What the hell?

Issei double checked the note. He wasn't mistaken.

Hesitantly, he put the wooden box under his arm and walked up to the black steel gate.

Hm. A strong barrier. Just what the hell was Azazel doing here?

Issei pressed the buzzer.

"Hello?" A female voice said. "Who's there?"

A small camera turned towards him.

"Hyoudou Issei." He looked directly into the camera.

"Oh, come on in."

The gates swung open by themselves.

Issei walked inside. He followed the path to the front door of the large villa.

A maid stood in the doorway. It wasn't Yuuma though. This was a blonde girl with a blue bow in her hair tied into a double loop.

"Wait a sec," Issei said. "You're…"

"Indeed," the girl confirmed. "Nice to see you again, Ise-k… uhum, Ise-sama."

This was the Bishop from Diodora. The second one, who hadn't spoken last time.

"So you're all working for Azazel now?" he asked.

"He happened to be looking for some help. Come on in, I'll take you to him."

Issei entered. He took off his shoes and then followed the Bishop.

"So what do you do here?"

"House work," she replied. "Along with… other things. I'm not allowed to talk about those."

"He's not… he's not doing perverted things to you, right?"

"No, no, don't worry. We simply assist him in his research."

"Research?"

"Azazel studies Sacred Gears. I'm not allowed to say any more than that."

"Oh, I see."

"We do some work and in return, he provides us with protection, food and lodging. If anyone comes, we pretend we are fallen angels working for him. He provided an illusion spell for this. Look."

She spread her wings.

"Hm, nice work." Her bat wings looked like crow wings now. She could pass for a fallen angel like that.

"We're here." She stopped at a door. "Uhm, I want to thank you once more, Ise-sama. You've saved all of us. We're very happy here. Please tell that to Evelyn as well."

"I will."

"If there is ever anything I can do for you. Anything at all."

"Hm."

His thoughts went on a tangent.

This girl was pretty cute. Issei couldn't help but wonder what she was hiding beneath that maid uniform.

"Ise-sama?"

"Ah, nothing. If I come up with anything, I'll tell you."

Given her past with Diodora, it was probably not a good idea to ask her for anything perverted.

"Okay."

She knocked on the door and opened it. They entered a spacious library.

"So then you-" Azazel looked up. "Oh, Ise-kun. What a surprise."

"I'll come back later," a girl said.

This girl had black hair and a slightly darker skin. She also wore a maid uniform similar to her fellow Bishop.

Issei sat down on the seat she had vacated.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Azazel asked.

"This." Issei put the box on the table.

Frowning, Azazel opened it. "Holy crap. Is that a real cross?"

"Yes."

"Where did you get it?"

"Asia."

"Hm. And what do you want to do with that?"
"First I would like to know what Ruruko came to do here."

Azazel leaned back on his couch. "Well if she didn't tell you, that's her business. I cannot disclose personal information."

"Okay, no problem. I'll just go back home then." He closed the box.

Issei stood up and walked to the door.

"Okay, fine. You win."

With a smile, he sat back down.

"Nimura-san wanted an Artificial Gear," Azazel confessed.

"You mean… you can create Sacred Gears?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "They are inferior to real ones, but it is possible."

"And you succeeded?"

"More than once. Sona Sitri approached me. Several of her peerage members volunteered. Hanakai Momo was the first."

"Applause Wall," Issei said. So Momo wasn't born with that Gear?

"Indeed. The ability to create and destroy barriers. A very interesting test subject, I can tell you that."

"And what did Ruruko unlock?"
"That's up to her to tell. I already told you more than enough."

"Fair enough," Issei said.

"Now, what do you want to do with that cross?"

"Well…" he explained his plan.

"Hm." Azazel pondered. "Yes, I think that could work."

"So you'll do it?"

"Sure. It's an interesting experiment. I don't get my hands on a real cross every day."

Someone knocked on the door.

"Enter." Azazel said.

Yuuma-chan entered.

"I brought tea," she said.

"Good to see you again," Issei said.

"I'm glad to see you back too, Ise-sama."

"How are you?"

She poured tea for them. "Really well. I made promotion."

He chuckled. "Promotion?"

"Yes. I'm head maid now. I have three people working under me. I need to oversee that this house is cleaned, that the barrier is maintained, that food is being prepared. It's a fun job."

"She's doing very well," Azazel said.

Yuuma-chan blushed.

"Anyway, enjoy your tea. If you need anything, just call me." She made a curtsey and left them.

Issei sipped his tea. She was getting really good at making it.

"So, wanna play video games?" Azazel asked.

"I thought you'd never ask."

They took out the controllers.

Issei said nothing about the message he had gotten from William. Azazel had helped them a lot, but it didn't seem smart to tell him everything.

After about an hour, his phone rang.

Issei picked up.

"Hello?"

[Ise-senpai? Did you forget about me?]

"Ah, of course not, Xen-chan. There is something I had to do. I'll be right there."

[Okay.]

He hung up. "I have to go."

He said goodbye to Azazel. Once he was outside the barrier, he teleported home to pick up his bag. Then, he went to the apartment block.

Xenovia was waiting for him.

"Sorry I'm late," Issei said.

"No problem."

"Are you sure you'll be safe?" Eve asked.

"Ise-senpai is with me," Xenovia replied.

"How are your powers?" he asked.

"I feel like they are restoring. I think I'll be back to normal in a few more days."

"Okay."

Xenovia threw her bag over her shoulder. "Shall we?" she asked.

"Yeah."

Issei summoned a circle and transported them to the Sitri Game Field.

"Okay," he said. "I figured we could focus on something else today."

He took out two objects from his bag.

She frowned. "Paintball guns?"

"Laser tagging actually." He took out the target vests as well.

"I see."

"I figured we could focus more on hiding, sneaking up on enemies and using your surroundings today. We're already pretty good at fighting one on one."

"Sounds good," Xenovia said. "We each start from a base then?"

"Yeah. I suppose so."

"I'll take the pet store on the north end," Xen-chan said.

"Okay. Then I'll take the electronics store on the south."

He handed her a communication device, as was used in a real Rating Game.

Xenovia went to her base.

Luckily, the actual animals had not been copied to the Game Field, only the lifeless objects.

She changed into her training outfit and put on the vest with the targets on. There were three of them: one on either shoulder and one on her chest. The lights went on.

Xenovia touched her ear. "'Ready when you are."

[Let's begin then.]

She went out.

First, she had to locate him. However, this turned out to be very difficult.

Xenovia was convinced he'd try to ambush her in the large hall in the middle, but he was nowhere to be seen. She could sneak to the other end without trouble.

She found his base, but it was empty.

Very strange. He must be planning something.

Then, finally, she detected his aura.

The bookstore?

Xenovia went inside.

She silently moved through the rows.

There he was.

He was reading something very intently.

She could see what it was from here. Apparently, everything had been recreated perfectly. Even the adult section of the bookstore.

Issei wasn't planning anything at all. He had simply gotten distracted by the ero books.

Unfortunately, she couldn't shoot him from here. The targets were on his chest and shoulders and he stood with his back towards her.

But this was no big deal. She could simply sneaked around and shoot him from the other side.

Xen-chan went into the row next to his.

Slowly, she moved to the end. When she had almost reached it, she heard something.

Xenovia turned.

Oh fuck.

The shelves were tilting towards her.

She jumped and rolled out.

With a rumbling noise, the bookcase crashed against the other one. Countless books fell out.

Suddenly, Issei stood over her. He aimed his gun and fired three times.

All three targets went out.

Xenovia sighed. She had walked right into his trap.

Issei held out his hand, but she didn't take it.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'll never be good at this." She pulled off the vest.

"What do you mean? You're a great fighter." He sat down next to her.

Xenovia pushed herself up on her elbows. "You mean I'm good at swinging a sword around? Fighting is more than blindly attacking."

"That's why we're training," Issei said.

"It's no use. I'll never be good at tactics."

"What about before?" he said. "When you put on that bikini to distract me?"

"I still lost, didn't I?"

"You'll never win against me," Issei said. "Don't compare yourself, Xen-chan. Besides, this is not even me."

"How so?"

He hesitated. "You have any idea how much Bloodbound has taken from other people? At times, I don't even know who I am anymore."

"I understand."

"No, you don't," he stood up. "No one understands."

"I'm different as well, Ise-senpai," Xen-chan said. She stood up.

"You're doing it by choice. I am basically forced to."

"By choice?" She got angry. "You think I abandoned my faith by choice? You think I left Irina behind because I wanted to? You-"

"Then why did you do it?"

She looked away. "I had to."

He frowned. "You didn't do it for me, did you?"

She blushed heavily. "O-Of course not."

"Hm."

"That's just one of the many reasons," Xenovia evaded.

"I see."

A silence fell.

"It's okay to be a power idiot, Xen-chan," he said. "You don't have to be good at everything. We're a team, aren't we? We should work together."

"Thanks, Ise-senpai." She got up. "Come on, we better clean up, or Sona-senpai will be mad at us."

"Yeah."

Issei used his magic to lift the bookcase and put the books back.

"You're getting good at that," Xenovia commented.

"I promoted to Queen."

"What? How?" Had he sneaked around her? She was certain he hadn't crossed the hall. She would have noticed.

"I went outside and flew over the building. Then I went inside through one of the back entrances and reached your base."

"Oh. So even if I dodged that bookcase and ran…"

"You would have probably lost."

She sighed.

"Hey, Xen-chan-"

"It's okay. You're right, I should rely on others. If anything, this is a good thing. In a real fight, we'll be on the same side, so it's good you are so strong."

"Yeah."

"So," she picked up her vest again. "Best out of three?"

He smiled. "You're on."


Issei went into the living room.

"I'm home," he announced.

"Welcome home, Nii-san," Evelyn greeted him. She put away her dust cloth.

Issei sat down on the couch.

"How was your training?" she asked.

"Uhm, interesting."

"Okay." She sat down next to him. "Uhm… I know I said that…"

"I haven't called yet," he said. They had discussed this yesterday.

Eve-chan nodded. "It's your decision."

"It's just… I don't like doing exactly what my enemy wants."

"I understand."

He sighed. "You know what? I'll just do it."

"You sure?"

"Not really."

He dialed the number. There was an answer almost immediately.

[I see you found the memory,] a male voice spoke.

"What do you want from me?" Issei asked.

[Actually that's exactly what I wanted to ask you.]

"What?"

[What do you want? We all want something, don't we?]

"I…" What the hell?

[Fine, I'll start. I want to use your powers. Up until now, I've tried to bring you here by force. That failed. So I'm trying something else now. What about you?]

He looked at Evelyn.

Issei lowered the phone. "Uhm, could you… step out for a second?"

"Oh, of course." She left the room.

Issei raised his phone again. "Are you trying to buy my support?"

[Yes. What do you want, Hyoudou Issei? Power? Women? Money? I can get you anything you want. I'm just asking you to do a few small things in return.]

"You've tried to kill me countless times," he argued.

[Capture, not kill. You're worthless to me dead.]

"But you didn't bother killing anyone who was in the way, did you?" he accused him. "Like that woman. Why did she have to die?"

[So I could call you.]

"You could have dropped a note with your phone number."

[True. But I didn't. Why?]

"Hm." Issei pondered that for a second. "I guess you wanted to show me you understand how my power works. It wasn't a coincidence I saw that specific memory."

[Indeed. Yes, I know how your powers work. I can show you how to control them. What you've done until now is not even a fraction of its full potential. At full power, the world will be yours.]

"And what do you get out of that?" Issei asked.

[Revenge,] he said. [Not very original, I know. It's pretty straightforward. There is someone I want to kill. Someone very powerful. I just need you to kill him for me, nothing more. It'll be quite easy with your powers.]

He wasn't actually considering this, right? This was the enemy.

Although…

What was his side really? The devils? If you broke it down, they had basically enslaved him. It just happened to be Rias who had done it, but it could have been someone like Diodora. It must have that guy years to build his peerage, and clearly no one had bothered stopping him even though he tortured them.

And…

William knew exactly how his powers worked. And he was very powerful. It wouldn't be smart to pick the losing side.

He had to gather more information.

"I'll consider it," Issei said. "Now let them free. You promised."

[I already have. They are at the park. I suggest you hurry up.]

Issei cursed.

He put his phone away and went to the hallway.

"Nii-san?" Eve-chan asked.

"I know where they are. Let's go."

"Okay."

They put their shoes on and started running.

Not long after, they reached the park.

Both girls sat on the edge of the fountain, dressed in robes. Their hoods were raised.

They sat so still he wondered whether they were still alive. William hadn't 'released them' dead, right? But then again, that wouldn't be smart. He had freed them to win Issei's trust after all.

He crouched down with the first girl and removed her hood. Purple hair spilled out.

"Kirsten? Are you okay?"

Her eyes opened.

"Kirsten," the girl slowly repeated. "Who's Kirsten?"


A/N:

-Thanks for all your reviews.