The tension in the room is high. Akeno, with a "sweet" smile on her face, leaned forward, her face close to Tetsuya's as she teased, "Are you sure you can back those words up, Tetsuya~" her smile almost seemed to grow as she enjoyed teasing him.
Tetsuya, however, kept his composure on the outside; his face stayed blank, but inside, he was having inner turmoil. "What do I say now?" is all that rang through his mind. The system was the one that got him into this mess!
He knew he had to double down, though he couldn't be seen as weak, although what he said might imply otherwise. Plus, from what he knew of her character, going to school so far, she may be a tease, but she more than likely wouldn't follow through with anything. She's not an easy girl after all.
So he stared her dead in the eyes and didn't back down. "Yeah, unless you're telling me that you're afraid to do it Akeno," he said a bit teasingly as he watched her smile grow, a flicker of intrigue in her eyes, "Be careful what you ask for or I might have to hold you to that, Tetsuya." she had playfully bantered back.
{Akeno Himejima Affection +5 for not backing down.}
He blinked as he saw the notification pop up, wondering what that was, but the system didn't keep him wondering long.
{Affection Tracker activated this section helps you keep track of your dating progress with each woman. Keep in mind that you have to do certain actions to reach each checkpoint with each woman, and will also receive a reward for every checkpoint you reach. Some women are harder to raise affection points than others.}
{The current system is as follows: 20 affection points means the girl considers you an friend, 40 affection points means the girl considers you a close friend, 60 affection points means the girl has a crush on you, 80 affection points means the girl considers you as her lover and lastly 100 is the max in which the girl considers you her soulmate."}
{Current Girls}
Akeno Himejima: 20
Rias Gremory: 15
"So basically, the system tracks the affection each girl has towards me.. like an actual dating system," Tetsuya thinks in his mind. "But since it seems I've reached the friend threshold with Akeno, shouldn't I be getting some type of reward?"
{Akeno Himejima considers you a friend! Processing random reward}
Ability Acquired!
{Cyrokinesis}
Users can create, shape, control, and manipulate ice, they possess complete control over ice, frost, and cold along with freezing water into a solid state.
"Just in time, Cyrokinesis should be a good ability! It'll grow alongside me it all depends on how I end up training it." Tetsuya felt satisfied as he wondered how he could combine his ability and the trait he had gained earlier together.
"Mr. Kiriya, Ms. Himejima, I would prefer if you two didn't flirt in the middle of my class. Ms. Himejima, please go to your seat," Their teacher reprimanded, making Akeno giggle. "Seems we'll have to continue this later, Tetsuya~" she teasingly said with a playful wink as she finally went to her seat.
"Well, that happened," Tetsuya thought to himself as he could hear his classmates gossiping about the encounter between him and Akeno before the teacher quickly quieted them down. Tetsuya barely even paid any attention to the lesson that day, too excited to go home and try out everything he obtained that day.
Meanwhile, Akeno and Rias were whispering to each other in class. "Akeno, what was that whole thing about? I didn't think you were interested in any guys." Rias had inquired curiously. "I don't know Rias, I was really just caught off guard by the bluntness, not too many guys just straight up ask you to dominate them in public." Akeno had said back, clearly amused by the whole thing.
"I see... for some reason, during your interaction, I could suddenly feel magic coming from Tetsuya. Almost like it was suddenly acquired." Rias had whispered in thought. "Now that you mention it, I can feel the same thing. Do you think he has a sacred gear?" Akeno whispered back her eyes glanced over Tetsuya at his desk. "I don't know, I don't think so, but we'll have to keep an eye on him from now on," was the last thing Rias said as her eyes also looked over at Tetsuya before they both pretended to tune into the lesson.
Then, midway through the class, the teacher announced," I'm going to pair you up in twos and give you a group assignment that will be due next week." Tetsuya had finally tuned in and paid attention, but didn't really care as he listened to the teacher go through the pairs until the teacher announced, "Rias Gremory and Tetsuya Kiriya, you two will pair up for the assignment."
Tetsuya blinked and thought, "I don't know if that's lucky.. or if I should be afraid since the system definitely finds a way to make this harder than it should." Class had then ended, and before he left, Rias had come up to him. "I'll be in your care, Tetsuya. Do you have any day that you're free?" she had said with a slight smile on her face.
"Yeah, I should be free tomorrow after school if you're available," he said, wanting to push it off until tomorrow since he had already made a plan for today. Rias didn't seem to have a problem with it as she nodded and said, "Very well, I'll meet you at your place then tomorrow."
That made his eyes widen, "Wait, what?" Rias didn't even bother to respond, having already walked outside the class. Akeno soon followed after her, but first had teasingly shot back at him, "See you later, Tetsuya, I hope you're prepared for what you asked for soon." Then she left, making his jaw almost drop.
"She's just joking... right?" he shuddered at the thought of her not, but quickly convinced himself that she was just joking. After all, her affection is just barely at friend level; she's more than likely just being a tease. Hopefully...
After that, he quickly went home and changed into some more comfortable clothes. He went into his secluded backyard, where he can use his abilities quietly. He took a deep breath. "Alright, let's try it out."
He felt a cool sensation flow through his hand as frost flowed through his palm. He held his hand out and pointed it at a nearby tree. He trusted his instincts, and a small spear of ice emerged from his hand and pierced into the tree. He could feel the chill, yet it felt comfortable now. He stared, almost amazed at his first encounter with magic in this world. "Damn, I really do have powers now. It's not particularly strong yet, but the more I train it.. the stronger it'll get."
He experimented with his power, blasting small projectiles toward trees in his backyard, and then decided to be creative. And closed his eyes, forming the image of a blade in his mind as he created one of ice in his hand, noticing how it took a lot of his stamina. "So the bigger the things are I create, the more I take out of me. Makes sense after all, I'm a normal human who hasn't trained much at all, not a supernatural being."
He took a while to catch his breath and regain his stamina, making a mental note to start training his body. Then he began to swing his ice blade around, noticing how it felt natural due to the talent he had gained, making him practically a master of whatever weapon he touched. Rather, he noticed that while he had the technique... to swing the blade around perfectly, he couldn't exert as much force as he wanted to yet. He's really going to have to figure out a way to increase his physical strength and stamina.
"I have a lot of work to do If I plan to keep up with the main cast." Tetsuya said to himself as he sat on the grass and looked up at the night sky, a sudden thought that was going through his mind. After finally no longer having to sulk, he remembered there was one face he hadn't seen yet, his entire time of attending Kuoh Academy. "Where the hell is Issei?"