I introduced Asia to them as an acquaintance who would be staying with me for the foreseeable future.
I, of course, mentioned nothing about her that was not obvious at first glance. Namely, that she is Italian, and yes, she is aware of the supernatural.
I warned her before we came in not to mention anything about her Sacred Gear to anybody lest she wanted to deal with unwanted attention.
Thankfully, there was no time for chatter today because five minutes after we came in, Rias led us to an empty plot of land behind the clubroom. It was out of view, and from what I could tell without looking into it more, heavily warded.
"Right! First things first. I want each one of you to hit me with your most powerful attack, whatever it might be. I mean it, okay? I need to know precisely what your current ceiling is." I told the assembled teens, who shot me a variation of unsure looks.
"Ara~ Sen—" "Shush Akeno, and attack me. Don't worry, you're not strong enough to harm me in any way." I cut off whatever teasing nonsense Akeno was going to say. Now was not the time.
"*sigh* Let's just do what she says, Akeno." Rias was the first one to attack. She pointed her hand toward me and started gathering and compressing the power of destruction in the palm of her hand. It took her three whole seconds to charge it up and shoot it in my general direction.
The attack itself was fast once it was out of her hand, but it was obvious she could not aim it very well. Still, I needed to feel it, so with a blur of motion, I intercepted its path and let it him me.
Well, it did hit me, and it did absolutely nothing. Not a hair out of place, not even a slight tickle on my skin, but it was powerful, and anybody in her general strength range would be very hard-pressed to come out unscathed.
Still, seeing Rias's face when it did nothing was funny. She looked genuinely shocked. As if I didn't just tell them that they won't harm me in the slightest.
"Okay, next!"
"How—Wait! You're not going to say anything to me?" Confused, Rias asked.
"Not now. Once I get the full picture and we move on to individual training, I will. Next."
Kiba came up next. He didn't waste time and immediately attacked. As a knight, the kid was pretty damn fast, almost as fast as an arrow, but that was it. He was not using his speed correctly, well, at least not in the way I would use it. He should have been stabbing, thrusting, and generally just poking at any of my weak points, but no, he was slashing and cutting for most of our exchange. It was some kind of katana technique. I could at least tell you that much.
"Enough, next." He gave me a small nod, and Issei went ahead.
It was almost cute, how bad he was, and I actually pitied Ddraig quite a bit. Right now, his only, and I repeat only, saving grace was that he was new to all of this. He didn't even know how to throw a proper punch, for crying out loud.
The boy was so green, I might as well have called him the Green Dragon Emperor.
Akeno stepped up next, looking quite nervous for some reason, and immediately shot bolts of lightning my way. And unlike all before her, who genuinely did give it their all, Akeno was holding back.
"That's not your strongest attack." I said simply, wondering why she didn't use holy lightning. She was a fallen angel, at least partly, and I felt traces of Holy energy within her, so I knew she could utilize it.
"Omo~ What do you mean, sensei?" Her usual teasing tone was there, but her face, and most importantly her eyes, were anything but that; they were sharp and colored with worry.
"Use Holy lightning. I know you can." Her figure shook slightly, her demeanor changed, and she cast a quick glance at the rest of the peerage. I followed it and saw Koneko looking at me with a terrified expression.
"N-No… Never. I won't use it!" She spat out angrily.
Right… She's a Fallen who hates the Fallen. Forgot about that part.
"No? Your best friend's future is on the line, and you won't use Holy Light? You know, the thing that is extremely strong against devils? Are you for real now? What a great friend you are, Akeno! Stop being a fucking baby." I rubbed my eyes with frustration.
*sigh* Scram. Next!" She looked like she might retort, but instead just hung her head and walked off in silence. Not looking at anybody, especially not at Rias, who was shooting her looks of concern with hints of mild disappointment.
Koneko came next, and the little girl looked like she might bolt any second.
"*sigh* So what is it that you won't use? Touki? Chakra? Senjutsu? Youjutsu?" It was painfully obvious that, like Akeno, she would refuse to use everything at her disposal. But unlike her, Koneko was scared. Like really, really scared.
"S–Senjutsu."
"Why?"
"W–What if I go berserk?"
"And you think I would allow it? Or more importantly, do you think I won't be able to stop you, should you throw a little nature-powered temper tantrum? Your fear is meaningless."
"I-I don't want to use it… Please." Is this what it feels like to have a favorite child? Akeno did essentially the same thing, and it just pissed me off, but Koneko? I just want to wrap the little kitty in a blanket and comfort her.
"Are you willing to at least try in the future?"
"I don't know… M–maybe?" Knowing that this was the best answer I could get right now, I let it go.
She attacked me a short while later, once she had calmed herself down. It was good. She was fast, but not as fast as Kiba, strong, but not as strong as Rias or Akeno. The combination of her fast, catlike youkai nature and the Rook piece meant that she was pretty much a jack of all trades, with the added benefit of increased defense. Now, if only she used Senjutsu on top of everything…
"Okay. Rias? Come here for a sec." She looked up from where she was speaking with Akeno, and after whispering something to her, came to me.
"Yes?" She asked, her tone clipped. She must be angry about Akeno.
"Listen, only you, Kiba, and Issei did actually give it your all. And Issei might as well not count since he is so weak right now. Three people out of six, Rias. Three people. See the problem?"
"Akeno has her reasons, and Koneko told you of her fears. Besides, did you really have to be so mean to her?"
"Mean? Are you dumb? You're about to be turned into a breeding cow, and you're worrying about me being mean to your little friend? Koneko is terrified of senjutsu for some reason, but she is at least willing to consider trying to use it. Akeno hates herself and her power, and she is unwilling to put aside that hate, even for you." With every word, Rias deflated more and more. I could see that she agreed with what I said, but she just wouldn't act on it.
"It's not that simple, sensei."
"Just know that if she does not stop being stubborn about this, your fight will be that much harder. That Holy Light could make all the difference." I shrugged.
"But you can do it, right? You can help us despite everything, right?" There was a sad, hopeful tinge to her question.
"We have a deal, and whether it comes to fruition by your hand or forces me to act to uphold my end, it doesn't matter. Just know that my solution will not be a Rating Game." I gave her a pointed look.
I'm not going to have my first deal end in failure just because she couldn't pull through.
"Thank you."
"Save your thanks for when you win. Now, come on, let's gather everyone." I patted her shoulder and went to stand in the middle of the clearing.
—
This wasn't training, this was slaughter.
And other similar thoughts raced through the minds of the members of Rias's Peerage while they were on the receiving end of an onslaught of unpredictable and barely non-lethal attacks.
Your goal for today is simple, she said. Just hold on for as long as you can, she said.
Then, her power spiked for a fraction of a second, making the air shimmer with a dark and malevolent aura before vanishing and leaving behind seven carbon copies of her.
Just like that. One moment, there was one Takumi Akabane, and the next, five of her were charging at them. Of the remaining two, one stood to the side and observed everything, and what they thought was the original Akabane went and sat down next to that blonde girl.
None of them had the time to try and eavesdrop on them because the moment their attention moved even slightly away from Akabane sensei, a powerful punch, reminding them of what they were supposed to be doing, came flying straight at their face.
This beatdown lasted only for ten minutes, and by the ten-minute mark, Koneko, the last standing member, could not continue due to sheer exhaustion.
"Well, that was not as bad as I thought it would be." All five spoke at the same time, giving her voice a faint, creepy echo and making it sound like something you should not be listening to.
"Leaves a lot to be desired, but that can be fixed. *snap*" Takumis snapped their fingers, and a wispy golden aura surrounded their exhausted bodies. And they had a creeping realization that this was not the end when their bodies were brought back to their peak physical form.
"We are going to do this a few more times before we move on to group battles." Takumis said with a grin that promised nothing but pain.
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This goddamn chapter gave me so much trouble, and I had to rewrite it twice. At first, Takumi was way too mean, then way too soft.
Then I had to remove unnecessary bloat, since I spent way too much time on the Akeno situation.