Chapter 13: 12. The last days of summer
Three dragons and one dragon gear bearer were in Crom Cruach's dimension. The two boys had finished fighting each other, and Crom was pointing out to his student the gross mistakes he had made while using his new technique. Hitori was practicing in her usual extreme form, blocking the renegade's powers while dodging his attacks. The girl herself did not hit the demon back, not wanting to touch the disgusting monster with her hands. Silence and Crom had taught her self-defense techniques, and if necessary, she would be able to fight back. Ophis, on the other hand, was sitting a little to the side from everyone, staring at the screen of her phone.
While browsing through popular articles on the devil's network, Ouroboros came across an interesting title and clicked on it without thinking. Just a minute later, the cheerful laughter of a girl who had never laughed so loudly and sincerely in her life echoed throughout the training ground. Such an unexpected reaction attracted everyone present.
Having thrown magical shackles on the renegade, who was exhausted from the mechanism, Silence began to approach his beloved to find out the reason for her merriment. Approaching closer and closer to the girl rolling on the ground in a fit of hysterical laughter, he heard strange music from a phone lying nearby.
Oppai Dragon is going to bed today...
There were many different boobs around, but...
I still love the princess-switch the most!
Oppai Dragon and flies into tomorrow!
— Ophis, — the shocked guy turned to the laughing girl, — what the hell are you listening to?!
He was not the only one who wanted an answer to this. The other two also heard the final lines of a popular song in the underworld, but could not find an adequate reaction to the words sung.
— HA-HA-HA! ... Ha-ha! ... Ha!.. Ha-ah... — Having somehow calmed down, Ophis rose to her feet. Shaking off the dust, she picked up her phone. Seeing the puzzled looks, the girl couldn't help but laugh again. — Ha-ha! You weren't wrong about the "devilish", Sai. You just heard a song from the popular children's show "Oppai Dragon".
— Y-you're kidding, right? — Hitori was the first to break down, asking everyone's question.
— Ha! Unfortunately, no. This is really on devil TV.
— I always knew that devils have problems with their heads, — the evil dragon recalled all his skirmishes with the underground inhabitants, — but to such an extent!
— And they calmly show this to their children? — Having received confirmation, the young man grabbed his head. — I've lost all desire to visit the underworld.
— Okay, kid, you'll suffer later. Better tell me, Ophis, - Crom looked closely into Ouroboros' eyes, - what dragon are we talking about?
— Ha-ha-ha! That's the most interesting thing, — fiddling with her phone, she showed a picture of a figure in red armor frozen in an absurd pose. — Sekiryuutei, no, — Ouroboros quickly corrected herself, — the former Sekiryuutei surpassed any of his predecessors. During his last Rating Game, he created an ability that allows him to hear the thoughts of women's breasts. Ha! Plus his balance breaker, obtained thanks to groping the breasts of his "King", Rias Gremory, — while telling this, Ophis tried her best to hold back her laughter. — All these "merits" captured on camera allowed him to change his title to Chichiryuutei.
— HA-HA-HA! "Ddraig must be happy, — Crom Cruach said with evil amusement. — All his glory as one of the terrifying evil Heavenly Dragons was wasted by a small boy in a measly year in the supernatural world. Now the ferocious Sekiryutei is no more. The people know the owner of the power-up equipment as the Oppai Dragon. A terrifying dragon that draws its power from women's breasts. Ahahaha! Oh, I can't. I want to personally see Ddraig's state from this. Haha!
— We can always think of ways to bully Ddraig, let's watch this Rating Game instead. The demon with the other three pieces of Vritra is supposed to participate in it.
The group decided to do everything in comfort, so they moved to Ouroboros's home. Taking snacks from the kitchen, they settled down on the soft sofas and turned on the recording on the huge plasma. Devil Rating Games have long been a popular sport in the supernatural world, with live broadcasts and recordings sold to other races.
The twenty-minute match was a tense struggle. Despite the advantage in individual strength of the servants, Gremory almost lost the game to her opponent from the Sitri house. Sona used strategy to beat and first disable the opponent's "Bishop", which was rumored to have a powerful mechanism of Balor's Gaze. The rest of the game showed a confrontation between tactics and strength, in which the mind won with varying success. The dedication of the Vritra wielder impressed the spectators, adding a few points to him in their eyes.
Watching Genshirou use his mechanism, the three dragons came up with an idea of how to strengthen Hitori. Some similarity in the power of the "boundary field" would allow Silence to strengthen the sacred gear by soaking it with his blood and dragon aura. In theory, this would also allow the girl to get closer to the balance breaker.
This idea allowed them to eagerly await the outcome of the match. However, Hyodo's motive and the use of "bilingual" Issei's canon technique of reading the minds of girls' breasts. Pure cringe! completely ruined the mood. In the end, the victory went to Rias Gremory with great luck.
— Kid, — Crom addressed his student after the video ended. — If you do something like that, I'll kill you. The shame of the dragon race alone is more than enough.
— Don't worry. I'd rather die myself than act like a complete moron.
— Yeah, — Ophis confirmed. — I won't let my Sai act like that.
— Let's not make fun of that, — the young man changed the subject. — There's only one week left until the end of summer, which means we only have seven days to enjoy the fun before Hitori will spend most of her time at school again.
— Yeah. Let's go to the sea again. After all, summer is the time for beaches and swimsuit shows! — Ophis' predatory gaze gave the guitarist goosebumps. — And someone won't return home until her skin is tanned.
***
Early in the morning, Tokyo Airport was already packed with visitors. The crowd of people created an incoherent hubbub that terribly infuriated the sleep-deprived and irritated teenager. Yesterday, he read until late and went to bed late, wanting to sleep until lunch, but his plans were not destined to come true. At six in the morning, the door of the room was suddenly thrown open. With an energetic cry, Hikigaya Komachi woke up her lazy brother.
While he was in the shower, tidying himself up, the girl quickly packed his things into a suitcase. To the logical question "what does this mean?", Komachi delighted her brother with the news of an upcoming two-day trip to the sea, which was fully paid for both of them. The young man had already guessed the culprit of his torment and he was right. Silence had somehow managed to get his sister's number and made arrangements with her behind his back.
The girl loved traveling, especially traveling completely at someone else's expense. And she only needed to perform two favors for this. The first was to persuade Hachiman to go on this adventure. The second request also concerned her brother, or rather his future happiness. Despite her age, she understood much more than her stupid older brother, so she decided to contribute to this.
— Komachi, it's a bad habit to pull me so suddenly, — complained the sleep-deprived Hachiman. — Besides, you're selling me out for the second time. I'm upset.
— These fake tears don't suit you, brother. And I'm trying for you.
— Really
— Of course, — the girl didn't react to the teenager's skeptical look. — After all, Komachi loves his brother and only wants him to be happy.
— Then you should have let me stay home and get a good night's sleep, — his tirade was interrupted by a light tap on the top of his head.
— Stop scaring everyone with your gloomy look, Hikigaya, — Hiratsuka began to scold her student in her usual tone. — You only have two days to enjoy the sunny beach and the sea of Okinawa. Only boring and tedious everyday life awaits you. Learn to have fun.
— Are you flying with us too, sensei?
— Yes. Ophis called me last night, although I have no idea how she got my number, — Hachiman's mind immediately flashed back to his sister's request from yesterday. She asked him to use his smartphone for a minute because his phone had supposedly died. He turned his suspicious gaze to Komachi, but he only watched the innocent smile and cunning eyes on her face, without a hint of remorse. — And she offered to go with them for free to enjoy the last days of summer, — the dreamy tone quickly turned into a cough, and the woman realized what she was saying. — That is, I wanted to say that I couldn't refuse the request to watch over a group of teenagers who were capable of doing stupid things. Besides, half of them are my students.
— Ha! I'll pretend I didn't hear the first part, — Hachiman said mockingly, but seeing the woman's clenched fist, he quickly changed the subject. — You said a group. Is someone flying with us? — Hikigaya could easily guess that Hitori Goto was a candidate, but no other names popped into his head. — Maybe it's Yukinoshita?
— No. It's Hitori Goto, Ikuyo Kita, from a parallel class, and two of their friends from another school.
— Goto-san's group?
— You know about them? — the woman asked in surprise.
— Not really, — the young man hesitated slightly. — I saw a recording of Goto-san's concert, where Ikuyo-san participated. So I assumed that the other two were their comrades.
— Well, you guessed right. According to Ophis, they invited Goto and her friends, — looking behind him, she waved her hand. — And here they are. You're late!
— Sorry! — the entire group of girls apologized in unison.
Komachi, who had been silently watching her brother and his teacher from the side, stepped forward to meet the new arrivals. The girls quickly found a common language and began to chat.
— We will be boarding in five minutes, let's go!
Several hours of flight flew by unnoticed. Each of the group enjoyed the comfort of the business class of the plane. The absence of a bunch of noisy neighbors and a soft chair allowed them to while away the time by sleeping. Upon arrival at the airport, they were already met by the inspirers of this trip. Even standing in the waiting room among ordinary people, the Ouroboros couple stood out too much, allowing them to be easily spotted.
— Hello everyone. How was your flight? — When a group of teenagers, led by a young woman, approached them, Silence greeted them. Trying not to pay attention to the intent and suspicious look of the only guy among the invitees.
— Thank you. There were no problems, — Shizuka answered as an unofficial leader. — What now? Shall we take a taxi and head to the hotel?
— No. We rented a separate house with several rooms in it. Here, — the dragon handed her a bunch of keys, — this is for the second car. Since everyone won't fit in our car, I rented a second one for us.
— Okay, but aren't you spending too much? — Hiratsuka expressed her concern. — I can pay for the car if necessary.
— Ha-ha! You are very caring, Hiratsuka, your charges are very lucky, — Sai liked the sincere nature of this woman. — But there is no need for this.
— But...
— Sensei, stop it, — Hachiman intervened in the conversation, not really liking the look the dragon was looking at his teacher. — This guy has more money than an ordinary family can spend in a lifetime. He just doesn't know what to do with it, and he won't even notice such expenses.
— Ha! Hachiman understands me, — he nodded at the teenager's words. — So there's no need to worry. The money is insignificant to me. It's even less than what we spend on weekly trips.
— Okay. Let's go then.
— What are you planning, Silence? — Hachiman asked, sitting in the backseat. He and his sister rode in the dragon car, and everyone else sat in a rented car. — Why did you need to collude with Komachi and invite Hiratsuka?
— I wonder, for what purpose?
— Answer! — Hearing Sai's playful tone, the teenager got furious.
— B-brother...
— Hachiman, — the dragon looked at him through the rearview mirror. The boy didn't flinch at the sight of mystical eyes, expecting to receive an answer. — I understand that you want to protect your loved ones and I respect that in you, however, — the dragon's voice became frighteningly cold, — don't confuse the shores. I consider you my friend, so don't think that I will use the lives of the people around you for my own fun. This time I will close my eyes to your tone, understanding and accepting your concerns, but next time for an unfounded attack, get ready to get punched in the face.
— S-sorry.
— It's okay, — Sai waved his hand cheerfully, — And as for your question, I am helping to make your dream come true.
No one decided to continue the conversation, and they spent the rest of the time in silence, each immersed in their own thoughts. After thirty minutes of walking, the group reached their temporary shelter - a small two-story house hundreds of meters from the sea.
— Let's decide about the accommodations right away, — Sai led everyone into the house after parking the cars. — There are only four rooms here. Ophis and I have already settled into one of them with a double bed.
— Will we fit into the rest? — Hitori asked anxiously, stealthily glancing at her gloomy classmate. — There are seven of us, after all.
— Don't worry, Hitori. One of the rooms has three beds, and the others have two.
— Oh! — Komachi raised her hand cheerfully, having found a solution to this dilemma. — Then I suggest that Hitori-san and her friends be accommodated together in pairs, and we'll be in the remaining room.
— I knew it, — Hachiman said quietly, realizing the plan of these swindlers. He would never believe that such an arrangement of rooms was chosen by chance. Considering Silence's words about fulfilling his dream of a "house husband."
— That's a great idea, Komachi, — the dragon's sarcastic tone and wide smile only confirmed his conclusions. — You'll live together in a cozy family environment. Good training for the future.
— Hey! Is no one going to ask my opinion? — Hiratsuka was indignant.
— Is there a problem, Shizuka? — Ophis asked defiantly. After showing her fake documents, the teacher could no longer treat her with disdain. — We still need to settle you all in, and you've already met Hachiman and his sister. And judging from your past meetings, you get along well with each other. So I don't see a problem with that. Or, — the girl's face took on a mocking look, — are you afraid that he'll see you in your everyday form and be disappointed as a girl.
— D-don't talk nonsense, — a trembling voice and a barely noticeable blush made the teenage girls watching this stare at the dark-haired woman in surprise. They began to shift their gaze from the confused teacher to the guy massaging his face, noticing that he was trying to hide his reddened face. — We'll only be staying here for one night, so everything will be fine. Right, Hikigaya?
— Y-right.
— Well, — satisfied with the result, Sai addressed everyone, — Then leave your suitcases, change into swimsuits, and let's go to the beach.
— YES! — everyone supported his plan.