Shortly after Zazuki's conversation with Grayfia the young Magus made his way to the bath. He sits in the near scalding water letting the heat sooth the aches and pains in his body. With his eyes closed he sits in the bath allowing his worries to leave him. If there was one thing that Zazuki loved it was sitting in a hot bath. He got some of his best thinking done while in the bath when he allowed his mind to wander. Several breakthroughs in his training occurred in baths as funny as that sounds. Something about the heat and the way he was able to relax that caused creativity to spark within him. That spark caused him to break through in his elemental shape training and allowed him to master shaping his elements. He never would have been able to create the Kirin spell without shape manipulation.

Today however no creative inspiration was needed, nor wanted today was just some relaxation that was desperately needed. The only way that this could be improved would be if Akeno and Kimiko joined him in the bath, but those two are still asleep in his bed. Not that he blames them he doesn't want to be awake at six in the morning on a Sunday either. After a few more moments Zazuki steps out of the hot water and rinses himself off before leaving the bathing area. He quickly dries himself off before he gets dressed in his casual clothes. Just a black tank top with a pair of normal jeans. Once he steps into the hallway he is immediately assaulted by a very pleasant aroma. The smell of an American style breakfast, and by that he meant the wonderful smell of bacon sizzling in a pan.

He smiles widely as he quickly makes his way to the kitchen following the glorious smell of his favorite breakfast item. Once he got into the kitchen his eyes widen in surprise as he sees Grayfia methodically moving throughout the kitchen making a breakfast that he could see would feed three people. He hadn't realized that Grayfia decided to stay here instead of going back to the Underworld. He then speaks up "Grayfia you know that you didn't have to make me breakfast. You're my guest and I would have gladly accommodated you"

The silver haired maid quickly shakes her head "Nonsense Zazuki-dono, it is the least that I can do since Lord Sirzechs has instructed me to intrude on your own mission. Along with the fact that I'll be staying here while I am in the human world I have to show my gratitude in some way"

Zazuki quickly shakes his head "Lady Grayfia there is no need to show your gratitude. I am the one who is grateful for your presence here"

The maid quickly looks up from her cooking "I am little more than a maid Zazuki-dono there is no need for you to call me by such a respectful title"

A soft smirk graces Zazuki's lips which causes Grayfia's heart to skip a beat and her face to blush softly. However Zazuki just took it as the heat of the room getting to her since it was quite hot in the kitchen. "Then stop with the honorific, just call me by my name"

She bites her lip softly as if thinking it over before answering in a soft voice "Ok then Zazuki if that is what you wish" The blush never left the older devil's face something that Zazuki immediately caught on to.

"Wonderful Grayfia, now if you are insisting on cooking for everyone I expect that you will make food for yourself. I also hope that you eat with me and the girls, we're partners in this now" With a wink Zazuki makes his way over to the living room and as soon as he leaves Grayfia's face turns a bright red. She mentally berates herself for, in her own mind, damned hormones taking control of her controlled personality. Just being near Zazuki made her feel like she did during her younger days. She was by no means old but she also wasn't a schoolgirl she should be able to control herself a little better than she has.

All he did was wink at her and talk to her informally and it caused her heart to flutter. Less than innocent thoughts raced through her mind as she thought of the younger Magus. Hell she was his teacher at one point when he wanted to learn devil magic. With that thought a rather racy scene of her as a sultry teacher and Zazuki as her innocent student immediately entered her thoughts. Just as soon as that thought came though she squashed it not allowing her mind to fantasize about such things at this moment. The last thing she needed was to be caught fantasizing while she was working. Grayfia takes a moment to recompose herself before she returned to her task of cooking.

Zazuki sighs softly as he sits in his living room Grayfia being here completely changes everything when it comes to Kokabiel. He was sure that Grayfia knew everything considering that she is the Queen to the current Lucifer, but he wasn't sure if she knew that the Conclave had already ordered Kokabiel's execution. The Conclave had already spotted Kokabiel in Osaka but by the time they could face him the Cadre had fled to a new safe house. Preliminary estimates have come in and they believe that Kokabiel will be coming to Kuoh. This outcome was seen in advance. By killing the younger sibling to two of the Maou Kokabiel would start another war. Even with the current heads looking towards peace Sirzechs wouldn't be able to overlook such an act. Zazuki thinks that the Conclave's estimates are way off however, Zazuki thinks that Kokabiel is already in Kuoh. The Conclave believes it will be a month maybe two but Zazuki thinks it's more likely to be a week or so.

Zazuki has absolutely no information to support this but his gut is telling him that an attack is imminent. Having Grayfia here is certainly a relief though, the Conclave wouldn't be in Kuoh instantly should Kokabiel attack. It takes time to move troops and in that time many people could die. He sighs and closes his eyes before he feels two arms wrap around his neck and a pair of lips touch his cheek. A smile immediately appears on his face as he relaxes and cocks open an eye to see Kimiko smiling in front of him. He snakes his arms around her waist as he pulls her close giving her lip a soft kiss, his lips barely lingering against hers for a moment before he whispers "Good Morning Love"

A bright red blush appears on Kimiko's cheeks as she hears the words leave his lips. Her heart flutters and the smile widens on her face at the affectionate words from her boyfriend "It certainly is a good morning. Even if I was slightly cold when my favorite teddy bear left the bed." A cute and playful pout appears on her lips as she mock glares at the young magus.

Zazuki chuckles softly before replying "Oh really I thought you would be quite warm with the way you immediately started to cuddle with Akeno." The blush on Kimiko's face rises to near atomic levels at the teasing words coming from Zazuki. She didn't have the energy to fight it after the immense amount of teasing that came from the sadist when Kimiko awoke.

"Oh shut it Zazuki, I prefer you over everything else, you are very very comfortable to sleep with" She smiles softly shaking off her blush as she relaxes in his arms resting her head on his shoulder. "Also why is Grayfia here cooking?"

Zazuki gently rubs Kimiko's side as he replies "She's acting as a liaison for Sirzechs here. With the whole incident with Kokabiel Sirzechs wants Kuoh to be as safe as possible. Also where is Akeno? I assumed that the two of you would come down here together?"

Kimiko pulls herself closer to Zazuki resting her head on his shoulder as she looks up into his eyes "In the bath, I took one first since she wanted to sleep for a few more minutes." All Zazuki does is nod deciding to just spend some time relaxing with his partner. The two sat there in comfortable silence just holding each other. The two could hear the sizzling food from the kitchen along with the wondrous aroma coming from said room.

Zazuki smiles as he walks through the hallways of Kuoh Academy, the day has been treating him fairly well. Breakfast was a pleasant but fairly uneventful affair which he is glad for. The gossiping even seems to have calmed down with him, Kimiko, and Akeno. The worst kept secret at Kuoh Academy is the fact that he is dating both Kimiko and Akeno, and most of the school had thought he was a terrible person for it until Kimiko and Akeno explained the situation. Sure he still gets glares from the male populace but the girls of Kuoh seem to have gone back to swooning over him in hopes that he'll take them as well. Obviously this bothers him and his girls but they don't let it really get to them. Even if Zazuki was interested in any of them he would not pursue it. He refuses to put someone unable to protect themselves in danger by being close to him. Akeno and Kimiko could handle themselves and he trusts them to be able to, but a completely normal human won't be able to.

Zazuki is so caught up in his thoughts that he isn't looking where he is going and as a result he bumps into someone. Zazuki quickly shakes his head and profusely apologizes before offering his hand to the person he just bumped into. As his eyes meets hers he smiles, it is Momo Hanakai one of Sona's pieces and one that he thought was quite entertaining. "Sorry about that Momo I was a little too caught up in my thoughts. I hope you won't hold it against me."

The white haired bishops shakes her head and laughs softly before taking Zazuki's hand and standing back up. She brushes herself off before responding "Of course not Zazuki think nothing of it"

Zazuki slides his hands into his pants pockets with a smile as the two walk down the hallway to their first class "So how are you?"

The ivory haired girl smiles as they walk "I'm doing great actually. There is really nothing to complain about; since you came to Kuoh our jobs have been much easier to accomplish." The girl seems to be at complete ease when around Zazuki. Zazuki chuckles softly while rubbing the back of his head. A look of sheepishness on his face "Yeah, seems like I am a bit of a deterrent to most problems from even coming here."

The girl laughs softly when she sees Zazuki's face "Oh I'm not angry about it at all. I'm very happy in fact, I have far less paperwork to do because of it. Sure things can get a bit dull at times without any action but I prefer it this way." The two continue chatting as they walk until they are forced to part ways to go to their respective classes.

The next few days has been fairly uneventful in Zazuki's eyes, nothing interesting has happened besides a minor change in Kiba. He doesn't like this change since Kiba has been aloof and spacing out. All of this because Kiba saw a holy sword in a picture from Issei's childhood. Zazuki decided it would be best to nip this problem in the bud now, but he would need to get Rias' permission to do so. Zazuki understands vengeance and hatred very well especially with how he feels about the Kokabiel situation, but he doesn't allow his hatred to cloud his judgement. The Holy Sword Project was an atrocity and Kiba should want revenge, but the young devil was flying off the handle. At this rate he was going to get himself or someone else killed because of a mistake caused by his anger.

Even worse is the fact that a priest was found dead last night and Kiba was attacked by the maniac Freed Sellzen. This means that the church is now very much involved and Kokabiel is now making his move. Apparently Issei was approached by two exorcists last night as well, one of which is his childhood friend Irina. Both of the exorcists were carrying Holy Swords and if Zazuki was a betting man he would say that they are Excalibur shards. He shakes his head slightly trying to rid himself of these thoughts as he sits in the Occult Research Club room waiting on the two exorcists to appear. It is sure to happen since they are currently in what is considered Devil territory, and the Church isn't quite dumb enough to risk a war by them trespassing and not announcing themselves. The rest of the ORC is here besides Kiba which Zazuki considered to be for the best. The last thing the the Magus needs is for Kiba to lose his cool with the Church being here. A few minutes pass and two beautiful young girls walk into the clubroom. Both of them are wielding Holy Swords and now that he is there personally he can tell they are Excalibur shards.

The girl with blue hair and green bangs interests him greatly and not because of her beauty. Zazuki can tell she is hiding something, he can sense residual magic from another Holy Sword on her. He cannot tell which sword it is but it is far more powerful than the shard that is on her back leaving very few choices of what it could be. The girl then speaks up "Hello Rias Gremory I am Xenovia Quarta and my associate here is Irina Shidou. We've come here to announce our presence in your territory"

The name Quarta somewhat surprised Zazuki as he was unaware that Griselda had any family, but to be fair he is not very close with the nun to know for sure. Rias stands up and gives the two a pleasant smile "Hello to both of you and welcome to our territory. My peerage also would like to welcome you here."

Zazuki nods and then stands up and walks to Rias' side "And I am Zazuki Kurosuki, the Magus of the Infernal Flame. I am currently here on a long term diplomatic mission and would like to extend my greetings to those in the Church."

A look of shock crosses both Exorcists faces once Zazuki introduces himself it was as if they were not expecting the Conclave to be in Kuoh at this point in time. Nonetheless Xenovia extends their greetings to Zazuki as well not wanting to get on the bad side of a member of the Magus Conclave. They then begin to talk about why they are there, that reason being tacking down shards of Excalibur that have been stolen.

"Do you have any idea on who has stolen the shards?" Rias asks in a complete serious tone of voice. In fact every part of her is serious this is a very delicate situation and could very well lead to war if handled incorrectly.

Xenovia nods once "Yes, all of out intel shows that Kokabiel is the one who has stolen the shards and we've deduced that he will be coming here shortly."

"So you've come to ask for our assistance in recovering your missing shards?" Rias raises an eyebrow currently slightly confused on the intentions of the Church.

The blue haired exorcist shakes her head "No we've come here to ask you to stay out of the situation."

Rias' aura flares as she seemingly gets angry "You're assuming that we are going to side with the Fallen?" It wasn't so much of a question but more like a statement.

Xenovia nods once as she crosses her arms under her bust "Our superiors haven't ruled out the possibility. After all both the Devils and Fallen would flourish even more if the power of Heaven was weakened."

Rias' anger flares as the power of destruction starts to form around her and Zazuki gets ready to stop Rias, but Rias takes a breath and the power recedes but a look of pure anger stays on her face "In the name of our Maou Lucifer and on my honor as a Gremory I swear we will not interfere with your mission."

A smile appears on Xenovia's face for a moment "I knew that would be your response, the sister to a Maou wouldn't be foolish enough to risk a war"

This seems to calm Rias down slightly as her more pleasant smile makes its way onto her face again "As long as you understand that, now I do need to know how many members of the Church will be in my territory."

Xenovia nods relaxing her guard slightly "Me and Irina will be taking on Kokabiel while we have a third person waiting in the local church ready to report back on if we succeed or fail."

As soon as the last word leaves Xenovia's lips Zazuki instantly begins to speak in a rather authoritative tone "Absolutely not. I cannot believe the Church to be this absolute dense in this situation. Sending two young Exorcists to fight a damn Cadre on their own. This is completely unacceptable this situation could lead to war how could they be so careless." Zazuki takes a few breaths to try and calm himself before speaking again "I will be taking over from here the Conclave is now getting involved in this matter. We have ordered the arrest or execution of Kokabiel already so it should be no issue. You two exorcists will report to me now and will follow my orders."

Xenovia's face contorts with anger for a moment "How dare you insult the Church like that. I-" Xenovia is immediately cut off by a glare from Zazuki "How dare I?" He scoffs "I am a Magus I do not hold anything in reverence besides magic itself. The Church, for the most part, is filled with greedy old men trying their hardest to regain the power they used to have. I have nothing against Heaven, in fact I have a few friends and contacts with the Holies. But the Church is by far the biggest roadblock in a true peace between faction. Your holier than thou attitude and propensity for smiting innocents in other factions nearly cause war every damn day. So shut your mouth little exorcist. This situation is out of your league, you wouldn't even be able to destroy your own shards before Kokabiel killed you. All you going against him will do is give Kokabiel two more pieces of Excalibur. That we cannot do under any circumstances, so stay right there for a moment I need to make a call."

Everyone in the room was stunned by the ferocity of Zazuki's small rant, and while Xenovia wanted to defend herself and the Church she knew better than to anger someone with as much importance as a Magus. Zazuki sighs as he dials a number and puts his phone on speaker and the phone comes a voice that Xenovia knows very well "Hello Zazuki it's been a while"

Zazuki rolls his eyes and replies "Yes it has Griselda but you know why I am calling. I am taking over the mission here in Kuoh. I can't believe you would send two young exorcists to take on a Cadre."

Griselda's reply is immediate and fierce "It wasn't my decision Zazuki. I would have liked to go myself if not sending Dulio but these were the orders handed down by my superiors. I am glad that you are there. The last thing I want is my adoptive daughter to be hurt and I know you'll keep her safe."

"And what if I can't Griselda? Kokabiel might be out of MY league I need to call in help myself. The Church has really screwed this one. If Kokabiel makes his move quicker now that two more shards are in Kuoh the Conclave might not be able to handle this. We've taken great care in making sure that Kokabiel doesn't know that we are onto him. Before taking action you should have informed us. Especially when you knew that Kokabiel is responsible for this." Zazuki sighs and rubs his forehead "But there is nothing we can do about this now. I am taking control of the mission and will make sure that it is successful. Goodbye Griselda I will be in touch soon."

Zazuki then hangs up the phone and looks towards Xenovia "See she agrees that I should be in charge and she is your superior. We will be meeting here from now on. Rias I hope you don't mind helping me here. I'm going to need as much help as possible so I can focus on just Kokabiel if he does show up early. I won't be able to take him and his underlings on alone. You won't have to worry about repercussions from the Fallen, Azazel has been waiting for Kokabiel to make a move before he could officially label Kokabiel as rouge."

Rias nods once her face completely serious "Of course Zazuki, you've helped me with my problems and I will help you here. You might not be a part of my peerage but you are a part of this small family we have here."

Zazuki nods with a smile before turning towards the room "So who is ready to kill a Cadre?"

I would say that the delay won't happen again but I don't want to make promises that I can't keep. All I can say is that we are finally getting to the point in the story that I've wanted to write since I came up with this idea.