- Arthas -
Kuroka broke out of her surprise and pouted. "Alright alright, you have made a point."
"Glad you understand. Now, to begin for real. My name is Arthur Strauss, eighteen years old, oh, almost nineteen, I guess. I like Calligraphy, Video Games and training, I guess. I dislike sleeping in sleeping bags, bitter food, goblins and rhinos. As for my dreams for the future? I guess I want to get out of this game with my friends safely first. Anything else comes after that. So? How about you?" I asked.
"Hmm, Arthur Strauss… Arthas… I get it. Nicely done there. I just went with whatever came in my mind first."
"Kurumi is a good name too." I offered remembering a red eyed crazy chick from my memories. Oh, they do have some similarities too.
"Oh so sweet. Hmm. My likes? I like sweet food, being free and oh yes… eating up cute guys like you." She smirked, licking her lips.
I snorted at this. "Really? Not giving up even now?"
"What? You don't believe me?" She asked, looking offended.
"Obviously. Such blatant lies never work, you know. At least try harder if you don't want to say anything or just say so. I am not exactly forcing you to talk here."
"What lie, did I say?" She asked curiously, this time. She was actually listening.
"Hmm first. You claim to like sweet things and yet you haven't taken even a single sip of the tea I gave you. Are you really that afraid of me poisoning you? Trust me, with our level difference, I would need just two attacks to take you down and you won't be able to do anything to me. Not even escape. If you don't believe me, I can take a sip and show you."
To her credit, she looked a little abashed at being called out.
"Next… eating up guys like me? Darling, you try too hard. You smell so virgin that if you were to actually try anymore, I will have to wear a face mask to stay in your presence."
…
The girl's mouth hung open at the unexpected counter and she just stared at me without saying anything for a while until I spoke once more, waking her up from her daze. "Close your mouth. There are flies around at night."
…flies.
Seriously. This was one detail I didn't want the Game Master to add in this world.
Inside the tent, we used insect repellants made by Veena to keep them away but outside… yeah, that didn't work that well outside anymore.
"What?!"
"Oh, was I not making it clear? Should I repeat?" I asked.
"You think I don't have any experience?" She asked again.
"No… I know you are inexperienced. In fact, if I had to guess, I would bet that you haven't even had your first kiss yet. Oh and kissing foreheads and cheeks don't count."
In return, she spluttered to reply but actually couldn't find anything solid to say here.
"Your tea is getting cold, you know." I spoke again and this time however instead of replying, she pulled up the cup to her mouth and took a big gulp of the… sugar syrup.
I refuse to call that tea.
This was something she immediately regretted as she immediately spit out everything.
"Yeah, two spoons was a bit too much, I guess?"
"That's not it. It was too hot, dammit."
"Ah… well, blow on it next time. You know, the type you usually do." I smirked once more as the girl huffed.
"You seem to be quite experienced. With the Princess inside the tent? She didn't seem like it, to be honest."
"I will neither confirm nor deny anything. It's not my place to speak about her private matters here." I crossed my arms in front of my chest.
"Tch, no fun."
"...seriously. So what do you think all this was?"
"Okay, so you want to know more about me. Good, I will tell you. My name is Kuroka. I was born as a Nekoshou… umm, a rare type of youkai. Both my younger sister Shirone and I were born and raised in the Underworld where I was recruited by a High Class Devil to become his Bishop and became a Reincarnated Devil. Later I had some… disagreements with that Devil and killed him, becoming a Stray Devil. I am very dangerous, you know? An SS Rank Stray Devil. So… scared of taking me on your team now?" She asked, raising her eyebrow but this time… there was a look of slight hesitation in her eyes.
It wasn't something people would notice that easily at normal times.
As much as I had tried to play down her acting skills in this conversation, Kuroka was a very skilled actress, especially when hiding her emotions.
This temporary lapse was probably due to the repeated shocks in the past few minutes and to some extent also due to my own high stats which made it easy to catch this flaw.
Knowing what I did about her, I made a split second decision and scoffed. "Nah… you are too weak. And what's that SS Rank for? Super Sexless? Then yes, that does suit you." I laughed.
"Hahahaha that guy thought that too."
"Well, there is a difference between us."
"Oh, what's the difference?" She asked, challengingly but there was actual interest in her voice this time.
"I know how to treat my teammates so that they don't backstab me." I shrugged.
This answer however made her freeze almost imperceptibly.
I however continued in a casual tone. "So? Why did you do it?"
She narrowed her eyes, but then took that 'mean girl' persona again. "I killed him to test my strength."
My lips twitched as I remembered something and couldn't help but say. "Yes yes, Miss Itachi. Is Sasuke doing fine?"
"What?"
"Nothing." I let out a sigh. "I know this is a bit personal and you don't want to answer it. After all, it's your choice and I will respect the decision you make but please… don't lie."
"Hmph, what makes you think I am lying?" She asked, narrowing her eyes again.
"Because it doesn't add up."
"What?"
"Everything I have heard about the incident… just doesn't add up. Most of all… you don't seem to be the type of person who would do such a thing for such a… dumb reason. You are not that much of a fool."
"Oh and what do you know about me?"
"Hmm well first of all, you were already getting plenty of… hmm, shall we call it… measurements in the Rating Games so going after your Boss which would get you hunted by the entire Underworld… yeah, that's not a good enough reason for a sane person and you… haven't shown even a single sign that you have any kind of clinical insanity in the time I have seen you. Believe me I know. My parents got me checked for it too." They actually did have me put through some tests to identify my exact condition.
Some of these tests could also be used to identify signs of insanity in people.
"Your parents did what now?"
"I had difficulty expressing any kind of emotion as a kid." I explained briefly.
"Doesn't look like that to me."
"Yes. I have been forced to be more… in tune with my emotions inside this… world." Who knew the cure of my condition would be to hammer down a trauma with an even greater trauma? "Anyways, we are not talking about me right now. Second reason is Gasper." I continued.
"What about Gaspy? I saved him because it would get me an easy in with the Gremorys. Everyone knows how much the Lucifer dotes on his little sister. Saving one of the peerage members of the same girl would get me a long way to get pardoned. Being on the run all the time can get a bit tiring after all."
"Hmm, valid point. Please correct me if I am not wrong but, isn't your own sister also a part of the same girl's peerage?" I said, making her freeze.
"And what of it?"
"Hmm, nothing. Just thought it was a very good coincidence that saving a kid could also be used to mend your relations with your only living family member who is also coincidentally trapped in a death game orchestrated by an uber strong God. Small world, isn't it?"
She just frowned.
"Come on, darling. We decided to put aside the mean girl act when we started this conversation, didn't we?"
"What makes you think I am lying? I could just be using them to get what I wanted."
"...seriously." I deadpanned at her. "Once more, you are trying too hard, dear. Tell me, do you know how long you were in the same room with Veena and Gasper yesterday?"
"I don't know. Fifteen minutes to an hour. I wasn't paying attention."
"Thirty five minutes."
"Do you know how many times you looked at Gasper in that time?"
"I…"
"Fifty six times."
"Wha…"
"And even in that, you only looked towards him during conversations twelve times. The other forty four times were sneak peeks through the corner of your eyes or while making sure none of us were noticing. I must say, you certainly did your best to make it so that we didn't notice it all."
By now she was staring at me as if I was some kind of a ghost.
"You know that Skill I used during the tournament which allows me to know things even when my eyes are closed? Yeah… that one. It works indoors too. I have been observing you since the first time we met. After all, Rose had just been kidnapped while Veena narrowly escaped one. I didn't want to let my guard down. What can you say? Heightened stats and a good eye for detail can make you see much more than others." I shrugged lightly.
"That doesn't prove anything." She defended again. "Are you sure you are not from the supernatural side of things anywhere?"
Seriously, what even was the point of trying so hard.
"Totally. I told you didn't I? That I had problems expressing my emotions as a kid. You see, I have always been… more mature than my age. And seeing my parents losing their sleep worrying over me like that… it didn't sit right with me. What can I say, I have always been a very kind guy. So, to assuage them of their worries… I started pretending. Wearing a mask, just like you are doing right now. And believe me, I went in hard at that. I was much better than you but… as good as I was, they are my parents and they caught me in moments. While they did feel my intentions of assuring them, it also hurt them thinking that it was their worries which had pushed me to do such a thing. We talked about it and since then we, started to accept my condition much better."
This was actually completely true. My family has been much closer since that day.
"So, believe me when I say… these masks…they only make things worse. Open up and you will see that solving your problems… might be much easier than you thought. Oh and one more thing. If someone like me could see through your mask, then there is no way in the nine hells Veena didn't notice any of that. I guess that's why she sent you out with us to hunt while she questions Gasper alone to get more detail. Oh yeah, it wasn't to take care of you in the forest or anything. So you can stop your act now." I laughed.
Kuroka just stared at me for a while. "Okay, you are not from the Supernatural side. I know that now."
"Oh, how did you come to that conclusion?"
"There are no nine hells, only one Underworld divided into many parts. People on the Supernatural side don't use that term."
"Oh, not even seven heavens?"
"No, that's real."
"Huh, I guess you learn a new thing everyday."
"So… what now?" She asked, feeling strangely relaxed.
"What? We were introducing ourselves for some team bonding. I merely pointed out how you were not being serious there. I never have and will never force you to tell me anything you don't want to. My only request is that you do not lie to me. Also, just for your sake, don't use that mask of yours. It's bad. Your acting sucks." I laughed.
"Hmph, as if you know about acting." She smiled too, taking another sip of the now cold tea… oh, sugar syrup. That was not tea.
Next came some casual conversation.