Who Da Boss Lady? 17

Commissioned by InfiniteChaosRai

Who Da Boss Lady?

Chapter 17

-VB-

Mari tried her best to not look. 

She did, well, look around with her eyes. She wanted to see if there was anyone who stood out, now that she knew what to look for. Devils were, as her dad told her, almost always good-looking most of the time. 

But the problem was that Kuoh Academy had a lot of pretty people, both boys and girls. But mostly girls because it used to be an all-girl’s academy and so most of the students were still girls. 

Maybe it had something to do with it being a private academy, but there were a lot of pretty girls.

And didn’t that kind of irk her now that she realized it. 

… Maybe the Devils went after pretty people? It would make sense. Pretty subordinates made everything easier. Yeah, that must be it. So they were obviously looking for recruits. 

… Damn it, she was doing the very thing she said she wasn’t going to do. 

She sighed. 

And then glanced to her left where Shirone sat. Eating the lunch Mari’s mom packed for her. 

“How have you not become fat yet?” she asked with a deadpan.

Shirone choked a little before glaring at her. “‘ecahs ah -.”

“Shut yo mouth when eating, girl,” she deadpanned again. 

Her white-haired friend did. Instead of responding, she kept glaring as she ate and finished her entire meal. Then she took a swig of water from her water bottle and finally spoke. “Because obviously I am a superior human. I do not get fat.”

Human, her ass. 

“Uh huh. So your chest also won’t grow? You realize that’s all fat, right?”

Shirone choked on her spit before throwing her a betrayed look. 

Mari shrugged. “Think before you speak or you’ll keep giving me ammo.”

“This is why I don’t talk much around you.”

“Oh, so it’s better to be a mute than giving me some fresh ammo?”

“Obviously.”

“Obviously.”

They glared at each other for a moment before breaking out into giggles. 

Yeah, nothing about Shirone had changed. She’s the one who did, but that’s alright! Even if she changed, she was still Shirone’s friend. 

Then Shirone took a sniff. 

And frowned. 

“Hey, Mari?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you using a new shampoo?”

“... No?”

“You smell a little different. Not bad. Just different.”

Mari hesitated before she lifted her hands up to her nose. She took a sniff. She didn’t smell any different…

“You sure you smell something on me?” she asked with a frown. “You better not be joking.”

Shirone stuck her tongue out at her. “Well, I did,” she huffed. “An-.”

And that’s when the teacher walked into the classroom.

“Alright, children. We’re going to start the Trigonometry class. Go back to your usual seats and make sure to turn in your homework.”

The teacher’s words got everyone scrambling, Mari and Shirone included. 

-VB-

Aside from Shirone, she found two other people who had to be Devils not because she went out of her way to detect mana but because of their names.

The first was because she realized one of the devils straight up did not even use a different name.

Dad told her Kuoh Town was the territory of Gremory and Sitri Clans, and she saw a Rias Gremory in school, one of the Three Great Beauties. 

The second Devil she found when she heard one of the Student Council members say “Shitori-kaichou.” It didn’t take her mind too long to go from “Shitori” to “Sitri.”

And she realized that the Devils either didn’t care about hiding their family names or didn’t even bother to put effort into hiding it. 

Which was odd. 

Because when Dad talked about the supernatural world, it sounded like a cutthroat place comparable to a business board meeting. But instead, she found two … classmates. 

It was giving her a bit of a headache trying to wrap it all around. 

But maybe that was the point. Being this casual with their identity might be a flex or something! A boast to everyone who might be spying on the city and them that they didn’t need to hide and that this was their territory! Or something. 

And … And …

And she was curious. 

Were they strong or pampered princesses? Were they like that masked devil she fought? Dad told her they were different but she didn’t know personally. Would their magic be the same as hers or was it extremely different like polar opposites? 

“... Mari.”

She jolted up in surprise and … lost control. Her mana speared out in all directions. It wasn’t harmful. It wasn’t bad. It was just her mana detection. It was her mana spreading out to act as a net of a sort. That’s how her mana detection worked for her. 

And she knew Shirone was there behind her before she found herself staring at her friend. 

Her friend’s wide eyes met hers. 

And Mari saw surprise in those eyes.

Shirone definitely felt that mana. 

“A-Ah,” she uttered out. “Shirone-chan.”

And immediately, Shirone’s eyes narrowed. “You never use ‘-chan’ with me unless you think you’re in trouble,” her friend hummed. “In fact, I think both of us know why.”

“W-What do you mean?” 

“You never stutter, Mari.”

She froze. 

“So. Do you want to tell me what happened between the last time I saw you and today? And how it involves you getting mana when I know for certain you were a regular manaless human before your absence?”

Mari gulped. 

She didn’t even last one day before she got found out, damn it! 

Then her stomach dropped. 

She did not have the courage to tell her friend that she was a “magical girl.” That was too embarrassing! There was no way she could say that with a straight face!

So.

She did what came to her mind immediately. 

She turned around.

And ran.

She did not take into account that Shirone would chase after her. 

It became a steadily speed increasing race that she lost.