HEY PEEPS!
THIS IS CHAPTER FOUR OF TECHNICAL SUPPORT! HOPE YOU ENJOY IT!
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DXD
Michael was silent.
The mighty twelve-winged Archangel of Heaven.
The Holy system's new "God".
The first one who had sung for joy when the God had created something new.
The one that had screamed out battle orders to the Host of Heaven as they descended upon their enemies.
The one that mourned in agony whenever an Angel had chosen the path of the Fallen.
The one who had supported and encouraged the other Seraphim to stand strong and to keep up the good fight when even God Himself had been killed.
That Michael was now sitting silently under the Tree of Life.
No singing.
No talking.
No humming.
Just silent.
For reasons she could not fully express, Gabriel was worried.
The beautiful ten winged female Angel slowly but boldly approached Heaven's new leader.
"Brother?"
Michael turned to her and smiled.
"Hello Gabriel, you've been standing behind me for some time now, are you alright ?"
Gabriel simply returned the smile with one of her own as she sat at her brother's side.
"I'm doing fine. Any concern I have right now is about you. You've been very pensive since your conversation with Azazel. Is there something wrong?"
Michael took a few seconds before answering.
"In a few months from now I'll be attending a conference with the leaders of the other great factions in an effort to solidify our ceasefire."
Garbriel's eyes widened as she jumped to her feet.
"This is marvelous news! God always said that it is only through unity that great things would be accomplished."
Michael smiled again as he invited her to sit back down beside him.
"Yes, this is indeed marvelous news but we have all agreed to keep the details of this meeting as a secret for now. Which means that you shouldn't go around telling everyone just yet."
Gabriel nodded energetically.
"Ok! I can keep a secret! My lips are sealed!"
Michael tried his best not to laugh as his sister emphasized her words with the action of drawing a horizontal line across her lips.
"Yes. I do believe in your 'secret-keeping' abilities, sister. But I did learn something new this morning."
Gabriel's eyes glowed with eagerness.
"Ohhhhh?!"
Michael finally chuckled. Perhaps even the strongest female Angel in Heaven was not immune to the savory flavor of juicy gossip.
"There's a human that Azazel wants me to meet. A teenage boy named Issei Hyudou, he is the holder of the Welsh Dragon's boosted gear."
Gabriel's astonishment had not faltered one bit.
"Is he really strong?"
Michael nodded.
"Yes, supposedly he is. Azazel also claims that this boy has...strange abilities and holds knowledge that can help us accomplish many great things. Perhaps peace between the Factions of the spiritual realms would indeed be possible."
Gabriel jumped to her feet again.
"Amen! How Amazing! I feel like to spread my holy joy with the citizens of Heavenly city! May I go ? I promise to not mention our secret."
Michael nodded as he waved Gabriel along.
"Yes, please go and enjoy as you share ye blessings of Holy Light. Pass on my regards to whoever you see. Please keep in mind that the Seraphim have a meeting later. You're expected to be in attendance."
Gabriel nodded energetically as her wings unfolded.
"Okay. I'll see you then, Michael!"
FWOOSH!
Michael only shook his head as his sister flew off, she truly had a gift for bringing joy to confused and distressed hearts.
And in all honesty he did feel a bit confused, not because of the meeting or about Issei in general, it was about the most important detail Azazel had mentioned, the one he had chosen not to share with Gabriel.
He wanted to be critical about it, but there was something in the back of his mind that was telling him that neither Issei nor Azazel were attempting to deceive him.
Even now the words were still echoing in his mind.
"You won't believe this Michael...but...the kid knows our Father's name...His real name."
That was supposed to be impossible.
There were only three people in all of the universe that knew God's real name, one of them was dead, the other two were Michael himself and Azazel.
They both made a covenant with the Father that they would never share it, and even though the Father was dead, the system that presided over all creation still recognized all covenants, if Azazel had broken it...
Michael shook his head.
Azazel had committed many sins and was known for many unsightly traits but being a covenant breaker was not one of them.
But...
For this human to know God's real name...
The implications were a little too much for Michael to the great Archangel did know one thing for sure.
He would be having a very long conversation with Issei Hyudou in a few months time.
DxD
If there was any benefit to being the "girlfriend" of Issei Hyudou, it would have to be the fact that Issei had been blessed with magical fingers.
Culinary Magical Fingers.
Raynare had discovered this truth two weeks ago when she had been invited over by Issei's parents for 'family dinner' on a Friday night.
She had primarily gone to solidify her cover as Issei's girlfriend and to give his parents enough of a backstory to keep them from asking too much questions further down the line. Telling them that she was an orphan being taken care of by an uncle (named Azazel) who spends most of his time overseas for business did the job effectively.
A secondary objective she had decided on was to see if she could learn anything new about the brown haired pervert from his family. All parents were well known for always spilling the embarrassing secrets of their children , weren't they ?
Raynare was convinced that there had to be something in the Hyudou home that could give her greater insight into the enigma that was Issei Hyudou.
To her own shock, it was Issei's parents that had entertained her with tea, jokes and stories while Issei busily cooked up a storm in the kitchen.
No one would have blamed the Fallen Angel for worrying about the future of her stomach. There was nothing about Issei that gave her the impression that this meal would be edible much less tasty.
But once again to her surprise, even though the offered spread was simple, it was delicious...
Deeeeliiiiiisssshhhhuuuuuusssss
And the dessert was good.
Really really really good.
It felt like her taste buds had experienced the ultimate orgasmic joyride.
She would never admit her thoughts on the matter to Issei but she had a sinking feeling that the little brat already knew.
After all, he was the one that proposed that the family invite her over every other Friday night.
Raynare had happily accepted.
Free, unbelievably good tasting food in a nice house with people that she didn't exclusively hate ?
Sounded like a win-win to her.
It was now Thursday night and Raynare had just returned from a two day trip to the underworld.
She had been summoned before the High Council to share information she had gathered on Issei, Rias, Sona, Kuoh Academy, the town of Kuoh and the incident involving the rogue Fallen Angels. The High Council seemed quite interested in the fact that Grabelek had an outside contact providing with such valuable resources and were probably going to assign a team to investigate the matter.
Upon returning to the realm of Earth, the first thing that was on Raynare's mind was to check on her ward and to make sure he had not done anything stupid in her absence.
Knowing her luck, perhaps it would be better for her to hope that he had not done anything too stupid.
And what exactly would be her reward for such diligence and faithfulness in her mission ?
Grocery shopping.
Yes.
Grocery shopping.
As soon as she had arrived on Issei's doorstep, she had encountered the brown haired teenager heading out to purchase the items needed for the 'Friday Night family dinner.'
She soon found herself being dragged behind him to act as his "shopping buddy."
The raven haired Fallen Angel wouldn't ordinarily allow herself to be reduced to such demeaning tasks but when she had been given the special mission of picking up the ingredients required for dessert, she knew her taste buds would thank her later for silencing her Fallen Angel pride.
Issei was going to make strawberry short cake.
Stwaberry. Short. Cake.
She didn't mind suffering for such a delicious delicacy. She could already feel it generating sparks of happiness with each bite.
"Raynare ? I don't think you should be drooling on the strawberries like that."
Raynare sighed as she slipped out of her food induced daydream.
Why were people getting the drop on her all of sudden ? Was she losing her edge?
She wasn't concerned that the persons standing behind her knew her true identity. It would be more than were her colleagues after all.
A frowning Raynare turned around to face the only other persons standing in the grocery store's aisle.
"Donaseek. Mittelt. I Didn't think you two were the 'late evening shopper' type."
DxD
In the small butcher's shop across the road, Issei was busily trying to pick between two very nice cuts of steak when Ddraig spoke up from within the teenager's consciousness.
"Partner?"
"Hmmm, yes Lizzie?"
"You feel that?"
Issei didn't blink as he continued to look between his choices.
"You mean the Fallen Angels talking to Raynare across the road ? Yea, I feel them but I don't sense her being worried or anxious so I doubt she's in any danger. If things change though, we go over there with all guns blazing."
"Umh, right. I was talking about our observer. The bat demon."
Issei smiled as he turned to face the butcher.
"I'll be taking the one on the right."
"Excellent choice, young man."
As the butcher went to work on the chosen meat, Issei responded to Ddraig's enquiry.
"Oh, the Devil that's been watching us all day ? Yea I've been faintly sensing it too. What's weird is that I'm pretty sure I've seen it somewhere before."
"You think it's a familiar of one of those Devil clans that we've interacted with lately?"
"Hmmm. Now that you mention it, that would make sense. I'm even willing to bet it's the Gremory clan. Considering what I've been feeling over the past few days. I'm not surprised that she would be keeping tabs on me though."
"Hmmm indeed. I'll let you know if the familiar does anything interesting."
Issei smiled.
"Thanks Lizzie! As a reward for such good work, you're getting an extra piece of steak tomorrow."
"I'm not an unintelligible beast that can be pleased with simple pieces of fatty meat, Partner."
A pregnant pause permeated the mental conversation between boy and dragon.
"You want an extra slice of the strawberry short cake, don't you ?"
"Now you're speaking my language, Partner."
DxD
Donaseek chuckled as he folded his arms.
"Things have changed a whole lot since we last spoke Raynare, you were going to kill this kid and now you're doing some of his grocery shopping ?"
Mittelt smiled brightly as she leaned forward.
"Did somebody get some good dick and fall in love ?"
Raynare rolled her eyes .
"Be serious for once. I did try to kill him but that boy is far stronger than I thought, to make matters worse he and Azazel-sama have met in person."
The humor on both Donaseek's and Mittelt's faces faded away quickly. The fedora wearing Fallen Angel growled.
"Are you saying that you can't beat a simple human boy ? And he somehow now has Azazel-sama's acknowledgment ?"
Raynare sighed rather loudly.
"Firstly, that simple boy is the wielder of the Welsh Dragon's Boosted Gear and not just a weak brat as we had originally surmised. Secondly that's the reason I'm doing all of this crap, it's Azazel-sama's direct orders."
Mittelt bit her bottom lip.
"Does Azazel-sama know of our presence here?"
"I didn't say anything. But thanks to Grabelek's antics two weeks ago, I wouldn't be surprised if the High Council has an agent or two combing this entire region for out of place Grigori agents or rogue Fallen Angels."
The answering statement made both Mittelt and Donaseek look at each other.
Raynare was experienced enough to know that their shared look meant something.
"Would you two mind sharing with the rest of the class ?"
Donaseek frowned.
"We haven't seen Kalawarner since last night."
Raynare shrugged.
"She's a big girl, it wouldn't be the first time she disappeared to unwind or work on something."
Mittelt frowned.
"We're afraid that it might be serious than that."
Raynare narrowed her eyes.
"What do you think happened ?"
Mittelt answered.
"When she left last night she assured us she would be back in a few hours , she claimed that she was just going to do some light surveillance around certain parts of the city..."
Donaseek continued.
"...She knows all the highly concentrated Devil areas so I doubt she would ever go anywhere near them. But perhaps she was spotted by a Senior Grigori agent and brought back for questioning ?"
All three Fallen Angels remained silent as they honestly considered the possibilities.
Donaseek broke the silence.
"If she doesn't show up soon, we'll have to continue our plans without her. We should also keep our ears on the ground, if she is any form of trouble she'll need our help."
Both female members of the Fallen race nodded in agreement as Donaseek continued.
"We've acquired the device, we don't have anyone to test it on yet but we'll have our chance soon."
Raynare's left eyebrow shot up.
"We will?"
Mittelt nodded.
"Yes, a few of our 'friends' in the hierarchy of the Church have manged to become the latest caretakers of Asia Argento."
Raynare narrowed her eyes.
"Asia Argento...as in that excommunicated nun with healing powers? I thought that the Church took her completely off the grid? Since that 'incident', no one has heard a peep about her or her Sacred Gear."
Mittelt continued.
"Yup. But as we said before, her new caretakers are 'friends' and supporters of our cause. They've pulled enough strings to get her out of Italy on a one way ticket to Kuoh. They want us to test to see if our relic is the real deal."
Raynare frowned.
"What happens when the Church realizes that she's missing? Who deals with the fallout?"
Donaseek shook his head.
"That's not our concern, our friends seem confident that they can cover this up with minimal difficulty. We just need to do our part in finding her once she gets to Kuoh and carrying out the ritual."
Raynare nodded.
"I see. I'm not sure how much of a help I'll be considering that I have my hands tied with the brat quite often but if i do spot her, I'll do what I can to get her to you safely."
Donaseek responded.
"We understand, however if the device does work we might be transferring the Sacred Gear to you considering you are the most adept magic user in our group."
Raynare nodded.
"I understand."
"Oh there's something else you should know. Our comrades in Switzerland are sending over an rogue exorcist to our group. His name is Freed Sellzen."
Raynare groaned.
"That bastard?"
Mittelt smirked.
"You've met him before ?"
"Yeah, he is actually quite strong but he's just a glutton for killing and mayhem. He's a real wack job."
"As long as he doesn't turn against us we 'll accept his help. He's also supposed to play a part in getting that girl to us. So let's not come to a conclusion on him just yet."
Raynare rolled her eyes.
"Fine. But don't say I never warned you about that damn psycho priest."
Donaseek sighed.
"I think we've taken up enough of your time, I'm pretty sure your little boyfriend is done with his shopping across the road and will be waiting for you, we'll seek to make contact soon Raynare."
Mittlelt spoke up as Donaseek turned to leave.
"We've decided to establish our base at the old church on the hill overlooking the town. So if there any complications you should head over there."
Raynare nodded as her fellow Fallen Angels quickly disappeared into another one of the grocery store's aisles. The raven haired woman took a deep breath before returning her attention to Issei's list. Several new questions busily asking for answers in the back of her already cluttered mind.
DxD
"I spoke to Sona-sempai this morning and all the documents and details have been verified. You'll officially be attending classes at Kuoh Academy starting next week Monday."
Raynare grumbled as she flopped down on Issei's unbelievably comfortable bed.
"Im not sure what annoys me more, this idea or the fact that Azazel-sama approved it without a second thought."
Issei was once again sitting cross-legged on his bedroom floor. His eyes were closed and his breathing was very relaxed.
"Oh please. You're a spy that's been in the game for a few centuries at least. I'm sure you've gone undercover at schools lots of times."
"A school assignement is for the amateurs or it's the type of punishment the High Council would hand out to you for screwing up on a big mission. I stepped up from that level a long time ago."
"Oh? And what exactly constitutes a 'higher level?"
"Underworld brothels."
"..."
Issei's eyes slowly opened.
"The underworld has brothels?"
"Too many if you ask me. What you thought humans were the only race that was highly fascinated with sex?"
Issei's shrugged before closing his eyes again.
"I guess you do have a point. Oh before I forget, something interesting happened while you were gone."
Raynare groaned.
"What great act of stupidity did you commit this time?"
Issei pouted.
"It wasn't my fault this time. Really!"
"Uh huh, let's hear it. The sooner I know, the sooner I can buy migraine pills."
"So last night I was dropping off a DVD at Matsuda's place. It was that one I was telling you about, "Magical Girl Koko versus the Insect Men part four". Let me tell ya, the animation in this one was much better than in parts two and three, rumors have it that they hired a few of the animators from rival companies and that why this one was such a success. You should have seen how her eyes rolled over when the Insect Men-"
"Issei. Focus. Tell me about your porn later...or never."
Issei chuckled.
"Oh sorry, I just get a little zealous at times. Right as I was saying, so last night I'm on my way home when I get stopped by this Fallen Angel. A woman with navy blue hair, she wore this dark red trench coat. I'm pretty sure she didn't say her name."
Raynare froze..
"I was gonna try to ask a few questions to see if she was connected to Grabelek or whoever he was working with but then she attacked me."
Raynare's eyes widened.
This was bad.
"Funnily enough I had also...borrowed...a DVD from Matsuda. So to ensure the safety of that disc and its precious content I was forced to counter her attack with great force."
This was really bad.
Raynare gulped.
"You killed her?"
Issei furrowed his brows.
"I don't think so, but I might have. My attack literally blew her away. She could have landed anywhere in Kuoh to be honest...I had to protect the 'precious'."
Raynare was sweating bullets as she stared at the back of Issei's head. There was no way that the brat would not connect the obvious dots.
"What I find interesting is that she was pretty convinced that I was supposed to be dead, even said she was gonna 'finish the job herself'...on your behalf"
Shit.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
"Listen, I can explain."
"I know and you will. But I'm also sure that you wouldn't send someone weaker than you to try to kill me. It's not your style. It's one of the few reasons I haven't asked Ddraig to burn you alive yet. But this does leave me with a few questions of my own. Perhaps your explanation will answer them?"
Raynare bit her lip before speaking.
"The Fallen Angel that attacked you is an agent of the Grigori that is working on a few projects in the region. She is a colleague of mine and was aware of my previous intention to kill you. We haven't spoken since then so she wouldn't be aware of my new mission."
"Azazel ensured me that there was gonna be a order for all Grigori agents to stay away from me unless I asked for their aid."
"Yes there was but many of the agents that are in 'deep cover' situations wouldn't receive those orders as yet."
"And by 'deep cover' you mean agents that are probably here without the Grigori's knowledge, yes? Carrying out their own initiatives?"
Raynare remained silent.
"Hmph. I'm not a big fan of the whole 'cloak and dagger' escapade Raynare. I don't really care what you guys want to do as long as you stay away from me, my people and my stuff. Am I to expect any more of your "colleagues" to attack me?"
"No. This was a...misunderstanding. An enormous misunderstanding. I ensure you that you don't have anything to worry about concerning any Grigori agent again."
"I shouldn't have to worry in the first place. You guys are terribly sloppy. I'm going to bed soon, I'd like to be left alone."
Raynare slowly nodded her head as she exited Issei's room via his window, she turned back to the brown haired teenager one last time.
"I'm really sorry this happened, Issei."
"The most sincere apology is preventing an event like this from happening again. Do what you have to."
The Fallen Angel nodded as she closed the window behind her and flew off.
DxD
Komori, the bat demon familiar of Rias Gremory watched with great interest as the Fallen Angel that had followed Issei home left through the bedroom window.
Her Master had given her a fairly simple yet specific mission for the day.
Follow Issei Hyudou, take note of his activities, report anything strange, interesting or remarkable.
Based off what she had seen so far, she could only conclude that Issei had a Sacred Gear, had a good eye for steak and a Fallen Angel guardian.
It wasn't much but the guys did seem a bit dull.
It was more than likely that her Master had some great level of interest in this boy, so any additional information would probably help. With the Fallen Angel gone she could probably use her "Roaming Eye" spell to see what was exactly happening inside the Hyudou home.
Komori sighed as she channeled her magical power into he eyes, talking out loud to no one in particular.
"I hope he isn't doing what most teenage boys do at night...I would actually have to report that."
The thought of how her master would probably blush and sputter a bit was enough to bring a small smile to her face.
"Well here goes!"
The ''Roaming Eye'' technique was developed especially for demonic familiars that specialized in reconnaissance. By channeling magical power to the eyes, the user was allowed to see through walls and other obstructive material.
Of course the technique wasn't perfect, a decent seal maker could draw an 'anti-scan' seal on a building, rendering the technique useless. Another problem being that the user could only see through walls but not hear inside the building.
Komori was adept at reading lips so she didn't think that would have been an issue.
What Komori saw when she activated the technique...didn't make sense.
Black.
The entire house was black, no rooms, no furniture...no people.
Someone or something was blocking it. Did the Fallen Angel cast some kind of spell before she left?
"I truly pity you child. My Partner was already in a bad mood and you only came along and made things worse."
Komori gasped as she de-activated her spell, hovering not too far in front of her was the Red Dragon Emperor himself, he was barely larger than an eagle but she could feel his power all the same, she knew she was gloriously outmatched.
"You are the familiar of Rias Gremory correct?"
Komori's eyes widened as she turned around to see the object of her master's interest standing behind her, surrounded by a golden glow and...levitating.
Levitating?
Since when could he do that?
"I would advise you to answer his question, child."
Komori gulped.
"Yes. I am the faithful servant of Rias Gremory."
Issei exhaled as rubbed his forehead.
"Just as I thought. What's your name?"
"My...name is...Komori."
"Well Komori, your mission for today is finished, now go home to your master and deliver a message for me. Tell her..."
DxD
BOOM!
And there is Chapter Four of Technical Support! Thanks for reading! PLEASE REVIEW! IT ENCOURAGES ME! Tell me your hits and misses! Fav and Alert as well if you wish!
This was your boy Kolsake!
Peace!