章 46: On Guard With Thee

Lala was finished two days later. She couldn't stop herself from working day and night on the project. When that was done – you decided it was time to acquaint yourself with Koneko a little more. You've only spent time around her during battle. It's hard to get a read on how she feels about you without speaking directly. Rias gives you permission to summon her alone.

The petite, white-haired girl looks up at you from below, "Is it my turn for you to perv on?"

"Perv?"

"Akeno, Asia and Rias have all spoken with me about their previous experiences with you. I do not understand what they see in a three-timing slug like you." You swallow. It's a good thing she doesn't know about Motoko, Chun, Venelana or Lala. This kind of casual, stone faced scorn is what you were expecting.

"You'll help me fight these invaders, right?"

Koneko turns her head away petulantly, "If the President demands it."

That isn't a 'no.'

"Rias told me that you're a little concerned about releasing your full power," you explain, "So I decided to give you a hand by having Lala build something for you."

You open the door and motion for her to follow you inside. Through an equally sturdy thick glass window is the training chamber Lala has designed for you. She really went above and beyond what you asked for; there's even a control panel that lets you summon different environments using moving pieces inside. Koneko is curious about what it's for.

"How much did she tell you?"

"Nothing more than that, but... you already know what I know."

"Everything."

You shrug, "Pretty much. I didn't want to bring it up without your permission."

Koneko closes her eyes and crosses her arms, "That's considerate of you, but I don't like that you know about that. It's meant to be my burden to carry."

"I'm not ordering you to play along with me. I'm just meddling. This chamber is made of a material you can't even get in this universe. If you want to try and unleash your full power in a safe place, this is it. There's no threat of causing any real damage."

Koneko takes offence to the mere idea of her nekomata powers being resisted by a static object; "I could easily crush this building into dust. Do you honestly think that I'll be contained by a chamber like this?"

"Lala hasn't led me wrong yet. She says you'd have to destroy the entire planet to get around these walls, but she also coated the floor in it – so that wouldn't even be enough."

Koneko steps back, "No. I won't be lured into releasing my strength so easily. You could get hurt."

You quirk your brow, "Concerned for me suddenly?"

She blushes and scowls, "No. If the President's fiancé died, she would be very upset. Rias trusts me to protect her and her peerage from harm."

"But you don't want to hold back if it means that they'll get hurt."

Koneko stops her retreat and sighs. You're right, of course. Koneko is extremely dedicated to Rias – if she asked her to master her nekomata form, she would do so through much personal distress. Rias was not so mean to ask something like that of her. Koneko wants to but is afraid of the consequences. She still believes that Kuroka is a murderer. Adding her sister to your mental list of future summons, you consider finding a way to make them reconcile. Hopefully the plot takes its natural course in the coming months and that tricky work can be left to them.

The first step to making that happen is for Koneko to stop fearing her powers.

"It's your choice. I know that this is a sensitive topic, and we don't even know each other all that well."

"I know you. The President never missed an episode of your show. She has a complete collection of every manga volume in her room. Akeno and I are the only ones who know about it."

"There's a big difference between the person you see in fiction and the real thing."

"No. There isn't. You're exactly as I expected you'd be. Hopeless, nosey, perverted."

To be fair, a lot of your future wives are responsible for the weirdest acts of perversion so far. The tone of her voice leaves you uncertain whether she finds that endearing or enraging. Koneko is covered with ice. It'll take a lot of effort to thaw her out. You are under no illusions that this single act will get you there.

"So what will it be?" you ask again. Koneko sways from side to side before landing back on two feet again. She slips both hands into her pockets and comes out with a pair of black MMA gloves. Wordlessly she walks through the door into the chamber. You lock it behind her and settle in to watch the show.

"I'm going to generate some targets for you," you explain through the intercom system. You press another button and watch as several dummies emerge in a flash of blue holographic light. Koneko decides to test the waters by beating them down using her fists. A flurry of punches and kicks shatter them into pieces, before they're replaced by new ones. Koneko moves past the dummies and up to one of the solid white walls – she pulls her arm back and delivers an intense punch to it.

But there's no sign of the impact. She steps back and inspects the point of contact again. Nothing. Not even a scuff mark. Her next attack uses a little bit of her normal magical power, but again there is no damage to the chamber wall.

"Are you sure about this?" she asks again.

"I trust Lala's know-how. But if you're that worried, you only need to start out small."

Koneko glares daggers at you through the reinforced glass. This is something private and supremely personal to her, and she doesn't even trust you that much yet. Without moving an inch, a pair of white ears sprout from beneath her bangs of hair. A single white tail emerges from her back and sways lazily in the air behind her.

"If you make any cat jokes, I will destroy you."

"What kind of joker do you think I am?"

"You are a louche who cannot contain his worldly desires. You spend most of your waking hours fraternising with different women." You grimace and press the button before she can go any further with her barbed words. A new set of targets appear at the back of the room. Koneko turns to them and gathers her nerves. She never uses her full powers. Learning to utilise them will take more knowledge than what you can provide here.

This is just a jumping off point.

You know that she'll eventually learn to manage her powers properly. For now, the best she can do is alleviate her own concerns about losing control. You sit back and observe as she tries to use Ki to enhance her attacks. Senjutsu is a technique that Koneko will excel with one day – but only with proper tutorship from a skilled combatant.

Koneko remains mostly silent for the next few hours. She occasionally barks an order to you, demanding a change to the play space of the chamber. You witness her immense agility, speed and strength first hand. The full usage of her nekomata powers though, that's not something that she can do just yet.

Eventually she grows tired of the pageantry and walks to the door, knocking on it twice. Your mind immediately thinks of a joke about a cat scratching at the door to be let inside, but her previous threat lingers heavy over your head like a hanging sword. She steps back through into the control room and disguises herself once more.

"See? That wasn't so bad."

Koneko huffs, "Destroying inanimate targets is different to a real battle. Controlling my emotions is not something I can learn here."

You smile, "I'm sure a time will come where you'll have a big opportunity to master yourself. The point of this was to encourage you to take it when it arrives." The white-haired cat stares at you for a moment, her cheeks reddening, lips parted. She turns her head away and tries to hide the star-struck expression she was just making. You do think the lady protests too much. You recognise that look. It has 'I want to join the harem' written all over it.

"Idiot," she snipes, "I didn't ask for your opinion, or your help."

"I know, but I wanted to help anyway – so here we are."

She peeks at you with the corner of her eye, still trying to hide her face from you; "I won't accept Rias' marriage to you until you prove yourself. I don't understand why she loves you. As her Rook, it's my responsibility to make sure that you aren't deceiving her."

You snicker, "Is that a complicated way of saying you want to hang out?"

"I never said that."

You reach into your pocket and hand her a phone, "Sure you didn't. If you ever feel like 'assessing' whether I'm worthy of Rias' hand in marriage, send me a message and I'll summon you."

Koneko snatches it from your palm at an incredible speed. "If there are dirty images on this, I'll kill you."

"I've never even used that phone. It's for you."

"You can never be too cautious around perverts," she responds. You sigh – this girl is tough.