summer break began, I've been training non-stop, improving my physical capabilities so I could use the Dreadlord Ascension efficiently.

With that in mind, Eve had requested a spar earlier today, wishing to test her current combat capabilities, and Add quickly asked for a spar as well. While Eve wanted to figure out why she had reverted to the form she was created with, Add wanted to find a way to unlock his complete Ascension, seeing as he could only Ascend partially. It bothered the nervous Grenore, and he wanted to get to the point that he was as strong as Chelsea and me.

This lead to Eve bringing out her Nasod drones, Add activating his Nasod Armor to partially Ascend into Arc Tracer, and Chelsea and I Ascending into Dreadlord and Chiliarch.

"...how long do you plan to tire yourself out?" I murmured, staring at Add with a blank look on my face. Normally I would attack him with my gunblades, coating them in Terror Energy to inject into his body, forcing him into a state of crippling fear. Creeping Terror is useful in that way. Doing so, as I did with Kokabiel, would severely weaken him, and wear him down so I could easily defeat him. But doing that in a spar is unfair, and Add might just run away, since his nerves are already so fragile.

Add panted in exhaustion, sweat running down his face and the long bangs trailing down the left side of his face. He hasn't used that ability that creates a large amount of drones yet...If he won't take this serious from the start, then I'll finish this. "Phantom Blade..."

In a flash, I disappeared, reappearing behind Add while flipping forwards. Before my gunblades could tear into his flesh, Add turned around, thrusting his palm in my face.

"Particle Shot!" A small blast of particles shot out of Add's palms, forcing me to flash away again. When the ball hit the ground, it exploded in a brief flash of lightning. A small smile made its way on my face. His reactions are getting less slow and tentative. He's starting to treat me like an actual foe.

Before, Add would be too nervous to hit me, for several reasons. Add would see me as too manly to hit, or too powerful in this case. He also didn't want to harm Chelsea in the process, since we share injuries.

Thankfully, Lu and Ciel cut off our link for now, since we're going against different opponents.

To my left, Chelsea flew through the air, boosting off magic circles to keep Eve on her toes. However, Eve responded with similar mobility, gliding through the air in multiple maneuvers to match where Chelsea would boost to next. By her side, Eve sent a Nasod Spear to the petite girl, who would smash it back with her over sized gauntlets.

"DEAD HANDS!!!" Chelsea cried, slamming her fists to the ground. Eve quickly boosted herself away, gliding upwards as a demonic hand sprang from the ground. Chelsea's shadow traveled up to her arms, reinforcing her, as the small girl leaped after the Nasod. Since the link wasn't connecting us entirely anymore, I wasn't reinforced along with her.

"Hmph." Eve huffed, firing a blue ball of condensed electrons at my girlfriend, the energy grazing the side of her face. That didn't stop Chelsea, as she simply rocketed forwards, slapping Eve downwards. the Nasod fell quickly, landing with a hard "THUD!!!" The weight she possessed due to being an android made the impact harder.

"Code: Recovery." Eve stated, raising her arm. Moby and Remy twirled around her hand, and in a flash of blue and red light, her injuries vanished. Seems like she can heal herself...

"Install: Drone Activator!" Add cried, as Dynamo summoned the triangular Dynamo Factory beside him. Sitting on Dynamo, Add pointed at me as I fell through the air, approaching him. "Dynamo Configuration: Rushing Drones!"

Two drones shot from the Dynamo Factory and rushed at me, waiting for Add to give the command for them to explode. Okay...Time to improvise.

"Dark Crescent..." I murmured, spinning forwards in quick rotation, terror energy igniting at the tips of my blades. As I spun like a buzzsaw, I felt Add's drones move around me, so I couldn't cut into them. So he can home them in on me, then control them at will. His technique has improved since the fight with Kokabiel. He either trained as hard as he could or modified his body with Adam again.

"Now, Detonate!" Add commanded, once I felt the drones get close enough to my backside.

Sorry Add...But while spinning like this, I have no backside.

I stopped rotating, suspending upside down in the air and facing Add's drones. My eyes narrowed, as I pulled the trigger of my gunblades. Before the drones could touch me, magic bullets flew through the air, not destroying them, but sending them backwards and towards the ground. On Add's command, the drones exploded in brilliant purple light, creating a small crater in the ground harmlessly.

?!

A trail of blood dripped down the side of my face. Turning around, I saw Add with his palms out, Dynamo spinning around his arms, and electricity crackling around his hands. He nicked me...I got careless.

"Tch..." I hissed, swiping the blood from my face, the graze already healed. Throwing one of my gunblades, I kicked it forwards, forcing it to pass through a magic circle and turning it into a blue spinning bullet that closed in on Add.

"Phase Shift!" Add called, swiping his hand to the right. Immediately, he disappeared, and in his place was a small machine, black with purple accents in color, with floating segments at the top spinning rapidly. The segments crackled with pink electricity, and a giant turmoil of condensed electricity spun above it.

When my gunblade touched the machine, it exploded, sending my weapon flying through the air. Narrowing my eyes as I grabbed the chain of my choker, I expanded the chain's length with magic, throwing it to my gunblade. The chain wrapped around the weapon's handle, and I yanked it back into my hand.

"...that's a new one. maybe I should come up with something like that." I murmured, referring to Add's dodge skill. A move that allows me to dodge and escape harm is very useful, so there's no sense in not doing that. I can't help but wonder what would happen if that explosion of electricity hit me instead of my gunblade...

"HAAAAAAA!!!" Chelsea's scream drew my attention again, as I watched her boost herself in the air, intent on chasing after Eve. "Quit running and fight! Power of Oriax!!!"

Punching her fist, hot on Eve's trail, Chelsea's body became cloaked in her own shadow, turning my girlfriend into a black silhouette with the only visible feature being her glowing blue eyes. Noticeably, Chelsea was flying through the air, slower than usual, but that was because briefly enhancing her physical ability and breaking past her limits made her heavier, the shadow and muscle mass impairing her speed.

"Is that what you desire? Very well. Placing Plasma Dummy: Photon Flash." Eve suddenly shot backwards, snapping her fingers. In her place in the air, a being in the shape of Eve appeared in the same position the Nasod was in before flashing backwards. The "Plasma Dummy" was consisted of a blue energy that sparked every once in a while, but didn't move otherwise.

Chelsea barreled into it, unable to move out of the way, and was greeted by an explosion of blue energy. She careened back to the floor, screaming in frustration rather than pain, angered that she couldn't even touch the Nasod. I flinched. That move is similar to Add's Phase Shift, so that means Chelsea and I are helpless if we get to reckless. They could simply dodge and attack us through counter moves, eventually wearing us down. Damn, I can't help but feel a little outmatched. I have a better chance, since I have guns, but Chelsea is only able to use her fists, Terror Energy, and demon javelins, so her chances are slimmer.

In this spar, I'm up against Add's nervous, yet ingenious plans, and Chelsea is up against someone way more experienced than her, given that Eve was fighting with my parents thousands of years ago. Brute strength and a calm mind can only do so much at this very moment.

But having the odds stacked against us...makes things interesting.

"...enough holding back." I growled, my shadow suddenly igniting in the black and blue flames of Terror Energy. Add's eyes widened in shock, as he snapped his fingers, prepared to use Phase Shift again. My eyes narrowed. "Shackling Chains..."

From my shadow, a mass of white chains with thorned links exploded forwards, intent on reaching Add. Seeing this, the shy genius teleported away, the machine producing the explosive ball of condensed electricity taking his place.

But this is what I had planned!

Suddenly grabbing the chains and swinging them above my head, I snapped them forwards, wrapping them around the machine. Add, realizing what i was planning, moved out of the way quickly with Dynamo's help, but I wan't going to let him escape so easily. Boosting myself in the air, I swung downwards, ripping the machine out of the ground and forcing it towards Add. The Grenore could only shoot condensed balls of electricity at me. They would only graze my body, as my eyes widened in a glare, making the Grenore flinch in response.

SLAM!!!

Narrowing my eyes as the machine Add created was pushed back by a ball of electricity, I made a last ditch effort by pulling my gunblade out and firing a bullet. The magic bullet flew through the air, piercing the machine. The bullet caused the machine's upper segments to stop rotating, and crackle with electricity uncontrollably.

The machine exploded in pink electricity, forcing Add to shield his eyes from the hot pink light that followed.

Distraction was a success. Time for the killing blow!

"Dark Crescent..." I growled, placing a magic circle behind me and boosting myself forwards. Quick as a flash, I spun forwards with my gunblades outstretched, turning into a large buzzsaw heading straight towards Add. Panicking, the Grenore entered a portal created with Dynamo and appeared to my right, but I stopped spinning for a second when he changed positions. Placing anther magic circle to my left, I boosted forwards, intent on chasing Add down. The genius let out a small squeak of fear, the Dynamo Factory beside him floating in front of him protectively.

"D-DYNAMO CONFIGURATION: RUSHING DRONES AND FISSION SHOT!!!" Add cried, as wave after wave of drones flew towards me, some big, and some small that broke into eight pieces top home in on me. Surrounded on all sides by a series of controllable bombs, my eyes narrowed.

"Dark Crescent...and Shackling Chains..." I growled, once again spinning like a buzzsaw, but this time wrapping the ghostly white thorned links around the hilt of my gunblades. This way, I could spin with an added blade, more akin to a chainsaw than a buzzsaw. The chain whipped in all directions as I spun forwards, lashing out at every drone that came close. Inching closer with every second as the number of drones increased, I added a second chain to my spin attack, keeping up with Add's production.

"...this...is the end." I growled, ceasing my spin and swinging my gunblade to the left. Add, unable to move, only swung his arm to the right, as I stopped my baled just at the edge of his neck. A cold sweat broke out on Add's face as we simply stood in the same position, motionless.

"Alright, that's enough." The voice of the older Grenore broke out. "Nice job, breaking it into a tie, Add."

A tie?!

From the corner of my eye, I saw Add's Nasod Weapon, Dynamo, spinning at full speed, crackling with electricity. My eyes narrowed even further. A last ditch attack? Had this been a real fight, we would have taken each other out at the same time. Add really has gotten braver.

"...as much as it pains for me to admit, this is my loss." I murmured, spinning my gunblades and sheathing them back in their holsters.

"E-Eh?! N-N-N-NO!!! T-This was a t-tie! B-Brother Adam said s-so!" Add argued, swiftly turning back to normal. The clothes of Arc Tracer disappeared, as his normal white jacket returned and his hair grew short again. I remained Ascended, since I couldn't turn back without the link between Chelsea and I being reestablished.

Speaking of the petite girl, Chelsea hissed, her cheek puffed out as multiple magic circles appeared above Eve, who was still hovering in the air. The Nasod girl analyzed the circles, before dashing to the side.

"WHO SAID YOU COULD MOVE?! SHACKLING CHAINS!!!" Chelsea screamed, her face clouded with frustration. Chelsea is cute and kind to those she would trust with her life, but her main flaw is her fighting spirit. Or to be more precise: her frustration when nothing she does works on he opponent. She can't handle being frustrated very well, so she tends to lash out against whoever she's fighting when she's like this.

Like earlier, white chains with thorned links burst out of the shadows, but instead of Chelsea's shadow in large amounts, like how I use the skill, a smaller amount of chains burst forth from Eve's shadow. Not expecting this, the chains wrapped around Eve's legs, the spikes digging into her porcelain skin. Eve didn't react, glaring at the chains while swinging her hand downwards. In time with her swing, Moby swung downwards, smacking into the chain. The links did not budge, as Eve's eyes narrowed further.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY THIS TIME! NOW SUFFER!!!" From the magic circles in the air, multiple demons javelins fell through the sky, heading straight for Eve. With the limited movement, Eve danced around each dagger in the air, but the chains around her legs hindered the Nasod, causing her to get nicked on the sides of her face. Once a blue dagger nicked her side, Eve suddenly moved way slower than before, the blue javelin draining her of her energy.

"Hmph. It appears that I have made a miscalculation." Eve murmured, snapping her fingers as an electron ball flew towards Chelsea. The little demon grit her teeth, punching the ball into nothingness. Without another word, Chelsea boosted off the ground, flying towards Eve with her claw outstretched.

"THIS IS THE END!!!"

"Dimension Link: Sentry."

Suddenly, a portal opened in front of Eve as she snapped her fingers, Moby and Remy spinning around her palms. When Chelsea was close enough, three mechanical legs sprang out of the portal, knocking her back. Soon, the legs fully jumped out of the portal, revealing what they were attached to.

A strange robot with a small, white cylindrical body appeared, clacking its triple jointed clawed legs on the backyard soil. It's only eye was a dark green retina, more like a camera lens than an eye. It didn't say anything, only making robotic noises as it stared Chelsea down. Eve crossed her arms.

"Disappointing...The Nasod Scout only has half the strength it had once before." Eve hissed, a mix between disgust and a ghost of sadness. Seems like her emotions are getting a little easier to express, consciously or not.

"RUINOUS IMPACT!!!" Not wasting any time, Chelsea punched through a magic circle, obliterating the scout in one hit. Chelsea suddenly covered her front with her gauntlets, taking the brunt of a small explosion. So the little drone explodes when it's destroyed...

"Your reflex speed is desirable, but you are many years too early to defeat me." Eve suddenly snapped her fingers, revealing giant spears surrounding Chelsea on all sides. One poked her front, and the other motioned towards the back of her neck. The little demon froze, sweat trailing down her face. "Give up."

"..." Chelsea remained silent, her eyes darting back and forth, searching for a way to win. She got careless and fell for Eve's trap. Despite the fact that Eve is far weaker physically and magically than an Ascended Chelsea in her weakened state, she still trumps all of us, except Adam, my parents, and Lilith in terms of battle experience, so losing to her is not a big surprise.

Without a word, Chelsea lowered her gauntlets, the magic weapons shrinking to the size of an armored glove.

"Mou~! That's unfair!!!" Chelsea huffed, puffing out her cheek and crossing her arms.

"My tactics are not fair. You just failed to see through them." Eve noted, dispelling the spears. "You remind me of Yuzuru's mother, in a way."

"SON OF A-I THOUGHT I LIKED YOU!!!" Lu screamed, even though only Chelsea, Ciel, and I could hear her. A struggle was heard as Ciel tried to bribe Lu with sweets and tea, but the sound of a tea cup breaking could be heard in our mindscape. Dammit Lu...

"...and you complain about me being reckless." I murmured, only to suddenly flinch in pain as Chelsea started yanking at my hair, dangling off the ground. "...could you not use my hair as a rope."

"THIS IS YUU-KUN'S PUNISHMENT!!!"

. . .

"...what?"

My face, although usually stoic, was morphed into a questioning and troubled expression upon hearing the Student Council President's request. She had called me with her familiar, asking for a favor. So, I came to the Student Council Room in person. Normally, Chelsea was glued to my side, but she had something to take care of, so I decided to go wait for her at the entrance so I could walk home with her and the others when Sona finished up.

"Indeed. I would appreciate it if you could clean the school pool."

My face further contorted into confusion as I couldn't help but wonder if I was being punished.

To be blunt, the school pool is nasty as hell, filled with algae and a bunch of other disgusting crap. It probably hasn't been used for at least a year, given the disarray it was in. When I was exploring the school before enrolling, I found the pool as a little sidetrack in my excursion, and immediately ignored it upon seeing its condition. Now she's telling me to clean it...?

"...why?" I murmured, crossing my arms.

"Although our agreement does play a part in it, I was asked o assign the job to you especially." Sona answered. Wait, now I'm even more confused.

"...did i do something wrong?" I murmured, almost whining.

"Although it pains me to do so, as per my duties as Student Council President, I must issue this duty to you as a punishment." I looked at her funny, tilting my head in question. "Aside from breaking the dress code, I also must punish you for physically harming the students and vandalizing the school."

"...vandalism?" I murmured. I have a good idea that beating up the Perverted Trio is the violence, but what's the vandalism?

"If I may recall, while inflicting physical harm on three boys of the student body, you destroyed a wall connected to the girls changing room, then destroyed a locker by mashing their faces in."

...Wait. She's not talking about when they hid in a locker to peek on Chelsea and Koneko, is she? If so, then I'm not sorry.

"...and?" I murmured, expecting more. Sona gave me a disapproving look.

"Just because they are utterly despicable beings doesn't mean they are not protected from violence. A punishment is due." Sona noted. I gave her a slightly pitied look, making her eye twitch.

"...stiff." I murmured, only getting a glare from the bespectacled Devil.

"I assume Vermilion-san taught you that word?"

"...yes."

"Then tell her she will share your punishment as well." Sona walked off, leaving no room for argument. Is this seriously happening right now? Mentally sighing in annoyance, I could already feel the gaze of disapproval on my girlfriend's face...

"It's not all that bad." Ciel noted.

"Of course you would say that, 'butler.'" Lu snarked, causing Ciel to suddenly send a wave of depression in my direction. Why does my dad let my mom bully him...?

"I'm not a butler..."

"(You kinda are.)" I thought, getting a deeper wave of depression from my father. "(What do you mean that it can't be that bad?)"

"Well," Ciel began, already cheered up, "You get to see Chelsea in a swimsuit."

"...eh?"

"Care to explain, bastard?" Lu hissed, the sounds of knuckles cracking echoing throughout my mind.

"Think about it," Ciel started, ignoring my mother, "You can see your girlfriend in all of her cuteness once you clean that pool, as you can use it after it's all clean. Why not use that chance to see her in a cute swimsuit?"

Over the sound of my mother beating the crap out of my father, I began to drift off into my imagination.

"Yuu-kun~!"

In my mind, my cute girlfriend wearing a snow white swimsuit that perfectly complemented her white hair, accenting her petite body invaded all my thoughts, before blood dripped down my nostril. My breathing noticeably got a little heavier as blood rushed to my face. I want to see it...I want to see her being cute.

"Yuu-kun?"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! ALL HE'S THINKING ABOUT IS CHELSEA IN A SWIMSUIT!!! ARE YOU TRYING TO TURN HIM INTO A PERVERT?!?!?!"

Ignoring my mother, all I thought about was Chelsea's swimsuit, water dripping down her long, straight hair, enhancing the cuteness. Lust? Don't be ridiculous. I'm not Issei. All I care about is Chelsea's cuteness as a whole, not her ability to give me arousal. I may be clueless at times, but I know enough to understand that much.

I'll do it...For the cute entity that is my girlfriend!

"Yuu-kun? Yuuu-kuuuuun~? HEY YUU-KUN!!!"

I suddenly jumped up, slamming my head on the ceiling and falling on my ass, rubbing the top of my head without making a sound.

Chelsea, who had decided to follow after me, flinched in pain, then looked at me worriedly, wondering why I was so jumpy. Suddenly, due to the close proximity, she could hear the sounds of Ciel screaming as Lu was destroying him, and she looked at me strangely, wondering what was going on. She asked, "Did something happen?"

"...we have to clean the pool." I murmured, getting a scream of indignation from Chelsea. I soothed her the best I could, leaving out the fact that I accidentally dragged her into the punishment by calling Sona a stiff. She did teach me that word.

When Lu later told Chelsea why she was being punished as well, she threw a fit and tried to pull my hair out.

//Time Skip By a Useless Pair of Hair Clippers\\

"This...is beyond disgusting, Yuu-kun."

"...i'm sorry you got dragged into this...all of you."

"N-N-N-NO!!! I-I-It's completely okay!!!"

"You say that, and yet you look like you're about to throw up."

"Are you?! I can heal you if you want!"

Looks like this thing got dirtier than the beginning of the year. I'm surprised the school hasn't bothered to clean it. Does Kuoh not have something like a swim team?

The pool itself was disgusting, littered with decaying leaves and muddy water. It's a surprise that nobody drained this disgusting thing yet, but I suppose it's always a Devil's nature to push responsibilities on others.

Accompanying Chelsea and me were Add, Asia, and Eve, surprisingly. Add volunteered to come, due to wanting to try swimming out (he's never swam in a pool before) and because he wanted to try being braver by putting himself out more. Although, he was absolutely retching at the state of the pools, his face pale and slowly turning blue. I think he's going to cry again, if he keeps looking at the nasty pool. Adam didn't come, for the reasoning of, "Why the hell would I want to clean a nasty ass pool? Have fun, kid."

Asia came for similar reasons as Add, although she didn't know how to sim. She did want to learn, however, so she could swim with the friends she makes in the future. Hopefully none of them are perverted...

As for Eve...It's hard to say. We're not sure why she came with us. When you hear "dignified Nasod Queen," and, "cleaning a pool," you don't generally think that the queen is willing to get her hands dirty. And yet, Eve decided to come, claiming it to be "research." If it was, she would have come to the karaoke session a week ago...

"...let's just get this over with..." I murmured. My eyes narrowed. "Supreme Punishment..."

Summoning my gunblades to my side, magi circles appeared in a linear formation above my head, as I pulled the two triggers. With a howling shriek, thousands of lower Demons from the Abyss rushed out in blue flames, landing in the dirty water. With hissing and steam, the blue flames burned the water, forming clouds in the air. Narrowing my eyes as the water continued to evaporate, I only let my expression soften when the only thing in the pool was the dirty leaves and mud caking the sides of the pool. Noticing the job was finished, the lower demons suddenly rushed towards me, swirling in mini tornadoes around me. They were most likely speaking to me, but my control over the Abyss wasn't strong enough so that I could hear their voices.

I'd imagine they are pretty mad that I summoned them to burn dirty water...

"...sorry...i'll send you all back..." I murmured apologetically, opening a portal at my sides. The lower demons seemingly cried in slight annoyance, but brushed it off and rushed through the magic circle, returning to the Abyss. I hope that doesn't come back to bite me in the ass...

"It appears that the pool has been drained. If you do not wish for your current attire to smell strange, it would be best to change our clothes." Eve suggested, pulling out her PE uniform from nowhere. Sighing in agreement, we all moved to our respective changing rooms, Add with me, and Eve, Chelsea, and Asia to their changing room.

"...Add, why did you actually come? don't you and your brother hate getting yourselves dirty?" I asked, slipping my shirt off. Looking at my chest, I examined it's current state. It was more toned now due to Lilith and my parents' training. Still skinny though...maybe I should eat more cake to get more body mass.

"O-O-Oh...I-I-It's fine...S-S-She told me t-t-to go..." Add replied suddenly blushing from the tips of his pointed ears. A small smile made its way on my face. He must be talking about our visitors...We'd better get to work, or they won't be able to enjoy themselves at all.

"...let's get this done." I murmured, stretching my arms. Hopefully I don't break my back or something.

And so Add, Chelsea and I all started scrubbing. I didn't let Asia help, since I wasn't going to let my sister get herself dirty. Eve just watched, but occasionally sent us cleaning tools with the use of Moby and Remy. None of us were really bothered by the two just watching, but Asia felt bad that she wasn't helping. When she tried to clean, I looked at her and told her straight up that a cute sister does not deserve dirt on her hands. The angry pout she gave me sent a geyser of blood shooting out of my nose. So damn cute...

Add was still unnerved by how dirty it was, but since he wasn't wearing his normal clothes, Add was doing better than before. Yet, Add still didn't want to get himself dirty, instead sitting on two of his Dynamos while sticking a bunch of sponges to the others. If Adam saw how he was using the Nasod weapons, he would probably flip out.

Chelsea, well, according to her, "As long as I'm with you, I don't care what we're doing!"

We had to clean a large blood stain on the pool from how much that sentence made me cough out blood.

"Disgusting..." I murmured, suddenly summoning my gunblade and shooting a spider that somehow managed to survive in this murky water.

"A-Agreed...B-But we're almost d-done!" Add noted, bringing some hope to this punishment..

"...really, i'm sorry i dragged you all into this punishment with me..." I murmured.

"Do not be a dummy. This was the decision everyone else made, so you would do best to respect it." Eve snapped, turning her head to the side slightly with pink dusting her cheeks. Steam also began to erupt from her head.

"Mou~! You worry too much! Just relax and wait for when we can use this thing!" Chelsea huffed, smacking my back.

"Y-Yuu, I don't know how to swim....Could you teach me?" Asia asked, seemingly embarrassed.

"...it's fine. honestly, it's better i teach you than Lilith." I murmured, shivering when I suddenly remembered how I learned to swim. Since we lived somewhere in the middle of the ocean, it was necessary for me to learn how to swim. And due to Lilith getting borderline blackout drunk, I nearly drowned when she threw me into the ocean. It was only when she saw my usually stoic face begin to panic with tears in my eyes that she sobered up and dove after me. I was technically four when that happened.

Continuing our work, with very minimal barfing and nosebleeds of cuteness, it was only a matter of time before a resident butler voiced his complaints.

"Put your back into it! Any stain will just infect the water with its dirt! Make it spotless!" Ciel commanded. Should have figured my butler dad is a perfectionist when it comes to chores...

"I-Is your dad y-yelling at you? I-I can't see h-him, b-but I can a-almost hear him s-screaming..." Add murmured, probably wondering if spending time with us was either heightening his affinity for magic or driving him insane.

"Unfortunately.." Chelsea sighed, exasperated. Lu also sighed, seemingly used to her husband's antics.

"If Ciel is yelling about cleaning, I am not surprised. He was the same back when we were with the rest of the El Search party as well." Eve noted. El Search party? Is that the name of the group my parents, Adam, and Eve were a part of?

"Think about it like this: If a single speck of dust or dirt touches Chelsea, her cuteness will be damaged." Ciel tried to bribe me into working harder.

And it was working.

"...all dirt stains must die..." I growled, twirling two brushes like I would with my gunblades, sending a storm of soap and dirt flying everywhere. Chelsea, Add, and Eve all stepped back as I demolished the pool's dirt, not stopping until the entire thing was pristine white. Still with my stoic expression, I puffed out my chest, proud of my work. The others stared at me in awe.

"W-Was he always t-this good at h-housework?"

"I am also curious. Do you know the answer, Asia-san?"

"N-No, I think Chelsea would know more than I do."

"Yuu-kun probably only put in more effort because he was motivated by my cute factor...and I'm so glad that's the case!"

Add, Eve, Asia, and Chelsea all put their input in on my sudden cleaning spree, while I promptly ignored them, continuing to praise myself inwardly. Now no dirt will touch Chelsea!

"...before we get in, we should all probably change clothes. before more dirt infiltrates the clean water..." I murmured, gripping my brush a little harder, cracking the wood. "...our guests will be here in another minute."

Without another word, I pulled my shirt over my head, not caring if the others were watching. It's not like they're gonna see me with a shirt on in the pool, after all. But I was suddenly smacked in the back with a wet towel, Chelsea with a crimson red face.

"GO TO THE CHANGING ROOM!!!" Chelsea screamed, jabbing her finger towards the changing room with an embarrassed face. Her eyes were swirled too, confused on why her boyfriend was fine just taking his shirt off in front of her. Technically, the last time I did that was when we were at Rias's training ground for the rating game, just before our date. I think that's one of the few times we saw each other half naked...I simply stared at Chelsea, still feeling the sting in my back.

"...that was't necessary." I murmured. Come to think of it, why doesn't Chelsea react when she hits me? We share injuries, so why doesn't she feel the same pain when she hits me a lot? Weird...

In the background, Asia laughed, seeing our antics, Add called me manly for being fine taking my shirt off, and Eve looked away sputtering with a red face as steam erupted from her head.

Deciding not to argue back, as usual, I took Add so we could both change again. This time, in our swim suits. While Add simply wore a pair of dark purple swimming trunks with white streaks in them, I slipped on the knee length swim shorts that Lilith had thrown at me before we left. I haven't seen what they look like until now. Just a simple blue with black streaks in them.

"...this had better be worth the trouble..." I murmured, feeling my energy running low. I need to recharge...which means that I must find Chelsea! My cute tank is empty, I must refill it!

"I-I can't help b-but wonder what g-goes through your h-head sometimes, Y-Yuu-san." Add noted, trying to read my stoic expression.

"If only he knew the man he idles so much is always drunk on cute..." Lu murmured.

"(Cute is the only truth in the world.)" Ciel and I replied, receiving exasperated sighs from my mother.

And so, I exited the changing room, Grenore in tow. Suddenly, a small cough brought our attention to the pool's entrance. Looks like our guests finally arrived...

"Hello again, Shiroma-san."

"Thanks for inviting me, Senpai..."

"...Xenovia..."

"K-K-Koneko-san!!!"

The swordswoman and the Nekomata Devil were our guests today. Hopefully it stays that way, and the Perverted Trio or the ORC don't barge in on us again.

"...the changing room is over there. the girls are all still changing, probably." I murmured, jabbing my finger in the direction Chelsea and the others went off to. The girls thanked me, as they went to go change into their swimsuits. Sighing as I stretched my thin arms, I looked to Add in the corner of my eyes, observing his current expression.

Red faced, the Grenore seemingly wanted to go hide under a rock, shivering furiously. Over and over, he would repeat, "K-K-Koneko-san saw me s-s-shirtless...I-I-I wanna die..."

"...the worst of it is over. she probably doesn't care what you look like underneath your shirt." I muttered, slapping his shoulder lightly. Add snapped out of it, sighing dejectedly. I think Chelsea called what Add is expressing, "beach body stress?" What the actual hell is that supposed to mean?

I looked at my own chest. Once again, the same toned yet skinny body greeting me. Towards my waist, a narrow torso opening to wider hips from training my legs made me sigh. If you look at it a certain way, my body is a little feminine...why did you give birth to me like this, Lu?

But what actually bothered me was something else. My pale skin, unblemished by anything, was still the pale white on my upper chest. The same was for my forehead.

While this may seem trivial, what bothers me is the fact that the signs of a Soul Contract were not present, being my mother's insignia branded somewhere on my body. Lu and Ciel both have a tattoo in the shape of a star with four points emblazoned somewhere on their bodies, providing proof that they share a soul. However, I don't possess one, despite giving half my soul to Chelsea. She doesn't have it either, which somewhat confuses me. Lu and Ciel told me this may be because the proof of our contract is the choker and earring Chelsea and I carry on ourselves, and the physical changes to Chelsea's features are substitutes for the mark of a Soul Contract.

I hope that's the case, and not something weird...

"Yuu!"

I turned my head, hearing my little sister's voice breaking me out of my thoughts. Suddenly, blood rushed out of my throat with a soft cough, seeing my cute little sister in a school swimsuit. The simple dark blue shirt with similar colored bottom piece accented her cute figure greatly! It especially works well with the blonde and white hair that falls around her back.

Speaking of the multi colored hair ex nun, most of the top half of Asia's hair has turned snow-white, and we still don't know the exact cause. I think it's better like that, though.

Following Asia, Koneko appeared, also wearing the school swimsuit. Unlike Asia, she wore the white cap that came with the swimsuit. Pretty cute, I'll admit. She seemingly looked embarrassed, then suddenly glanced at Add. Said Grenore was having a heart attack, literally frozen in place with his pupils dilated. Slowly, his face turned more red, before he fell backwards, unable to take in Koneko's appearance. I think he fainted...This seemed to fuel Koneko's self confidence a little. I sighed, walking up to her and placing my large hand on top of her head gently, murmuring, "...be gentle with him, okay? i'd rather not have his brother mad at you or me."

"Okay, Senpai..." Koneko murmured, grabbing Add by his leg and gingerly dragging him off somewhere. He'll be fine...I think.

"Y-Yuu-kun..."

Hearing the voice of my girlfriend immediately commanded my attention, as I turned towards the source. Upon what I saw, my chest tightened to the point that it hurt, and my breath suddenly hitched.