Rise of the Strongest Exorcist (DxD parody)

Two young women, one a busty girl with red hair and one a black-haired girl with even larger breasts than the redhead walked up to their table. Stopping short, the red-haired girl finally noticed Leo that was sitting there and gave him an awkward smile.

"Oh! H-hello."

The situation became awkward as Leo calmly arched an eyebrow at the two women. 

***

Half-an-hour before barging into the coffee shop…

In the Occult Clubroom, three young women were talking about Leo. The clubroom was rather cozy, with several couches and chairs people could do homework at or even comfortably lie on. It even had a large bathroom with a nice shower.

"Are you even certain the boy is the son of Lane Karteros?" Rayne asked her friend.

"I want to… to talk to him." Munching on potato chips, Kira mumbled a little. "I want to talk to the transfer… talk to Leo Karteros."

The name 'Karteros' had great deal of significance to her. It was thanks to this name that she'd managed to wake out of her near catharsis. Kira had wanted to talk to Leo since the day he'd joined the school. Her natural shyness and fear of strangers, coupled with Rayne's warning had stopped her from approaching him.

Looking at the miserable look on Kira's face, Rayne couldn't help but sigh. There were times she felt like she was in too deep. She just couldn't help herself when it came to helping others.

Her circle was different from most. Not only because of the relationship she shared with them, but also because every member of her Circle came with significant baggage—baggage she couldn't do much about.

She had once tried to get Kira to see a psychiatrist, to get her friend to speak with someone who could help her with that baggage. Unfortunately, that counselor—and the next three mental health specialists after her—had given up before Kira had made much progress.

Despite being empathic enough to understand what these tragic cases needed and convincing them to let her help them, Rayne had difficulty keeping the promises she made them. This shouldn't have been a surprise… not really. While Devils were extremely good at destroying and manipulating the minds of others, they weren't exactly expert when it came to healing.

Secondly, no matter how good the shrinks were, it was nearly impossible for Kira to share what troubled her. This was not only because she was extremely reserved by nature, and unlikely to unburden herself to strangers, but because her past was classified as a secret.

Not even Rayne had access to all the information about Kira's past—despite her being a Mephisto.

Rayne's circle all had issues. Her Queen, Shuri Suzaku, her knight, James Kline… even her bishop, Jasper Greene… they all had a troubled past. It was only thanks to the power of her family that she'd found them, and could protect them from that past.

Now though, she faced a problem of her own. And though her problem was different from the troubles her friends had gone through, she didn't want another to swoop in to save her. She needed to succeed on her own.

She couldn't rely on the power of her brother or her family—not this time.

'Should I try to get Leo to join my Circle?'

It didn't matter if he was Lane Karteros's son or not. While Rayne was fortunate that each of the members of her Circle were talented, talent had never been her primary criteria. But this Leo, especially if he was the son of the great Karteros-dono, lacked a tragic past Rayne could fix; he was already strong.

Of course, with the problem she faced, having someone who was already strong join her Circle would be a great help.

Rayne turned to the young woman frowning at Kira as she munched her way through the entire bag of chips. "Shuri…"

The pretty girl she'd found and brought back from Japan with her turned to face her Mistress and tilted her head expectantly to the side. 

"Do you think I am doing the right thing?" 

The redhead pinched the bridge of her nose. Power had never really been her interest. She liked the simple pleasures of life, like traveling or watching anime. It was even for that reason that she became a student in Japan—to satisfy her Otaku side.

Now though, if she wanted to succeed alone, she had no other choice than to become stronger. Be it her or her entire team.

Shuri smiled bitterly. She wanted to tell Rayne that all she had to do was to ask her brother to help her.

Salvatore Mephisto was a complete sis-con and he wouldn't hesitate to do whatever his little sister asked of him. But it wasn't that simple. As powerful as the Calamity War was, even Salvatore couldn't act with total impunity.

Rayne understood that better than anyone—which was why she wanted to deal with her problem herself. Well, that… and a devil's typical pride, of course.

"Why don't we visit Sharon? She will have good advice. And if not, a game of chess will help you to calm down."

Rayne gave a smile. Shuri wasn't wrong. Even though she always lost, she loved playing chess with Sharon. It helped her relax. There was also the fact that Sharon was basically her one and only friend who had been born a devil.

Sharon understood the pressures she faced.

"I can ask her about Leo," Rayne muttered to herself.

The redhead pulled out her phone and checked to see where Sharon was. She didn't always appreciate human technology, but found using this 'Find My' app to locate her friends and her Circle invaluable.

Sharon was at the little coffee shop just off campus. It would only take them a five-minute walk to get there. 

Rayne put her phone in her purse. "Kira, do you want to come with us?"

Kira chewed and swallowed her chips before shaking her head. "Fallen angels have been snooping around. I want to see what they are up to."

Rayne frowned. It was weird that fallen angels had showed up in Spartanburg. Despite everything they'd done to keep the school off Heaven's radar, the feather-brained pests had started poking around her territory. It didn't matter what they were doing here. 

That they'd showed up right after this Leo Karteros had transferred to their school was highly suspicious. Unfortunately, she couldn't attack them just because they looked suspicious.

Heaven, Hell, and the Dragons had all agreed to the truce. This didn't stop any of the three factions from fighting what amounted to a cold war. As long as the struggle was kept from spilling out amongst the humans, each faction was content to let things continue as they were. 

But the slightest mistake could make everything go boom! Exposing the paranormals' troubles to humans could easily trigger a new war. This was why Rayne had to be careful when it came to the feather brains. 

No matter what the fallen did, as long as they didn't harm anyone in town, she couldn't deal with them. She couldn't be the one to act first.

"Be careful, Kira. Get James to go with you," Rayne instructed.

"Roger."

After Kira left, Rayne stood and stretched. The motion threatened to pop her blouse's straining buttons thanks to her heavy breasts. She tugged her shirt back down before walking to the door.

"Shuri, let's go visit Sharon."

"Very well." The top-heavy Japanese girl knew better than to stretch like Rayne had done. Her blouse wouldn't survive it. 

***

Back in the coffee shop…

Rayne blinked awkwardly at Leo.

'Isn't that Leo Karteros? And I just told Sharon not to steal him from me… Crap!'

She couldn't afford him misunderstanding what she'd meant. It certainly didn't look good, her talking like he was some object she or Sharon could simply pick up if they fancied him. That was no way to make a good first impression!

Smoothing her expression, she smiled at Leo. "Hello. You must be Leo Karteros." She extended a hand. "I've heard so much about you. I am Rayne Mephisto. It's so good to finally meet you."

He ignored her extended hand. "Good afternoon."

'Ah!! He totally misunderstood me!'

From the cold light in his eyes and the steel in his voice, it was clear she'd made a terrible first impression. She'd really stuck her foot in her mouth.

'What do I do now?!'

Rayne didn't know how much of a chance she'd had at recruiting him, but whatever those chances had been, she was sure they were much lower now.

Sighing, Leo shook his head and stood. "I'm sorry, Sharon. It seems someone else wants to talk to you. Anyway, I think I've made my concerns clear. I would ask you not to spy on or bother me from now on. I'm hardly worthy of your attention."

Giving Miyu a smile at, Leo started to walk away before stopping abruptly. He stared at Shuri, who stood respectfully behind Rayne. After several awkward seconds, his eyes grew wide.

Shuri wondered if he was a pervert, staring at her large breasts like so many others did, though her face betrayed none of her emotions. 

Instead, she smiled at him. "Fufufu! What is it Karteros-san?"

"Saori?"