Author's Notes: Hello! Here is the new chapter. Well, I'm surprised that most of you are content with the idea of having a manipulative Rias. I honestly thought that I will get a lot of hate for that, considering most people love Rias as a character and that I might be the first one to bash her like that. Of course, there are people who don't like it, and I can't please everyone now, can I? I just find it too interesting that she manages to get all the perfect pieces without much effort. Right, one of the reviewer pointed out that Hrunting's explosion should've killed Issei too. Thanks for telling me that b/c I honestly forgot about it. Also, can someone guess what is the very last part of the chapter for? Some people are wondering, but take a guess first! Also, a question for you guys: What are some pairing suggestions? I have a good idea, but I want to hear some suggestions.

Now on to the chapter. When I finished writing, I realized that it was longer than I intended to be, so decided to just break it apart. This chapter will focus mainly on Sona's peerage bonding and Shirou learning more about the Devils, so it will take some time to develop. And of course, the talk with Sona. What will happen to Asia now that Raynare is dead? If you have any thoughts on this feel free to drop a review and let me know. Anyway, enjoy and tell me what you think of the chapter and story overall!

P.S: Still looking for a beta

Chapter 3: Truth

Tick tock - tick tock…

A minute had passed by, and I was still waiting.

Tick - tock tick - tock…

Two minutes had gone by, and I was still waiting for the answer.

Tick - tock tick - tock…

That was enough stalling. I wanted answers now. "So," I finally began, trying to stay as calm as possible. "Are you going to tell me why?"

The darked haired glasses girl in front of me and I had been involved in an intense staring contest, where neither one of us were willing to back down. "And I told you that I have my very own reasons that you don't need to know," she snapped,

"And why is that?" I asked, slightly irritated by her response since that was all she was willing to tell me.

"Look," she seemed to have enough of this as well as she rose up from the chair to meet my height. Even so, she was still a lot shorter than me, forcing her to cock her neck upwards to meet my eyes. "Let me tell you how things work. I do the planning, and you execute it. And when I plan things, I look over all the consequences and rewards. My peerage trust me with all my judgements and you should too."

I had waited the whole night to have this conversation with Sona as I had too many unanswered questions for her, and she too, owed me an explanation. Of course, she wasn't the only one. Rias was also on the top of my list, and I was planning to have a talk with the crimson haired girl once I finished confronting Sona.

From what Rias told me, Sona knew about the Fallen Angel's existence and motive all along, and after confirming with my king, she shamelessly admitted her involvement in Rias' plan. What I didn't understand was that she was the student president yet she granted Rias free reins to commit such manipulative and cruel act under her nose.

"How can I trust you when I have no idea what you're planning and knowing that you don't trust me?" I countered and suddenly the room fell silent.

"Um, sorry to interrupt," Ruruko managed to squeak out, breaking the ice. When sona looked at her she shuddered a bit, but decided to continue. "With all respects Kaichou, we fully trust everything you plan, and we are willing to do what you tell us to do," the ponytailed girl said carefully and after seeing the approving looks from her peers, she regained her courage began again. "But sometimes, we really want to know. Just like we trust you, can you at least trust us?" At the pawn's statement, everyone in the room nodded in unison, and I raised my eyebrow to give Sona a I-told-you-so look. She glared at me before she sighed heavily and massaged her forehead slowly.

"Things are not as simple as you think Shirou," she supplied. "I know the consequences full well, so I decided to let Rias do it."

"Then why don't you tell us?" I told her, managed to fully calm myself down at this point.

"Alright then," Sona cleared her voice and began in a serious tone. "So you all know about the Fallen Angel, and the task that I told Shirou to do right?" Once again, everyone in the room nodded and she continued. "Well, there is a backstory behind all this."

I narrowed my eyes and indicated her to go on. "Truth is, the Fallen Angel has been on campus for awhile now," Her confession threw everyone off, including me. Saji seemed like he just discovered that tomorrow was the end of the world was was now looking at Sona with a terrified expression. Calmer ones such as Tsubasa and Tsubaki only raised an eyebrow at the revelation. My best guess was that the two had enough trust in Sona's decision makings that they never questioned their King's order. In their minds, Sona would give out a command only if she had legitimate reasons behind. "Hmm, I think for at least a month," she further concluded, which resulted in Tsubasa flinching a bit, but Tsubaki still sitting with a stoic and unamused expression.

This was getting a bit ridiculous right now. So the Fallen Angel had been on campus for one month, yet Sona, the student president that was supposed to ensure everyone's safety, failed to perform her duty as she put the entire student body in danger. I could feel anger building up in me once again and was about to reach its breaking point, but I managed to calm myself down. Right now wasn't the time. From her own reasonings in the beginning and the reactions of her peerage, Sona was a competent and cool headed when it comes to decision makings, so there must be a reason for her to do such thing.

"And just why didn't you get rid of her?" I asked, wanting to hear her reasonings. "I'm pretty sure that you know the consequences."

"I know and I tried," Sona said, catching me by surprise. "Except I couldn't. So I made the best choice I had in the worst situation."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, thinking of all the possibilities. It might be the Fallen Angel's strength that intimidated her, even so, she could always ask the Gremory for help.

Wait a second... Gremory? I had to refrain myself from banging my head into the wall. The answer was right in front of me all this time. If Rin was in my place, she would've figured this out in an instant and questioned my intelligence.

"It's Rias, isn't it?" Honestly, I shouldn't be surprised at this discovery. From what I learned, Rias was as manipulative as Caster: only the important pieces in her plans mattered and to achieve her end goal, she would not hesitate to sacrifice her pieces. She didn't care about the Fallen Angel, her true aim was…

"Issei, " Sona nodded and finished my train of thoughts. So that sneaky fox had been planning this for a long time. "But I couldn't stop her because I don't have all the power in the school."

"What do you mean by that?" I narrowed my eyes and asked.

"Because," she began. "The Gremory Clan and the Sitri Clan are the founders of this school, meaning both Rias and I share the same amount of power. She doesn't want to interfere most of the stuff because I'm the student president. In return, I have to listen and most likely allow her to do what she proposes." I suppressed a sigh. That changed everything. If that was what she meant by complicated, then I truly understood now.

"Wait." Surprisingly, it was Saji that spoke up this time. "I didn't quite catch the last part. So what about Issei?" I felt like the boy wanted to double check the validity of what he just heard about Issei.

This time, it was Tsubaki who spoke up to answer the question. "Issei was killed yesterday by the Fallen Angel but was reincarnated after by the Gremory," the stoic girl said. "And it seemed that this whole 'murder' was planned for at least a month," the queen of Sona concluded, which made Saji's face morphed from sad to surprised and lastly distaste.

"Kaichou!" Saji clenched his fist and stood up from the chair he was sitting in. He looked up at Sona with a betrayed look but was quickly replaced with fury. "How can you let Rias - senpai do that to Issei! He is my friend!" So that was it. That was the reason for the blonde haired boy to jump out of his seat. I would definitely be react the same way if I was in Saji's shoes, considering that his role model allowed the other Devil to not only kill Issei but also manipulate him. Then again, I did vented out some of my anger by sniping the Fallen Angel with Hrunting from kilometers away.

"Like I said Saji," Sona pleaded. "Let me finish ok?" The boy nodded grudgingly at her and Sona continued. "When I learned about her plan to use the Fallen Angel to kill Issei, I rejected right away. I will not allow any form of murder in my school," she said seriously and took a deep breath to continue. "She then started to tell me that I don't have all the decision making power and that she would continue on with her plan. She was only informing her act, not asking for permission." I nodded my head at Sona's statements. That sounded like the Rias I encountered. Even though she was still a stranger to me since we only had one conversation thus far, I was still able to have a general understanding of her personality. Like a child, once Rias set her eyes onto the candy, she would want to get her hands on it at all cost. She would tunnel on the quickest and easiest plan, and disregard the potential consequences or better plans.

Like what happened yesterday.

To secure one's loyalty, killing them and reviving them after was definitely not the correct approach. She wanted Issei so badly that she became impatient, failing to think of a better plan. Hell, even I could come up with some better ones right now. For starters, as everyone knew, Issei was one of the three well known perverts in the school. Rias, being the most popular and beautiful girl on the campus could simply use her beauty and curvy body to charm him. The second way could be a bit riskier, but would definitely provide a huge impact. Like all the superhero stories or tales, the hero or heroine would always arrive at the last possible second to save the ones in danger. Rias could become the heroine in Issei's eyes by saving Issei right when the Fallen Angel striked. Yes, it would scare the boy and cause some confusion later on, but the job was done; Rias would win Issei over completely. Sadly, that wasn't the case.

"Of course, I protested and told her to just reincarnate Issei instead of getting the Fallen Angel involved," Sona continued. "But she wouldn't listen. She said something about securing loyalty and stuff, which I didn't approve. I only relented after she promised that the Fallen Angel would not hurt any other student and that she would eliminate them afterwards. Besides, as a heir of the Sitri Clan, I shouldn't interfere the Gremory Clan's business," she concluded her confrontation with Rias, and I nodded in understanding. Sona had a good point. No wonder she told me not to interfere Rias' plan since they both had a mutual agreement on this matter and most importantly killing Issei was Rias' decision. This whole matter shouldn't even concern us as it was the Gremorys that performed such shameful act. I couldn't help myself from holding back a mischievous smile when I thought about blackmailing Rias in the future. But this also raised another question in my head: Why Issei? Out of everyone that Rias could've chosen, why did it have to be Issei? Unless Rias was a closet pervert…

I shook my head to banish this disturbing thought. A manipulative closet pervert? I shivered involuntarily at the perfect description of Rin. "But why Issei," this time I spoke up, hoping to use this to distract myself. "I mean, is there a reason behind her decision? Or is it just random?"

Everyone in the room all nodded at my question, eager to hear what Sona had to say. "Well," she began. "Part of our agreement was to have her tell me the reasons for choosing Issei," she admitted. "She told me that Issei has a unique power and that she wants him in her peerage for the upcoming Rating game."

I frowned at her statement. What was this Rating Game that Sona was talking about since the day I met her. "Can you explain to me what this Rating Game is?" I asked Sona and Illya perked up at that too.

"It's just a simulated war game between two peerages," Sona explained half-heartedly, apparently distracted by other thoughts. After a short pause, she finally spoke up again. "Say Shirou, what kind of power do you think Issei has?" I could sense some interest behind her voice, and I could totally see the reason behind it. There was a reason for Rias to be so insistent on having Issei, heck, if she only needed a pawn, she could just grab a random student from the school and reincarnated them without dealing with the Fallen Angel shenanigans.

"I actually don't know," I admitted. Unlike the encounters with Rias and Yuuma, I wasn't able to smell any noticeable scent coming from Issei. The only justified reason that I could come up with was that Issei was just not powerful enough, and I really wanted that to be the case. I sincerely hoped that Rias didn't choose Issei because they shared the same interest and that Rias wanted all of his vintage collections.

"Wait," Saji suddenly shouted and jumped out of his chair once again. His action was enough to startle everyone in the room, causing all of us to look at his direction. Knowing his voice was louder than he intended, he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I just thought that since Issei is a devil now, I can finally fight him," he declared excitingly with a fist raised high up in the air. All of us looked at each other and let out a big sigh at his declaration while Sona just looked defeated and palmed her face.

"Anyway," Sona cleared her throat, deciding to ignore the boy that was oblivious to this outrageous situation. She then turned and looked at me expectantly, which somewhat confused me since I wasn't sure how to react to it. "Shirou, why don't you tell us what happened on your end? I'm sure everyone wants to know," she said while gesturing to the rest of the room. Everyone nodded and turned their full attention to me.

"Well," I began, not exactly sure what to say, so decided to start when school had ended. "I walked out of school with Issei, Yuuma, Motohama, and Matsuda. After that, I stalked them until Rias and Akeno, I think that's her name, appeared to stop me."

"Then?" Sona asked.

"Then like I told you, Rias told me that you knew about this and that I shouldn't interfere with her business. But I didn't want her to kill Issei, so I made a deal with her."

"What deal?" Sona asked again, curious about the confrontation between Rias and I.

"I will not interfere only if she agrees on keeping Issei alive from the Fallen Angel," I recited the agreement, trying to contain my anger while I was at it. "She accepted my terms so I walked away."

"What about the Fallen Angel?" Sona asked thoughtfully. "I heard that Rias took care of her after the Fallen Angel killed Issei."

"How would I know," I replied dryly. "Didn't I tell you that I left Issei after Rias made her promise?" I stated the obvious to Sona, which she palmed her face and muffled something sounded like 'right'. While I was kind of mad that Rias lied about killing the Fallen Angel, I also felt relieved from the fact that no one seemed to notice my presence last night.

I intended to keep it that way.

I didn't want anyone to know my powers yet, since they could all be potential enemies in the future. By revealing what I was capable to do, future preparations could be made against me, making things a lot more difficult.

"Well, I guess that's it for now," Sona decided. "Tomorrow is a weekend, so I have something special planned," she said with a mischievous voice, eyeing specifically at Illya and I.

I gulped down hard and thought to myself, "Dear Root, what have I done to deserve this?"

*Scene Break*

"Whaaaaaaat," Issei proclaimed loudly with disbelief. "How do you not remember who Yuuma-chan is? He pointed accusingly at Motohama, Matsuda, and me. Naturally, I wasn't going to admit that I remembered anything about the Fallen Angel, since no one in the school seemed to recognize the name, Yuuma Amano. The cunning Fallen Angel must have casted a spell to manipulate the public minds, however, it wasn't really effective against me since as a magus, I had developed basic magic resistance to repel the attack.

"Yea Issei," Motohama began dryly. "Did you hit your head? Who is this Yuuma-chan? Don't tell me it's your girlfriend," he said with a mocking smile. "We all know that you will never get a girlfriend." At his statement, Matsuda nodded like a bobblehead, and I simply shrugged, not wanting to be involved in this.

"Hey Shirou," Issei looked at me with teary eyes. "Do you not remember anything about Yuuma-chan?" His expression was like a kicked puppy, and I had to try my hardest to not give in.

"Yea. How can I remember if they don't?" I lied to the defeated looking boy in front of me. If I spoke the truth to Issei, who knew what kind of chaos would rupture. Also, most importantly. this was no longer my concern. Rias needed to be responsible enough to explain the situation to Issei, including true identity of Yuuma Amano and the reincarnation, so it wasn't my place to reveal the truth.

"I guess you're right," Issei scratched his head and said depressingly, so I decided to cheer him up a bit.

"Hey," I said with a cheerful voice. "Maybe you will meet a really nice person in the near future. Who knows?"

"You think so?" Issei replied lazily, didn't really believe my words. "But I had another weird dream last night," he said as he sighed heavily.

I raised an eyebrow and asked, "Oh? What is it? Mind telling us?"

"Is it about another imaginary girlfriend?" Matsuda teased him, causing Motohama to laugh uncontrollably and Issei to blush furiously.

"Well," Issei began sheepishly. "I guess you're not entirely wrong." Motohama and Matsuda looked at each other for a brief moment and then bursted out laughters after a short pause. Meanwhile, I just scratched my head, not really sure what to say.

"Who is the girl you were dreaming about?" Motohama taunted him. "Is it Akeno - senpai?" At the side, Matsuda, too, wanted to have some fun. "Or is it Sona - senpai?" When Issei shook his head at both names, the duo turned to each other again with confusement but it was quickly replaced by astonishment when they came up with their own assumptions. They slowly inched forward towards Issei, and it seemed like either Motohama and Matsuda grew at least few feets at this very moment or Issei shrunk, became at least twice as small as he used to be. Issei tried to lean back, gaining as much distance between them as possible, unfortunately, he fell off his chair since he was seated sideways. "Don't tell me..." the duo said in unison with fury. "Don't tell me that it was a harem!"

The startled looking boy blinked a few times and then leaped off of the ground with an incredible speed. "Are you guys for real?" Issei half yelled at them in disbelief. "There was no harem," he paused for a bit and added, "Well, a harem would be nice though."

"Then who?" Matsuda demanded.

Issei gave out a dreamy sigh and told us the name. "It was Rias - senpai, how can you forget about her?" He chided his two friends while my eyes widened a bit.

Damn the Root. Why is she everywhere now?

"What," Motohama and Matsuda yelled out in surprise but quickly composed themselves. "Just because you saw her yesterday doesn't mean she will ever notice you. You can keep dreaming."

"But this felt different," Issei protested with a redden face while his friends were laughing at him uncontrollably. "This felt so real!"

"Don't tell me that you felt her body right next to yours when you were sleeping," Matsuda cried out with laughters. "And that you guys were cuddling together."

"But that is exactly what we did," Issei protested again. "I mean, what I dreamed," he muttered the last part out before he gave in another sigh and continued. "I could still remember the smell of her crimson hair, and the feelings of her naked body right next to mine. Her body was so curvy, and the way she touched ..." Before Issei could finish her imaginary experience with Rias, I let out a nervous laugher as I turned to eye at the other two presences. "Hey Issei," I began. "I think you should stop there."

"Huh? Why?" The boy turned and asked me with confusion. I simply pointed towards my right, and the boy jolted out of his seat. Enveloped in what seemed like hellfire were two beasts that were currently staring down at Issei with a burning passion. His expression was priceless but also relatable as it probably was similar to mine when I saw Blue. At this point, Issei only had one choice and one choice only. Since Matsuda and Motohama had unleashed their wrath, there was nothing Issei could do besides…

"Run?" I supplied to the scared looking boy, who looked like he could use some help. Well, my goal was to become a hero of justice, but this wasn't my battle. It was Issei's. I guess he was similar to me in the luck aspect since danger always seemed to follow our footsteps.

Issei gave me a nod of understanding before he darted out of his chair to rush towards the door, towards his freedom. I chuckled lightly as his two other friends bellowed angrily and exited the room as well to chase him. Deciding to ignore his own dignity and pride, Issei ran down the hallway screaming in high pitch while the other two were closing from behind, yelling something that vaguely sounded like 'How dare you talk about Rias - senpai like that?"

Ah. At least this made my break entertaining.

*Scene Break*

"So why are we meeting at night again," I asked Sona. "And why are we at school?"

"Well," Sona began as she sat down at her spot. "The student council room is our 'base', the place where we discuss important matters. And for your first question," she paused a bit to take a sip from the tea that Tsubaki brewed, and with a satisfying sigh, she continued. "Even though you were incarnated into a devil few days ago, I'm sure you've noticed something different with your body," she supplied while eyeing both Illya and I.

"Eh? What do you mean by that?" Illya titled her head to the side and asked. I knitted my brows, not knowing what she was implying, but there were some drastic changes in my body, for instance, my left arm. If she was talking about the upgrades of our abilities, then I definitely felt the change when I traced Hrunting to kill the Fallen Angel. The amount of prana that required me to project the arrow-sword was close to none, but what shocked me the most was the fact that I had enough strength to fully draw the gigantic bow back. Using this as a reference, there was a high possibility that I could trace thousands of mundane or unnamed blades in a day with my surge of prana.

A sigh from Sona interrupted my thoughts, and this time it was my turn to crook my head to the side in confusion. "Do you not realize that you've become lazy in the morning and more energetic at night? Do you not realize that you can see clearly at night?" I had noticed the first change the day I had become a devil, but I simply thought that I was merely sleep deprived. However, I had no logical explanation for being hyperactive at night, which slowly turned me into a night owl, messing up my sleep schedule. To demonstrate her last point, she gestured Tsubaki to turn off the lights and to my surprise, Sona was right as I could clearly identify each and everyone of them. "And lastly, we devils can fly." My eyes widened at her bold proclamation. I definitely didn't see that one coming and as if reading my thoughts, Sona gave me a triumph smirk. "If you don't believe me, just look around you." Right on cue, everyone in the room, except for Illya and I, magically grew out a pair of bat wings simultaneously. Sona snapped her fingers at us, and we too, grew out our own pairs of wings.

"Ne, Onii-chan," Illya tugged my sleeves and said with widened eyes. "Does that mean we can actually fly?"

"Yes," Sona answered the shocked looking girl. Illya seemed to be overjoyed by the revelation that she could actually fly and was now clapping her hands and jumping up and down excitingly. "And one of the goals tonight is to teach you how to fly," Sona finished off cheerfully, but out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flash of mischievousness on her face even though it disappeared as fast as it appeared. Somehow, I had a really bad feeling about this.

"So what are the other things for today?" I asked, trying to change the subject for now. The thought of flying didn't bother me, but the weird face that Sona made was a bit unnerving. I decided to ignore it for now since I would eventually find out all of her devilish plans that were waiting for me. Besides, I could already imagine Rin's face at the discovery of my bat wings. First of all, she would not believe anything and would call me 'baka' many times, but the fun part was coming up next. After displaying my wings to her, she would definitely be taken aback, but the surprised look on her face would morph into the infamous 'Tohsaka Smile'. With her arms crossed and that scary smile of hers, she would twitch her eyebrows and ask something like, 'Emiya - kun, do you want to explain anything to me?'

"Hmm, let me see," I was grateful that Sona interrupted my thoughts. She scratched her chin in consideration and finally pointed a finger upwards. "Besides flying, I'm going to explain the devil's contract."

"Devil's contract?" I repeated, not sure what to make out of it. At the mention of the word 'contract', the Heaven's Feel ritual was the first thing that popped in my head. Generally speaking, it was a brutal war fought by seven Masters and Servants until one pair was left to claim the Holy Grail. The Grail was told to be able to grant any wish for the victorious pair, and if this so called 'devil's contract' has any similarity with that inhumane war…

"Ah," she began. "You basically grant your clients any wish." Her explanation caught me by surprised. but I still wasn't entirely sure what she meant as the phrase 'granting any wish' brought back some distasteful memories.

"What do you mean by that?" I furrowed my brows as I asked.

"This is a two part job," Sona explained. "First, you need to deliver these small sheets," she said while taking one out from her pocket to display it. Nothing special was on there except for a summoning circle, so I looked back at Sona with confusion. "You pass these out to people and they will use it to make a wish." This time, a let out an understanding 'ah' and pounded my fist into my palm.

"So I don't need to battle any superhumans or creatures?" I asked again to reassure myself. I had had enough with beings such as Servants, and the last thing I wanted to do was to get caught up in another meaningless war.

At my side, Saji jumped a little and pointed at me. "Why do you always want to fight? What is up with you and violence!"

"Yea, Emiya - kun. Is there a reason for that?" To my surprise, it was Tomoe who spoke up. She looked absolutely confused, and I could hear slight concern in her voice. Judging from each and everyone of their expressions, I highly doubt that anyone of them had witnessed death.

Since I couldn't really come up with a reasonable response for them to understand, mostly because it was from my personal experience, I decided to ignore their questions and focus back onto the topic of devil's contract. "And what is the second part of the job?"

Sona studied me a bit, trying to figure out an explanation for my abnormal way of thinking, "For the second part," she finally said. "Is to answer their calls and grant them their wishes."

I nodded in understanding, but another question came up. "What is the purpose of doing this?"

Sona shifted her glasses and took another sip from her cup. "This is some really nice tea Tsubaki," Sona complimented her queen, who responded by giving a small thankful nod. I narrowed my eyes slightly at the thought of this. Was this a challenge? I was very certain that my tea brewing skills were better, and Sona was welcome to try it at anytime. "Anyway," she cleared her throat, bringing me back to reality. "The ultimate goal is promotion." Before I could speak up to ask any question, she cut me off. "Everyone here is classified as low-class devils," she continued while gesturing all of us which they nodded in confirmation. "There are three more levels, which are middle-class devil, high-class devil, which is my rank, and ultimate - class devil."

"What is the point of ranking up?" I asked. "Does it grant you more power? Why are people so eager to go up a rank"

"Hmm," Sona hummed thoughtfully, trying to come up with an appropriate explanation. "Alright think of it this way," she began once she thought of an analogy for me. "The devils use the oligarchy system. The ranks do not reflect on personal strength, but status only. However, the four ultimate-class devils, or the Maous, are usually the strongest beings." So this was the motive to rank up, to reach higher status and become more influential. Devils that were at higher ranks no doubt received more resources and land from the government, which was a plus, but nothing came without a price.

For example, politics.

Who knew but maybe the higher ups were full of corrupted devils that only got their positions through bribes and family statuses. Politics involved a lot around the manipulation of general public and of course, blackmailing people that were in your way.

"And by doing the contracts, I can go from low-class to middle-class?" I shook off the thoughts and decided to focus on the current topic as I took a wild guess and judging by Sona's expression, I was correct.

"But that is not the only method to rank up." To my surprise, the usually quiet girl, Tsubaki, spoke up to add on to the conversation. "There are two other ways." At the side, Saji, Tomoe, Ruruko, and Tsubasa all made a surprised 'eh' sound, reminding me that the rook and the other pawn were in the room.

"What are the other ways, Kaichou?" Ruruko asked with a scrunched face while scratching her chin with one hand.

"Running contracts is the traditional way for promotion, and that is why I make you guys do it everyday," Sona explained while the rest of the peerage stared at their king in shock, but the expression was quickly replaced by a general look of understanding. "As for the other two options," she continued. "The first one is military accomplishments, and the other option is through the Rating Game," she concluded the three possible ways for promotion, and everyone in the room nodded slowly as they processed the information for themselves.

"So when can I get promoted to middle-class?" Saji asked with anticipation. "I've done so many already. How many more do I need to do?"

Taking another sip from the cup, Sona began, "Even though running contacts is the traditional way, it is also the slowest." At this, Saji's face dropped in despair as he sunk into his seat.

"So what is the exact number of contracts that I will need to do?" Saji asked weakly.

Sona rested her left arm under her right with a finger pointed upwards as she thought about the question. Finally coming into a conclusion, she gave Saji a sympathetic look. "I honestly have no idea," she confessed sheepishly. "But if you're lucky enough to have an influential or powerful human as your customer, then I suppose it will be faster." I watched as Saji sunk deeper into his chair, vaguely heard something sounded like 'my dream to become an ultimate devil and marry Kaichou is gone.'

"Why don't people use the second and third option?" I asked. Saji was definitely not the only reincarnated devil who wanted to get higher up into the ranking system. If contracting was the preferable way, then how many years or decades did it take for an average low - class to become a middle - class? Even though Sona said that serving influential people could speed up the process, the chances of being summoned by one was considered to be really low. "What does it mean by military accomplishments?"

"Just like it sounds," Sona explained. "Military accomplishment means to obtain great achievements in combat, such as war. This is the fastest method out of all three." At the mention of fastest method, Saji perked up again, eyes were once again burning with passion. "However, since the three factions are in truce, a war was unlikely to happen."

Just like that, Saji's dreams had been crushed yet again. Right at his side, Ruruko immediately latched onto Saji, and with a worried face, she asked, "Senpai! Are you ok? Do you need any help?"

"Don't worry Ruruko," I reassured the pawn, trying to contain my own laughter as well. "He just needs you to calm down. He would also prefer you to let go," I said while pointing at Saji. "You are strangling him." Somehow in that short amount of time, Ruruko managed to find herself a new seat where she abandoned the couch and was now on Saji's laps, shaking his body violently.

"Oh, right. Sorry Senpai," the pawn's face turned red as she realized her mistake and decided to apologize. Saji was either still shocked by Sona's revelation on promotion or was traumatized by Ruruko's assault because he only nodded at the brown haired girl.

"Anyway," I cleared my throat, deciding to bring us back on topic. "What about Rating Game?"

Shaking her head as she, too, was distracted by the scene in front of her, she answered, "Promotion through Rating Game is the modern way. It allows any reincarnated devil to have a chance to show off their skills in a match between two peerages."

"So this is the best method for ranking up?" I concluded while taking a glance at Saji. Instead of jumping up with excitement like previous times, he didn't move an inch from his seat. Maybe the boy finally realized that promotion was earned through hard work, and there was no such thing like shortcuts. Then a random thought shot up in my mind, and after a short pause, I asked, "And is this why you talk about Rating Games so much? Because you want to rank up?" I looked directly into her eyes, studying her intensely.

She looked back with a determined expression and answered with a flat tone. "Yes. I want to reach the top ten, and if possible, I want to become first." The words she delivered weren't empty and unrealistic. They were full of power and promises, and I knew that one day she would get there. It would take time, but she would be patient with it because in the end, she wanted to prove herself. I couldn't help but gave her a small approving smile.

Good. I like it. I like this ambition.

"Anyway," Sona began with a sly smile while eyeing Illya and I. "Let's teach you how to fly." At my side, Illya clapped happily, excited to learn this new maneuver, while the other members of the peerage gave me a sympathetic look. I suddenly remembered the flash of mischievousness on Sona's face from earlier. So the inevitable had come, but I mean what could be worse than fighting against Saber Alter, right?

*Scene Break*

"Ow," I winced as I attempted to sit down at my chair. Every single movement seemed to be too much for my current condition, even a small and simple task such as raising an arm pained my body.

"Onii-chan," Illya knitted her brows and asked with concern. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, yeah," I replied hastily while putting up a fake smile to hide my pain. "I feel great. Here, let me show you." To defend my own dignity, I picked up the tea that was brewed by Tsubaki in front of me and lifted to my mouth, but only to find that the content in the cup spilled all over my clothes. I gave out a heavy sigh and finally confessed, "I guess I'm not."

"I knew it," Illya declared while folding her arms under her chest. "Onii-chan can't lie to me!"

"Sorry about that," I apologized sheepishly while scratching the back of my head and then turned my attention to my drenched clothings, wondering how I could dry it. Sona seemed to notice my concerns when she gazed at me and with a snap, my clothes were back to normal. I gave her a thankful nod before remembering that the silver haired girl was teasing me. My embarrassed expression morphed into a skeptical one. "So Illya," I began. "You want to tell me why you're so good at it?"

"I don't know," Illya shrugged and stuck her tongue out childishly.

"Hmm," I hummed quietly, recalling the past events. After Sona explained the basics of devil's contract, we immediately started our first flying lesson. Truth be told, it wasn't as fun, but on the bright side, I finally discovered the true meaning behind that sly smile from earlier. Even with all the warnings I received from Tomoe and Ruruko, I still ended up face planting from the sky, bruising my body badly. I had been through many battles, so injuries such as bruises and small cuts didn't really bother me much. However, crashing on the same part of my body over countless times actually made my muscles ached, bringing back memories of the training sessions I had with Saber, and also making me regret to not reinforce my body beforehand. Illya must've gotten secret lessons with Sona when I wasn't around, since she was unharmed after the entire lesson. I didn't want to admit that I was inferior to my sister, but at the same time, learning this maneuver could be handy in the future. "So you do you want to tell me some tips and tricks?" I asked, trying not to sound desperate as I pleaded for an answer.

"Well," Sona began, "If you listened to me and don't freak out in the air, then you wouldn't have fallen like what, ten times?" I glanced away at her statement. While it was true that I was panicking in the air, but in my defense, it was quite scary up there and controlling my new wings was like getting used to a third limb. "Next time try to relax your muscles and feel it with your own body," she suggested to me, and at the side, Illya nodded with agreement while making a 'Hmm, Hmm' noise.

"You said that like ten times, too," I pointed out dryly. "And I don't think that advice is really good."

Sona shrugged and replied, "Well, that's the only suggestion I got. I guess you just need some time."

"It's ok Shirou," at the side, Tomoe chimed in. "If I remember correctly," she began with a mischievous smile and leaned in. "Saji took almost a month to learn how to fly," she whispered into my ears, but unfortunately for her, she wasn't able to contain her voice for the last part as she bursted into laughter, leaving an embarrassed and fuming Saji staring at her. Once she realized that her voice was louder than she intended to be, she gave Saji a sheepish grin and said, "Heh sorry about that Saji - kun. I was trying to use your experiences to cheer Shirou up." Saji gave a 'hmph' and turned his head to the side. "But yea, it doesn't mean that you will never get it. Just practice more and be patient," she assured me and I gave her a small nod.

"So what else is there for tonight besides this?" I turned my attention to Sona and asked. "Is it the devil's contrasts?"

With a nod, she confirmed my guess and began, "Well, at least that's what I planned. but," she paused a little and gave me a look of disappointment before continuing. "But I didn't know that you will take up most of the night. I mean look at Illya." The girl perked up at the mention of her name and just like Sona, she shot me a disapproving look. "She got it down after like five tries."

"Not everyone can be good at everything," I protested, trying my best to defend for myself. "Anyway, so what are we going to do now?" I asked, immediately changing the subject, hoping they would stop mocking my inability to fly. At least their level of teasing wasn't as advanced as Rin's. They should see that magus in action, and they would understand their differences in skill levels. Basically, once Rin figured out your weakness, she would launch an endless assault to exploit it until you beg for mercy. On a good day, she would stop, but on a bad day, begging for mercy or not, she would continue until she felt satisfied then maybe the torture would come to a stop.

"Since we don't have much time, " Sona declared while looking at the clock in the room. "You can start passing these out tomorrow," she told us while handing taking out the small sheets of paper she showed earlier. "Originally, I wanted the process to start today, but I guess not." I took a small stack from her and studied them a bit before placing the contracts in my pocket.

"So is that it?" I asked as I attempted to stand up from my chair but my legs betrayed me as I flopped right back down. I had fought and survived many battles against stronger foes and beings such as Servants, yet a simple task like flying exhausted my body, and the only thing I wanted to do now was go home and rest. Thankfully, Sona nodded at my question, and I had to let out a sigh of relief to release the breath that I was apparently holding.

Sensing that my legs could finally be functionable again, I took a deep breath, readying myself for another fall, and got up to my feet again. Illya followed closely behind as I made my way to the door, but before I could exit out of the room, a voice spoke up from behind. "Ah before you go," Sona began. "Remember to return here tomorrow!" I suppressed a sigh and lazily waved back before stepping into the night with Illya.

After a brief silence, Illya tugged my sleeves and spoke up. "Ne onii-chan," she frowned and spoke up. "Who is this Rias? She sounds like a really bad person, just like ..." she paused a bit and looked down.

"Just like what?" I softly asked, but had a good idea of who she was referring to.

"Never mind," Illya shook her head and declared. "There won't be anyone as bad as him, right onii-chan?" she asked for reassurance. I gave her a warm smile and nodded my head at that. There were many similarities between the two as both of them were extremely manipulative, and I could only hope that she doesn't become anything like him in the end.

*Scene Break* (not done with dream cycle)

"There are enemy Servants nearby, Master," the man informed the girl with twin ponytails.

With a nod of acknowledgement, she simply replied, "We should go check it out then."

Without another word, the man lifted the girl up and took off, jumping from buildings to buildings, heading to the location where he sensed prana. With his enhanced eyesight granted by his class, he was able to identify two potential enemies that were currently battling as the duo approached from the sky.

Landing on the ground with a swift but silent motion, he put his Master down and addressed her dutifully, "We will wait here for now. Let the two Servants fight it out first."

After a brief moment, a shadow leaped out from the court and jumped to a building close by before disappearing into the dark. It was silent again. No sounds of weapons clashing or battle cries.

"Let's go check it out," the girl decided and she began walking.

"Wai-" Before the man could finish his warning, he leaped forward and placed himself in front of his Master with a sword in his hand. He had to be careful here. The newcomer in front of him was definitely a Servant as he could feel a large amount of prana emitting. She had green eyes with hair braided up and was wearing a blue and white armor. The invisible weapon she was holding could be anything ranging from a sword to a lance and to a battle axe. That was her advantage, and he knew it.

Then she charged.

She closed in with incredible speed, but was still manageable to him at this point. With a powerful swing aiming to cut from his shoulder to thigh, he could only leap back defensively since he wasn't sure about the length of her weapon to properly come up with a suitable defensive measure.

The Servant in front of him continued to pursue and adding more force after each attack, but her form and footing were firm. At this rate, he would definitely lose and his Master would be in danger next.

But an unexpected thing happened.

"Saber," the boy with red hair commanded. "Stop attacking!" Accident or not, the boy just used a command seal to stop his Servant from slaying him. "Can you first tell me what's going on?"

With a small laugh the girl spoke up, "Oh my. So you're a Master too, Emiya-kun."