Ch 80: Petting the Commander.

"Hi, Noah onii-chan!" beamed Nei as she trotted to him.

"Hi, Nei. You're just as adorable as ever." grinned Noah as he patted her head.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. I was working on a school assignment."

Noah saw that, where Nei had been seated, where open textbooks and school supplies. He had wondered if being part of the ADC meant the girls had to sacrifice their education, with Nei, Himari and Shushu being almost permanently stationed in the barracks. It apparently wasn't the case.

"Want to show me what you're working on? Maybe I can help you a little."

"Thank you, Noah Onii-chan, but I must do it myself!"

"You're right. That's the best way to learn."

"Onii-chan, we have visitors. You should go see Himari. She needs support." said Nei, her face showing concern.

"I'm going." said Noah, suddenly serious.

Nei's behavior indicated that whoever the visitors were, weren't enemies. And if she thought Himari needed him to interfere, it meant either the Commander, or her family.

Noah quickly walked to Himari's room and knocked.

"Enter."

Himari replied instantly, but Noah could hear the stress in her voice.

Noah entered and saw her facing, as he had guessed, one of her relatives. The visitor had the same blue hairs as Himari, that she styled in twin tails with white ribbons, and the same golden eyes, but was about five centimeters shorter.

She looked so much like Himari that she could only be her sister or cousin and stared arrogantly at Noah.

"So this is the rumored miracle newbie…"

"Noah, this is my elder sister Yachiho, of the sixth's squad."

"It's nice to meet you." replied Noah with a nod.

"Humph!" snorted Yachiho, turning her attention back to Himari.

"Anyway, you won't be allowed to use his power. And when you lose, you will come back to the Azuma House and remain there permanently. You have shamed us enough already!"

A vein popped on Noah's temple.

Without a word, he walked to Yachiho, put a hand on her shoulder, and teleported with her.

…

They both appeared in Kuoh town, in the woods near the abandoned Church.

"W-What? Where the hell did you send us?" demanded Yachiho. As Tenka's second in command, she was used to being teleported, so she recovered quickly from the shock. But she didn't recognize the place.

"I do not care about you being her sister or not, Himari is my friend and partner, and I won't tolerate you disrespecting her. You need a time-out. The city is in this direction."

"Do not stick your nose in matters that do not concern you! You are the one who need to be taught a lesson!"

Noah saw Yachiho make a strange hand gesture, and she suddenly disappeared to reappear instantly a few feet away, a pair of large guns in hand. And Noah felt pain from a half-dozen impacts on his chest. Not a lot of pain, actually, and he didn't think he would even get bruises. His body was stronger than that of a normal human.

"Be thankful that I only used rubber bullets!" sneered Yachiho.

Noah looked down, seeing the half-flattened projectiles at his feet.

He looked at Yachiho and the bullets in speculation.

"…Time manipulation?" guessed Noah. "That is quite the ability."

"That's right! I am invincible!" boasted Yachiho.

"Invincible, but still coming back using your feet." snorted Noah as he teleported away, leaving her alone amongst the trees.

Yachiho got furious and let out a scream of rage.

Noah reappeared in Himari's room. She was sitting in the bed, looking down, and jumped to her feet.

"Noah? What happened to my sister? You didn't hurt her, did you?"

"No. I left her in some woods near Kuoh town. Walking back will give her some time to reflect. She did give me a taste of her power and her rubber bullets. Not that I care. But you look like you seriously need a hug."

Himari immediately nodded. The absence of tsun was most unlike her, showing how much she needed it.

Noah hugged her gently, one hand slowly rubbing her back.

"So, what is this about? I can infer a few things from her last remark, but I'm missing pieces of the puzzle."

"Yachiho has always bullied me, for as long as I remember. She came to scold me, calling me useless, and told me I had to fight her in a duel, Saturday at noon. That is Mother's order…"

"Your mother?"

"The Commander described to her our fight against Rairen, and mentioned how ineffective my bullets were, until you used Eternal Chains on me. Mother thinks that I'm bringing shame to the name of the Azuma and decided to force this duel. If I lose, I will have to leave the squad, and will be in house arrest, possibly forever."

"Not happening." said Noah with determination. "I might not be able to stop them from taking you right now, because I don't want the Commander to decide I need to be dealt with, but I promise you that even if they take you, I'll free you, as soon as I become strong enough. I'm willing to go to war with your family, if that is what it takes."

"Don't do something that extreme! My family may have issues, but I still love them!" pleaded Himari.

"…Fine. I'll just threaten them gently."

"Not that either!" retorted Himari. She made a weird face as she tried to imagine what form a 'gentle threat' would take. Maybe a politely worded promise to do violence? Then she sighed and rested her head against Noah's chest.

"So what if your bullets didn't penetrate Rairen's skin? I have seen how hard you train, Himari. I have nothing but praise for you. They are idiots for not recognizing it."

"…Noah… I'll be your sex slave. So please, help me defeat my sister. I can't stand my family looking down on me."

Noah looked deep into her eyes.

"…If the duel happens Saturday, that won't leave us much time. Things will have to be intense, and you will have to be honest with yourself."

"…I know. I am still willing to do it."

"I'll call Kyouka. I was supposed to devote most of the week to her, but considering the circumstances, I think she will agree."

"Yes, please."

"I'll have to visit the first and tenth squad today, as the preparations against the Thunder Gods still take precedence, and grind some Hollows for a while, but as soon as I come back, we're starting."

"Yes." nodded Himari.

Noah pecked her forehead and broke the hug.

"The sooner I start, the sooner I'm done. See you later, my cute slave girl."

Noah disappeared, and Himari touched her forehead. She knew the next few days would have a significant impact on her life. But if she could defeat her big sister and impress her mother…

…

"I am very grateful that you accepted my selfish request, Rias." Said Irina as she bowed her head to her. Kaede, Xenovia and Asia, who accompanied Irina for this trip, nodded as well.

"I do not mind it, Irina. It will only take a few minutes to find your childhood friend. Please follow me."

Rias and Akeno led the Church girls from the Academy's gates to the courtyard behind the main building of the academy. They were attracting the attention of every student who stared dumbfounded at them as they passed. Akeno and Rias were long used to it and didn't notice anymore.

"What is the name of that childhood friend or yours, Irina?"

"It's Issei Hyoudou."

Rias and Akeno immediately froze their steps and turned to Irina with a complex expression.

"Issei Hyoudou? Medium height, short brown hairs and brown eyes?" asked Akeno.

"Yes, that's him. Do you know him."

"Well, the whole school knows about him." admitted Rias with a wince. "I'm sorry to say, but your childhood friend is, how to say it… problematic. He is part of a group known as the Perverted Trio."

"Oh…" said Irina, deflating.

"Should we try to find him anyway?" suggested Akeno.

"…Yes, please."

Rias nodded and they resumed their walk, searching for Issei. After a few minutes, they heard a commotion coming from behind the dojo used by the Kendo club. A lot of girls were yelling what sounded like obscenities.

"I have a bad feeling, Buchou." said Akeno.

"Let's see what this is about." replied Rias, and the girls headed toward the voice.

When they turned the corner, they saw three scared boys kneeling, surrounded by two dozen girls, some of them wearing Kendo protective gear and waving their shinais threateningly. From the bruises forming on the three boy's shoulders and the bumps on their heads, they already had gotten a taste of them.

And Irina gasped as she recognized the leftmost one as being Issei.

"What's going on?" called out Rias.

The girls turned to the group, and many of them forgot their anger as they stared at the beautiful girls approaching.

"Rias-sama, we are punishing those perverts! We caught them peeping on us when we were changing."

"Ara ara, Katase-san, that is a severe transgression." said Akeno, her sadistic side aroused as she looked down on the three boys who flinched under her gaze.

"Those scums drilled a hole in the wall just there. On the other side is our changing room. They were taking turns peeping on us!" pointed out the girl named Katase.

"We noticed when we heard them start to fight over who would be looking."

Rias and the others examined the wall, and found a small hole, barely a centimeter wide, at waist level. Akeno crouched and confirmed what Katase had said.

"Those are lies!" Suddenly growled the bald student among the Perverted Trio. "Yes, we peeped! We are men, and peeping on girls is part of what makes a man a man! But we aren't the ones who drilled the hole! I found a note in my closet telling me about the hole! Here!"

The boy fished a folded strip of paper from his pocket, and extended it to Katase. She took it with disgust, unfolded the paper, and threw it on the ground."

"Are you mocking us, Matsuda? That paper is blank!" she snarled.

"What?" Matsuda took back the paper and examined both faces. Irina could see that the paper was indeed blank, but she didn't really pay attention to it. Most of her attention was on Issei, and the disappointment she felt at him being caught peeping at girls when they were changing was immeasurable. She felt something break inside her.

Without waiting for the others, she turned and walked away.

Xenovia noticed immediately and followed her, putting an arm around her shoulders to comfort her. Asia, Rias and Akeno followed close behind, abandoning the Perverted Trio to the mercy of the Kendo girls.

Kaede walked closer to the wall, paying close attention to the hole. Its edges were rather smooth, and there were no stone or metallic powder residue on the ground beneath it. If she had to guess, she would say that the hole had been bored by extreme heat, or by magic. Coupled with the genuine surprise on baldy's face when the paper turned out to be blank…

Kaede was ninety percent certain that this incident had been engineered by her Master.

But she was of course going to keep her suspicions to herself as she hurried to follow the others and comfort Irina. Even if it turned out that Noah had provided the opportunity, those three idiots had still decided to peep. They deserved a good trashing.

…

Hours after leaving Himari, Noah was almost done with his task. He had performed seven compensations, for the members of first squad and three members of tenth squad. None of the abilities unlocked had been as promising as the invisible kill combo with Bell, but the Chief of the first squad, a cute and lively girl who trained as a martial artist, was quite interesting either way, and Noah had added her to his little list of people to recruit later.

He only had one more person to test, but she was, the Commander herself. That might be downright dangerous. Noah took his smartphone to call her.

As he did, he paused for an instant, as he tried to make sense of Yachiho behavior this morning. Back then, he had been too ticked to pause and think, but there one thing about her… When she had claimed that Himari was a stain on the Azuma name, Noah's lie detection ability had been triggered. It seemed Yachiho didn't share her mother's opinion on this. Then why was she acting like a witch to Himari?

Like several times earlier already, he shelved the thought for later consideration.

Noah selected the Commander among his contacts and called her.

"Commander Yamashiro?"

"Yes."

"It's Noah Enfield. As per your orders, Kyouka and I are testing the effects of Eternal Chains on every squad member. I am just done with the three members of tenth's squad. They all got significant boosts in power, but nothing really game changing. I was wondering if your order also included testing on yourself, since you also are tenth squad's Chief.

"It does. Teleport to me in two minutes." said Ren, her voice neutral.

"Understood."

Noah mentally counted to 120 and teleported to her. Looking around, he found that they were somewhere in Hueco Mundo, with only the Commander in sight.

"Commander." respectfully said Noah with a polite nod.

"Let's get on with it. I am quite curious about the effects this power will have on me."

"Hum, just to be sure, Commander, you do remember about the drawback of this power, right? I do not want you forming a grudge for what might happen. That would be unhealthy for me."

"It's fine, I won't hold it against you. And I want to see if this 'compensation' can really compel me to do something against my will." said Ren with a fearless smile.

Noah nodded and put his hand on Ren's shoulder, activating Eternal Chains.

Her outfit's appearance didn't change, aside for a black leather collar appearing around her neck, but two masses of bright blue mana quickly coalesced by her sides, shaping themselves into a solid form.

It only took two seconds for them to appear. Two large, pony sized wolves were standing near Ren, quietly awaiting orders, one with pristine white fur, the other with pure black fur.

"That is interesting." said Ren quietly as she started petting one of them. The other moved closer to also be petted.

"And they look quite obedient."

"I think they are an extension of your will, Commander." pointed out Noah.

"Yes. I will name you Hati, and Skoll." she smiled, looking at the wolves. They threw their head back and howled in approval.

"No let's see what you're made off." said Ren, pointing to two hollows in the distance.

The wolves accelerated so quickly that they shattered the ground under their paws, and reached an almost supersonic speed as they traversed the kilometer separating them from their preys. They barely slowed down when they collided with them, tearing their throats like paper as the hollows' bodies almost exploded under the impact.

"I wouldn't want one of them going after me." commented Noah as the two wolves came back at a more leisurely pace, but still quick enough to rival a high-speed train.

Ren petted her new pets with a grin, and was searching for more hollows on the horizon.

"Commander, I suggest we stop testing here, or the compensation will become intense. The consumption is not insignificant."

She looked at the wolves for a few more seconds, then nodded to Noah.

"Do it. I want to see if that power really can force me to act against my will."

Noah retrieved her power, and the compensation started. The wolves disappeared, but the collar around her neck remained, and her expression changed when her body escaped her control and she walked closer, then sat on her haunches, bringing her hands close to her shoulders and forming paws with them.

Noah understood what was required of him and patted her head.

"Good girl." She shivered as the words escaped Noah's mouth, and he paled. She was so going to kill him!

"If you breathe a word of it to anyone, I will bury your corpse in an unmarked grave." warned Ren, seemingly reading his mind, glaring at him as she struggled to regain control of her body, but failed.

"You do not need to worry, Commander. I take privacy seriously." said Noah as he crouched and started rubbing her belly as well.

Ren, flushing with humiliation, kept trying to resist, but Noah's ministrations were still having an effect, and Noah could tell she didn't dislike being patted nearly as much as she claimed.

"You really are a good girl."

Noah felt Ren shiver again, as he smiled gently at her.

After a few minutes of petting and the occasional good girl praise, the compensation ended, and Ren abruptly stood, making a step back as she looked at him with anger.

"Do not, tell, anyone." she slowly said, her eyes promising a painful death if he ever breathed a word about it.

"Of course, Commander. If you do not need me anymore, I'll get going."

Ren didn't answer, and Noah disappeared.

With him gone, she sighed in relief, then straightened her uniform with a conflicted expression.

It had felt good.

It had been so humiliating. But she couldn't deny that it had felt good.

She was the proud Commander of the Anti-Demon Corps! The Strongest human on the planet, and as far as she knew, the strongest being alive!

So why had it felt nice, to be patted by him? To be called a good girl? Why did her body react to his praise, when the flattery of countless politicians and subordinates only left her indifferent?

Sighing again, she activated one of the eight aspects of her sacred gear and flew toward the sixth squad's dormitory. And in her mind, the idea of avenging the humiliation she had suffered by putting a collar on Noah's neck and keeping him as her pet started sprouting.