Volume 4: Songstress of the Peace Conference

Life 35: Poolside Crisis

CLANG

FWOOM

DOON

The resonating sounds of metal slamming into metal resounded through the training room as Shu and Anwen crossed blades in what an outsider would likely have mistaken for an incredibly fierce fight, but for the two, was simply a training session in Shu's attempts to sharpen Anwen's skills as a swordsman. Considering how he'd gone about training the Gremory peerage in his previous take at such an action, the newly-reincarnated Fallen Angel girl was being put through her paces, but unlike her first clash with Shu, her powerful strikes and speedy reactions were actually holding ground against him.

For a certain measure of it anyway, considering Shu was also utterly abusing his ability to warp short distances when avoiding blows, Anwen only hitting the phantasmal afterimages left behind from the moves, much to her shown annoyance as Shu retreated back from the clash, placing Balmung on his shoulders as Anwen wiped off her brow.

"Son of a bitch, will ya' stop abusing that damn teleporting thing of yours?" Anwen grumbled, sitting down on the floor, angling Clarent to be set on her shoulder.

"This is just as much training for me as it is for you and the others." Shu said, dismissing the weapon in his hands, "Not like I ever actually used these powers until recently. I only did so well naturally against Kokabiel no thanks to having all the Royal Arms… and thus some of the combat knowledge of their owners."

"You did say you've got your mom and granddad's swords… you seem to be doing perfectly fine with it to me." Anwen muttered, standing back up and grabbing her sword, taking a stance again, "Well? I'm not done yet Sieg, so come at me!"

"I don't really get why you insist on calling me Sieg. It's either Soren or Shu, take it or leave it." Was the reply given by the silver and black haired young man, Anwen shrugging.

"Something about it feels more natural to me, so just deal with it." Anwen replied, Shu shrugging himself, retrieving Balmung once more, though as he took his own stance, the two ready to start up the clash again…

TWEEEEE!

The shrill scream of a sports whistle brought the two sword wielders to a grinding halt, faltering in their starting steps and nearly tripping, the glance over revealing Lucina to be dropping a whistle from her mouth, the blue haired girl putting her hands on her hips.

"I'm glad you two are keeping up your training, but don't get too into it please. We'll be late for school if you don't hurry." Lucina said, Shu looking like he'd just remembered needing to actually go to school was a thing, and Anwen sighed.

"Someone explain to me why the hell we got transferred in right on the edge of summer break starting? Do we even have to?" Anwen complained, Shu nodding.

"It's part of the cover I had that was blown the first day I got here. We're basically stuck here in Kouh Town until the school year is done because of my set of orders unless situations demand otherwise. Not that I don't mind it here that much." Shu said, again dismissing his sword, Anwen jamming hers into her sheathe, trotting out to get get cleaned up, Lucina humming as she watched her go, then looking back to Shu.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask, but… what exactly happened that left you at Azazel's for so long the other day?" Lucina inquired, Shu making a humming sound.

"Well, y'see…"

"Senpai, please… what is going on? Why are you hanging out with the freaking leader of the Fallen Angels?!"

Issei's wholly incredulous reaction to seeing Shu and Azazel in the same room had… lessened from the source of it after Shu had managed to get his junior to sit down and think for a moment, but, despite being told the short term reason, the Devil boy was still wholly surprised despite knowing the kind of people the senior Dragon Gear holder interacted with.

"Well, first off, I've already told you my faction is allied with his." Shu said, Issei nodding, "And the fact he's Astra's dad." Another nod. "So, going by reason, and the fact this whacko is literally the universe's leading expert on Sacred Gears, and mine is, to be frank, unpleasant, why would I not go to him for help with it?"

"Well, yeah but…"

"If this is about the fact I collect Sacred Gears, I'll be short with you kid." Azazel stepped up, pointing at Issei's left arm, "I'm currently not very interested in your Boosted Gear, at the moment anyway. It hasn't even unlocked an incomplete Balance Breaker, so right now it's not much use to me. And if I did want it, well, who do you think taught the humans of the Association how to remove Sacred Gears without killing the owner?"

"Wait, that was you?" Shu lifted a brow in confusion as Azazel said that, the leader of the Fallen Angels chuckling.

"Uh… well then… why did you call me here then?" Issei asked, Azazel chuckling.

"Same reason I called the Black Dragon Emperor here in. It wasn't just to check up on your Gear. I've got some news I think you'll rant to relay to both of your bosses." Azazel said, Shu and Issei glancing at each other, then back at Azazel.

"Just what the heck are you getting at?" Both dragon gear holders took the jab, Azazel chuckling at the instant reaction from the two.

"Wow, looks like you two both play the straight man. Let me guess though, Soren here is so much more of the deadpan tsukkomi he turns you into the boke eh Red Dragon?"

"What the heck does that even mean?"

"Stay on topic Azazel, geez!"

"Alright alright, don't get your drawers in a wad." Azazel put his hands up as he was met with confusion from Issei and an ever sharp snap form Shu, clearing his throat as he folded his arms, "Getting to my point on the matter, because of recent events, the other leaders of the Fallen Angels, Heaven, and the Underworld have decided to hold a summit."

"That's news to me."

"No way, when?!"

"So uh… what happened when you told Rias and Souna about this?" Lucina inquired, Shu giving a sigh as he put a hand on his head, the folding his arms.

"Well, see, Issei told Rias… so, I went to tell Souna, and…"

"Well, the summit I can abide, it makes sense considering recent events. But, you're also saying the leader of the Fallen Angels has been hiding out within our territory for a good few months?"

"To be fair, he's technically not in your territory, since he's camped out in the central city… which last I checked was a neutral zone."

"Not the point here Shu."

"Right right…"

Souna and Shu were alone in the student council room as he delivered the news of the Leaders Summit, Souna having sent her Peerage out for errands at the time, Souna's subtle glare boring it's way into Shu as he let out a sigh.

"If I were Rias I'm sure my reaction would be livider, likely saying something like "He deserves to die a thousand deaths…"

And off somewhere else, Rias suddenly sneezed in bewilderment.

"… but arguing over a being stronger than the both of us being around because of recent events would frankly be a moot point." Souna said, Shu nodding, "You seem to attract all sorts of people, don't you?"

"Honestly I think the same thing at times… for better or worse." Shu leaned on a hand and sighed, then he blinked as he felt a light bulb go off in his head, "So… if several heads of each Faction are showing up, and I don't need to guess Azazel is gonna be there, and it's likely Michael, maybe Gabriel or another of the Seraphim, will represent Heaven, who of the Four Satans is gonna be here? Money is definitely on Lucifer, but would that be it? Maybe Leviathan, since we called her in during the previous incident?"

Souna suddenly let out an irked sound as she flinched, Shu blinking as he then glanced at her, Souna scanning him over.

"Shu, word of warning… if my sister does show up: Do not let her see you."

"Eh?"

"I'll just say this. The new… look you're sporting since the whole bit with that decent bunch of your hair turning black…"

"It's like a third, maybe…"

"Don't get sidelined. All I'm saying is, my sister, and frankly, all of the other Satans at that, are… odd. And, well, I'm worried how she'll react if she meets you." Souna's look seemed to be one of dread, and that only confused Shu as too the context behind it.

"What like… would she hate me on sight or something?" Shu asked, Souna shaking her head, "Then explain."

"It's uh… odd."

"Somehow we went from talking about Azazel being there to her sister for a moment."

"Huh."

Lucina's eyes were somewhat lidded in a taken aback manner as Shu finished recounting the events that had transpired post his visit to Azazel.

"At the least I didn't get attacked or something. Thank the Astrals Souna is reasonable."

"You've been saying that a lot… what are the Astrals?"

"I… didn't explain that, didn't I?"

Only a shake of her head was the reply Lucina gave to Shu, who gave a sigh as he put his arms behind his head, the two starting their way down the hallway now that they were in their school uniforms, having gotten changed amid Shu's recount.

"The Astrals are, simply put, the patron deities of Eonis. Well, something like that, I guess. They're definitely up there on the power scale, though I don't know enough to actually give an accurate guess." Shu said, plucking his school bag off of the hook it was on, "But, each of the six kingdoms considered at least one of them to be their patron deity, well, aside from the Draconion, but I don't remember that one's name. The patron Astral of Noxis was Shiva, the Glacian, and, well, also considered a goddess of death."

"The more I learn about Noxis the more I find it hard to believe that magic of yours is light based." Lucina said, Shu putting a hand on the back of his head as he gave a chuckle.

"Then I guess adding our royal crest takes after the image of the Grim Reaper doesn't help either…"

"No, no it doesn't."

"Figured as much."

As was usual for him, Shu hopped over the railing of the upper loft to the floor below, he and Lucina meeting the rest of their contingent at the elevator door, Shu taking a moment to look over the three newest members now in their own uniforms.

Xenovia and Jeanne appeared fairly standard in the attire, though Shu found that for some reason there seemed to be… something added onto when looking at Jeanne he just couldn't peg. Whereas Anwen, on the other end, kept tugging at her skirt with an annoyed look on her face, even if a pair of spats was visible beneath the hem.

"Freakin' hate wearin' stuff like this… yo Sieg, remind me why the hell we're even attending this school in the first place?" Anwen posed the question as the lot of them entered the elevator, Shu giving a sigh as he folded his arms while Izayoi sent it downwards.

"Part of my "orders", quote unquote, was that once I got here, I was to remain here until I graduated. Hard to deny such a thing when your foster mother is one of the big wigs."

"And we're just getting into summer, so that leaves like… how many months?"

"Around six or so. Summer break here in Japan is only about a month in the middle of the school year, and graduation comes around winter time. Shu and I are third years anyway, so not like we're stuck here longer than that." Astra stated, a matter-of-fact tone to her voice.

"Good to know the time frame. And hey, Sieg, what's with that mark on the back of your hand?"

Shu blinked as Anwen pointed it out, glancing at the back of his left hand and stopping for a moment on the sidewalk, looking far closer at the black, dragon shaped mark now emblazoned there.

"Guess it was left after I undid Bahamut's seal on my Balance Breaker, doesn't really matter that much." Shu shrugged and pocketed his hand, then chuckling a bit, though something it seemed… sinister, the smirk on his face something different than his usual one, "Ah, right, do you all remember what it was I said was happening after school today?"

A bit of some confused or quizzical looks went around, Astra just whistling to herself while swinging her bag a bit, Shu chuckling as he put a hand on his hip.

"Oh you'll see."

"Ech! What the heck is that?!"

"That, Anwen, is a pool."

"I know it's a pool! I'm talking about the water! Haven't these people ever heard of coverings?"

Anwen stuck her tongue out in disgust as she saw the green, algae filled water of the school swimming pool, Lucina pulling a stick out of the water and making a similar "ech" sound when she saw what was clinging to it, while Izayoi was using an item to check the water.

"Hmm… seems this water's been stagnant for a long time." The maid said, Shu nodding as he put his arms behind his head.

"Souna told me they haven't used this thing since last year, so nobody was actually keeping it clean. We don't have a swimming team here so really the only reason it's around is recreation I'd suppose." Shu stated, then Xenovia spoke up.

"Might I ask, since we're all technically members of the Occult Research Club, besides Lucina, why would it make sense for us to clean this pool?"

"Well, see, as a way to make up for Souna's crew having to fix up part of the city, my ass has kinda been conscripted into the student council. Souna asked me to take care of this as part of that deal so… here we are." Shu said.

"There was quite a bit of damage after that battle." Jeanne noted, plugging her nose, "ugh, this smell is rancid…"

"We can use magic to clean this, right?" Astra asked, Shu nodding.

"Yeup. I'm not wastin' time working up a sweat in this heat. And, once it's done, we've got the pool to use all day afterwards." Shu said, Anwen giving another noise.

"But we've got one back at our place… why the heck would we come here to swim or stuff? Not that it's a problem, especially with this heat." Anwen fanned herself with her hand, and then Shu gave another… oddly sinister snicker, pulling out his phone.

"Oh, so I guess those swimsuits you guys blew my phone up with pictures of the other day don't want to be shown off?" Shu said, a glint in his eyes as he looked towards the girls, waving his locked phone a bit like he was holding some dangling item, and then all eyes turned to Astra in seconds.

"What?! It's summer so we had to get them anyway… and I may have overheard Shu being given this assignment… and taken all those pictures so as to see how he'd react."

"That's why you popped into the changing stall?!" Anwen shouted, multiple glares now directed to Astra as she whistled off-key in a failed attempt to get it away.

"We don't even have those with us!" Lucina pointed out, Astra making a noise, to Lucina's confusion showing.

"Ah, so I guess the fact you have them all in your bag isn't obvious, huh?" Shu hummed, Astra hanging her head and then nodding, "Izayoi told me, just in case you all want to know how I knew."

"Hey, a girl's gotta be prepared for anything y'know?" Astra chuckled, backing up a bit, then the lot heard the gate rattling, soon entering being the Gremory Peerage, the red head chuckling as she saw the scene before her playing out only to freeze once she and her group showed up.

"Well, seems we got here just as an interesting scene was starting to play out." Rias hummed, Shu then having all eyes turn to him.

"And Rias may have agreed to help out as well."

"Well there goes my plan once we were done." Astra made a huffing noise, Shu shrugging, one eye closed.

"Alright, full group is here so let's see… actually, we probably have way more than enough to get this done in no time…" Shu put a hand on his chin as he hummed, and almost like he was cued to do so, Issei shot to him.

"Dude, why are we here cleaning the frickin' pool?!"

"I already explained this. Student Council biz… besides, once we're done we've got the place to ourselves." Shu said, Issei blinking. "Think about it… think about it…"

DING!

Issei's jaw dropped as his mind came to the realization, Shu smirking as it was obvious what was running through the unrepentant pervert's mind now that it had really sunk in for him.

"YEEES! I love cleaning pools, I live for it! Raise your hands if you can't wait!"

"Raise two hands if you're just being a pervert."

The ever biting sarcasm of Koneko struck Issei like an arrow through the chest, Shu patting him on the back, Lucina and Astra both staring at Shu from their spots behind.

"Is it just me or is there a chance Hyoudo is rubbing off on him?" Lucina said, Astra shrugging, then chuckling.

"I dunno. Though I do adore this more open Shu we've got now. Just thinking about being come onto like that again makes me all shivery! Who knew our lovely prince was such a charmer deep down?"

"Well, you're not exactly wrong on that point."

"The air around those two is nauseating." Anwen put a hand on her head while Jeanne tilted her head at how Astra and Lucina both started chuckling to themselves, Xenovia seemingly ignoring the odd, bubbly aura now around the two, and from the Gremory side, Akeno gave a chuckle.

"Those two must have so much fun." Akeno's musing seemed tinge with… something, even as her usual casual smile didn't falter, Shu then turning on his heel to face the entire entourage.

"Alright, enough chit chat! We can dick around after we get this thing cleaned up!"

"I say we blow away the student council with how well the Occult Research Club can clean the school pool!" Rias put a fist up to a small cheer from her team, the red head then blinking when, on the opposite end, the Siegreich team all had flat looks, "What?"

"So laaaame." Was the muttering of five people, Jeanne just seeming a bit nonplussed while Xenovia was as unreactive as she proved to usually be.

"Don't patronize me!"

"Hehehe, g-strings and titty slings! Today freaking rocks!"

"Slow your jets Breast Dragon, we've got cleaning to do before you can get to the obligatory nose bleeding."

Issei gave a shocked sound as Shu chuckled, the senior tugging the short-sleeved shirt of the school physed clothes down over him, rather quickly for some reason.

"Breast Dragon?! Where did that come from?!"

"Well, you're one of the three Dragon Emperors and your overly proud of your fetish so… Breast Dragon." Shu shrugged as he spun around and leaned against the lockers, then his eyes suddenly narrowed, Issei and Kiba both raising their brows at the suddenly irritated look on his face.

"Senpai?"

"What's up man?"

"Well… I just realized how few of us guys are actually in this club." Shu folded his arms, Issei looking even more confused at the statement while Kiba looked like he himself was pondering the thought of it, "There's nine of us so it's kind of… we're a third of the group!"

"Huh, I never really did notice that truth be told." Kiba hummed, Issei lifting a brow.

"But isn't a third still pretty big?"

"Yes but that isn't the point. In fact, I don't even know why I brought it up, so there isn't much of a point." Shu sighed again, pushing the door open with his foot, "I'm just used to an even split since my old team was like that."

"Oh yeah, don't you have like, a bunch of siblings?"

"Surrogate, but yes." Shu held out a hand as he stood at the edge of the poolside a magic circle spinning into form in front of his, "Now, let's cheat a bit and get rid of all this rancid water the easy way. Evaporate!"

A burst of heat shot forward from the magic circle, the wave reaching back to the point Issei yelped at it, the water in the pool soon steaming, the water level soon rapidly dropping as the cast, leaving nothing inside of the pool except for dried algae… and a rancid smell in the air as well.

"UGGGH! Dude, what the hell kind of smell is that?!" Issei plugged his nose in disgust as the air wafted the scent to him, Shu rolling his wrist as a ball of fire formed in his palm, the flames soon skating along the ground when he dropped the ball, burning away the algae and only leaving ashes, taking the rancid scent with it as well.

"Can't be much worse than some Stray Devil dens I've seen." Kiba's input got Shu to give a nod, Issei blinking as he looked at the blonde knight, "Oh, right, you haven't seen any dens that have had time to… well, develop. Stray Devils tend to leave pretty big messes in their hide outs if left to their own devices for a long enough time."

"What the shit was with that heat wave?!"

The boys turned around as the door to the girls' locker room busted open, Anwen stomping out, only to see the now completely empty pool with only the piles of ash and whatever film was left from the old water left in it.

"The shit?"

"Shu here evaporated all of the water and burnt the algae. It'll be way easier to clean it all up like this." Kiba said, Anwen just giving a "huh" as the other girls began exiting the changing room, Shu already darting off to the grab the hose from the back room, "He's surprisingly diligent once he gets working."

"That's the fun part about it. Get Shu working on something, and he'll make sure the job gets done right." Lucina stated, a proud chuckle coming from her, "Alright, let's get to it!"

"And it's in situations like this that have made me realize I'm probably one of the luckiest mofos on this planet."

"Amen to that senpai, amen to that!"

Shu snickered as Issei held his head in pain from the impulsive usage of Christian phrases nailing him with heavenly punishment, but, the two boys only smirked in ways at the sight before them, Shu in more of a smug manner while Issei in his usual perverted way.

"So, Shu, whaddya think? I know you saw the pictures, but how's seeing this piece of work for real?"

Shu gave a hum as Astra stepped forward, Issei's not being able to help the burst of red from his nose while Shu looked more analytical. While it was true Astra certainly wasn't the most well-endowed of the group, she was still above average, especially considering her height matched Shu's, the sheer aura of confidence she gave off, pride in her form made up for it, and the well fitting black, red accented two-piece that showed just enough to leave things to the imagination, but also erotic in it's own right.

"Much better in person than through a selfie." Shu noted, Astra giggling as she twirled a bit.

"That all you have to say?"

"I could, but not when other people are around."

"My my, how teasing of you! Well, then, I'll wait to hear your compliments when we're alone."

"Save the flirting for home you two, the non-couples are gonna get jealous." Lucina popped out from behind Astra, stepping into proper view, Astra snickering as she flicked her fringe, and true to the bluenettes word, Rias happened to be looking over at the display with a hint of envy in her eyes.

"Go and ogle the onee-san Breast Dragon, she clearly wants you attention." Shu grabbed Issei's shoulder and shoved him off, chuckling as the second year stumbled a bit, Shu glancing back to Lucina and giving her a look over too as she looked off elsewhere, "Huh, the blue looks good on… wait."

Lucina hummed as Shu put a hand on his chin. Nothing seemed off to him. The blue, string tied two-piece certainly suited her and showed her athletic figure well, yet Shu felt like something was different as he looked the fellow demi-dragon over.

"Is something wrong?"

"Is it just me or is something… different about you now?"

"Yeahhh… now that you mention it Shu, something does seem odd… wait…" Astra moved closer to Lucina, scanning her up and down more closely, her eyes locking on the blue haired girls chest for a moment, "EH?! Your boobs are smaller?! What the heck?! Wait… but they're still bigger than mine…"

"Crap I didn't notice… I'm so used to seeing your chest wrapped." Shu put his hands on his hips as he spoke, Lucina putting an arm behind her head as she chuckled, "How?"

"Just some handy little shapeshifting is all." Lucina casually replied, Shu and Astra both looking confused, "Well, Naga told me dragons have innate shapeshifting abilities, usually so they can blend in somewhere. I mean, not that I had a problem with my chest before… but I like this more manageable size."

"Don't even think about it Astra." Shu spoke just as Astra opened her mouth to say something, the fallen angel puffing out her cheek at being preemptively shot down.

"N-No! I-I'm not ready!"

"Ah just be quiet and get out there! You're wearing a hoodie over the suit anyway, so it doesn't matter that much!"

"B-But it shows so much!"

"You wore that skin-tight church battle suit for craps sake!"

The main Siegreich trio's attention turned when Anwen's incessant yelling, the short blonde wearing a red, black trimmed two-piece of her own, and the sleeved arm of Jeanne could be seen past the open door as Anwen kept trying to pull her cohort out of the doorway, Anwen giving a stronger yell as she pulled harder, stopping herself from going careening into the pool as Jeanne yelped, losing her grip, Anwen shooting behind her and slamming the door shut to prevent retreat.

"Went to the effort of dragging your butt out here, not letting you retreat now!" Anwen snapped, Jeanne shuffling in place as she pulled the hood of her hoodie over her head. "Oh come on! It's just a two piece!"

"Uh… what's going on here?" Shu spoke up, Anwen angling her hips as she bore holes into the back of Jeanne's head with her eyes as the French girl shied away.

"L'arc here got self conscious once she realized a guy would be seeing her in a swimsuit. Again, you wore that dang gimp lookin' church battle attire, how is this embarrassing?!"

"That hardly showed skin! This is different!" Jeanne objected, Shu sighing as he put a hand on his head, Astra slinking up from behind Jeanne, and evil grin on her face, while Lucina sighed herself.

"Oh come on Jeanney! You looked cute in it, so why not show him?!" Astra cackled as she grabbed the shoulders of Jeanne's hoodie and yanked the item down, the blonde girl shrieking as the item was pulled away to reveal the black, white edged two-piece.

"GUAAAHHH!"

The spurt soundof Issei's nose bursting in a geyser of red shot through the air, and even Shu seemed caught off guard with a slight blush of his own as Jeanne scrambled to try and put the jacket back on, Astra retreating as she pulled it away.

"Hahaha! Take a good grand look Shu! Ain't this cutie just got the nicest bod you've ever seen?!" Astra cackled as she grabbed Jeanne from behind and grabbed her chest, "Holy crap these are soft."

"Uh… A-Astra, can you stop?" Shu had a hand near his face as he turned away, Jeanne nodding rapidly.

"P-Please let g-go Lady Astra! It feels weird being grabbed like that!" Jeanne squirmed under Astra's scanning hands as the fallen angel kept darting around, seemingly in awe as she prodded and grabbed.

"What is with this body?! You're an ex-holy maiden, so why is your aura so dang erotic?" Astra seemed almost annoyed as she finally ceased her harassment, Shu smacking her on the back of the head, "OW! Don't tell me you didn't notice it either!"

"I did. So just stop." Shu muttered, Astra snickering while Shu cleared his throat, "Uh… where's Xenovia, to change the subject."

"She was having a hard time with her… swimsuit, if you can even call it that. So, well… whatever! Let's get going!" Anwen charged forward and cannon balled right into the water, shooting up with a cheerful holler, Shu shaking his head in amusement as Astra followed suit, flipping into a smooth dive.

"Well, not arguing here." Shu shrugged, hearing snickering from behind him, yelping when he got shoved into the pool, shooting back up while spluttering, turning around to see Lucina laughing while holding her stomach, Shu giving small growl. "Oh it's on now Luci! Get over here!"

"WHAAA!"

It was Lucina's turn to shout in shock as Shu shot forward and grabbed her, yanking her down into the water via suplex, a large splash shooting into the air, Jeanne stuck watching as the two dragons shot back out of the water, Lucina spluttering even more as Shu laughed, pulling his bangs out of his face.

"Well? C'mon Jeanne, don't just stand there, jump on it, water feels great!"

"Uh… o-okay…" Jeanne edged forward a bit, and when she reached for the water, Anwen shot out and grabbed her too, the short blonde cackling as Jeanne tumbled in, the former sword-maiden shooting out with a yelp, "Geez Anwen! Don't do that!"

"You were being too slow!"

"Hahaha, well, nice to see you lot having fun." Rias chuckled as she approached from the side, Shu glancing back, "Girls, mind if I borrow Shu for a moment? I got something to ask him."

"Ask what?" Shu asked, Rias stepping to the side a bit, revealing Koneko, dressed in a standard school swimsuit with a white cap on, looking even more like the mascot than usual.

"Issei is helping Asia out with swimming, and if it's not too much trouble, could you help out Koneko here too? I'd have Issei do it, but, Koneko likes you better, so I figured she'd have an easier time." Rias said, Shu blinking a bit.

"Huh, oddly makes sense since she doesn't know how to swim, as she is a nekoshou… Kuro doesn't like getting wet aside from baths."

"Or when she's in the mood!"

"Not the time for those jokes Astra!" Shu splashed up a sizable bunch of water into Astra's face, the red-head laughing as she dove under t avoid the wave, "Sure, no problem, I don't mind helping. It is the upperclassman's job to help his juniors after all! Though uh…"

"Go on ahead. We'll be fine messing around over here. And as you just said, it is the senpai's job after all." Lucina said, though Shu could see some kind of smirk of her own, "Good luck Koneko-chan, and don't worry, Shu here's really nice, so you've got nothing to worry about while he's helping you."

"You make it sounds like I'm bad at helping people." Shu muttered, Lucina chuckled, "Hugh. Alright, let's go."

"Come on, I've got you so just keep kicking, but, not so fast, and keep your head up every now and then. 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2…"

The splashing coming from feet furiously hitting the water with the most effort that the small Koneko could muster, Shu holding her by her wrists to help keep her floating as her head popped up frequently to take breaths while he slowly walked backwards in the water, occasionally checking to make sure nobody was in their path.

"Alright… we're about halfway back to the wall, so just keep it going, okay?"

"Puah!"

"And try not to take breaths like that too."

And off to the side, on the other end, Lucina was giggling to herself as she watched, Astra popping up and raising a brow.

"What's with the look Luci? You always seem oddly happy whenever the white cat shows up."

"It's because their friendship is so cute. I mean, I know Koneko's got a little crush on Shu, but it's like looking at two adorable siblings…. Which when you think about it, Shu kind of is her brother in law." Lucina gave a hum as the thought came around, Astra humming herself.

"Yeah he kind of is… in a way." Astra hummed again, then dropping back into the water.

"Hey… senpai?"

"Hm?"

Shu looked down as Koneko started talking, keeping her mouth above the water to keep going even though water kept splashing back up over her lips.

"I'm uh… sorry that… you had to help me… learn how to swim."

"It's fine. Besides, I like helping my cute kouhais out every now and then. Teaching someone how to swim is the least of my problems. Reminds me of dealing with my little sisters too. UGH!" Shu flinched when his back ended up hitting the lip of the back wall, Koneko still being carried forward from her momentum, her instincts making her grab onto Shu out of panic, "Whoops, uh… sorry, should've paid attention there, hehe."

"No it's… fine… you're, really nice too. Especially for a weirdo."

"Always with the slightly back handed compliments huh?" Shu chuckled, patting Koneko on the head, "And besides, I like helping people, so it's no problem."

"HEYY! Quit trying to steal our mascot for ourselves you flag-tripping senpai!" Issei shouted, Shu giving him a look.

"Ehhh? I'm part of this club too, Breast Dragon Emperor! And the heck is up with that nickname?" Shu gave a flat look mixed with a smirk, Issei shouting at the usage of the new nickname again, "URGH?!"

Shu lurched forward all of a sudden when he felt a shock run through his mind, feeling a surging pain run along his back, Koneko's eyes widening as Shu put a hand on his head.

"What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing… just a sudden headache is all. I'm just… gonna go sit inside for a moment." Shu lifted himself out of the water and started walking aling, the others watching as he moved towards the pool house rather quickly, "No worries just… need to sit down for a moment! Random headache!"

Slam!

The main entrance door shut behind Shu quickly as he pulled it quickly, quickly moving into the boys shower and finding a mirror, turning his back around, grimacing when he saw the black, vein like marks that had appeared from his gear showing, pulsing with red energy.

"Shit… the Curse is starting to show. I'll only be able to do so much to keep it repressed… damn, this is worse than I thought."

"Probably… doesn't help I was absorbing power from a mad fallen angel with a Vice that had gone crazy." Shu grumbled, his breathing beginning to steady out as the black marks began vanishing once he let his aura rise a bit, "There's only so much my magic can do to curb this damn Curse… it purifies, but it's a strong curse. Who the hell would think God would've placed something like this on someone?"

"Honestly I doubt it was intentional."

"Damn, and just when we were all starting to have some fun too, this happens." Shu sighed as he stepped out of the showers, rubbing the side of his head as he leaned on the outside wall, "I need to figure this out, and fast…"

"What are you doing here?"

Shu glanced up from his downward staring to see Xenovia had approached, his expression changing to an incredulous one as he saw her swimsuit, if one could even call the bunch of strings holding dark cloth over her naughty bits a proper swimsuit.

"The hell kind of swimsuit is that?!" Shu yelped on impulse, Xenovia looking herself over, "That is not the one in that picture Astra sent…"

"While I was looking, Lady Astra suggested this one instead. I don't know why, but she seemed rather… devious about it. Though, do you think it looks okay?"

"Oh of frickin' course it was her idea... and it looks fine, it's just really risqué." Shu sighed as he put a hand on his head, "You realize she was probably kidding, right? I doubt she'd seriously recommend that to someone."

"Really, she seemed rather sincere?

"This girl!" Shu gave a sigh, then clearing his throat, "Well, I'm back here because I got a quick headache, so I needed to get in the shade. What about you? Getting… that on take this long?"

"It was a bit tricky because of how it is, but I figured it out rather quickly. Rather, I took a while because I was thinking about something." Xenovia put her arms under her chest, Shu tilting his head curiously.

"Why do I have a bad feeling?"

"Just hear me out, okay? I have an important matter I'd like to discuss."

"Uh… okay. I get your voice in naturally like this but this feels way too dramatic for a pool house scene." Shu said, then looking to the side, "Oddly now I'm reminded of this visual novel I played with Astra a few days ago… wait…"

"Just listen… I want you to make a baby with me."

"Come again?"

CRASH!

"Ugh! You are weirdly strong y'know that?! And your grip is like a damn vice!"

Shu shook his wrist to knock out the soreness in it, more keen on that pain than the impact he'd taken to the back of his head from being thrown against one of the storage racks in store room of the pool house, the click of the shutting door sounding as Xenovia shut it.

"Are you even listening to me right now!?"

"You never gave an answer. I want to make a baby with you."

"That would be a no." Even when cornered in a storage room, Shu's ability to deal sarcasm was left untouched, even when he flinched a bit when Xenovia approached, "Why are you so intent on this anyway?"

"It used to be that serving God was my only dream, my every reason for living. But now things have changed and that dream is dead."

"And here I realize I should probably start paying attention to the crap that comes out of my mouth." Shu let out a small grumbled as he thought back to the previous battle, and his own fired up speech during the heat of the moment, his intuition doing the rest.

"I've already approached Lady Astra for her thoughts on the matter."

"Let me guess, a spiel about how now you're completely free to live whatever kind of life you want, however you want to live it? Something along those lines?"

"Yes, so…"

"Here we go…"

"… I decided the life I want right now is the womanly life I never thought I would have, to create life inside of me."

"Yeah, okay, Xenovia, that's great and all, but do you even realize what you're talking about?!" Shu shot to his feet, Xenovia nodding and seeming completely unaware of the point he was trying to make, to his clear frustration as Shu began pulling at his hair.

"As I watched you fight Kokabiel, I noticed your latent powers… those of the Dragon and those of Kings. Your bloodline is powerful and you possess strength beyond most others. I decided such traits are worth looking at. I want my child to have that. They should have unique, strong and powerful genese."

"That was kind of redundant. And, again, you are talking about making a child. You're only a year younger than me, and any of us here are some of the furthest away from being ready to be parents in this entire frickin' universe!"

"But you engage in such activities with Lucina and Lady Astra regularly, what makes this any different?"

"Oh I'dunno, the fact we're not trying to have a child!" Shu snapped, letting out a long groan, "Look, I know I've gotta own up to whatever crap I said during that fight, but Xenovia, you're talking about having a baby. Are you seriously ready for the kind of commitment being a parent requires right now?"

"I'm fully prepared to become a mother, yes. I don't understand why you're being so obstinate about all of this."

"That's precisely the point! I am not ready to be a father to any children. My life is too much of a mess right now for me to even consider the idea! Besides, we're still teenagers, don't you want to at least enjoy the time we've got before we're actually adults… granted we're pseudo-immortal but that's not my point!"

"Then what is your point?"

Shu gave a long sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose, his other hand on his hip, Xenovia tilting her head again as the sigh continued for another several seconds, Shu lowering his hand looking a bit on the calmer side now.

"My point is that having a kid isn't the kind of thing you should rush into just because you want to have one. Considering you're a Fallen Angel now, you have a lot of time to think about this. I for one don't want to have to worry about a child when the world is how it is at the moment. There's too many things to worry about as it is, I wouldn't want the burden of having to protect a kid added onto that."

"But that doesn't mean you're entirely against the idea of having a child, are you not?" Xenovia inquired, Shu sighing, then giving a nod.

"Of course I'm not. I just want to be sure that when I do, said child can grow up in a world where they don't have to worry about dad's status in it coming back to haunt them in some manner or have all kinds of shitty things go their way. It should be the job of one generation to make sure the next doesn't have to suffer the problems they did… of course not that it helps since we just keep making our own problems." Shu let out another sigh, Xenovia still stone faced as she looked at him, "Why am I having to say so much about this topic?"

"Alright, I understand your side of this situation. Well then, I'll wait until you're ready to father a child. And I'll make it clear this is not a matter of if, it is when."

"Are you even gonna let me argue?!"

"Fine then… let me be more lenient. Do you promise that, once you're prepared for the role, you'll be the father of my child?"

"Am I allowed to say no or will you hound me until I agree to this?"

"Don't answer a yes or no question with another question."

"It was a legit thing to ask at this moment! You're obviously the persistent type."

"Don't try to divert from this to buy time."

"Shit, you caught onto that?"

"You keep glancing at the door like you're expecting someone to barge in here at any moment."

Shu gave a hiss and looked to the side, Xenovia leaning back into his field of view, her neutral expression somehow showing she was still expecting an answer, Shu giving another sigh, tugging at his bangs in that usual habit of his.

"I've got two options left, well, maybe three. I say no, and put up with either being hounded at any chance or things move on, best result, or, I say yes and just deal with what comes later… though I do wish the third option of someone interrupting would happen because this is just too freaking much in a short amount of time." Shu gave a long sigh again, Xenovia's expentant stare still boring into him, "Well, I narrowed it down, and…" Xenovia stepped forward, halting Shu for a moment, "Fine. I'll agree to that deal. Just be clear, while I don't precisely have plans to live forever, I at least expect to be around for the next few centuries."

"I'm patient. And with lives as long as ours, we have plenty of time." Xenovia's lack of visual reaction left Shu stumped as to how she actually felt about this, but he could at the least tell she was happy by the shift in aura alone.

And only then did the door decide to fly open, Astra nearly tripping over herself with Lucina behind her.

"We've got an issue out there Shu! Rias and Akeno started-What's happening in here?" Astra stopped when she saw the somewhat disarrayed look of the room, Shu sighing, "EHH?! Were you two about to start? No fair, I wanted the pool house scene!"

"Astra not the time for your fantasies." Lucina cut in, plonking a fist down on Astra's head, "What she was saying was that Rias and Akeno started going at it… predictable, they're fighting over Hyoudo."

"Freaking…"

"So, what was going on in here?" Astra and Lucina said so in perfect synch, Shu flinching a bit, opening his mouth, but Xenovia got there first as she turned.

"I asked Soren…"

"More like demanded…"

"… if he would make a baby with me."

"BZZZT!" Astra shot up straight and crossed her arms as she made the buzzer noise, Lucina giving a sigh while Xenovia looked a bit confused, "While such relations are allowed among our group, at the current time no baby-making is allowed! And don't you dare listen to what my dad says, he doesn't need grand-kids to mess with on top of his own, at least for now!"

"Please excuse her zeal. Astra is the resident nympho." Lucina flatly said, Astra yelping.

"I am not a nympho! I merely have a very healthy sex drive. It's not like all I think about is when Shu and I do it..."

"It comes pretty dang close sometimes." Lucina chuckled as she gave such a sharp remark, Astra giving a grumble as she folded her arms.

"You're definitely catching onto Shu's sarcastic edge for yourself. Someone needs to go cool off the onee-sans before they blow up the pool though."

"I'll deal with it."

"How today went from just trying to have some fun at the pool to stopping two Devil girls from blowing the place up will be forever a mystery to me at how events play out for us."

"Thus is the mystery of life when it comes to women who're competing over a guy. I feel kinda sorry for the Red Dragon. He's never gonna get laid if those girls around him don't just come to some kind of agreement instead of… that."

"I'll just lock Issei and Rias into a room and stay by the door until I hear them going at it then."

Shu gave a laugh at his own statement, continuing to weave through the late night crowd of the city, having decided to take a walk amid the brisk summer night time, having kept merely to himself and his thoughts only as he did so.

It definitely wasn't like his walks through London, that was for sure. A lot less monsters waiting in the dark alleys to boot.

"Guess that's what you get with a city watched over by two Devil heirs… Strays stay well away from the more populated areas, unlike in a lot of places in Europe and America." Shu then gave a hum, thinking more about his location, "Then again I'm also in Japan, which is host to it's own plethora of mythical beings… at the least the Shinto Gods do a damn fine job of keeping shit under wraps with their Exorcists… unlike a certain other group."

A dry chuckle of sorts left his mouth as the demi-dragon took a curve to head into the nature park near the center of the city. As someone who had been to Central Park in New York and the Imperial Palace district in Tokyo, both zones pretty comparable to one another, Kuoh Town's own nature square (which for the life of him he couldn't find the name for), wasn't nearly as big, bit about as nice, the center of the park itself, and thus the entire inner city, being made of a small but supposedly rather deep lake.

Not that Shu wanted to test just how deep, considering as someone involved with the super natural, he knew that if one went to deep enough waters, one was bound to find some kind of nasty beast unhappy to have it's territory tread upon, such as say a Leviathan-class creature.

"Kinda funny those things are named after one of the Satans to boot." Another chuckle left Shu's mouth, and as he continued along the path, drawing ever closer to the lake with each step, he stopped when he reached the outer edge of it, the air carrying a sound to it… singing.

Curiosity overtook the demi-dragon as he continued forward, the voice becoming clearer the closer he moved to the lake, cutting through the trees to get closer faster, listening past the rustling of the leaves as he moved the branches.

The voice was clear and gentle, perfectly matching the tone of the song that was being sung, the singer a woman from the sound alone, though Shu still couldn't see who through the trees.

"Who is that?"

Shu pushed forward a bit more, stumbling a bit as he exited the thrush and came out into the moonlit, grassy shore of the lake, looking around to try and find the source of the song, and he did as his eyes found the small pier.

The singer wasn't facing him, so he couldn't see her face, but even from this distance as he slowly crept a bit closer, he was able to hazard a few good guesses. She appeared a bit on the shorter side, closer to average but not by much, light blue hair seemingly glowing underneath the moonlight, reaching past the shoulders and flowing in an almost wave like manner, red ribbons interlaced through a few strands, and clothed in an outfit almost purely white, marked by red accents and gold strands on the sleeves and hems of the jacket.

And he wasn't sure if it was a trick of the moonlight, but Shu swore he saw a pale blue glow around the girl as well as she continued to sing, eventually moving from her still stance on the pier into a slow, pacing dance around the pier.

Shu wasn't sure of how long it went on for, as he found himself caught in a trance at the girl's voice, but eventually, her movements and singing did cease, the girl coming to a still stand back at her previouos place on the pier, Shu only then registering she was turning around after a moment more.

And that was when eyes met. Another pair of royal blue eyes shining over snowy pale skin met Shu's own as the girl turned, revealing her features to be almost heart-like in shape, features even the obstinate Shu would call cute.

And then the glow… near the girl's chest, and dying down, was a light blue glow akin to that of Shu's royal magic… and hanging from the girl's neck was a golden, flower shaped pendant, inlaid to it a single blue gem like that of Shu's own pendant.

"Were you… watching?" The singer asked, Shu still looking to be in a stupor as she spoke.

"Who… is this girl?" The thought pervaded Shu's mind like a knife being run through it. Something was going off in his head. He didn't know why, or what… but something about the air around this girl was familiar to him, and in a far different way than he knew how to explain.

"Y-Yes… I… I was. My name's Soren… and, who're you?"

"Lacia… Lacia Lucis Rosette."

"Wait… Lucis… that's…"

A/N

And things will be found out NEXT TIME! Can't be going giving too many things at once… and DAMN this was longer than I thought it would actually be, huh… weird. Whatevs, new character, more shit, time for the Peace Treaty arc of Re;Fell Dragons!