[A few moments earlier]

Koneko's day was going as per the usual routine at the beginning - Waking up, bathing, eating, preparing for school, and all the nada nada afterward.

If there was something different about the boring and monotonous day, it was that she suddenly had a craving, an abstract and strong desire to meet Basara. She wanted to talk with him and become closer to him, for some reason…

For her, meeting Basara was something akin to a destined chance — a machination of the illusory fate. Her name, Toujou, was given by Rias in order to give her the courage she once lacked, and by some great luck, she was now attending the same class as the son of her idol.

What was it if not Fate?

From the moment she discovered the truth about the boy, she always wanted to talk to him, get close to him, and become friends. However, whenever they happened to chance upon one another, her shyness would butt in without any notice, compelling her to ignore him.

This time though, it wouldn’t happen, she would make sure of that fact.

This time, she would be able to have a good and calm discussion with him and change the stalemate of their relationship.

At least, that was what she hoped for at the start of this boring, yet hopeful day.

Sadly, that was never meant to be.

“Why is Nee-sama's scent on you?”

Before she could even catch herself, and organize her disoriented mind at picking up a certain scent she hoped to forget yet crave, she was screaming hysterically while simultaneously throwing out a punch at him with a relatively lethal power behind the attack.

She couldn’t help herself, the mental wound was simply too raw for her and she let her body be controlled by her instincts, resulting in the situation that was unfolding currently. The moment she saw Basara and felt the foreign odor on her, she was a little confused.

She was a Nekoshou, not an Inugami [1]. It wasn’t as though she could distinguish all the scents clinging to him. But this time it was a bit different.

Not only was she very sensitive to the aura of other people of her race, but it was also simply impossible for her to not recognize the new scent clinging to him today.

After all, it was the scent of the person she once loved more than anyone or anything in this entire world and now — by the cruel machinations of the abstract and obscure fate, it went on to become the scent of her most hated enemy…the one she vowed to eradicate from the face of the world.

Still, the moment she attacked, she immediately regretted the action. No matter what, she had a very good impression of Basara, all along.

Even though he had a rather weird wager with Rias, that alone did not change the impression she had of him…not even in the slightest.

She shouldn’t have been so impulsive, so as to punch him like that, she didn’t want to hurt him.

In her opinion, no matter how strong Basara was, even though he had a weird and dangerous power confined inside of him, he was still a human. While she didn’t put her full power behind the punch, there was no way a human could take her attacks without getting the least bit wounded.

At the very least, that was what she thought before she saw him block it leisurely using the palm of his hand and without any changes in expression as though he was dealing with nothing but the tantrums of a problematic child.

“!!!”

Her eyes opened wide in surprise and before she could fully process the scene, she found her world spinning and revolving in circles, everything thrown in disarray. 

‘Aikido?’

Koneko was once again surprised to find herself spinning in the air, but thankfully, a cat would never fall on its back in most situations, much less a cat yokai.

The moment her feet touched the ground, by reflex she tried to open the distance between the two of them but she could only stay still when she felt his hand on her shoulder.

‘Why is everything suddenly so heavy?’

Koneko leaked out a pained groan. All he did was place one hand on her body. But just with that, Koneko felt like the entire weight of the world was on her shoulder, making her locked in place and struggle just not to kneel.

“Kuh!”

“I advise you to not move right now.”

Koneko immediately shivered at the cold voice and lowered her head further, both because of fear and shame.

“I am—”

“ –Keep your excuses for later. Now, we need to see what to do about the mess you caused.”

Looking up, Koneko immediately paled when she saw all the students gazing at them with curiosity, awe intermixed with confusion in their eyes.

“Do not worry. From their perspective, none of what we did was particularly out of the norm. Though, let’s go. We need to find a better place to discuss about our scuffle.”

The moment Koneko had attacked him, Basara's lightning-fast reflexes allowed him to understand how bad the situation was. He did not wish to erase the memory of all those present here as that would be immoral and a chore he had no wish to conduct.

Hence was the reason why, when he blocked Koneko's punch, Basara used his innate power, gravity magic, to greatly lighten her fist, thereby dispersing all the power in it. Then, since she weighed basically nothing for a short instant, he easily flipped her over and kept her on the ground by increasing the gravity around her hundredfolds.

All of this was done without the slightest shock wave or damage to the surroundings.

The students could only wonder if it was some kind of trick to capture in a hidden camera or special event for which they performed those bizarre moves. Looking at the departing back of Basara and Koneko, none of them could have thought that they witnessed something supernatural….Nearly none of them, that is.

“Well, well what did I just witness, I wonder.”

A girl wearing the uniform of the second-year students of Kuoh Academy grinned while adjusting her red-rimmed spectacles, meanwhile, her twin braids gently swayed under the daylight breeze, a calculating visage illustrated surrounding her at that moment.

———

While being pulled forward by Basara’s strong grip, all Koneko could do was stay silent while feeling incredibly awkward.

She didn’t know why, but she couldn’t bring the slightest feeling of fighting back even though she knew that she was about to get scolded. 

Finally, the two of them reached the roof of the school building.

“I think this place is good enough to have a private conversation.”

Koneko stayed silent, her head still down.

“Now then, I guess you can start explaining what happened in the courtyard.”

“I…”

Koneko opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, but whatever she did, no words managed to get out of her throat, all of them staying stuck in her vocals, not being able to utter any response or Basara's questions.

Koneko was heavily conflicted.

She did not want to share her story.

She did not want to recall the trauma that haunted her memories.

“I am sorry!”

Bowing deeply, Koneko immediately turned around and fled without looking back.

Basara could have stopped her easily but in the end, he didn’t, he never had any intention to stop her in the first place. He could see it in her eyes. The story she had to tell was not something pretty or easily told…

He could understand her plight. After all, he had his own share of traumatic past to deal with…things he wouldn't want to share just with anyone.

But the real reason as to why he didn’t move had to do with something…or rather someone else…

“You can come out now.”

The silence was all he received as an answer before two silhouettes shimmered out of the shadow.

Two beautiful buxom girls that Basara easily recognized, 

“Rias-san and Akeno-san…”

“What did I tell you, Rias-sama, there was no way this would be enough to fool him.”

Rias shrugged and gave an embarrassed smile, “I just wanted to see what he would do to Koneko.”

While Basara acted swiftly, it was impossible for devils like them to not feel the short burst of energy. This was why Rias and Akeno came together to see what happened and witnessed the scene of Basara pulling Koneko.

“I guess you will explain to me what is happening.”

He did not miss the look Rias and Akeno shared nor did he miss the small nod Akeno sent.

In the end, Rias sighed and tucked a strand of her fiery red hair behind her ear.

“If I have to be honest, I would rather have Koneko explain this to you herself. But, if she really felt the scent of that woman on you, then you are in danger.”

“Be a little clearer please.”

Basara frowned, he hated all those cryptic words. Why did people have to play the mysterious persona when they talked with him? He had no love for detective stories or mysteries and liked being straightforward the most.

Rias let out another sigh.

“Koneko’s elder sister is a stray devil and a SS class wanted criminal.”

Basara facepalmed and let out a groan. This day was definitely going the extremely shitty route…

Explanation Notes — 

[1]: Dog Yokai