A Dragon In A Fox's Body

In the living room, we all sat in a circle while Sage went to the kitchen, Rin asleep upstairs in my room. "See, the thing is, I've been visiting him every day for the past week as part of a job from the DWMA. I was supposed to free everyone there, but nobody really seemed to matter other than Rin, which meant he had to be last. Apophis was really keen that he got his hands on an demon, but I have no idea why. You can't gain the power of a kishin through demon blood."

Pink, who I now know is Shima, frowned. "What's a kishin?"

Sage came back from the kitchen, a popsicle in her mouth. "A source of all madness." She jumped over the back of one of the smaller sofas, landing next to me on the arm. "Schooch."

I rolled my eyes, moving over. "Whatever, Sheldon. Anyway, she's right. A kishin is the source of all madness, in a way. It brings out the dark side to everyone, and the closer you are, the stronger the pull is. I mean, you can fight back and suppress it, but it's really hard."

Shura had a beer. I have no idea where she got it. "Wait, so then what's your power, 'cause it doesn't sound like you're affected by it."

I leaned back, looking at Sage. "I'm gonna go check on Rin." I stood up, walking away and up the patchwork stairs.

Sage shrugged. "She really doesn't like to talk about it, but her soul was merged with the soul of the Nile dragon, giving her power like any other dragon slayer. Her actual magic thrives off of the negative emotions inside of her dad because, to be honest, he would go berserk and dissect everyone without it. For her eighth birthday, he wanted to give her what she wanted most, which was to be like a dragon. She was obsessed with them, so he compromised and put the magic to good use. As long as she's around, he won't go crazy, and she'll have the power she dreamt of."

Suguro shrugged. "Makes sense to me. So why doesn't she like to talk about it?"

Sage winced. "It's how it happened that she doesn't like sharing. What it is and what it does, she's fine with, but how she got the power... That's another story."

Yukio frowned. "Are you going to tell us?"

Safe smelled the faint stench of a cigarette and heard the front door close. Stein was home. "Or, you could ask her dad, the one who gave it to her."

"But he's not here, right?" Izumo asked. "I mean, you said he was at the academy."

"Well, I was." Stein was leaning against the wall behind them, next to the staircase. "But school's out, so there's no reason for me to stick around."

Sage grinned at everyone's reaction. "He has a screw in his head..." Konekomaru said, nervous.

She laughed. "Everyone, meet Professor Stein, Shinseina's father, and the DWMA's most powerful meister."