Beyond Critical - Chapter 13.1 (Patreon)

The door had scarcely closed behind Kaito Evander's back, before Rias erupted into a fit of giggles.

Sona on the other hand, had her hands clasped together and was staring at the door the younger teen just left through a thoughtful frown on her face.

"He certainly has a high opinion of himself," the crimson haired devil managed to get out between her giggles, "I can't believe he asked that." it had taken all of Rias' willpower not to burst out laughing right then and there when he declared his goal in life was to marry and impregnate Sona's sister.

It was just so far out of left field, she hadn't saw such a thing coming at all. A bit of an odd dream to have for sure, she wasn't even sure how a human like him would know of Serafall at all, but objectively, not a bad one to have. For a devil, the greater the ambition and drive to pursue that ambition, the more they would grow.

And there wasn't much higher of an ambition in devil society…than wanting to marry and impregnate the most powerful and sought after woman in the entire species.

"…He's a sly one." Sona commented simply after a moment.

"Because he brought up wanting to marry and put a baby in your sister?" Rias teased, "Specifically to you. Meaning, he might know your sister dotes on you terribly."

"Hardly," Sona rolled her eyes, "I highly doubt he's interested in my sister at all. I believe he brought that up simply to-"

"Throw us off balance," Rias finished for her, "He's the type that has usually kept to himself, him coming right out and admitting wanting to marry and impregnate your sister, is pretty out of character for him."

"Not just that," Sona shook her head, "I believe it was a negotiating tactic. His bottom line that he wouldn't go under after all is rather ludicrous to expect upon just reincarnating."

To be exact, the one thing he wouldn't budge on, no matter what Sona or Rias tried to bribe him with…was him becoming high-class upon being reincarnated.

Meaning, that was what he was really after and everything else was simply a smokescreen to make it look like a lot less of a big deal.

As Sona said, he was a sly one and he definitely wasn't dumb at all. But, his inexperience when it came to that sort of thing, shone through. He wasn't at all trained in negotiating, so despite his intelligence and sly plan, it only went so far.

"Honestly, I'm wondering how much he really knows about how our society works," Rias mused, "After all, if I'm not wrong, beyond making it clear he'll only accept being reincarnated as a devil if we can get him the High-class ranking…"

"He covered his bases, yes I saw it as well," Sona nodded, "He used my sister as the tool. Assuming I could actually promise him my sisters hand in marriage, there is no way anyone would accept a low-class devil marrying the Leviathan. To save face, they'd have to promote him. On top of that is the fact that any member of a Satan's peerage is automatically granted High-Class status."

"Mmm," Rias crossed her arms, "Though him getting into your sisters peerage to gain the High-Class status defeats the purpose of either of us attempting to recruit him. Unless it was only temporary and Serafall traded him back to you."

"…I'm ashamed to admit it did cross my mind for a few moments," Sona grimaced lightly, "But I discarded the idea. I do not want calls of nepotism impacting my sisters reputation."

As expected really, despite how much she acted like she hated her sisters doting when it came to her, Sona loved her older sister fiercely.

"Though, thinking on it a bit now, when he showed off his subspecies Twice Critcal…That may have been factored in as well," Sona hummed cupping her chin in thought, "Not only was he admitting to having killed a Cadre, a being that could contend with some gods-"

"He also pretty much implied he has all that power at his fingertips within his Sacred Gear to use as he pleased, and he was very confident in his ability to defeat the pair of us if it came down to it," Rias finished her thought for her, "Which was probably him not so subtly telling us he's worth it."

As in, even if they didn't have him for their peerages themselves, he was an overall gain for devils as a whole.

"I'd hardly call what he said at the end subtle," Sona snorted, "'If you reincarnated a dragon king or even a god if it was possible, would you really expect them to toil away as some low-class flunky and to not be given the respect they deserve?'" she quoted the last thing he said to them word for word before the discussion ended.

It was definitely arrogant of him to say something like that and not so subtly use it as a reference for himself and their recruitment attempt.

Not that Rias could really blame him if his subtle boasts were true.

"Like I said, he certainly has a high opinion of himself," Rias grinned a bit, before sighing, shoulders slumping, "Looks like I'm out of the running though. My brother already has a full peerage, and is neither single nor female for that matter."

The best she could do offer, would be reincarnating him and listing his achievement of killing Satanael as a reason for promotion. And while it would look very good on his record and speed it up massively, she doubted he'd be getting what he wanted right away.

"I'm hardly in it myself," Sona admitted, sighing in defeat herself, "Asking my sister to marry someone just because I want to recruit them for my peerage is not something I will do. And I will not ask her to reincarnate him for me and then trade him to me."

"Well…that sucks." Rias pouted.

There really wasn't anything they could do here to convince him currently. She wasn't quite ready to give up so easily, but for now, he, Kaito was out of either of their reaches.

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The whistle that was on Kaito's lips was drowned out as he left the Occult Research Club building behind.

Just in time.

'Well, that went well.' he mused to himself, making his way back towards the main school building. Time to head to the roof, he had another important conversation to take part in today.

And now, he wouldn't have to worry about being stalked by annoying devils anymore after that little chat.

Sure, even after starting off with the high-ball tactic of insinuating what he wanted was Serafall Leviathan above all else and then 'lowering' it to merely accepting being High-Class ended up with the offer being rejected, since neither Rias or Sona could promise him what he wanted.

But, you win some you lose some. And with the devils not bothering him anymore, it was still a minor win for him rather than a loss. Actually, more than minor considering He'd doubled his savings once more with his bullshit lies.

Even if becoming High-Class would be stellar. A fancy noble class, the right to his own peerage, practically infinite life span, demonic power based on desire that was tailor made for evolving Sacred Gears and would make his learning magic so, so much easier…

'I just need to figure out how to work Cleria Belial's evil piece set I guess.' Kaito shrugged to himself.

Which was easier said than done mind you, he'd had them for two weeks now and hadn't learned jack about them.

Well, nothing worth doing was ever easy for him he supposed.

Kaito put those thoughts out of mind a few moments later as he arrived at his destination, the cool kid spot on the roof.

'I really need to learn how to use my wings.' he decided as he leaned against the railing. If he did, he could have just flew up here and saved a few minutes of walking.

Just more on his plate he supposed. Alongside training his body, learning how to use his touki better, learning how to sense magic power, learning how to wield a sword, learning how to use the evil pieces…

God damn did he have a full plate.

"Just means more training." he grinned lightly, turning around and leaning over the railing overlooking the school grounds below.

Already people were piling out to mill about outside the building. One of the first out he noted, being Hyoudou who was practically skipping towards the mansion his master used as a base…hand in hand with an incredibly cute, long blonde haired girl.

"Twilight Healing, huh?" he eyed the girl thoughtfully. Now, that would be an amazing boon to have on hand for training. A point in Gremory's favour…if she could actually deliver on getting him High-Class.

Alas, it was not to be.

Moments later, another familiar brunette exited the building entrance below, alongside a pink haired girl. Murayama and her best friend…Katase if he remembered right.

They were headed towards the kendo club building.

He was about to let his eyes trail up towards the sky when a flash of cyan blue caught his eyes.

"Hmm?" Kaito frowned as another girl exited behind Murayama and her friend, completely alone.

His eyes itched as he looked at her. And he felt the urge to look away from her. Annoying, but whatever.

…If he wasn't wrong, her name was…Nonaka…Yuki? And she was in Gremory and Sitri's year, a third year.

He'd completely forgot about her until now. Which was weird, considering how attractive she was. Exotic cyan blue hair, impassive amber yellow eyes. She wasn't quite as busty as the likes of Gremory, but she was still rather voluptuous up top.

…But, she was the exact opposite of Yanagi in one regard. Like Yanagi, she was rather short, but where Yanagi had huge breasts, Nonaka had a huge ass that her short maroon school skirt hung over like a shelf.

…Weird, he was sure he knew her from somewhere else. And again, he had no idea why she'd completely slipped his mind. If he didn't notice her there, she'd have been completely blank in his memory.

The cyan haired girl down below suddenly paused and tilted her head to look up. Impassive yellow eyes met his own blue.

And she stared at him, a frown on her face.

Kaito raised an eyebrow and stared back at her.

And for a good five seconds, they just stared at each other. But, the longer it went on, the more of an itch seemed to tingle behind his eyes.

It was fucking annoying.

He gave the girl a wave and she blinked, before copying him and waving back at him looking confused.

Something was…off about that girl.

But before he could even think about doing anything about it, the door to the roof suddenly swung open and slammed into the wall from the force it was opened with.

His head whipped around on instinct to find Yanagi with her leg oustretched, looking like she kicked the door open and a wide grin on her face.

"…I can see up your skirt y'know." Kaito deadpanned. It was a pretty nice view actually, some nice frilly powder blue panties.

"And now you are blessed." Yanagi didn't miss a beat making him roll his eyes as she lowered her leg.

…Weird though. The itch behind his eyes was suddenly gone.

Yanagi practically skipped over to him, and he grimaced as he was reminded of Hyoudou.

He skipped just like her.

"So, what's up sweet cheeks?" Yanagi grinned impishly at him, "Well, beyond the thing in your pants from the sweet ol' view I gave ya."

…This girl, one of these days man, he swore.

He'd call her bluff and give her a right shock.

But that would have to wait for now, "There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Ah…" Yanagi's teasing impish demeanour faded instantly, turning serious, "I think I've got a good idea of what you want to talk about."

Kaito's eyes widened…..she couldn't already know about him and everything right? And just hidden it a-

"I'm a J-cup!" she declared grandly, spreading her arms widely and hopping in spot making her huge breasts bounce, "My three sizes are 99-" her words turned into a choked splutter as his palm grasped her entire face and smothered her.