DXD: Catalyst of Legends

In the week that followed his meeting with Tobio, Connor had endeavored to prepare himself for any surprises that might befall him.

He had quickly finished and fine-tuned his work on the apartment and completed the Bounded Field around both the apaato complex and Watanabe's house. The Field spanned a full fifteen meters around both buildings, and with it in place, he would be made aware of any foreign magical energy signature traversing its outer border, both coming in and going out.

It would do nothing more than that, but that was all he needed from it.

Having secured the home front, he could devote his attention to his body's conditioning. The resistance runes in conjunction with the new routine of morning stretches and exercises were a step in the right direction.

Even so, it took him several days to get used to the sensation of a weighted body, and part of his regiment required him to get used to the sword again. He didn't want to use his father's emergency runes if he could help it.

He had also resolved to getting his internal clock back in order and find a proper sleep schedule, which meant regularly going to bed sooner and getting up earlier. No more all-nighters.

…Except if it was necessary.

For all his preparations, though, the week's events did not cease to surprise him. Namely, events at school.

On numerous occasions on Tuesday, he got the sense that he was being watched. Not because of any supernatural sense, but rather because he kept seeing somebody with white hair duck around a corner whenever he turned to look behind him.

He vaguely remembered reading about this kind of scenario somewhere before. Was he being spied on, or was it just a student that was too nervous to come near him? Opinions about him still varied within the student body, and if this person's opinion leaned to the negative, approaching them now would only spook them.

He'd wait for an opportunity, maybe they would slip up and he could catch them.

Reya had taken it upon herself to act as a 'super sempai,' in Aika's words. On Wednesday morning, she had completely skipped greeting him and forcibly placed a bento box in his lap the moment she walked into homeroom.

She explained that it was a pineapple teriyaki chicken recipe that her grandmother had used for decades and claimed that it helped speed up the body's natural recovery process. The look on Reya's face said that she wouldn't accept refusal, so he relented and promised that he would partake.

The very next morning, while he was getting ready for the day, Connor noticed something remarkable in the mirror: The swelling on his cheek was completely gone and the bruise was barely noticeable. He figured that he would need another week or so to keep it under wraps, but now it felt like nothing was wrong.

He made a mental note to give his regards to Reya to pass along to her grandmother. The woman was either a miracle worker or a magician, and a good one if whatever she did passed his initial check for drugs or poison.

In any case, he decided to keep the patch on until Sunday, just for the sake of appearance.

A couple of new faces had made his acquaintance during the week, too. Reya had introduced him to another member of the Student Council before classes started on Thursday.

Apparently, she had caught on to his daily disappearing act, and decided to use her available time wisely to catch him while she could.

Tsubasa Yura was the taller of the two girls, trailing him by only a few centimeters. She wasn't as… proportionate as her fellow Council member, but in place of that, she had quite the athletic build going for her.

He could easily imagine her being captain on any sports team if she wasn't part of the Council. Another particular detail he noticed about the tomboyish bluenette was that, unlike Reya, the sleeves of her uniform's white dress shirt were neatly rolled up past her elbows.

Based on that and her confident but respectful greeting, he gathered that she was someone who preferred actions to words.

Friday had been the real kicker: He learned the identity of his alleged stalker.

–––––

Connor was taking his shortcut through the assembly hall to his preferred little spot in the wooded area behind the tennis courts. The courts themselves never saw any kind of activity between 12:00 P.

M. and 1:00 P.

M. , which made for a perfect place to vanish during lunch break.

As he turned the corner to exit the assembly hall, however, he abruptly came face-to-face with a girl. A very short and petite girl that almost looked too young to even be at a high school.

She had bright white hair with two long bangs that ran past her shoulders and a few smaller bangs that nearly covered her forehead. The rest of her hair was arranged into a somewhat messy bob cut.

On either side of her head, a cat-shaped hair clip sat almost evenly with her temples. Despite her size, she wore the academy uniform well, with the shoulder cape being the only standard piece missing.

Her hazel, almost golden eyes, stared up at him. He had at least 40 centimeters on this girl, so he had to really look down to meet her gaze.

"Um… Hello. "

"Hi. "

"Uh…"

"You taught the Tennis Club to play Bruiseball. "

"Oh. Do you play?"

The girl shook her head. "Different club.

Fun to watch, though. I hate perverts.

" Her speech was brutally honest, but her dispassionate tone made her sound completely callous about the subject.

"What club are you in?"

"Occult Research. "

"Really? Oh… Oh, you're that first-year that's with them. "

She nodded, her eyes never leaving his. "Koneko Tōjō.

"

"Connor Lochlainn. Er… you know, I've been wondering about that.

Is Koneko your real name or just a nickname?"

"Real name. "

She kept staring.

"Okay… Another question: Have you been following me recently?"

"Yeah. "

No shame or guilt at all. She just kept staring.