"You might want to hold back on your predictions." She paused to give a quick glance to the side. "It seems we have a few that are a lot bigger than normal, possibly the type that would need a team. So he would need to be careful."
"I'm sure it is not something he can't handle." I replied while sipping my drink.
"Sounds like you guys have an infestation going on in your area." Kawako replied as she came along with some of the snacks she mentioned.
"Yeah, not just at the academy grounds, they have been appearing in quite a few areas." I replied back to them. "You might want to lock up everything and stay in the house for a couple of nights, because some of the rats seemed to be pretty determined to get inside buildings."
"Oh dear, that sounds bad." Kawako turned a worried expression to Kano. "We are going to need those mouse traps again."
"Hah~ honestly, with all the rubbish lying around, I'm not surprised all these rats are getting bolder in getting inside a house." Kano grumbled as he contemplated the last time he placed those traps. "Thanks for the heads up."
"No problem." Sona took one final sip of the drink and placed the empty cup on the table. "Well then, I think we will be going now."
"Eii... Can't we stay longer?" Meguri pleaded with Sona as she busily munched on a few pieces of Pocky, a couple of chocolate bars and a cinnamon toast. She better not choke on those.
"We can't, we got more paperwork to do." Sona shot her down and got up from her chair. The others stood up a few moments later while looking at the food wistfully.
"Here." They turned to find Kawako holding up a few carton boxes. "You can fill these up with those treats. Better take them while you can, because we can't hold them for too long."
"Thank you very much!" They took the boxes in their hands and started to staff as much of the treats as possible. Sona could only shake her head lightly and sighed softly as she watched this sight.
As for me, I was silently recording this for some possible blackmail in the future.
"Is there anything else you want to tell me?" I asked after getting the goods in my phone.
"Well not much, but due to certain matters, we will be teaming up with Rias's group for a while." Sona raised an eyebrow at my frown. "I still don't understand why you don't want to be around her much, but we do need her help with some of the bigger issues that came up recently."
"Ha~ Fine." I let out a sigh and shrugged. There was no helping it, I still feel wary around Rias, but at the least she was not doing anything wrong like last time. I would just keep my distance with her and keep a watchful eye on her.
"Right, see you back on Monday then." I opened the door and let the group out of the shop, with Tsubaki, Reya and finally Sona lightly nodding before I closed the door.
"So, Shirou." I turned to find both elders looking at me with a very teasing expression. "Tell us more about those girls."
Oh boy.
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"Well then, I guess that's it then." Sona said after leaving the premises.
"Yup, we managed to get the message to him, and on the plus side, we figured out where he is working." Tsubasa looked at the shop with a raised eyebrow. "But quite honestly, he was rather secretive about the place, I expected it to be shady of sorts."
"Likely he kept it secret to ensure the folks around here don't get involved with the supernatural side." Reya commented as she looked around. "From what we gathered from the people we talked to, it seemed that he was on very good terms with them, and he was probably trying to limit the contact with us around here."
"Guess that explained that look he gave us earlier." Saji let out a troubled sigh. "When I think about it, he must have thought that we were about to do something to the elderly folks, so he was on his guard for quite a while earlier."
"Huuu... I think Emiya-Senpai is upset with us." Ruruko looked down with a slightly troubled expression.
"At the least, he seemed to be a little relaxed now." Tsubaki shrugged while looking slightly apologetic. "But perhaps next time we should announce ourselves rather than give him a surprise visit."
Sona could only nod lightly while frowning inwardly. It seemed that her progress with Shirou was still a little slow, despite having a somewhat better lead than Rias. But then again, considering what little she had seen and heard, it seemed Shirou had spent a majority of his life fighting supernatural creatures to the point of distrust.
Hah~ what a pain.
"Still a pub huh?" Momo put a finger on her chin with an amused smirk. "And the few people we talked to said that he tends to mend the drink area on several occasions. Can you imagine him in a bartender suit?"
"..."
The group paused to think of the idea, then with the exception of the lone boy, started to blush heavily at the idea.
"That was... A very dangerous thought there." Tsubaki plugged her nose and breathed deeply to control her thoughts.
"Indeed, that image was a very deadly weapon." Momo had a rather disturbing expression of hunger while blushing and panting hard.
"ARURURU~" Both Meguri and Ruruko were getting extremely flustered and clutching their cheeks.
"Emiya-kun, in a bartender suit..." Reya muttered softly while wriggling her body a little weirdly.
"Whoa, that would be a killer look for him." Tsubasa commented as she lightly scratched her cheek in slight embarrassment.
"Damn, that guy would be a bona-fide chick magnet if that ever happened." Saji remarked while having an expression stuck between a scowl and some reluctant approval.
"Cough~ okay now, let us get back to the issue at hand." Sona attempted to get their original conversation back on track, though it was clear that she too was affected by the image she had, her cheeks having a deepening shade of red being an indication.
"Okay, we are back." Tsubasa replied as she slapped her cheeks lightly. "So, do we ask Rias-senpai for her cooperation?"
"Yes. We would need her help in dealing with some of the targets." Sona agreed with her question. "It is extremely irritating that the number of Stray Devils seems to have doubled recently. I don't know what is going on."
"You don't think that this might be due to the Rating Game recently, do you?" Reya asked in a worried tone. "I mean, given what you just told us about some of the old clans wanting to know about the match's finer details, they may be using the Strays as spies or distractions so that they could figure out what is going on."
"That is possible, which is partially why I want Rias to come along. She would need to keep an eye on Hyoudou and I would want to discuss certain matters regarding Emiya. If the Strays are the result of some of the Higher Clans trying to sniff them out, we would need to watch over them."
"Yes, we would need to have a word with her I guess." Tsubaki remarked before pausing. "By the way Kaichou, mind if I ask a weird question?"
"Sure?" Kaichou raised an eyebrow at the odd tone she phrased those words.
"Well it is regarding that conversation with Emiya in the bar."
"What is wrong with the conversation?"
"Do you two practice speaking in codes often?" Tsubaki raised an eyebrow at her. "Because that conversation went a little too natural to be a coincidence."
"Indeed, the way it went, one would think that the two of you have been spending time alone together to have that type of conversation easily." Momo let out a teasing smile as she looked at Sona. The other girls leaned in to see Sona's reaction, while Saji actually recoiled in disbelief.
"... I have no idea what you are talking about." Sona faced forward to avoid anyone looking at her face. "It is clear that Emiya-kun is no stranger to accepting backdoor deals. I just want to make sure the message was clear to Emiya-kun without revealing our issues, that's all."
"... It seems Kaichou is a little bit tsundere." Tsubasa commented on the side with an amused smile at the answer.
"What does that mean?" Sona narrowed her eyes at the Rook who merely shrugged in good nature. She paused in her scolding to look at Meguri who had a complicated expression. "What is the matter? You look a little uncomfortable."
"Somehow, I feel a little jealous." Meguri pouted lightly before continuing to walk forward, and to the others' surprise, Reya followed her with a somewhat similar expression. Sona could only sigh lightly and rubbed her temple again.
Honestly, teenagers and hormones.
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Hey guys If you want an extra chapter you, need to throw some power Stones ;)
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