The Mandate of Khaos: Club President (ch. 17)

"A little bit more to the left—perfect, thank you." Rias directed, and I leaned back to check her claim. John Martin's Pandemonium now hung dramatically behind an opulent chair and an even more opulent desk, positioned for maximum impact directly opposite the door.

It was unlikely this room would ever be used for anything remotely important—it's not like we were actually going to receive other students or hold official meetings, unlike the Student Council or other such clubs—but I could appreciate the LARP enough to humor Rias and help her set it up.

If the club was called the Occult Research Club, then it might as well look the part.

"Anyways, don't you think it's too much?"

"The painting? Nah, I think it fits the vibe perfectly."

Rias rolled her eyes. "You know what I'm talking about, Shinji. Maki lost. Why the hell are you insisting on not having her honor the terms of the bargain?"

"The bargain you created?"

"The bargain you both agreed to," she immediately fired back. "I just don't—yes, put that up there—I don't understand is all."

I sighed as I placed the little Etruscan Boar on top of the highest shelf. "Look, Rias, I'm not going to force a member of your peerage into something when she clearly does not want to…" I waved my hand dismissively. "You know."

"Give you her panties?" she asked, an unmistakable note of amusement in her tone.

I shrugged. "Especially when I won in such a—"

"Devilishly clever way?" The amusement was now a full-blown smirk.

"Look, if we're going to talk about not understanding—a bit more to the left? Alright—then it's me who doesn't understand your insistence on it. Isn't Maki your friend? Shouldn't you be trying to avoid this since she clearly dislikes the idea?"

Rias hummed thoughtfully… and then smiled a knowing, infuriatingly perceptive smile. "Is that what this is about?" She didn't clarify until I finished setting up the empty portrait on the third shelf. As I sat down in the armchair to test the desk drawers, Rias floated over and perched herself on the edge of the desk, planting each foot firmly on one of the arms of the chair, effectively caging me in.

I raised an amused eyebrow at the bold maneuver.

"Are you afraid I won't protect Sakura?" Straight to the point, then.

"Look, Rias, we've known each other for a week—not even that. I like you, I do, but it's a bit premature to make any definitive judgment of character, don't you think?"

"No." She denied resolutely. "Not at all, actually."

Then, as if to support her point, she pointed a finger at me. "You're Shinji Asutaroto. You likely grew up with few friends, and as such, you grow easily attached to anyone who shows you a morsel of affection now. Of course, you're also smart, so you're self-aware of that, and you try to consciously counteract it." She scoffed, resting her chin on her fist as she looked down at me. "Impossible, obviously. If the conscious mind could fully control the unconscious, humanity wouldn't have fought half the wars it did."

I raised a deeply unamused eyebrow.

"Sakura is similar, of course, and due to that, you both ended up imprinting on each other."

"Can you not bring fucking Twilight vernacular into this conversation?"

"It's an actual psychology term. Feel free to look it up later. Though it usually occurs at a far younger age."

Either way, if this was the depth of her analysis… I couldn't say I was impressed.

"Congratulations, Rias. Two people raised by Matou Zouken came out maladjusted and with attachment issues. Anything else you wanna add? The sky is blue? Rocks are hard?"

If she was offended, she didn't show it. Instead, she merely removed her legs from the arms of the chair and recrossed them beneath her, settling into a cross-legged position on the mahogany desk that painted a rather distinct, commanding figure.

"I was merely establishing the baseline. There's Sakura, who, in her lack of affection, decided the best course was to bite down on the first person to offer her any and not let go. And there's you, who, so afraid to lose any affection you're given, will go above and beyond to ensure those people find no reason to be dissatisfied with you."

"You know," I said, my lips twitching. "You could have just called me a simp. It'd use fewer words."

"See, you're redirecting again. And using self-deprecating humor to do it." She leaned forward and booped my nose. "Do you know how long we've been in this room?"

I decided to amuse her and shook my head. An hour, maybe?

"More than two hours," she declared. "Two hours where I've asked you to help me with any and all tasks while I did basically nothing, and not once—not one single time—did you do more than grumble good-naturedly. Not when I asked you to adjust that painting more than a dozen times, never satisfied. And not when I insisted on making the terms of the bargain include Maki's panties."

There was something I'd read once, a long time ago. I'd never been sure if it was just fanon or actually canonical, if it was the latter then it was not that well represented. Then again, what had been in this world of bouncing tits?

'Sona Sitri is an IQ monster… but Rias Gremory, Rias Gremory has an EQ surpassing that.'

"I didn't know you dabbled in psychology."

She laughed, a bright, clear sound. "Redirecting again. But to answer your question, when you have a peerage like mine, you learn a thing or two." She nodded thoughtfully. "Of course, if I had just ignored their problems, I likely wouldn't have developed such a… skillset. However," the levity left her expression as she locked eyes with me, "that's not the type of King I want to be to Akeno. Nor to Koneko, nor Miyu, and certainly not Maki." She smiled softly and booped my nose again. "And most assuredly not to Sakura, either."

"It is also not the type of friend I want to be to Sona, and if not for you, I think I would have been. Even if my pride allowed me to be the one to genuinely ask her to be part of my club, rather than the half-joking invitations I used to extend, I wouldn't have been able to bridge the gap that existed between us." She started floating again, hovering just above the desk. "I don't know you for nearly the same amount of time, but you're the brother of my newest peerage member. Family of my family, which makes you family of mine, too."

Slowly, she floated down until her legs were thrown over one arm of the chair, her back leaning against the other, her weight settling comfortably on my lap.

"And as family, it is my job to help you, just as I hope you will help me."

I… was at a loss for words. I had never sat in a more comfortable chair while feeling so incredibly uncomfortable.

"Ah." Rias uttered, as if reaching an epiphany. "It's that face. The gap moe is too strong."

…huh?

"It's like, you always have this delinquent air about you—it's kinda doubly effective on girls our age, in case you didn't know—but then the way you actually act runs completely counter to it. It's not even the 'Jerk With a Heart of Gold' trope at play here, because you're not a jerk." She scratched her head, trying to recall the specific trope, and pouted when she came up short.

…where is the insightful Rias from three seconds ago?

"Well, whatever. Then, as if that wasn't enough, you make a face like that. Do you even know how you look right now? Gods, this character type isn't supposed to exist in real life, you know?" she asked, her tone more fond than annoyed.

I could only sigh, which made Rias laugh.

"It is alright to have desires. It is alright to show them. It is alright to be annoyed. It is alright to do more than merely grumble but still end up doing as requested. Just as it is alright for friends to reject each other's wants. To say no to their desires, to disagree, to butt heads—"

"Is it not better if none of that has to happen?" I interjected, and Rias, to her credit, fell silent, listening intently as I ruminated on my next words for over a minute. "Is it not better to avoid such conflicts altogether if one is able? After all… what if one of them ends up actually breaking the friendship?"

I was expecting some deep, philosophical refutation. Something like 'that's how true friendships are forged' or other similarly profound but cliché wisdom.

Alas, I was talking to Rias Gremory.

"Nah."

"…nah?"

"Nah. I won't allow it."

"What the hell do you mean, you won't allow it? How can you even—"

"I just won't."

"Rias—"

"Nuh-uh. You'll butt heads, you'll be annoyed at each other, you'll fight, and then you'll make up."

"And why—"

"Because I say so."

"And why—"

"Because you all like me, so you'll do as I request."

"…and why—"

"Because I'm the Club President." She declared, spreading her arms wide with a smile that could outshine the sun. "And I like you all back ten thousand times as much!"

Really, what the fuck was a guy supposed to say to that? It was utterly illogical, completely nonsensical—it had been a week, for fuck's sake—there wasn't a single iota of rational sense in her argument.

And it was exactly because of that, because she hadn't even attempted to make a logical case, because she was speaking purely from the heart, that I had no counter-argument. In the face of such absurd, unwavering conviction—

I could only laugh.

Rias Gremory truly was a different kind of beast.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A pair of simple black panties landed squarely on my face. I plucked them off, and… no screen appeared.

There were a few reasons for this. The most obvious was that the panties weren't actually Maki's, and she'd simply thrown me some random pair to get me to leave her alone.

In an ideal world, after my recent heart-to-heart with Rias, I would be a person capable of politely informing Maki that I was aware of her deception and requesting that she provide me with her actual underwear, as per the terms of the agreement.

Alas, lasting change wasn't something that happened overnight. Overafternoon? Something like that. Either way, I'd tell her, just not in front of Rias and her remaining peerage (the two younger girls had already returned home). If that did not work… we'd see then.

"What item did you get?" I had prepared myself for the question, just as I was prepared to lie—except the question came from Maki herself.

Had she actually given me her own underwear, and the game just didn't recognize it as anything worth a Ticket? That would make this situation rather… awkward.

She sighed, throwing her head back to rest against the sofa cushions with a soft thump. "It really knows what's used panties and what's not, huh?" Her fingers massaged her temples, a faint dusting of pink coloring her cheeks. "What the hell kind of perverted power…" she murmured, trailing off into silence.

Rias merely laughed, reclining on the armchair and petting Charlie-the-Charizard with the casual air of a Bond villain stroking a fluffy white cat.

"Alright," Maki relented, her voice carrying a distinct edge of exasperation. "As an apology for deceiving you, I shall allow you to come and take them."

…run that one by me again?

"Come on, this should be a reward for you, right?" She said, casually throwing her long, toned legs onto the top of the small table. They were smooth, and pale, and very, very distracting.

I could see myself doing it. I could picture myself reaching beneath her skirt with a practiced hand and claiming my prize. Yet… the thought annoyed me. She was the one who had lost. Yet somehow, I'd have to kneel before her to do it. Sure, removing her panties myself could be seen as an extra reward, but it was the framing of it all—

"Come on, come on," she taunted, a smirk playing on her lips. "Didn't you just steal Akeno-senpai's like a brute before? What's got you so tongue-tied now?"

My lips twitched. This girl…

Were I a normal human, I wouldn't be able to do what I was about to.

Alas, my body was now that of an Uchiha, and I could Adhere to whatever solid surface I wanted to.

Ironic, that I'd use the very Ability I'd gained from our battle against her now.

Striding forward, I bowed down, grabbed her ankle—

"Huh—?!"

—and pulled.

"WH-WHA-WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Maki shrieked, suddenly hanging upside down as I held her leg firmly in my grasp. No matter how much she shook it, my newfound increase in strength, coupled with the Adhesion made it clear that unless she started trying to hit me for real, she wouldn't be escaping me so soon.

"Y-YOU BEAST! YOU UNTAMED, LUSTFUL PERVERT!" She yelled out such things and more. I paid her no mind.

A smile started to grow on my face as I watched her face flush deeper and deeper red, and the way her hands clutched at her skirt, fighting a losing battle against the relentless pull of gravity.

"Ara ara~ Shinji-kun, such an interesting expression you are making," Akeno chuckled from the sidelines, but I disregarded her.

"W-wait, I got it—let's do this another time, I—" Just like I disregarded Maki's protests.

"Nah."

No other words were necessary. My hand snaked its way up her thigh, nails brushing against her skin, and I grasped the side of her panties, pulled, and—

"…wet?" The word slipped out before I could stop it, but it was loud enough for Maki to clearly hear. My inattention gifted her enough leeway to slip free, scrambling backwards and righting herself in one fluid motion.

I looked at her, and she looked back at me, her face the color of a ripe tomato as she desperately yanked her skirt back down, as if doing so could erase the shame.

She pointed a trembling finger at me. "I-I-I WON'T FORGET THIS! YOU SHALL RUE THE DAY YOU WERE BORN!" she shrieked, before immediately turning and fleeing from the clubroom in a blur of motion.

Behind me, Rias chuckled softly.

"Miyu doesn't like battles, and I'm fundamentally lazy, but do you know why Maki only spars with Koneko?"

I shook my head numbly, still trying to process what had just happened.

"It's because, if I allowed her and Akeno to 'spar'," Rias said, making air quotes with her fingers, "it would devolve into a non-stop S&M freakshow."

Akeno simply chuckled in response to the accusation, a knowing glint in her eyes. My mind, meanwhile, was a bit too preoccupied with the present, for I had just acquired the greatest knowledge of them all.

S and M… so, if Akeno is the S, then Maki—

"Rias…"

She waved off my unspoken concerns, her expression nonchalant. "Don't worry, Miyu-chan is perfectly normal. And besides," she added with a mischievous glint in her eye, "even if for some reason I was invested in turning all of my peerage into sexual deviants, I'm afraid Sakura out-freaks anything I could possibly throw at her."

Despite myself, I snorted at the blunt assessment.

Sakura, meanwhile—

"Wait, wait—Sakura-chan, put the table down. Sakura-chan, the table is new! Sakura-chan, this is a direct order from your Club President!"

"SHINJI-KUN, HELP ME! SHINJI-KUN, I SAW YOU LOOKING AT MY TITS WHILE I WAS SITTING ON YOUR LAP, I'LL LET YOU FONDLE THEM IF YOU HELP—AHHH, SAKURA, WAIT WAIT WAIT—!"

Sakura looked… happy. As she lightly tortured her new king, she displayed a smile that went beyond her practiced ones. And seeing that made me happy in turn.

"Hm, I see what she means," Akeno mused, rubbing her chin thoughtfully as she looked my way. "The gap moe truly is insane."

"RIGT-AAAH?!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Feat: Acquire a pair of Maki Guremori's used panties

Rewards: One Bronze Item Ticket

[Jarate Training Kit]

|Trash Item|

Team Fortress 2 - "Comes with an infinite supply of kidney enlarging pills." This training manual describes how one can effectively utilize their piss in combat by training themselves with kidney enlarging pills.

Rias almost laughed herself to death once I was finally worn down by her questions over what I had acquired.

I made her promise not to tell Maki though.

I'd leave this one in reserve for when I needed it.