'Sigh, I knew this would somehow end up like this.'

Holding the wooden training shinai lightly in his grip, Basara sighed in frustration and fatigue. The club activities had now finally ended, leaving the students to do as they willed with their time.

Murayama and Katase had been quite friendly with him throughout the time they spent together and became even more so when they realized that he was acquainted with Kiba.

For the rest of the time after, they had subtly, well maybe not so subtly as he hoped they would, hinted about him joining the Kendo club and Basara had to admit to himself that he was indeed slightly interested in their proposition.

If even devils could enjoy their school life, doing things according to their heart's desires, why couldn't he do the same? While it was true that he couldn't really go back to his normal, stress-free, supernatural-free, life, this didn't mean that he couldn't try to at least keep some semblance of it. And he surmised that going to the Kendo club was an interesting first step toward that very plan.

But this wasn't the reason why he now found himself facing Kiba. When the time to wrap things up finally came, Kiba, who had stayed silent throughout the club time, managed to convince the girls to leave the two of them alone in the dojo and go home before them.

After that, he proposed, more like challenged him, a formal Kendo match between them. Basara had hesitated briefly about whether he should accept or not but after thinking about it, he decided to accept it after all.

And now here they were, both with shinai in hand and sizing each other up for the duel to come.

———

"We will do a simple match. One point decides everything." 

Kiba spoke while gripping the shinai tightly in his hands. His legs spread apart evenly as he adjusted his stance to the most optimal position he thought plausible.

"Hmm…One point, right? Okay, let's go for it."

Kiba felt the briefest pangs of anger at the utter nonchalance Basara was showing him. As if there was no way he could lose to him no matter what he, Kiba, tried to do.

"You do know that I am a knight, right? Though this is not a magical sword, you would do well in not underestimating me."

Every time Basara mocked them, not only did he mock his pride, but he also mocked his important family members which were something he could not ever come to forgive.

After losing all those he ever cared about because of the experiments done by the accursed church, he had been lost and inflicted with suicidal tendencies for a long time…longer than he hoped to ever be. It was all thanks to the intensive care of Rias, his teacher, and the other members of his peerage that he managed to walk out of the haze that had shrouded his mind for far longer than he could ever hope to admit. It was very shameful, the state he was in, but it was now behind him — a thing of the distant past, a past he never hoped to remember yet could never forget as it latched onto him like a destructive parasite.

Tilting his head at his, Kiba's, sudden and slightly hostile reactions, Basara was slightly lost, as to what may invoke that reaction in Kiba, before understanding dawned upon him, making him sigh in wonder. Shaking his head he couldn't help but eke out a reprimanding comment.

"You are quick to draw conclusions, aren't you?"

He didn't bother to try and explain himself as he lowered his stance and prepared himself for the fight, even if it could be called that. Neither of them bothered to put protection since such a thing would be useless and unneeded in the first place.

Pin-drop silence fell between the two dueling students. There was no arbiter, no witness, and no one to give the starting signal but as if on cue — the two of them moved at the same time to strike the other down and end this match.

Bang!

A full yet resounding noise boomed at the surroundings of the empty kendo court.

The result was decided in an instant.

Utterly predictable…

———

Basara having left the dueling premise already, for some amount of time too, Kiba gently laid down on the wooden framed ground with his eyes open, staring blankly at the ceiling, as he thought back to what had happened moments before.

He lost. 

Utterly and Completely.

As expected.

Even though neither of them went all out, nor used any special skills, he could see, even feel it clearly. Basara was on a whole different level from him entirely and his chances of winning in a one vs one fight were basically close to zero.

Still, even though he had lost, very horribly at that, Kiba could not find it in himself to become angry. It was the first time he fought against a boy his age and while the result was embarrassing and the fight extremely short, so short that it couldn't even be called a fight, it had been quite rewarding, even eye-opening.

'Am I so weak? How very pathetic…'

He bit his lip in extreme frustration before standing up. He had lost many times against his teacher, but that had never bothered him very much. His teacher was a Knight in Sirzechs' peerage. There was nothing shameful about losing to such a man of his caliber and skills.

But this time, it was different. Basara was of the same generation as him and in fact, was a year younger than him. How could he simply sit back and accept the loss? He couldn't and he was sure as hell that he wouldn't.

'I need to become stronger.'

For the very first time in his life, Kiba truly wanted to become stronger for a reason different from that of revenge. After all, for a man, finding a rival was the best way to grow stronger rapidly.

———

None the wiser of all the emotional changes Kiba was now going through, Basara walked leisurely toward his main destination.

The Student Council room.

The previous fight, though short, had been rather entertaining and Kiba was a good swordsman but that was all there was to him. Compared to the strict martial education Basara went through to optimize the use of his body, Kiba only had a rudimentary level of skill and it was clear that he focused his skills and relied heavily on his Sacred gear.

Of course, right now that wasn't truly what interested Basara. 

'How long does she plan on following me?'

He could feel Koneko following not far behind him. Though she was quite stealthy, it wasn't quite enough to escape his exaggeratedly ridiculous senses. Even more so since he had someone else alongside him.

[Do you plan to let her continue?]

Basara shrugged, now that he knew a little more about her past, he could understand why she was acting as she did now. Basara was sure that he would react likewise or at least close to it in the same situation.

[I guess, as long as she doesn't take it too far.]

'I should rather focus on how to convince Sona.'

Before going home he wanted to talk to her about the possibility of letting Asia join the school, given how she was basically the one in charge of school affairs with her being a devil and all.

———

"I accept."

Sona pushed her glasses above the slanted bridge of her nose and nodded, causing Basara to be quite bewildered at the swift response.

When he entered the council room a few moments ago, only Tsubaki and Sona had been present. The others were most likely back home or working on their devilish tasks.

"You seem quite surprised."

Standing behind Sona, Tsubaki spoke with a small smile tugging at her luscious pink lips. Clearly, his expression was making it hard for her to keep a straight face. Much like her vice president, Sona was also showing a small smile.

"Did you think that I would refuse?"

"No. Not really. But I am surprised you are not asking about anything and simply accepting it as is. That doesn't really conform with your behavior."

"My. Why would I do something so short-sighted?"

Sona wasn't stupid. From what she had gathered, Basara was quite the grateful man and was the kind to repay every favor he received. Getting a favor from the son of the greatest exorcist to ever exist and could very well ever exist was something she was quite happy to receive. This would be a good step toward becoming friends with him and making connections.

Even on the off chance that Basara wasn't grateful and didn't repay her, it didn't matter. After all, she was just putting one human in a human high school that she had total control over. 

Zero risk for high reward was the dream for anyone. 

Basara frowned a little. He knew very well that free favors were generally the most expensive ones.

Now it all depended on how he wanted to further his relationship with Sona. If he wanted to form a closer relationship and become a friend or at least an ally, then accepting this favor from her was the right way.

If on the other hand, he did not wish for them to become closer, then he simply needed to insist on clearing the debt now.

This was how socializing worked. An exchange of debts. 

'What should I do?'

He did not really need Sona's help for anything right now. But what about the future? Since he decided to create his own peerage and one of the members was Lucia, it was clear that he wouldn't be able to escape from the devils' politics.

Even without that, he was partially a Gremory himself. This was something that would become known sooner or later since he had no intention to hide the usage of his gravity magic. 

Sona Sitri was the heiress of the Sitri house and the sister of a Maou. He did not know much about her but at least he could see that she was someone worthy of trust and a very intelligent woman.

There was no clear demerit about becoming closer to her but a lot of benefits instead. Now, would the demerits slowly reveal themselves in the future? He couldn't be sure of that. It was a gamble, one that could have unimaginably high stakes. No one would rush to take a gamble such as this. However, Basara had belief in the bespectacled and graceful devil, so he was ready to take this gamble no matter the outcome.

"Thank you. I will remember it."

Like this, the two of them exchanged smiles full of hidden meaning and veiled contracts. Discussing with smart people was always a pleasure to anyone, of course, you also needed to be of the same mind.

Once the two of them finished their discussion on how to place Asia in the school, they decided to do the enrollment next week. During this time, Sona would handle all the problems about Asia's identity and background.

The church already did a good job on that matter so it wasn't very problematic. They just needed to work on the education she did not officially have and some other small matters to pass the eyes of the authorities.

Basara did not wish to have to mind control a bunch of humans just to get the job done. Thankfully, in this case, the power of money and influence was more useful.

Once everything was done, Basara went away with a wide smile etched on his face. He had managed to work on something that had been bothering him quite a bit faster than he thought possible and soon Asia would be able to enjoy a normal high school life.

He now had only one last destination before finally being able to go home and announce the good news to Asia.

The Infirmary.