Kuoh Academy

[Bloodedge]

Days after the Rating Game(s) of Eira and her peerage, the Student Body Council's office was inhabited by a male who'd been present behind the scenes of the battle against Onoko Astaroth's peerage. His name was simply Leishi. He sat upon one of three couches that faced inward to a table at the office's center, forming a square with the desk to complete it at the rear end. He wore slim white pants, and a purple tank top underneath a very loose black shirt with its collar wide enough to drape over each shoulder. To complete his ensemble, he sported a pair of black gloves that fell just short of reaching his wrists, and a very long, white headband with a golden star at its center, and gold also finishing its multi-pointed ends. In his hands, he held a booklet that was interestingly used to house a written review of Eira's most recent Rating Game. His deep purple eyes scanned each page again and again, and a chuckle escaped him numerous times. "That's messed up. I wish we could have been involved with this one; we didn't even get an invite!"

[Apollymi]

Curiously enough, the leader of the Peerage being reviewed by this lad, was destined to appear in this office today. The crimson haired heiress to the Gremory Clan would soon enter this very room, though it wasn't Leishi she intended to find here, she had different plans altogether. She'd be seen dressed in a formfitting black dress, which she'd become rather accustomed to wearing and black shoes which laced up to her knees. Completing her ensemble was thin black lace sleeves which covered her arms from her biceps down to her palms. This outfit did nothing more than accentuate the girl's rather curvy figure, but that didn't matter right now as she wasn't here for school related business. "Eh? Lei-shi~" she chimed initially leaning over the couch to have a look at the lad from directly behind him. Strangely though he wasn't a member of her own peerage, she seemed to be quite fond of him, a gentle smirk coming to her face as she rested her bosom against the back of his head. She seemed to have forgotten the entire reason for her own coming to this place. "Ohayou Gozaimasu~" she greeted properly seeming to have forgotten why she came to this room in the first place. "I haven't seen you in ages. I meant to thank you guys for proctoring that horrible Rating Game we were in. And you know, not letting Izuna break out~" she said with a gentle smile on her face.

[Bloodedge]

The male named Leishi was not at all ripped away from his reading, even as another person entered the office. He did, however, raise a curious brow the moment the door was opened, without visually confirming the person present. 'What a coincidence,' he thought. In a matter of moments, the familiar bust of one Eira Gremory was pressed against his head from the rear, and her own face simultaneously loomed over his. "Good morning, Eir," he spoke ever so casually. Just then, the page of his booklet was turned, though he finally tore his eyes from it. "It was no problem. We have fun watching Rating Games, and it keeps Nym especially happy. We didn't keep Izu from breaking out, though. He could have freed himself from that kekkai of mine any time he wanted. I inscribed it with the rule 'Any apparition of Seirei Class or lower cannot pass' when I set it up," he said, taking a breather before returning to his reading, as he wondered if his words may have been lost to the Devil in his company.

[Apollymi]

It seemed that much to Eira's general happiness, this young man at least was perfectly capable of having the kind of casual interaction with her that she preferred. She remained where she was leaning against him and peeking into his face as he explained that he was fine looking out for her. He mentioned a member of his peerage that was exceedingly happy to look in on them. It was one she remembered being related to the Satan Beelzebub. A chuckle escaped her as she realized that particular girl would likely enjoy proctoring Rating Games as a natural part of who she was. Moving right along, Leishi mentioned that Izuna would have been able to get out of the barrier he'd created at any time, and was content to use terms in his explanation which Eira wasn't familiar with. "Hm? You lost me Leishi... there are some terms in there I am not familiar with..." she said seemingly amused that there were still things about other kinds of beings which she didn't know. "Feel free to share though, I enjoy knowing new things~" she said. Becoming fairly curious about what in his explanation explained that Izuna could have left his barrier whenever he wanted to, she was even willing to put aside her reasoning for coming here, to find this out.

[Bloodedge]

"Sou ka," Leishi said upon receiving the confirmation he needed. His gaze returned to the booklet, though he did not start reading again just yet. In fact, his eyes closed after a moment of silence brought about during the time taken to formulate his explanation. "I would happily enlighten you, Eir. Onmyouji once found a need to create classifications of our own, separate from others' views of various spirits and creatures. In practice of Onmyoudou, it becomes easy to realize the strong similarities between spirits and Youkai. Actually, they are almost interchangeable, at least as far as kekkai, summoning and banishing are concerned. To keep it simple, they share classifications because of how Furyoku affects them. There are three classes to spirits and Shikigami alike: Normal, Seirei, and Kami. Most Youkai fall into the Seirei class, but if you were to equate the ability of certain Youkai to rival Gods, Satans and Buddhas... they would be considered Kami Class."

With all that said, Leishi closed the booklet in his hand, deciding he had actually read enough to understand the gist of the last Rating Game. If he cared to know anything else, he did have access to one of its participants here and now, so he freed himself to devote his full attention to Eira. In doing so, he chose to clarify one more thing. "Oh! Furyoku is a newer term from modern takes on Onmyouji, who call themselves Shamans now. What used to be called enchantment power started being called shamanic power. I guess it's an alright change. Anyway, Izu wouldn't have had any issues getting through, if he were a Daiyoukai at the time."

[Apollymi]

Eira would be exceedingly attentive as Leishi explained the classifications which Onmyouji had come up with to define Spirits and Youkai alike. The information itself was fascinating, as Eira had only loosely considered that other people had different ways of classifying the powers they'd encountered. What she knew of those sorts of things, she knew only because of her attachment to the Youkai who were part of her Peerage. She gained such knowledge through her Peerage members, though it was generally more specific to the kind of Youkai they were. "Sou ka, but..." she was soon left to pause as he went on to answer the one question she would have had about the explanation. Her eyes widened then as it all came together. According to what Leishi had to say, if Izuna had taken his true form, he would have been able to leave any time he felt like it. "That clears that up. That was a really good explanation. I understand what you mean in theory, but it is exactly for the reason that he could have gotten out as a Daiyoukai, that he was kept in~" she chimed, which was of course the absolute truth. Izuna had no intention of revealing the truest of his form to anyone if he didn't have to, and he had no reason to assume he'd ever have to. Eira wasn't completely sure why he was hiding but if he remained comfortable with his own decision she had no reason to question it. "But I am sure you realized that~" she said as a gentle compliment to Leishi, whom she knew to be Izuna's partner at least in relation to their shared after school activity. "Still, it's interesting to think that even magical humans have their own classifications of other beings. The world is such an interesting place~" Eira mused. "Arigatou Gozaimasu, for the crash course in Shamans~ I didn't mean to interrupt your reading~ I actually only came here looking for Lu-chan~" she said thinking about it more. "Things have been kind of hectic since that Second Rating Game."

[Bloodedge]

"Of course I do. I could have also stopped Kami Class for a little while, but I was actually holding out hope that Izu would be mad enough to break what I did put up," he explained. As he placed the booklet on the table in front of himself, Leishi turned clockwise until he was able to stretch out across the couch, leaning his head against its arm. It became apparent soon enough that Eira came searching for Lucaro, to whom Leishi was servile. "There wasn't much reading to interrupt. I was actually just getting Nym's summary of that last Rating Game you guys had. Nice Dragon," he continued, rolling directly into the next clause to meet Eira's reason for arriving. "Luca's gone. Nym should be around here somewhere though, unless it's something I could help you out with."

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Leishi had been holding out hope that Izuna would become upset enough to challenge the barrier he'd created. "Sou ka, well, you'll be waiting for that as long as I've been~" she said, knowing that she'd been holding out hope for her little fox boy for quite a while, and it didn't seem like his will would ever break over his need to be secretive with his form. He went on to explain what he'd actually been reading prior to her arrival and it was apparently the summary of her Rating Game against her elder brother. "Ah, so that's what passes as an entertaining read now~ Well, I expect that of Nymphia... her dad announced the whole thing, and seemed pretty into it," she said of the actual Rating Game material, but given who it was written by that made quite a great bit of sense. "Arigatou Gozaimasu~ With him and Revil, my Peerage is complete. Though Takumi is still out cold after his last battle," she said, a slight frown coming to her face. According to all of the healers on her team, the young boy was simply exhausted having gone too far past his limits, but still he hadn't so much as stirred in days, and it was just a little unnerving to Eira.

Irrespective of this, it was stated by Leishi that Lucaro the person she'd come looking for was out, and that Nym was apparently nearby or possibly depending on what she'd come for, he could help her out. She frowned slightly, finding it odd that Lucaro was always conveniently missing when she came looking for him like this. "Hm, well it is actually about Takumi. I need to look his school records... if you can help me out with that, I'd really appreciate it. If not I could just put it off until I track down Lu-chan," she said. Eira wasn't truly known for acting on her own whims, her now unconscious pawn was someone she felt even more obligated to look after than other members of her peerage. Given this, she felt it necessary to know how he'd gotten to the point of being kicked from the roof during lunch and thought his past might help her better understand his family dynamic as well as take away a bit of the awkwardness surrounding the lad. Since being direct wasn't technically an option at present, she'd be a bit more indirect than she was used to.

[Bloodedge]

"Hmm... I dunno about that. I could threaten to throw our next big game if he doesn't show it. That'd probably work, but I don't think our fans would appreciate that. The Host Club is too close to finished for that kind of sacrifice." Leishi spoke whilst relaxing as best he could into the couch, seeming almost as if he could fall asleep here if his attention wasn't focused on conversing with Eira. As for his attention, Eira's was rather obviously focused on her new Pawn, the Dragon of which Leishi spoke. Leishi opened a single eye, looking toward Eira with it as she explained her desire. The more she spoke, the more he understood... even gathering an understanding far beyond what words could convey, directly from the heart of the Devil. "... Sou ka. This is weird for you, Eir. Don't worry, it's probably got to do with adjusting to that Dragon arm he has now. That's gonna be a problem, by the way; good luck with that. As for your snooping... new student files are over there," he said, pointing over the back of the couch, toward the top drawer of a file cabinet against the wall.

[Apollymi]

Eira found herself listening to the lad while he said what he could do to get Izuna to show the form he was born with. She seemed a bit stunned that someone else would think of doing something like that, but if the lad hadn't shown what he was really made of in front of Cinder Fall, she could only wonder what kind of esteem the lad held soccer in. More important than that though, was this Host Club which was apparently almost up and running. "Really? That is almost ready?!" she seemed suddenly excited. "You have to let me know when it's up, I'll come by and visit~" Eira chimed about the Host Club, which was by far the most entertaining club not her own which she thought to visit. The boy went on to make himself exceedingly comfortable on the couch, only even opening and eye to look at Eira after she explained why she'd come here.

Her own eyes widened as he expressed that something about her was weird and seemed to infer something beyond the standard motivation for doing the things which she did. "Ugh, why does everyone keep saying that?" she questioned aloud and most rhetorically since she was very used to not getting a single straight forward answer about the apparent strangeness surrounding her actions. On the matter of the boy's dragon arm, she was told by Leishi it would eventually be a problem and that he wished her luck with it. A shrug would come from Eira as she leaned against the couch and sighed. "Well, dragon appendages are strange, but I don't think it will be too bad. I am fairly certain I can drain the power from it, in the same way that I remove curses and powers from objects. The only potential problem with that, as Izuna and I have discussed, is that since he's still alive and producing energy it will return to that form over time. It's a temporary fix, but... that's fine for now," she said, seeming to have no problem with this open discussion with one of Lucaro's Peerage members. She went to extremes for her Peerage all the time, it wasn't even inconceivable that she'd handle something like this herself without any problem, even though it would require her to use the type of powers she normally avoided using. Beyond all this it seemed that Leishi had no problem pointing her in the direction of the information she sought, and she was soon looking towards his pointed finger towards the file cabinet. "Arigatou Gozaimasu~" she chimed as she walked around the couch and dragging a hand across it, leaving it to ruffle the young man's hair before she went on to peruse the file cabinet. In the top drawer she looked through new student files in alphabetical order until she came across the one which was titled, Yasukawa Takumi. After this she'd begin to read for the purpose of finding out how Takumi had come to be in Kuoh Academy.

[Bloodedge]

"Sure sure, but no special treatment. Visits don't come free, y'know," he commented about the idea that Eira would be visiting this alleged Host Club when it formed completely. When she went on to question his assertion about her current demeanor, his eyes closed again. "You're weirdly emotionally invested in this whole thing. That's probably why," was his answer, which he could easily tell Eira did not expect to receive. To further his relaxation after pointing Eira in the right direction, Leishi tucked both hands in behind his head, and crossed his legs at the ankles against the other arm of the couch. Like this, he was able to fully experience the couch's comfort while Eira passed him by, taking the time to muss his hair on her way. "It'll definitely do that. If you're that into sucking up Dragon energy, though, don't let me stop your master plan. I guess the only alternative is amputation."

[Apollymi]

"I mean that is fine... I enjoy supporting you guys, even if I have to pay for it~" Eira said about visits to the Host Club. She knew how the Club was to be set up, and understood its purpose. Even so, she was more than willing to visit to support friends in their endeavors, especially if it meant she got to spend a more than reasonable amount of time around her favorites to look at. She'd meant to start reading after making her previous assertion, but before she could even begin, the answer to her rhetorical inquiry came and caused her eyes to widen and the girl to gasp. The fact that she never expected an answer to this question was partly to blame, but the fact was, being involved in the way she was, she hadn't considered that she seemed emotionally invested. "Do I really? That is weird. I don't feel any more emotionally invested than I normally do..." she said, and this was in fact the truth. She made a great deal of effort to care about the lives of the people in her Peerage. She was invested in everyone's well-being. She assumed she was like this more than most people who had Peerages, but she didn't assume her treatment of Takumi was particularly special, with the exception of how he was created. Though it could easily be noted that even in her caring she seemed to especially care about Takumi, perhaps there was a proper explanation for this, a bit deeper than she realized. "It isn't part of any particular plan, though a bit of dragon power can't be a bad thing," she said, thinking of her brother who had two dragons on his peerage and seemed to enjoy them. Whatever the case, in the moment she intended to stay her course, and with that... she began reading.

She was able to keep this up without needing to ignore Leishi, should he be so inclined to speak. She found out, over the course of her reading, that Takumi a past which was tragic in a strange way from the rest of her peerage. But that he definitely fit in with their generally disenfranchised motif. He had been previously suspended from his school, for nearly beating another boy to death in a fist fight. This was sort of surprising since Takumi himself seemed to be a bit of a pacifist. Beyond this, his records explained that Takumi had been in this fight over the equivalent of a school idol whom he'd been in a relationship with. Eira's brow rose as she read this it didn't seem to be the type of lad she'd come to know, though it did explain several things about her visit to his home. 'Sou ka, his mother didn't trust he wasn't getting himself into this kind of trouble again. I suppose I understand her skepticism... Even if it was extreme and pointed exclusively at me...' she thought, knowing that she was considered to be one of the idols of this school based on her level of attractiveness and her general disposition. The more she read the more she realized this boy was something of a shell of himself. He was talked about as if he was a personable kid who began to experience bullying in rapid pace because of who he kept company with. Given this boy's loneliness in the lunch that caused his death, she could only assume he'd simply withdrawn upon making it to this school making him even more of a target for bullying whenever he came into contact with any girl. 'No wonder he's so strange around me... it might not even be personal,' she thought of this young man's general experience with young women and the sort of attention they called to him. It gave her insight into something Izuna had said in days previous when they were visiting Takumi's mother about the way Eira in general behaved. She supposed, in that case she had no fear of repercussions from anyone, so she acted the way she always had. But people like Takumi had reason not to want the sort of attention that being friends with Eira would bring him. She also couldn't help but notice that his listed address wasn't the one she'd visited to see his mother. This one was much closer and an apartment complex for single students, meaning he was living away from his family to be closer to school. 'Sou ka, he's really alone...' she thought aloud. The same strange pang she'd had when she'd decided to make him in the first place, reappeared within her chest. She made a decision after finishing her reading, and whatever it was, she wouldn't mention now. She had the information she'd come for and with it, she'd act in the way she thought was best. There was at least an extreme amount of light shed on the boy's strange behavior and that was enough. She tucked the file back into the drawer and closed it. "Arigatou Gozaimasu~ Leishi, I'll catch you around some other time~" she offered the lad in passing.

[Bloodedge]

"Good. We need money. Actually, I was thinking of charging you for my time right now. Starting a club is expensive; we need so much furniture to fill the old Drama Club room with," Leishi added. He was quite obviously joking by his tone... mostly. At this point, he was talking just for the sake of doing so. Eira had the directions to what she needed, and she was quickly on her way to finding whatever information she sought. However, she made a note of her so-called emotional investment, which Leishi thought she may have perceived the wrong way. "I didn't say you were more invested. I said weirdly. It's just... different from your usual M.O. is all. There's some of the same stuff in there, but something else to go with it."

Leishi allowed Eira a few moments of silence to peruse the file she had in hand. In this time, he once again sensed the strange spikes in her emotional state, giving credence to his earlier clause. This was joined by the clause that her newest servant was really alone. Leishi had read a bit about the oddities surrounding this person, but he didn't know all the specifics. As such, he responded based on only a second of thought. "So... make friends with him? That seems to be how you fix every other lonely person you run into."

[Apollymi]

A smirk came from Eira as it was mentioned by the lad that he thought of charging her for his time. He spoke of the woes of starting a club, which Eira knew all too well from her own past experiences. "I understand how you feel, I end up refitting the old school house with furniture multiple times a year. If it wasn't because I was usually destroying it, I'd donate it to you..." she offered in the same joking manner. Though it was indeed true that she as an individual had a bit of a temper problem which was uniquely directed towards the sorts of people who wouldn't understand how she bonded with others. He went on to clarify his thoughts about her investment in her most recent acquisition, stating it wasn't more, that it simply strayed from her normal motives. She still didn't really understand this, but it was likely given her own involvement she wouldn't really until she took more than a few seconds to consider it. "Sou ka... I guess that makes sense, I've been weirdly invested since I made him. Maybe that is what started it..." she offered. She did strangely invest herself into this young man, but it seemed to be sort of normal to her at this point.

After her reading she made the mistake of slipping up and speaking aloud on a thought she had. The words of Leishi struck a strange chord within Eira, as he was quite right. It was usually her general motivation to befriend a lonely individual, and she'd done this countless times with others, including every other member of her peerage in some way shape or form. What he couldn't really know was, that it was almost impossible for Eira to make the sort of direct link in friendship with Takumi that she made with everyone else, given his own hangups around girls like her. "I didn't mean to say that..." she mentioned brushing her hair out of her face. "Still, I doubt it would be so simple. I might actually have to leave this to the others. I really can't be directly as involved as I tend to like to be... not the way I am anyways..." she concluded after reading the file. Still she didn't seem as disheartened as the negativity of her words might have portrayed. There was a way she could be involved, she suspected. As she was, it was completely impossible for her to personally bond with Takumi. There was the general hope that she could leave it to her Peerage to befriend the lad directly. But she also didn't like the idea of not forging a bond herself in the way she normally did. It was strange, this lad presented Eira with a conundrum unlike the other members of her Peerage. And as was the case with most things surrounding Yasukawa Takumi it seemed she'd need to go about it, in an unusual way.

[Bloodedge]

"Hmm..." he muttered. Apparently, there was more to the situation Eira was now going through than he could have known, but it was no concern of his. Leishi was now only really concerned about his own relaxation, after an early start and finish to his daily tasks, and keeping tabs on recent Rating Games for those who'd yet to qualify for the professional tier. "If ya' gotta leave it to them, ya' gotta leave it to them. That's what they're..." Mid-sentence, Leishi yawned. "... there for, right?" he asked in rhetoric. Moments later, he seemed to be opening his mouth in preparation of further speech, but what came from his mouth instead, was the first of a series of snores.