"I still think we should tell Rias-ojousama," Serana insisted.

"Don't worry about it," Alex said. "She doesn't need to know." And she would be angry with him if she found out.

"I'm concerned about you. What if something happens?"

"All devils use their familiars to hand out flyers. How else are people supposed to summon me?"

"Yes, but...why now?"She asked. "After all this time?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I guess, after meeting all of them. Rias' peerage seems so nice. I want that as well. I want to be a true King."

"But, what if someone finds out who you really are?"

"Humans have no clue about what happened. They don't know who I am. I'll just tell them I'm part of Rias' peerage."

"I still think it's way too dangerous."

"I won't stay in hiding forever."

"Have it your way then," she said. She couldn't do anything about it anyway. Well, she could tell Rias, but then she would have to betray Alex.

Still, she just knew this wouldn't end well.


"It's strange," Makoto said, still looking at the sunset.

"Do you know the story of the boy who went to see the sunset with his father?" Kotonoha asked, ignoring his comment.

"Obviously not. Is it a long story?"

"Not really. It's very simple actually. There was once a boy who went with his father to see the sunset. When the sun had gone down completely and they were sitting next to each other in silence, the boy suddenly said: 'dad, do that again.'"

He frowned. "I don't get it."

"Well it's not the point of the story, but we should go see your father again."

"I doubt he'll have more answers for us."

"He has to know how your powers work, he's used them before."

"As have I," Makoto said. "As you pointed out earlier, that's how I 'got into Sekai's pants'. But the bracelet never appeared back then. I think he used them passively, like I did before."

"How did he fight off those assassins then?"

"I don't know. But he would have mentioned the bracelet if it was important. And it didn't work at the pool, remember? I asked her name: nothing. I gave the girl an order: nothing." He paused. "But it did work on you. Her eyes remained blue, yours quickly became normal again and then-"

"That doesn't mean anything," Kotonoha quickly interjected. "If you passively used your powers, you may have hypnotized me before. You never met the girl before, so it's different."

"Good point," he said. Kotonoha was hiding something from him.

She sighed inwardly. He bought her explanation.

"But that doesn't get us any further," Makoto said. "Would that mean I need to use my powers multiple times to make them work? Where are we supposed to find a test subject for that?"

"We could abduct someone," his girlfriend suggested.

"Are you serious?"

"Uhm, depends. Do you agree?"

"No."

"Then I was just kidding." She gave him an apologetic smile.

"This isn't a joke, Kotonoha. People are trying to kill us. And this power, which we barely understand, is the reason for it, I'm sure of it."

"So you agree? We need to do further testing."

"Yes."

"So we need to capture a test subject?"

"No. I'm not abducting some innocent girl."

"You realize those questions are mutually exclusive, right? You either agree with both or disagree."

"No abductions," he insisted.

"Besides," Kotonoha continued. "You had no problem knocking Saionji-san up. Nor did you have any problem fucking Otome, Setsuna, Kuroda, did I forget anyone?"

"Not my fault you were such a prude," Makoto said. "If you hadn't been so absurdly shy, none of this would have happened." Why was all of this suddenly his fault? He hadn't gotten Sekai pregnant on purpose. It had just, kinda… happened.

"Oh, so now it's suddenly my fault? You're a sex-addicted selfish bastard, you know that?" She was obviously angry with him. And he couldn't blame her for it.

She was right. He was a self-absorbed boy who was endangering his pregnant girlfriend at every turn. They wanted him, Kotonoha had nothing to do with it. He was sure of that now. Every minute he stayed with her, she was in more danger. It wouldn't be long before these assassins finally succeeded.

Tensions were rising, they had been for several days. Kotonoha knew more, that was certain, but she didn't share her knowledge with him.

Furthermore, they had ignored his escapades with the other girls for months, yet somehow, Kotonoha never brought it up. She even consciously steered away whenever he wanted to bring it up.

Did she simply trust him not to cheat on her? That didn't make any sense. He had given her no reason to trust him, ever.

"I know that," Makoto said. "Which is why I'm leaving."

"You're what?"

"You heard me." He made for the door. She would be safe without him.

"Wait, Makoto."

The door closed behind him before she could do anything.

He wasn't paying attention where his feet brought him, but somehow, he ended up in Haramihama.

Had he taken the train? He couldn't remember. He must have since he had no car keys on him.

"Here you go," a female voice said.

"Huh?" He looked up. There was a girl in front of him. For a moment, he thought she was an illusion, but further inspection learned she was quite real.

The girl wore a short puffy dress with lots of frills. It was dark red with streaks of black. Her eyes had a dark red shine to them as well. Her hair was short, with razor sharp edges. It was black with a few locks painted bloody red. Heavy mascara adorned her face and he spotted a piercing on her lip.

She wouldn't stand out at an emo gathering.

Hesitantly, he accepted the card she was handing him.

It depicted a red rose with angels and devils lining the edges. At the top, in frilly letters, it read: 'we grant your wish'.

"What is th-"

The girl was gone.

He put the card in his pocket. Strange things were happening today. Was he hallucinating?

Maybe the beach would clear up his head a bit.

The cool beach air did indeed clear up his thoughts somewhat.

Kotonoha was absolutely right. After three attempted attacks on his life, no one could blame him for abducting a girl to find out why. He had been searching for answers for far too long. Drastic measures were justified by now, his life was on the line after all.

Yet…

The last few months, he had been faithful to Kotonoha, but he hadn't been given much of a choice in it. After Sekai had publicly announced her pregnancy, well, no girl wanted to go near him anymore. But when summer break was over, things might calm down a bit.

Makoto knew he did not have the strength to stay faithful to one girl and would jump at the next opportunity whenever it presented itself. If he experimented on a girl, it wouldn't be long before he would do indecent stuff with her.

Yet, strangely, sometimes he felt like Kotonoha didn't mind about that, in fact, she even seemed to encourage it at some moments.

But that didn't make sense. Kotonoha was his girlfriend, of course she didn't want him to cheat on her. No way that could be true.

It was better to leave her, he decided. She would be safe if they weren't together. The assassins would find him soon and no one would stand in their way. Kotonoha could go back home, with her family, where she belonged.

He had to disappear, somewhere she wouldn't find him. This beach would be the first place she, or for that matter, anyone who knew him, would go looking.

It was time to go...somewhere.

Makoto turned around, but someone was blocking his path. Someone with a kitchen knife in her hand.

"It must be fate," she said. "Without any fancy tricks, I came across you."

"You know I spend most of my time here in summer, just lazing around," he said, bored. "Before I met Kotonoha that is. It only makes sense that you would find me here."
"Yes, and now I'm going to kill you."

He didn't pay any attention to her threat.

The effects of his power probably wore off when they were away from him. Kotonoha was right. Prolonged exposure got them there, and the reverse would make the effects wear off. It all made perfect sense.

"What did you do with the child?" Makoto asked.

"Had it aborted, obviously. What else would you expect me to do with it?"

"Personally," a new voice said. "I think you weren't pregnant at all. You just pretended hoping Makoto-kun would stay with you."

Kotonoha. What was she doing here?

"Don't get any closer," Sekai warned her. She aimed her blade at the newcomer.

"But I am pregnant with his child," she continued, still walking. "And I intend to keep it." She kept walking closer.

"I can see that," Sekai said. "Too bad you're gonna die as well."
"Is that so?" With a purple flash, Kotonoha's dozuki appeared. She was taking a defensive stance in front of her boyfriend now. Sekai hadn't stopped her from crossing the distance. Maybe she was too surprised by her sudden arrival.

In her eyes, he saw Sekai weighing her options, her eyes dancing back and forth between Kotonoha, the dozuki and Makoto.

This wouldn't end well.

"Things are getting quite busy here," another voice announced.

He saw the winged assassin come up to them, along with his gray aura army-guy friend.

They were surrounded now. Sekai on one side, the other two closing in on him in a triangle. Kotonoha was on his side, carrying her dozuki, but they were coming from three sides.

"Unfortunately," the winged assassin said to Sekai. "I can't let you kill him, yet. I need to take something from him first."

"Go to hell," Sekai said. "I'm killing this bastard."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," he said. A spear of light appeared in his hand.

"Neither can I," army-guy said. He reached out with his hand. A gray portal opened. From it, he pulled a massive sword with a very scary aura.

"Hey guys," Makoto said. "I understand why she wants to kill me, but who the hell are you two? What have I ever done to you? Did I fuck your girlfriend?"

"It's nothing personal," the winged creature assured him. "I just need to borrow your powers for a bit. Unfortunately you'll die if I take them out, but well, collateral damage is inevitable." He created another spear of light in his left hand.

"You never mentioned that part," Sekai said, glaring at the army-guy.

He shrugged. "Would you have helped me if I had?"

"No. But I see you've found a different helper."

"Oh, do shut up," Rayner said. He threw his spear at full force. This would be his only chance.

The spear of light pierced straight through Caleb's belly.

The Angel of Darkness looked completely stunned as he fell onto his knees. His sword fell down on the sand. Blood dripped down on it.

"You're crazy if you thought I would actually help you," Rayner continued. He created another spear of light. "I only needed you to find him for me. And now, you've outlived your purpose. His Sacred Gear is mine." He turned to Makoto. "And no one will stand in my way."

Caleb's fist hit his face from the side. He could feel his jaw break. Rayner was sent flying backwards.

"You'll regret that," Caleb growled. He was bleeding heavily from his belly, but he didn't seem bothered by that. His sword was back in his hand.

Rayner scrambled to his feet. This thing was tougher than he thought. He wouldn't be able to get Makoto right now. He had thought a simple spear would take him out, but he had made a grave mistake it seemed.

Aura gathered around the massive two-handed Holy Sword.

"I think it's time for me to leave," Rayner said, not keen on being hit by that aura. A magic circle lit up beneath his feet.

"You're not going anywhere." With a tiger jump, Caleb closed the distance. There was a flash of light and the two of them were gone.

"That leaves just us then," Sekai said, a smile played on her lips. "Now step aside so I can kill this monster."

"Go ahead and try," Kotonoha said, readying her stance.

"Stop!" Makoto called.

Sekai sighed. "What is it now?"

"I case I don't get the chance afterwards." He cleared his throat and looked at Kotonoha. "I'm sorry, Kotonoha. You had every reason to be angry with me. And what you said was entirely true."

"Thanks, Makoto-kun," she gave him a quick peck on the lips, like he had hoped she would. Kotonoha understood his plan without words.

He felt something inside when she kissed him. A little spark that quickly spread around.

"Can we get on with it now?" Sekai asked. "I've been waiting for months to kill the two of you."

"Both of us? What did I ever do to you, Saionji-san?" Kotonoha asked.

"You took him from me."

"Did I now? If I remember well he confessed to me. You're the one that kissed him without even asking, bitch."

"How dare you," Sekai hissed. She still didn't move, but her fingers twitched around the handle of the kitchen knife.

"All this crap about seeing love grow," Kotonoha continued. "You were just waiting to take him from me. Well too bad, he's mine now." She looked at her boyfriend. "Are you ready?" She whispered.

"Ready when you are," he whispered back, trying to keep his lip movements minimal.

"Makoto-kun is mine," she announced loudly. "Take a good look, Saionji-san." Those last words were filled with venom.

Kotonoha wrapped her arms around her boyfriend's neck and kissed him. It was a deep kiss, filled with passion. It was only a few seconds before their tongues were dancing back and forth in each other's mouth. Makoto let his hand slide down from her lower back to her buttocks and pulled her closer. His other hand travelled upwards to rest on her breast. He gave it a soft squeeze.

Kotonoha moaned in his mouth and-

Sekai surged forward in a fit of rage.

His girlfriend smiled. She had been watching from the corner of her eye, waiting for this exact moment. "Now," she said, releasing her boyfriend.

Sekai's blade raced for his head, but he grabbed her wrist before she could reach him. Sheer power was surging through his body.

Blue sparkles ran around his arm and went through Sekai's body. She screamed, as if she was hit by actual lightning.

The snake bracelet appeared in a blue flash, but this time, it didn't just coil around his arm to bite its own tail. With a hiss, it slipped over his hand to coil around Sekai's arm. It started at her wrist, but the snake kept going in circles until her entire arm was covered. Then, it bit her in the neck, injecting its venom into her bloodstream. Sekai released her blade. It was gone before it hit the ground.

A blue light shone brightly in both the snake and Sekai's eyes. Then, the snake pulled his head back. Sekai's eyes kept glowing.

The snake-bracelet slowly went back. Its body grew shorter as he did. Then, he went back to Makoto's arm, made his usual three circles, bit in its own tail, and vanished.

"I didn't know this snake-thing was poisonous," Makoto said.

"Venomous," she corrected him.

He shrugged. He didn't even knew there was a difference.

"That went better than expected," Kotonoha said. "Sekai has been exposed to your powers before, that must have something to do with it."

"As have you. But I didn't see any snake crawling on your arm when I tried it on you."

"I don't like snakes," she said, ignoring his prying. "Now, I believe we have found ourselves a test subject."
"Uhm, yeah, sure. Let's go." Before another assassin comes. "Sekai, come with us."

She didn't move.

Makoto sighed. "What now?"

"We can throw her in the back of the car," Kotonoha suggested. "Come on, you grab her hands, I'll take her feet."

"Not too concerned about her, are you?"

"Obviously not. Come on, let's get moving."

He sighed. Then, he grabbed Sekai and slung her over his shoulder, like he had seen a firefighter do in a movie. Only he did it a lot more gracious.

"She's heavy," he said.

"You're sure you don't need any help?" Kotonoha asked.

"Just check whether anyone is watching us. This would be hard to explain to passersby."

She checked, the dyke was empty.

They crossed the short distance to the car.

Kotonoha popped open the trunk.

"We could lay her down on the back seats you know," Makoto pointed out.

"I'll think about it once she stops trying to kill you, Makoto-kun," she said. "Now throw this bitch in the trunk and lets go."

He shrugged. Kotonoha did have a point there.

They laid her down in the trunk and then closed it again.

Kotonoha didn't make any effort to drive carefully, in fact, he even suspected she drove wild on purpose, to make sure Sekai would bump her head as often as possible.

"How do we get her in?" Makoto asked as they reached the hotel. "The receptionist doesn't look like he'll leave."

"Can you drag her to the elevator?"

"Uhm, I think I can, why?"

"I'll distract him, you get her up."
"And how do you plan to distract him?

She brushed a loose hairlock aside. "Leave that to me."

Together, they carried Sekai to the entrance without anyone seeing. They were hiding behind a wall now. A few steps further sliding doors gave access to the hotel, but the receptionist would see them if they entered through there. And they couldn't stay here. Other guests might arrive. This had better work.

"Wait ten seconds," Kotonoha said.

He counted to ten and then dragged Sekai in the hotel.

In the distance he heard Kotonoha arguing with the receptionist. She seemed to be complaining about room service or something.

While they argued, Makoto dragged Sekai's limb body to the elevator.

He pressed the button, then pressed it ten times extra as if it would make the elevator come any faster.

"Please be empty," he whispered to himself.

Luckily, the elevator was empty. He quickly dragged her in and closed the doors.

Then, he released his breath. They had made it.

He pressed the button for the top floor.

The elevator sped up, but it started slowing down way too early.

The doors slid open.

Oh no. Not now.

Two blonde girls were waiting for the elevator. Their eyes found Sekai. She was leaning against the wall, held upright partly by Makoto. Her expression was neutral, but her eyes still glowed suspiciously blue.

"She had a bit too much to drink," Makoto explained as the girls got in.

"What's with her eyes?" One of the girls asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Makoto insisted.

"They are glowing," the girl continued.

"You drink too much, Gail," the second blonde said.

"You don't see it?"

"I've seen crazier things when I had a few drinks," the blonde said. "Now focus, our client is waiting."

Client?

Wait. Those short skirts, black heels, heavy make-up. Were these...prostitutes?

Makoto hid his smile. He wouldn't have to worry about these two.

They got off a few floors further up.

That could have ended badly, really badly. His luck never seemed to run out.

The elevator reached the top floor.

Makoto dragged Sekai out. She was still in her trance.

He fumbled to find the keycard in his pockets. He thought he had found it, but it was the strange card the suspicious girl had given him on the beach.

Sighing, he laid Sekai's limb body down on the floor.

He searched his pockets and finally found the keycard.

Makoto unlocked the door and dragged Sekai in, quickly closing the door behind him.

He threw her down on the bed.

He wondered how long this trance would last.

What if she woke up and took out a knife or something?

He would have to search her body.

Sekai was lying on the right side of the bed, on her back. He came standing next to her and searched her pockets.

Cellphone. Hm.

He flipped it open.

Her phone asked for a password, but he didn't have it obviously. He put it on the nightstand and searched on.

Wallet.

Only a minor sum of money and some cards were present, but nothing particularly helpful. He put it on the nightstand as well.

Her pockets were empty now. No handbag or anything. Strange.

He continued frisking, starting from her legs and going up, but he found nothing.

Makoto's hands lingered when he reached her breasts. He remembered what had made the girl at the pool wake up from her trance. What would Sekai do if he-

"Having fun?" A voice asked.

He jumped. Kotonoha was suddenly next to him. "I was checking if she had any weapons on her," Makoto said, he suddenly felt uncomfortably warm.

"You would call that weapons?" She asked, eying Sekai's chest.

"The damage breasts can do, you have no clue. There was this one time-"

"I leave you alone for one minute and you're already feeling her up," she said.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Kotonoha sat down on the bed, next to Sekai (on the other side). She took Sekai's hands and pinned them above her head.

"Continue," she ordered.

"Uhm, what?"

"Keep touching her," Kotonoha said. "I want to see if she wakes up. The girl at the pool did, so we should check if Sekai responds the same way."

Wait, what? It almost sounded like Kotonoha was only angry because he hadn't waited on her. That didn't make any sense.

"And what if she wakes up?" He asked.

"I've got her," Kotonoha assured him.

"She might scream," Makoto pointed out.

"Good point. Do you have a ball-gag or something on you?"

"Who do you take me for?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You want an honest answer?"

"Just put something in her mouth," Makoto said.

"Fine." Kotonoha took out her handkerchief and stuffed it in Sekai's mouth. Sekai didn't resist at all.

The trance must be quite powerful.

Hesitantly, he reached out once again.

I'm just testing if she wakes up, he assured himself. Nothing more. Besides, Kotonoha's chest is clearly superior in size and softness.

Sekai didn't wake up. Under normal circumstances, any girl would have slapped him for touching her like this. But Sekai just laid there, expressionless with a blue glow in her eyes that never even flickered.

"Powerful trance," Kotonoha commented. "You think pain will wake her up?"

"Look, if you're searching for an excuse to hurt her-"

Kotonoha's free hand slapped Sekai's face. It just rolled to the side.

Still no response from Sekai.

"I don't need an excuse, she is our test subject now, I'm gonna do whatever I want now."

He nodded. He suddenly had a desire to hit Sekai as well.

His hand hit her other cheek. He saw her skin turn slightly red, but her eyes still kept glowing.

This trance was much more powerful than the one at the pool.

"What now?" Makoto asked. They wouldn't get anywhere if he couldn't get her to wake up. The girl at the pool hadn't followed orders or answered questions.

From his earlier experiment on Kotonoha, he suspected that any suggestions given during the trance retained, but only executed after waking up from the trance. Or maybe it was more complicated than that.

"Wake up," he ordered.

Nothing happened. She didn't even blink.

"Any ideas left?" He asked his girlfriend.

"Plenty," Kotonoha said. "We could-"

A knock at the door interrupted them.

"We're screwed," Makoto said. "They found us. We're gonna-"

"Room service," a voice said.

Kotonoha chuckled. "Sorry I didn't mention I ordered something," she said.

"It's okay. I'm used to getting heart attacks by now."

She smiled and made for the door, confident that they were perfectly safe at Sakakino Hills. Whatever was chasing them, it couldn't reach them here.