Nobunaga's host stood in silence, not having much to say as her face turned into a grimace. Blinking nervously, Nobunaga allowed Hyoudou Issei to speak through her and said, meekly, "Uh... Good morning, mother?" The girl didn't have much to say either, apparently. She began to tap her hands in anticipation, waiting for her mother's response. As if on queue, she also began whistling to herself, as if the stereotypical action would let her get away this time.
Hyoudou Miki, matriarch of the family, figured as much, and thanks to her prior knowledge of mahou shoujo and other sorts of geeky sort of stuff from her youth, patted the girl in the back, and said, "I think we can talk about this more during breakfast time. Don't forget to clean your room." Her internal justification was that whatever the hell she fought when they were asleep was a very spooky monster, that didn't last very long to their child's newfound powers, hence harboring very little actual threat when Issei was around to fight it. She didn't have much of a choice in that regard so she looked at her husband, whose otaku-ness was what attracted him to her in the first place. The husband and wife stared at each other for a few moments, the same general idea in both of their minds.
Her father sighed, palm on his head and realizing what sort of implications the threat to their lives was supposed to be. Even if there was no convoluted team of reincarnated magical girls teaming up together to save the world over and over again from a kingdom of jerks that their one and only child would lead, the fact that they saw her dematerialize a gun of all things on her hand was enough to make those sort of conclusions. A very contemporary take on the magical soldier phenomenon, indeed, though soldier could be taken rather literally in this case. The father followed the mother's response after, sighing even deeper, saying "Just... do what your mother says, Issei. Your bedroom's not the best place to talk about this kind of stuff. It reeks."
With that said and done, they shut the door and the parents walked downstairs, a faint "We really should've asked a little bit more about what happened inside of that circle, you know," echoing through the staircase. Well aware of their mistake, the girl followed after to get the cleaning materials, hoping that the discussion for this morning wouldn't be as cringe-inducing as the one from the day before. Realizing that they didn't have much to hide her powers anymore, not like her parents didn't think about the possibility in the first place, Issei didn't even try to restrain herself from running down, her inner thoughts wondering how in the world Nobunaga got used to this kind of speed. Her mother looked at the child running down faster than she could, thinking pretty much the same thing as Issei, though more focused on making sure she didn't trip and fall.
Issei was done in less than 30 minutes, a great feat considering how sticky the bodily fluids were. She had already been used to doing the chores, but her superhuman speed, aided by Nobunaga every now and then because Issei didn't have as much finesse or precision as her, made the chore much quicker, turning what was once an hourly occasion into basically a glorified exercise routine. Every inch of the room had been dusted, the flesh and acid vacuumed and damaged equipment taken away. Her mother looked at the squeaky clean room with satisfaction, then took note of the forlorn look on Issei's face.
"Some parts of your room needed to get replaced anyway, Issei," she remarked, giving Issei a curt smile. "There's no need to worry about that at least, but if you're still worried that we won't care or believe your concerns this time, then please trust us a little bit more." She sighs. "We should be past that already, so just remember to explain a little bit more about it this time, okay? You can keep some of your secrets, just give us the basics." She pecks a kiss on her cheek, then walks down, leaving Issei with her broom on her left hand as she faces the ground.
The girl didn't think that would be the case this time around, so learning that her traitorous thoughts were proven false once again made her tear up. Not out of sadness or grief, but satisfaction. Sitting down on the floor, she sighs, relieved.
Breakfast was a bit faster paced than the previous day. They've already gone through the rounds by then, so besides needing to elaborate a bit more on her current state and especially her newfound superpowers that they so conveniently forgot to ask her about, there wasn't much else added to the conversation. Nobunaga warned about not letting them know everything they didn't need to know, especially of her presence within her mind, which suited Issei just fine. In any other situation, especially an actual holy grail war, Nobunaga would have been forced to make Issei abandon her old life for good to avoid having to kill her parents, whether as innocent bystanders or mind controlled slaves. Both of them were completely possible, and she knew the latter very personally.
"So you're telling us that you aren't quite a magical girl…" His father began. He was in the middle of polishing his glasses, and drank a cup of coffee listening to their child. Considering his teenage otaku lifestyle, not unlike what Issei would've had if he didn't meet Nobunaga, he was well aware of most of the tropes.
"But something close to it?" Her mother remarked, looking up every now and then from her old collection of manga. "Then you're just in the same category. Arguing about those semantics would be pointless, Issei." The mother shook her head. The latter term flew through Nobunaga and Issei's shared body, though they considered the context and answered anyway.
"I guess? Not everything about it is like the magical girl thing you're telling me about, though I get the comparison." Issei was wearing the military uniform on the dinner table to confirm some of her parents' suspicions. It was quickly washed, dried and ironed the day before, and Issei was asked to put it on using her, uh, "henshin". Which worked, somehow, and the clothes at first on the couch were now worn on her body. Unlike the first time it happened, nothing of importance was lost; the clothes she was wearing before the transformation were actually beneath the uniform this time around. It was a convenient change because she certainly didn't know what it would be like if she had to swap out all of her clothes just because they became carbon copies of her uniform.
Issei explained the basics of her powers, what she could do and other important parts that didn't really need elaboration. Any time Issei didn't know what to say, it either came down to Nobunaga telling her what it was or taking over briefly to do it herself. If the changes weren't so mundane, the thought of a ghost giving her the powers might have actually come to mind. They were well aware of Naruto type scenarios, after all, even if Issei's father thought of Naruto as being pretty subpar for a Shonen. His words, not mine.
They asked her to do something else with her powers, and as if on instinct, the blade that failed to be around for Nobunaga during the attack flew onto Issei's hands. Issei didn't really do it of course, it was Nobunaga. The look on her parent's eyes when they realized her full extent was of brief understanding, and of melancholy. If what they learned from all of those days being huge nerds during their youth was true, then whatever could follow after would be far worse than whatever the hell their daughter fended off.
When Issei informed them of the monster's corpse she left behind at the park that she needed to get back to disposing, her mother told her to come closer. When Issei asked why, her mother gave the little girl a big old, pulling the younger girl closer to her chest all the while. In the middle of that, she then invited the girl's father as well. "I want you to take care of yourself, Issei. You and I don't know how big the world really is underneath all of that paint and varnish, and for all we know it could be more dangerous than anything you've faced so far. I'm warning you so you don't get too ahead of yourself unless you need to, alright?"
This was her way of accepting the strange destiny that fate had given their only child. After years of failing to produce a single live birth, they finally got one in the form of Hyoudou Issei, who would've been their light for the future. In all the years that led up to his eventual entrance to elementary school, they safeguarded him in every way, comforting him when he was down, and loving him and nurturing him. It's quite clear that such a life is impossible now, however, and time for the chick to leave the nest.
At least as far as physically defending him now, of course. They haven't a clue how to fight big scary monsters, much less handle and manage a gun. It's just up to her to defend herself, and that was the frustrating part of their compromise.
Pecking a kiss on Issei's kiss, she walked back to the dinner table and took their plates to the sink. Looking back a bit, she motioned the girl to go on ahead, and began washing the dishes. Her father was just about ready to go to work, and took his suitcase underneath the dinner table, putting on his suit coat and tie while doing so. Patting Issei's head lightly, he walks to the door and opens it, ready to leave the household. One last response was made, however, saying "Don't be surprised if you meet someone else like you in the future, kid." Issei definitely wouldn't. It would be too inconvenient otherwise, though the probability of a Holy Grail War taking place in the city if they do skyrockets if that ever happens. Gosh, she hoped they wouldn't.
Issei looked at both of her parents with a tear falling slowly from her cheek, which she quickly wiped off her face with her sleeve. Nodding once, she announced mostly to herself, "Ma, don't worry. I definitely will." Her response elicited a small smile on her mother's face, one that she exchanged with one of the cheeky kind. Quickly taking her hat from the shelf, she lets go for a little bit to let Nobunaga take over, taking the sword from the table, and gets ready to go. Drinking a glass of water, she runs up the stairs to her host's bedroom, mentally apologizing to her host for not being careful enough to avoid making her parents learn about the situation.
I think it's okay, Nobunaga. They confiscated your sword after all, and there's not much I could do about that. They would've figured out something about it anyway. Nobunaga considered it, and figured that was pretty much the truth. If they were a tad bit more careful about waving big fancy swords around normal people, it was likely that the sword wouldn't have been taken the other day in the first place. Still, it wasn't like Issei knew how to hide it properly anyway, so she can't begrudge her for that at least. To the bucket list, it was; training could commence with her powers when they find more time.
Opening the window, she jumps out. She jumps up the neighbors' rooftops, doing her best to avoid places that would bring her into the spotlight. The time it would take to get to the park on time would normally be less than a minute, but because Nobunaga needed to be a bit more cautious to make sure nobody saw her or her shadow, it took a bit more than 3. Jumping up and down the roofs was nothing special to Issei at first, but now that she could see everything around her thanks to the sunlight shining brightly, all she could do inside was watch the surroundings in awe. It felt much longer in general, and that was all thanks to the town's geography.
A little emotion made themselves known on Nobunaga's otherwise stoic face, a warmth in her heart she knew could only come from Issei. She smiled, happy that the cheery little boy from her visions was starting to come back piece by piece instead of being bottled up inside of her because of latent PTSD. Besides that, however, letting Issei scan the surrounding area was very much an advantage she needed to remember. In the future, it would be likely for her to fight more evil people and evil doers outside of the sanctuary of the Hyoudou household, so besides making sure that Issei learned how to fight on her own, she should also make sure to remember locales that would give them major advantages.
Landing on the clearing where she left the corpse earlier, Nobunaga knew something was already amiss. The corpse, full of holes and blood leaking out of every hole she poked on it, was already rotting. That part wasn't too surprising, and it also wasn't surprising that a large amount of flies was flying all over the place, breaking down the corpse slowly but surely. What was, however, happened to be the fact that she expected a putrid stench to be emanating from it. She could sense mana being spread throughout the spider, a barrier of sorts sealing it from the rest of the world. She also elected ignore the sensation of needing to barf from Issei's emotions once more, well aware of how disgusting the current situation was. The girl would get used to it, she just didn't want something like this to be her first try.
Clearly, whoever the hell and whatever the hell the Janitorial services were like in this universe had set a trap for her. Whether that meant leaving behind a trap for passersby who wished to feast on it, or some sort of ambush set for whoever murdered it, that is to say her, then surely they were aware of how the beast was killed in the first place. Suddenly sensing another mana signature, she could hear a whirling sound behind her. That must be them, she thought.
Shifting her body around, she quickly turned to face the origin of the sound. Her right hand was tightly gripping on the hilt of her blade, while an arquebus materialized on her left hand pointing at the whirlwind, ready to fight any outward hostiles. "Come out from where you're hiding, you..." she taunted.
A sigh could be heard from the site of origin, suddenly turning into a teenaged girl holding a magic wand lazily with her right hand, and holding waist with her left hand. Examining her form of dress, Nobunaga reeled slightly in realization of what the newcomer was wearing. "An actual magical girl?" Nobunaga and Issei asked incredulously. The crackpot theories that Issei's parents came up with during breakfast suddenly made a hell of a lot more sense.
"I am a magical girl, yes." She said proudly, eyes closed. The magical girl struck a cutesy pose before Nobunaga, the magic wand suddenly appearing a lot more sinister on her hands. She opened her eyes to smile at the girl before her, then dropping slightly after realizing that the girl before her was not only much younger than her, and apparently a lot less supernaturally inclined. Looking down the barrel made her gasp, sensing the anti-mystery characteristics of the weapon. It oozed malice and danger to the girl, and promised an actual threat to her.
She looked at the younger girl's face, apprehension on her features, then decided to make the first move. Coughing on her left hand, the girl asked her to put her arms down. "Now now, there's no need to be violent. If you would, could you please put your weapons down and I'll do the same? I only want to know the story behind the rotting carcass you left behind this morning, okay?" Making the first move, the older girl put her wand on her pocket and motioned the younger girl to do the same.
Seeing no reason to be hostile with quite possibly the very first normal encounter with the local supernatural, Nonunaga nodded. She dematerialized her gun, and very slowly put her right hand away from the hilt, the girl before her following her hand to watch for any sudden movements. The magical girl smiled at this, but only tilted her head upon seeing the other girl simply banishing her weaponry. Although magical prodigies were dime a dozen, she didn't think it was that easy to make and break weaponry, right? Something inside of her told her that some mercenary blacksmith in the middle east would be sneezing violently right now, but she wasn't sure why.
"Ahem. Thank you very much for that. Now, I would normally ask you to join my peerage and all that, but I don't think you're the kind of person who would enjoy working under someone. Especially knowing that you're probably a newbie to this supernatural thing...?" She took a quick glance at Nobunaga who could only nod slowly. "Right, I see. Well, everyone has to start somewhere. Now, could you please tell me," she pointed at the corpse and the ooze burning the environment around it. "What the hell happened here?" Nobunaga raised her hand to pause her line of thought. "Yes?"
"Could you at least tell me who you are first? I'd trust you better if I had a name to point you out in a crowd." Nobunaga asked as politely as she possibly could in this situation. She was a bit rattled by the girl's introduction, after all. The magical girl smiled brightly at this, and she lowered her head.
"Right, of course, of course. My name is Serafall Leviathan, Ultimate Female Devil, and the current Leviathan!" The girl had a peace pose on, smiling mischievously. Right as she did, however, she put her index finger to her chin after realizing something. "Ah, a Leviathan is one of the titles a Satan could Devil could have. I'm basically a big deal." After a little bit, she cooled down and went into a neutral pose. With a hand open and stretched to face Nobunaga and Issei, inviting her to a handshake. Then, she asked the younger girl, "What's your name?"
Looking down at the open palm, Nobunaga smiled, knowing that whatever power lurked underneath this girl she just met was a great ally to be had. Her right hand landed on top of the Serafall's palm, gripping it lightly and shaking it. Issei knew just as much, and felt like whatever was happening right now would be just like those awesome scenes in anime where the main characters make an alliance with another strong team. Nobunaga told Issei that she could try her hand on handling the negotiations this time around.
"My name is Hyoudou Issei, Miss Leviathan." Issei responded, smiling courteously. "It's really nice to meet you." She curtsied a little bit, courtesy of Nobu wanting a better first impression.