Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.

Getting Some Company

Months passed like days. I got used to the hellish training of Souji-sensei sooner than I thought. He would never convince me that he had started to go easy on me. No, the training was paying off at last. At least I didn't end up sleeping on the floor because I couldn't get my ass to my bedroom. That was a win on my book at that point.

My surrogate siblings and the Gremory and Sitri families kept me from my darkest thoughts most of the time. But I was slowly accepting my new life, as much as I wanted to dwell on how much I wanted my grandfather back. Things weren't going to change back to what they were, and I was slowly moving forward. Very slowly, but as they say, baby steps.

Fortunately for my sanity, during my visits I had regained my edge in chess. Now, Sona and I were pretty much even in the win-loss department. Rias also seemed to have progressed some with her Nekoshou issue. The girl at least answered when asked a question… sometimes, but hey! Progress was progress.

I was also getting to know Lilith much better thanks to my walks around the city. My trait hadn't improved much except that now it needed less concentration, but I wasn't worried about that. According to my grandfather it took a lot of time to get to the second stage of our trait, as it was called, if at all.

He had explained to me that the trait developed according to the user. That's why the more vicious always ended with a damaging one, why the empathic gained the means to communicate better, why the sharp ones would be able to gather more information, why the colder and more manipulative would be able to bend minds.

There was the eternal discussion though, was it developed through the personality or through desire? My grandfather said that it was a bit of both. That only someone with a certain personality could end up with the desire that leaded to certain powers. I found myself agreeing if only because it was the only Dantalion perspective around.

It was during one of my 'practice sessions' that I found myself in quite the troublesome situation. I had been walking minding my own business and reading about others when suddenly I saw something that stopped me on my tracks. Three men walking seemingly without a care in the world.

Not only did their act suck but their minds couldn't hide something from me to save their lives. I saw a girl in an alley. I saw her several times. They had been following her for a long time apparently. I saw their plans. Nothing pretty I assure you. Better left unsaid. I started following them and prepared myself.

Homeless or not, I couldn't bring myself to abandon someone that I knew I could help. My grandfather had raised me better than that. And hearing stories about how my parents were the best kind of people, I couldn't spit on their memories like that either. I wouldn't go out of my way to save people, but if I saw someone that I could help, then I would.

So, there I was following three men to a familiar alley that I had never seen. The girl was there. All I managed to see was her indigo-colored hair and some tattered clothes, if they could be called that. She was in a corner between some abandoned things in fetal position. She looked up when the men entered the alley.

Said grunts stalked towards her. She seemed to be expecting them. Maybe she had seen them spying on her? I wasn't sure, neither did I care. She didn't look frightened thought, so I decided to just watch for the moment. No need to get myself in trouble that I could avoid.

The idiots didn't seem to notice that she was ready to put up a fight. That was their first mistake. The second was letting one of them get near the girl alone to talk nonsense.

"Let's make it easy on all the people involved, shall we? Just come with us peacefully." Said idiot number one, which is to say the one that got closer to the indigo-haired girl. I wanted to snort at that. Yeah, because everyone will agree and go Satan knows where with clearly bad people. What I did do was roll my eyes.

What happened next was pretty surprising. One second the girl was a couple of meters away from the man sitting with her knees withdrawn to her chest. And the next her knee was connecting with idiot number one's jaw. I was barely able to follow the movement. It was impressive, I'll admit.

Number one fell on his butt and the girl did a round kick to his head effectively knocking him out. By then the rather slow grunts number two and three had caught up with what was happening and charged at the girl. I tilted my head in interest. This was proving to be an entertaining sight if nothing else.

Number two threw a punch that would have made me laugh and the girl ducked under it punching the man in his… family jewels. I cringed at that. That was a low blow, literally. The other man took his chance and tackled her to the ground. He started choking the girl with both hands.

I was already taking out my training sword to smack some sense into those idiots when something unexpected happened. A small knife came out of nowhere and pierced grunt number three's arm. He let go with a shriek and the girl got on her feet coughing for air. Before the man could take the knife of his arm, the weapon flew of by itself. My eyes widened before they narrowed.

A Corson. It was a known Extra Demon clan. Their trait had something to do with manipulating blades with their minds. They were a warrior clan and a respected one at that. What was a Corson doing living as a homeless in an alley and victim of lowlife thugs? It didn't make any sense.

I saw the girl breathing hard. Maybe using her trait had taken a little bit more energy than I thought. Grunt number two had finally recovered from her ball crushing attack and number three had stopped crying over his injured arm. Both standing up for round two. Which had all the signs of being theirs if the state of the girl was anything to go by.

That's when I decided it was enough. The girl clearly was in no shape to continue. I ran and jumped to kick grunt number two in the head knocking him out and sending me flying to grunt number three who met my training sword with his head. Fortunately for him, the blade didn't actually have an edge, so it worked more as a blunt weapon.

"That was quite the show." I commented turning to the girl that was eying me warily. I shrugged. "You are welcome." I said and turned away to leave.

Yes, a Corson in that situation was a mystery. But curiosity killed the cat and all that. I simply didn't want to get involved in a probably annoying situation with an exiled member of the clan or an also possible dangerous situation with a criminal. I had done my good deed of the day and I wanted to be done with it. At least that's what I wanted. Someone had other plans.

"Why did you help?" Said a voice behind me. Two possibilities, grunt two wasn't knocked out and his voice had gone really high pitched because of his… injury or the girl was talking to me. I didn't know what option I wanted to be true. I turned to see the girl staring at me.

"Because I knew why they were here. I have a thing about saving people if it's within my power to do so." And with that I turned around again.

"How did you know why they were here for?" She asked this time. I turned and raised an eyebrow.

"If I ask a question will you answer or are you just trying to interrogate me?" I asked back. She looked unsure. I took that as my cue to leave. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

"What do you want to know?" She asked. I took a deep breath. Ok, I could deal with this. I definitely was not avoiding talking to her because I hadn't talked to someone new in years. It wasn't that, I swear.

The Nekoshou and Rias and Sona's peerage members didn't count. The first didn't talk and the latters had had their Kings around to help with conversation. I resigned myself to an awkward conversation with a stranger and sighed.

"Follow me, let's go to a café or something." I said and started walking.

There was a decent enough place near if I recalled correctly. Fortunately, I did. Once we were seated, we stared at each other. It must have been quite the view. A homeless-looking girl having a staring contest with a guy that looked like he came straight from high-society.

"What's a Corson doing living like a homeless?" I asked the most important question in my head. She tensed up instantly.

I just stared at her with an impassive gaze while reading through her thoughts. She had been exiled because she was a woman apparently. I didn't know the Corson clan consisted only of men warriors. She had been in the streets for quite a while too.

"I was exiled." She said simply. 'Well,' I thought to myself. 'at least she didn't lie.' I thought back to her question. Answering that would be a bad idea right that moment.

"What do you want to know?" I asked feigning that I couldn't remember. Maybe I would have some luc-

"How did you know?" She asked narrowing her eyes. Just my luck, she had to actually have a brain. What a drag. Well, it didn't matter really.

"I'm a Dantalion." I said simply. She hadn't given any details either, I could play that game too. "Why were you exiled?" I asked this time. Her eyes narrowed even more. She knew what I was doing.

"I was exiled for being a woman." Again, with the vague answer, huh? After that a waitress arrived and took our orders looking rather uncomfortable. I couldn't blame her really. "What does being a Dantalion have to do with you knowing what they were up to?" She asked this time.

"My trait is good for information gathering." I answered with a smirk. I saw her eyebrow twitch. "How does being a woman relate to you being exiled?" I asked. She kept silent.

Silence reigned for several minutes. The waitress came back and left our orders as fast as she could. I took my cup of coffee and drank. I wasn't in a hurry and the girl could leave anytime she wanted. I took continued trying to get something from her thoughts, but everything was vague. I did notice that her eyes were icy blue.

I finally got a glimpse of the issue after another minute. The Corson leaned heavily in male power. It was really rare for a female to inherit the clan trait. Instead they tended to inherit high control over their magic which was one of the necessary things for using their traits effectively.

So, summarizing, males got the actual trait and females got the control that needed to be passed to the next generation of males with the trait. That was the circle the Corson clan followed religiously. This girl had broken the circle by inheriting the trait. And hadn't done any favors to herself trying to revel against the system the Corson family followed and being a warrior. That had gotten her on the streets.

Me gathering all that info should tell you how long it took her to open her mouth. I would have felt uncomfortable if I hadn't been busy reading her thoughts. I would also have felt bad about reading her thoughts but considering that I could end up in the middle of a political battle for shit like this I think I could be excused. No need to give my surrogate siblings more problems to deal with than they already had.

"I was kicked out because I inherited the Corson trait as a woman. That's something that hardly ever happens. It goes against everything that the clan believes. I also…" She squirmed a bit in her seat. "I also got in some problems. If I had kept my mouth shut and the trait hidden nothing would have happened."

She looked around uncomfortably before focusing on me again.

"Now. What does the Dantalion trait do?" I smirked.

"You are lucky you said the truth, otherwise I would have never told you." I explained and her eyes widened.

"How do you know I told the truth?" She asked narrowing her eyes.

"The Dantalion trait lets me read surface thoughts by looking at people's eyes." I explained and she instantly focused her gaze in the table. I chuckled.

"I already got a lot of information. I know everything that happened that got you where you are now. Is there something else you want to hide?" I asked.

If there was then there was a high chance that I would just leave. So far there wasn't anything too bad in her background, so I was ok. That could change pretty quick if she was hiding something else of importance. Fortunately, she looked up. A quick read showed that she was only uncomfortable knowing I could see what she was thinking.

"Could you… not use it?" She asked.

"Of course." 'Not.' While I wasn't lying, I wanted to see if she showed me something while thinking I wasn't reading. "Anything else you want to know?" I asked to buy myself time and see.

Apparently, that was it. Nothing new showed up, just awkwardness and a little fear. Fear that I would sell her out to the people that seemed to be after her in the streets.

"Why are you still here? You already know all you wanted." She asked.

"That's true. Do you plan to live on the streets forever or do you have a plan?" I asked back. I was already forming a plan of my own.

"…" She squirmed in her seat. "I don't have anywhere to go, and I couldn't find a job, much less looking like this." She motioned to herself.

I took a second to think. She was a Corson, people said to be born to fight. I would be lying if I said I didn't want her on my peerage. The problem was getting her to accept. Even if I offered her what she needed, she could reject the offer. There was also the fact that she could come to regret her decision of joining. I didn't want to deal with that.

On the other hand, not trying would be a waste. So, maybe trying something in the middle was better this time.

"I can find you a job." I offered. She looked at me with narrowed eyes.

"I'm not joining your peerage." She said instantly. I kept my face as it was. It wasn't an unexpected answer.

"I guessed as much. I can still find you a job." She kept her eyes narrowed.

"What's the catch?" She asked.

"None, I find you a job and that's it." I said simply. "I'll admit, I did want you to at least consider being in my peerage but that's ok. Finding you a job shouldn't be too difficult. We will have to get you some new clothes though. I have someone in mind that can help with that."

"…" She stayed silent for a full minute. "Ok…"

"Great." I called the waitress to pay and stood up. "Follow me. I'll introduce you to my surrogate sister. You may know her." I smirked. "I never got your name now that I think about it." I had done so by myself, but I was being polite.

"Raev… Raev Corson." She said.

"Verstand Dantalion, a pleasure to meet you." I extended my hand to her and she took it.

[}-o-{]

"Lady Leviathan?!" Asked a shocked Raev when my 'sister' appeared. I had already talked with Souji-sensei telling him something had come up.

"Hey, Sera-tan. How's it going?"

"Ver-tan!" She tackled me in a hug as always. "I received your call! What do you need?! What happened?!"

"Big sis, calm down, nothing happened. I just need some help with something." I said calmly trying to get her to listen. She didn't even register Raev's presence apparently.

"What do you need?" She asked curiously.

"This is Raev, a friend of mine…" I started and gave Serafall a summarized version of the Corson girl's story. After that the magical girl decided to help the indigo-haired girl get some new clothes and things like that.

Sooner than I thought I was walking behind the girls on the shopping district of Lilith bored out of my mind. I would never get what was so amazing about going out and buying things. The girls seemed to be enjoying themselves and I got to practice my trait, so it was a win-win in my mind. Serafall was more than happy to buy the girl a wardrobe or three if she got to have some fun.

[You shouldn't have a problem if you just lend her a hand.] Sirzechs said after I explained everything to him. He was the Satan of domestic affairs, so I had called just in case to be sure I wasn't getting myself involved in something troublesome for myself or my siblings. [Although, if she joins your peerage forget about getting any favors from the Corson clan. That's the most trouble they can cause for you without getting in trouble themselves.] He explained.

I hummed. That wasn't too much of a problem, for me at least. The only business I could have with the Corson was if I wanted to recruit one, and that wouldn't be necessary if I already had recruited one of them.

"Thanks, big brother. That's good to know." I said. "You sure it won't cause trouble for you?" I heard him chuckle.

[Don't worry. It won't be a problem. Seriously, sometimes you worry more than us.]

"…"

[Ok, maybe not so much but still.] Now it was time for me to chuckle. [It was good hearing from you, Verz. Take care.]

"Same, Sirz. I hope we can meet soon." I said ending the call. "You should see if you can get a job in a shop somewhere here." I commented to Raev once she was fully clothed with a new set and her options seemed to be increasing. Serafall certainly wasn't pulling any punches with the shopping. If she wasn't a Satan, I would be worried she would spend all her money. "Getting you the approval to do contracts in the human world without being in a peerage would be difficult even for us, so you'll have to make do with a normal job here in the Underworld." I explained.

She had been mostly quiet as Serafall dragged her from shop to shop. It wasn't like she wasn't enjoying herself. I had seen her expression say as much from time to time. But she was deep in thought. I didn't have to use my trait to know she was thinking about her options.

"I guess I'll have to." She concluded. It didn't take long for someone to give her a job. Having a Satan as company didn't hurt her chances.

"Well." I started once we were back at the apartment. It was late at night. We had spent the day buying things for Raev. The floor of the dining room was covered in shopping bags. "I guess you can stay here for the night and look for someplace to stay tomorrow." I offered.

She looked hesitant for a while. I couldn't blame her. I had come out of nowhere and was being unusually nice, at least for her. I didn't have a good reason even if she asked me. I just pitied her situation. She was shunned because she had power. She had lost everything because of her clan's traditions. I couldn't tell her that it was out of pity though. She would never accept it if I said that. I knew.

"Thanks." She said bowing.

"Don't bow, it's uncomfortable to see someone do that." I almost pleaded her. She looked amused.

"An heir that doesn't like formalities?" She said.

"Not much of an heir if there's so little to be inherited. It's just an empty title." I said with a sad smile. "And I'm a Lord actually." I corrected her with a bitter tone. "Not that it is much different."

"I'm sorry." She apologized. She hadn't thought I would react like that. That much was obvious by the concerned look in her face.

"Don't worry." I waved my hand dismissing her concern. "I've had years to accept it for what it is."

We sat there in silence for a while. I didn't have a problem with that. We were strangers, obviously we wouldn't have much to talk about. There was also the fact that we probably wouldn't see each other after tomorrow. She, on the other hand, seemed to be pretty uncomfortable.

"Do you have plans for tomorrow?" She asked after a few minutes.

"Do you want to ask me out?" I asked with an amused grin. She blushed and stammered a bit. I laughed. "I'll probably be here in the morning meditating. I'll go out on the afternoon. I have training to do." She perked up at that.

"Training?" She asked sounding very much interested. I smirked.

"I'm training in swordsmanship." I explained. Now she looked positively eager to know more.

"Are you good?" She asked quickly.

"I don't think I'm bad. I have a great teacher. But I've only been training for a few months. I'm no master." I said simply. She didn't seem discouraged.

"Do you think…" She seemed to catch up on what she was going to ask and stopped. She looked at the table. I raised an eyebrow at that but decided to just wait. I had a pretty good idea of what was in her mind without using my trait. "Do you think I could train with you?" She whispered after a while.

"I don't think so." I replied bluntly and she deflated. "My teacher is really picky. I'm lucky I got a recommendation and did a good enough first impression." I still shuddered thinking about the first week of training with Souji-sensei. She sighed. "Maybe we can have a spar or two together from time to time though." I offered and she perked up again. I couldn't stop a grin from appearing on my face.

"I would like that." She said looking between shy and eager. It was an amusing sight. I took out a flier and threw it at her.

"Sure, just call. We can do that late in the afternoon if you are free. That's the only time I can, that or weekends." I told her. She nodded and put the flier on her pocket.

After that we spent some time talking about my training and what I did. She told me how the Corson trained. It was quite different considering that they didn't have to actually hold the swords.

The reason they fought without swords in their hands while using their trait was simple. It was confusing for them. They required a great deal of concentration to use their trait. Most of them used hand movements to help themselves while on battle. There were some masters that had reached the level of controlling the flying swords by instinct so that they could use a sword in their hands, but they were extremely rare.

She was quite open about her clan's abilities, probably because she didn't hold too much love for them after they casted her out. She even explained that they bound their magic to the sword they used. Which required a great deal of preparation and energy to do.

This was the reason why they couldn't just start controlling the opponent's sword against them. She also explained that it was better if the sword was considered theirs. A sword owned by someone else felt strange, even wrong, to them. They had the theory that swords, and weapons in general, had a kind-of-but-not-quite-there soul in them. It made a lot of sense once she explained it. Holy and Demonic weapons had a lot of weight in that theory. Normal weapons just didn't have to will to actually reject a wielder, but a Corson could feel it. I made a mental note through this of getting her a nice sword as a present if we became friends.

Like that time flew by and it became time to sleep. I had trouble accepting what had happened that day. It was so out of the ordinary that it baffled me even after hours had passed.

It was the next morning that I noticed. I hadn't thought back to my days in the manor at all that day.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How's it going?

Well, it's been some time (from this series at least). I was re-thinking how I wanted this story to go and I couldn't advance further than this chapter without messing up if I changed my mind.

So, I've been thinking a lot. My brain hurts. And I feel like a father whose child left home after ending the first volume of Another Side. Not to mention that life is still being a bitch.

End of the rant.

HELP/QUESTION/PETITION: If you have a request or suggestion for a chapter to be on the peerage this is your chance man or woman. I have spots for Pawns up to a value of 4. It must be a Sacred Gear user (support-type only). It can be an OC or canon character. It would be greatly appreciated if you give me a good setting for them to join but it isn't compulsory.

With that said, I hope you liked the chapter.

See you.