Hello there. I just want to say that I appreciate the kind words about the first chapter so far, and I hope this one meets your expectations as well. It means a lot. With that being said, a couple of things to discuss.

1. Someone offered the introduction of Koneko into the harem. I don't know about that yet, as I'm trying to figure out how to write romance between more than one person still. I will, however, let y'all know.

2. Me saying "See y'all in four years". Do not fret, I doubt that will happen. See what happened was, was that I released my first story a little over four years ago, back in 2016 (I think), and I fell off of fanfiction shortly after. So, I actually came back, read it, went "Damn, I actually liked where I was going with this", and updated the story four years later.

3. I don't think I ever made a disclaimer in the first chapter, so here it is: I own nothing about DxD or Shadows.

4. Be safe y'all. Hopefully I'll have more time to write frequently, given that we are currently on lock down due to COVID-19, butt I still have to attend online lectures for school, and I still have to go to work.

That being said, I shall see you at the end.

Edit: So here I've toned down some of the sociability for Sekiro. I hope this is better for you guys. Looking back at it now, I realize that some of the things his actions didn't really make sense. Like, why would he give Issei Kuro's charm off the rip? So I've fixed that, and hopefully I'll do better in further chapters with character development pacing and the like.

Relaxing, it seemed, was going to be a luxury in this time too, if last night meant anything. Though he didn't mind. Too much relaxation can lead to carelessness. Hence why he never really let his guard down even when there was a bit of down time back then.

Did he count the past six months as relaxation? No, not really. True, life was stagnant, but it wasn't relaxing. It was full of dreariness and pain. One could hardly call that relaxing.

Even in the present, despite his new lord's words, life was still full of dreariness and pain. He would have to see if her words rang true.

So moments like these, where he would just sit under the shade, and let the breeze brush against his face, he relished. He tuned out the various white noises that was produced by the footsteps and the chattering of the students that passed by. Instead, he focused on the rustling of the leaves blowing gently against the wind. He focused on the whistling of the wind as a draft flew by. He focused on the mountain that loomed overhead, watching the city from a distance.

Mount Kongo. It was one of the first things he noticed when he...got here. He wondered how Mount Kongo changed in this time. Did they succeed in their development for immortality? Or did they wither away with time? And what about the bell?

The bell that housed a demon. The bell that stood isolated on a separate peak, standing silently, waiting, begging for it to be rung. And when the bell rang, the sound reverberated across the mountains, slightly disturbing life there, while the demon skillfully and silently finessed its way into the soul, making life much more bountiful...at a price.

Or so the legend went.

Maybe that was why things turned out as they did.

The mountain was as beautiful as it was once before. The white snowy tops faded into gold and red dots, like autumn, before fading into a luscious green forest that stretched to the rest of the earth. The mountain was beautiful. The memories were not.

But he chose not to dwell on that. This was, of course, a time for relaxation.

He closed his eyes, burning the scenery in front of him into the back of his eyelids, and he heard the ever-present choir that rang from the temples. He opened his eyes, and it disappeared, replaced once again by the local sounds of nature.

Strange. He closed his eyes again, focusing on the choir that rang from the past.

"...enpai."

His brow furrowed. Was it saying something?

"Sekiro-senpai!"

Sekiro's eyes snapped open, and he was greeted with the familiar face of his partner in death. Or at least...supposed death. He blinked, weariness present as ever in his eyes, as he gazed into the eyes of the relatively innocent boy in front of him, who looked at him in curiosity.

"Hm?" He grunted in greeting.

"What are you doing out here? The bell rang a couple of moments ago," Issei said, standing in front of him with his bag slung over his shoulders, as he panted slightly. He looked like he just finished running.

Sekiro didn't know he ran.

"Did it." He said, uncaring of the importance of the next few hours. His supposed new purpose did not fuel his ignition to do anything in class. He had other things to focus on, though he did find some classes useful. Things like physics that helped him understand how objects moved in relation to each other. Like how gravity affects the speed at which an object fell as it was being thrown. It made him want to practice throwing shuriken again, much like how he did when he was younger.

The next thing he knew, he found Issei dropping his pack and taking a seat next to him. The two sat on the grass under the shade of a beautiful cherry blossom. A petal landed softly atop his head. Despite the gentleness of the impact, he still felt it, and he plucked it atop his head, and stared at it intently.

Interesting.

He flicked the petal away before turning to the brunette. "Aren't you going to class?"

"Yeah," Issei drew out, looking like he was just beginning to get comfortable, "but I think with the amount of school work I've done, I'm just gonna sit here and relax too."

"Hm." He shook his head. Great. Now he had a partner; though what the boy decided to do was not his problem. It was his choice, after all.

"Say…" Issei started, "has that mountain always looked that beautiful?"

Sekiro nodded. "It has."

Though if the boy knew what went on back then, he would think twice about complementing such an ominous mountain.

The two sat in silence, and Sekiro decided to close his eyes. If Issei wanted to tag along, fine, but he was not going to ruin his moment of relaxation.

Then, he heard it. Muted, like he was listening through a wall, but the sound reverberated around him. The harmonious humming of men increased in volume, before converting into snoring. Loud snoring.

His eyes opened, and he shot a glare at the boy next to him, who lay outstretched on the ground, mouth wide open and eyes closed. He inhaled deeply producing the rough sound of a snore, and exhaled producing an even louder sound. He was not going to be able to relax like this. Perhaps he should relocate.

Before he could, distant footsteps caught his attention, and a familiar melodious voice reached his ears.

"Wolf, what are you doing out here?"

He turned to see the familiar blue eyes and red hair of his lord, her hair swishing slightly as she approached him. His gaze lingered on her, before turning back to the mountain. "I was just relaxing."

Rias frowned, as she stood beside him. "You know classes started ten minutes ago."

His eyebrow furrowed. Ten minutes ago? It felt like three.

Finishing his assessment, he sighed, slackening his brow. "I see."

He heard her chuckle, and he turned to look towards her, as she took a seat beside him. "I see you two are close."

Close? He didn't think so. "...He just came up to me."

She hummed, as she eyed the sleeping boy. Apparently, she didn't think so. "Hmmm. I think being with someone in their death changes people's outlook."

His brow furrowed once again.

With a speed that even surprised him, he managed to grab his Lord and dashed through the doors that led to his room. Fast footsteps were heard from behind.

For the first time, he saw his lord bleeding and in pain. His face was incredibly pale. Even more so than usual. His body reeked of vile energy and corrupted aura, and his wound was deep. Incredibly deep. If he didn't get help soon, he would perish.

"Wolf…" he heard his lord mutter.

"Almost there, Kuro-sama," he hushed the young lord, as he made his way up the stairs, and there it was. Sitting by the wall was his saving grace. The stoney statue of Buddha sat awaiting.

He shook his head, dispelling himself of the thought. It was a memory that he didn't want to confront.

Finally acknowledging his new lord's statement, he hesitantly replied, subconsciously gripping his fist before relaxing it. "...I suppose."

His action did not go unnoticed by his new lord, and she looked at him with concern.. "...Do you want to talk about last night?"

Immediately, and with a harsh tone that surprisingly overtook his usually stoic voice, he replied, "No, but if you want me to, then I have no choice but to comply."

Rias flinched at his sudden harshness, and she recovered slightly. "N-no! I just…I want you to tell me when you're ready."

He immediately realized the error of his way. His features softened slightly, and like this morning, he raised his hand and gently placed it on top of her head, ruffling her tidy hair. "My apologies, Rias-sama. I didn't mean to come off as harsh. I'm still coming to grips with it."

With what happened. Not last night. But he wasn't ready to bring that up yet. Not even remotely close to bringing it up yet. Though if she forced him to spill, he would have no choice to comply. But she didn't. He respected that.

He noticed that she eased slightly when he began rubbing her head, and after a minute, she let out a satisfied hum.

"That's okay. I understand that it's not easy, and I'll be here when you're ready. Now," she said, standing up, as she brushed herself off, "I believe it's time for us to go to class."

Sekiro sighed as he shook his head.

"Oh, don't give me that. You're under my peerage now, and so I expect for you to try harder in school. Consider it my first…," she paused, as if she were trying to figure out what to say next, "decree...as your...lord."

Her nose crinkled in what seemed to be disgust, and he huffed slightly. It was the closest thing to laughter he'd ever come to.

But if that was her will…

"Then I must comply," he said, standing up from his relaxing spot. Well. It was relaxing, until…

His eyes shot over to the sleeping boy beside him.

"Hmm, we should wake him too. He's under my peerage, so I'm expecting for him to be putting in as much effort as you in your studies," Rias said, as she too eyed the form of a sleeping Issei. "Well, or maybe it's the other way around."

He shook his head at her little jab, before nudging Issei softly on his side with his feet. A groan emitted from the boy's lips, but he showed no effort to wake up.

He heard Rias giggle in the back.

"Oi," he said, still nudging his feet against Issei's side.

"Oi," he said, louder still, as he continued nudging.

Nothing.

'Fine,' Sekiro thought. He was content with leaving the boy there to bask away in his slumber, but he felt like she would disapprove of his actions.

So, pulling his foot back further than usual, he delivered a swift and hard kick to the sleeping boy's side, and he lifted into the air for a second, before landing with a thud. Issei's eyes snapped open, as he yelled in pain.

"Ow! Senpai! Why?!" he cried, tears comically flowing down his face, as he clutched his aching side.

"Because Rias-sama wanted me to wake you, so you could head to class," Sekiro stated, his lips twitching upwardly before being covered with a stoic mask.

"Rias-sama?" Issei asked, as he shot the shinobi a confused look, before moving his head a liiiiittle to the left, and his eyes widened.

His pain seemingly disappearing, he jumped upwards. "R-R-Rias-sama! Senpai! Sama! Senpai! A-a pleasure!"

He bowed repeatedly, his hair swishing wildly up and down with his movement.

Sekiro watched with hidden amusement, and he gazed back at his red haired lordess, who only looked at Issei with an awkward smile and a sweatdrop.

Clearly, the boy was making her uncomfortable, and he set out to act.

Stepping beside the boy, he caught Issei by the collar as he rose his head up for the millionth time, causing him to stop. "Enough."

With the boy finally calming down, Sekiro nodded to himself before stepping behind Rias, and standing obliquely to her left.

Nodding in appreciation, she greeted the brown haired boy who stood starstruck in front of the two.

"Hello, Issei-san, a pleasure to formally meet you," she said, bowing her head.

"R-Rias-sama, a pleasure!" He greeted back ecstatically, as he too bowed his head.

"Oh, no, no, please, just call me Rias," she smiled at his identical mention. "May I call you Issei?"

"Of course! Of course Rias-sam...err...Rias. Call me whatever you want!" he replied with just as much eagerness, before shooting her a confused look, as he pointed a finger at the shinobi who stood behind her. "But, so then...why does Sekiro-senpai call you Rias-sama?"

"Sekiro…senpai?" She asked unsurely, following the trail of his finger, until her eyes happened upon the shinobi behind her.

"Rias-sama?" he asked curiously.

"Why did he call you Sekiro?"

Oh right. He forgot that he didn't die last night.

"It's...how I introduced myself to him, before we were going to die."

She frowned. "Why didn't you tell me your name was Sekiro?"

Was that...sadness he could hear in her voice?

"My apologies, Rias-sama. But it's the same. Sekiro or Wolf."

Sekiro. One-armed Wolf. Just another derivation of that whole 'Wolf' theme his foster-father started.

Seemingly unsatisfied with his answer, she spoke. "But you should've told me your name was Sekiro! I knew Wolf sounded too weird to be a name."

His eye twitched at her comment. Tell that to the oversized bird that called him that.

Seeing that she was becoming slightly agitated, he placed his hand atop her head again, ruffling her hair gently, and he replied softly. "My apologies, Rias-sama. It's just been something that I've been called for a long time now."

She frowned again, but seemed to be satisfied by his answer this time. The head ruffling was more effective on her than it was on Kuro.

"Fine, but I'm calling you Sekiro…"

He nodded. "Whatever you desire."

"You bastard!" Issei shouted, and the two turned to face the bystander, who had his finger pointed accusingly at the shinobi. "Since when?!"

"What do you mean?" Sekiro asked, removing his hand from his lady's head, and he raised his eyebrow.

Before anything escalated any further, Rias stepped in between the two. "Now, now. Sekiro, Issei. We have somewhere to be now, so I ask that you two come to the club room to finish things there."

Now that got their attention. Club room?

"Club room?" Issei asked curiously. Seemed the boy had the same thoughts as he did.

Without elaborating, Rias nodded. "That's right. The both of you come by after class. I'm sure you'll know where it is."

With that, she turned, her hair flipping dramatically as she walked away, with a slight hop in her step that only Sekiro caught. He wondered what was on her mind.

"Do you know where the club room is, Senpai?" he heard Issei ask, and he turned back to his junior, who was scratching his head.

His gaze turned to the old building that stood, a ways away. He had an idea.

Rias felt giddy inside, her step taking a slight bounce, as she walked away from her two new peerage members and straight to class.

'That exit was so cool and mysterious!' she sighed to herself happily. It was rare that she was able to do things like that, so she would jump on the opportunity once it arose. She wondered when the next one was going to be. 'Maybe when they come into the club room later!'

Yes, let it be known that she, Rias Gremory, was a biiit of a show off.

But she also wanted to exude her presence as one of authority, especially to her two new peerage members. Wolf...or Sekiro already treated her as such the second she informed him that she was his new master, and he hadn't even given her the opportunity to be able to do something like that.

Though, she got her chance, when she surprisingly found the two relaxing in the shade of a cherry blossom in the courtyard in the middle of her patrol route.

Why they were there, she didn't know, but from what she'd heard from Akeno yesterday, was that Wol—Sekiro didn't care for academics, which also explained why he seemed uncaring when she told her to go to class yesterday.

And even then, looking into those painfully empty eyes of his, she would've surmised that class would be the last thing he wanted to focus on.

Now that brought another question in relation to the boy. Wolf. Or Sekiro, as it turned out to be. He said that he was referred to by Wolf almost all of his life. Why was that? Where did Sekiro come from then? Maybe Wolf was just a nickname, and he'd been so used to it that he gave his name off as Wolf now? But that didn't make sense as to why he told Issei that his name was Sekiro.

She shook her head. It was Wol—Sekiro's story to tell. Hopefully he would tell her someday.

She huffed, walking up the stairs of the wing, noting that it was surprisingly empty. She noticed that with Sona gone, many more of the students were hanging outside of class, and just...meandering about. Every time she would tell them to go to class, they would do so without hesitation, before muttering a sorry. Some of them even had lame excuses like, "Sorry Rias-oneesama, I had to go to the bathroom," yet they stayed put by the sides of the halls. Clearly, she didn't exude the same amount of...authority that the usually tyrannical council president has.

So this...change of pace was...for some reason unsettling.

Footsteps echoed down the hall, and her head jerked towards the noise. 'Finally, a bit of excitement!'

"Hey!" she shouted, and she frowned when she stared at the figure that produced the footsteps. A man, wearing old garb and scraps of armor walked down the hall away from her, unheeded her call. In one hand, he held a...she couldn't make it out. A stick? That had a flame at the end? And on his waist, lay a sword.

What was he doing here? How did he get in here?

Her eyes flickered with panic, knowing that such a danger was this close to the students of Kuoh Academy, and she ran toward him.

Her mind ran rampant with ideas on how to stop this danger. She couldn't use her powers of destruction, lest she wanted to blow the whole school up. And what if the man lunged at her with his sword? Then what? She was fast, but you know how they say—never assume anything about your enemies.

The man continued walking, either he didn't care for her rapidly approaching footsteps, or he didn't hear her.

What made her stop in her tracks, however, was that, as he passed by a window, the sunlight that leaked through...shone through his body, and his features grew transparent from the normally solid colors of reality, into an ethereal pale lilac.

Then, he turned to look at her. Slowly, his neck craned, and he made eye contact with her, and Rias tensed, ready to engage...whatever that thing was. But before anything could happen, a loud resounding snap rocked her ears, and she covered them in pain, as she watched the man billow away into nothingness, like he was never there to begin with.

'What the hell just happened?' she thought, lowering her hands from her ears as she looked around. What did just happen? Where did that snap come from?

Then, as if everything returned to normal in the world, she heard the hushed whispers of students lounging around in the halls, and random footsteps in random directions. She turned around, and she saw students that weren't there before.

'What the hell just happened?' she reiterated again, before shaking her head. There were students that needed to get to class. So much for excitement.

Sekiro sat begrudgingly in class, trying his hardest to focus on the lesson at hand for once. The teacher looked at his usually empty desk in shock, and for once he had out a notebook and a pen. Everyone must've been curious about where his supplies came from, considering that he didn't have a bag. Why have one, when his little pouch held everything?

Regardless, he would've been more successful in actually keeping track of the lesson, if what happened a few hours ago didn't happen. His teacher's voice soon muted out into muffles as he thought back to earlier.

'That was…' Sekiro couldn't wrap his head around what was, just a few hours ago. Or rather, he knew what that was.

He was decidedly lucky to have followed his master, else he would have missed that...ghost.

His brow furrowed. He was sure of it. That was an illusion. The transparent lilac of the figure indicated a very familiar illusion, too. One that reminded him of the butterflies that his teacher once used.

Thinking back to the master of illusions, he wondered what happened to her. Before those three years in that well felt like a gap to him. Like he was missing something important. And when he crawled out of that well, he hadn't seen her again.

'Is she alive?' He shook his head. No, that was impossible. He knew that he was thrown so far forward in time, he was sure that any remnant of what he once knew was gone. Except maybe…

Red eyes gleamed from the exuberant general samurai he'd just recently ended, as he lifted from the ground, like a ghost was possessing him until he stood back on his own two feet.

What if...he was still alive?

He shook his head. He was getting off track.

Despite the happenstance, there was something else that he realized too.

His arm. The one that he had trouble moving recently.

His left gauzed arm was raised to complete the clap that would dispel the illusion. He didn't even realize that he moved it until he stared at the hand that held the flattened green casing of the seed.

But when it finally dropped, an excruciating jolt of pain rocked his arm afterwards. Truly, it was strange. How was he able to move it?

He lifted his left arm in a sudden quick jerk and it flopped on top of the desk, the hard sound of wood hitting wood resonating throughout the classroom, as eyes turned to stare at him.

His eyes shut harshly, containing the pain at moving his defunct arm in such an extreme motion.

"Interrupting class are you?" Came his teacher's voice, which sounded disapproving. "And here I thought you decided to put in effort for once. Seems I was wrong."

Deciding to ignore his teacher's comment, he glanced around the class, and though some of the students' eyes returned to the front, he saw a glimpse of violet among the eyes that continued to stare at him.

"Now, class—"

Riiiiiing!

His teacher clicked his tongue, before announcing. "Saved by the bell. Your assignment for the history of Kuoh is due tomorrow!"

With that, the daily sound of eager kids waiting to escape the confines of the classroom filled the air.

"Wolf-kun, are you okay?" he heard from behind him, and seemingly like yesterday, the bustling sounds quieted down, as Akeno approached him. He hoped this wasn't going to be a daily occurence, but if she stopped by his desk everyday, then fine, he wasn't going to stop her.

He turned to her and nodded. "I am."

"Are you sure? Because earlier…" she trailed, referring to his unusual standing-out incident.

He nodded again. This whole day was weird. "Don't worry too much about it."

She frowned, before slightly budging from her spot, like she was going to head out. "If...if you say so. I'll be going ahead. We'll see each other later."

He nodded. He didn't have to ask to know what she was talking about.

She hesitated in walking away again, as if he were expecting for him to say something, or ask something, but he didn't, and the two remained in place in silence.

He only shot her a raised eyebrow, which asked what she was still doing here.

"Right…" she muttered, before finally leaving the class. Everyone's eyes were still on him though, and murmurs arose in the classroom.

"Did he deny our Akeno-chan something?"

"That bastard, she probably wanted to walk with him!"

"That's disgusting, don't say such a thing."

He was getting a headache. He really wanted them to shut up.

He really wanted to close his eyes, but he remembered that Rias asked for Issei and him to head to the club room after school. What club, he didn't know, and while he was initially planning to head there straight away, he remembered that his kouhai probably didn't have a clue as to what his red haired lord was referring to.

So with that, he stood up, and set out to go find the brunette.

The sound of scurrying always made him a tad paranoid. Were they rats waiting for an ambush? Or were they gigantic insects?

They were neither.

There, camouflaged in the trees with leaves and brown paint covering their bodies and hair (and a bald head), were three people with binoculars. They almost looked like the Nightjar. Hell, maybe he could join them? He had his own nightjar monocle after all.

Swiftly pulling his tubular lens from his pouch, he brought it up to his eye with a click, and aimed it in the direction that the three stooges were looking.

He saw...girls...swimming. And he immediately whipped his monocle away from his eye, looking down as a small blush sported his face. Let it be known that Issei was a pervert.

Maybe they were rats.

"Issei," he called out, pocketing his monocular, followed by hushes of whispering and rustling. No response from the boy decorated in leaves.

"Issei," he called out again, kicking the tree hard. Rustling again, followed by the three tumbling down onto the ground and yelps of pain.

"Wah!" Issei shouted, jolting his head up.

"I told you to get down when you were called Issei…" one of them, who wore glasses, muttered in pain.

"Now you ruined our peeping," the other one with a bald head added.

"What?! And leave you guys with all the fun? If one goes down, we all do! No man left behind!" Issei argued.

"Maybe for you, but not for us!" his two friends yelled back before scrambling up the tree, taking their positions again.

"Hey! Wai—"

Before Issei could refute, Sekiro grabbed the back of his collar, dragging him away.

"Waaait, where are we going?!" Issei shouted.

"We are required somewhere," Sekiro responded, dragging the boy away with ease.

"What do you…?" Issei trailed, as he stared at the spot he last occupied. A flood of girls in kendo uniform surrounded the two remaining boys.

Shouts of pain and duress began to emanate from the location, but Sekiro paid the commotion no heed, as he continued to drag the pervert away and towards the implied rendezvous point.

"Oh yeah," Issei said in realization, ignoring the painful shouts of his previous companions in the distance. "Rias-senpai said she wanted us in this...club room after school today!",

Sekiro released his hold on the brunette's collar and nodded.

Suddenly, Issei placed a hand onto his shoulder, sniffling a little bit, and Sekiro tensed at the boy's sudden contact. "You know what? Thank you. Getting to see Rias-senpai twice in one day beats peeping any day."

To that, Sekiro could only raise an eyebrow, and he suddenly felt conscious about the hand on his shoulder.

"No it doesn't, no it doesn't," Issei redacted, as he began to mutter to himself, poking his fingers against each other, "Nothing beats peeping. Nothing…"

In the course of his ruckus, voices began flooding in from the students walking past, sometimes emitting stares of disgust and even harsher words.

While these would not affect the shinobi in any way, he couldn't say the same about the young pervert.

"Ugh, look, the pervert and the loner, hanging out together…"

"You know, I sort of could tolerate the pervert, but to see him with the nobody? Just shows that he can't make the right friends."

"Disgusting…"

Those words seemingly brought a hamper onto Issei's mood, as he bowed his head in depression.

Sekiro looked at him impassively in silence, before speaking. "Ignore them. They don't know you."

He remembered that fateful day when that letter fell from the sky, and following the instruction to meet his lord at the Moonview Tower, as he was sneaking around, he heard some of the guards talking.

"He's just a cowardly shinobi. No weapon, no will to fight, no lord…"

Oh how he remembered slaughtering them all that night.

He shook his head, before walking away, leaving the boy behind.

Issei watched his retreating back contemplatively.

"You know what? Senpai, maybe you're right," Issei muttered to himself, as he ran after the boy whose distance got further and further away.

The relatively dilapidated building, Sekiro so affectionately called it. The two stared up at the building that loomed over their heads. Red flashed through the open window. They were waiting.

With a creak, the door in front of them opened slowly, revealing a small white-haired girl, with amber eyes. Her face fixated in monotony as she stared flatly at the two.

"That's...you're...Koneko-chan! Oh wow, first Rias-senpai, and now Koneko-chan?! Truly I have been blessed!" Issei gushed loudly as he stared at the small girl.

"Senpai," she greeted to Sekiro, before turning her attention to the brunette. "Hentai."

Issei facefaulted, as if he recoiled from an arrow piercing his heart. "K-Koneko-chan…"

"Hello," Sekiro nodded his head, and the girl cleared the way, allowing the two entry.

The two walked in, with Sekiro keeping his eyes forward, as Issei looked around in amazement, flickers of lechery appearing in his eyes as Koneko's lithe figure entered his gaze.

"Stop staring, hentai," Koneko reprimanded monotonously, not looking back.

Once again, Issei stumbled in his step at being called out. He wasn't as discreet as he thought he was.

Finally entering the main chambers, they saw Akeno and Rias on one couch, who were hushedly conversing with each other, and another boy with golden blonde hair, sitting calmly on the opposite couch that surrounded a small coffee table in front of a desk.

Sekiro noticed a slight change in humidity and a shower behind the desk, which implied that it was used recently.

Then, he honed in on the conversation the two beauts were having, and he closed his eyes. Everything seemingly muted out, as their voices amplified.

"It was like a ghost. Have you ever encountered anything like that before?"

"No, I haven't. That's really weird. Maybe someone is targeting you?"

"I doubt that. Nobody would dare attack amidst Kuoh, especially when it's under the jurisdiction of the two Maous."

"And what of that loud snap…?"

"Later."

With the conclusion of that little eavesdrop, he opened his eyes, as Akeno and Rias turned to greet the members who collected into the dimly lit room.

"Buchou, they're here," Koneko said, allowing the two newcomers to enter full view for the three, before taking a seat next to the blonde.

"Ara ara, if it isn't Wolf-kun and Issei-san."

"Thank you, Koneko," Rias said, nodding to the petite girl, before turning to Issei and Sekiro. "Hello you two."

"Rias-sama. Akeno-san," Sekiro greeted, nodding his head.

Rias frowned at the honorific of his name, but said nothing about it.

"Ara, why does Rias get to be called Rias-sama? I want you to treat me like a princess too!" Akeno whined playfully.

Sekiro furrowed his brows slightly. "My apologies. That is a title reserved for my lord."

Akeno pouted in response. "Lord? That's not fair…"

"Rias-senpai! Akeno-senpai! Ahhhhhhh! Thank you for gracing me with your presence!" Issei shouted, falling to his knees and bowing to them repeatedly.

The two sweatdropped at the praise. What an ecstatic new member. Akeno shot Rias a knowing look, who only responded with a slight shake of her head.

The blond who had been idly sitting by, finally opened his mouth to speak, "Hello there, I'm—"...before he was promptly cut off by Issei, who stopped his ritual and glared at the boy.

"No one cares, pretty boy!"

"Oh…," the blond replied dejectedly.

Sekiro shook his head. "Ignore him. He is a child."

"Oi," Issei shot back.

The blond only let out a small chuckle, obviously taking the boy's abruption in jest. "As I was saying, I'm Kiba Yuuto."

"Kiba-san," Sekiro acknowledged. "I'm Wolf."

"Wolf…? What a strange name," the blond replied contemplatively. That name wasn't going to get any rest, was it.

Issei frowned, before turning to the shinobi. "Wolf? I thought your name was Sekiro? Come to think of it, Akeno-senpai called you Wolf too."

Sekiro shut his eyes, feeling a headache coming. Why were conversations about his name always coming up? Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he responded. "It doesn't matter what you call me."

Akeno perked up at the mention of Sekiro. "So your name is Wolf? Or Sekiro?"

Sekiro opened his mouth to speak, but Rias seemed to beat him to the punch. "He said Wolf was something that he's been called for a while, so I guess he's just used to being called that?"

Akeno turned to him imploringly. "So what do you want me to call you?"

"It doesn't matter."

"No, no, ignore him. His name is Sekiro," Issei butted in, and Sekiro, once again, raised an eyebrow at the boy.

"What?" Issei defended, "You gotta start introducing your name as Sekiro. Wolf just sounds weird."

Akeno nodded in acceptance. "Yeah, Se-ki-ro-kun, it sounds better than Wolf, ufufu…"

"But that's what I've always been called."

"Yeah, but now you're going to go by Sekiro. That's a real name."

"I agree with Issei-san. Wolf sounds more distant than Sekiro, and since you'll be with us more often, it would only make sense that we break that distance barrier," Kiba commented, as he watched the entire exchange. He felt a bit left out. He turned towards the white haired girl beside him, who was concentratedly eating a brownie. It seemed she didn't feel left out.

"I see." Sekiro nodded, his the corners of his mouth twitching upwards slightly.

"Okay!" Rias interrupted, clapping her hand loudly to gather everyone's attention. "Let's get down to business. I've already ran this through with Sekiro, so now it's your turn Issei."

Said boy nodded eagerly, who seemed happy that he was being given the red haired beauty's attention.

Sekiro left Issei's side and walked behind the couch Rias sat, standing behind her with a subtle hint of protection.

Even Rias felt this, as he noticed that she slackened slightly in her composition.

"So Issei. You are a devil," she announced, the boy looking at her with a confused look.

"What do you mean a devil? How?"

"Well for starters," Rias started, as she showcased her wings unfurling. Soon after, everyone else unfurled their wings.

Issei stepped back in shock. "Wh-what?"

"You have wings too," Akeno pointed out, pointing her finger a little ways past Issei and at his black appendages sticking out.

"Really?!" He turned his head, catching a glimpse of black. "Woah that's so…so...cool…"

His enthusiasm died off, as he bowed his head in depression.

It was Rias's turn to be confused now. "Err...what's...what's wrong…?"

"Nothing, nothing...it's just...I can't achieve my dream anymore!" Issei cried out, falling to his knees as he looked up to the sky. "I just wanted a harem! Why God! Why?!"

Excruciating jolts of pain rang through everyone's heads, followed by shouts of pain, save for Sekiro, who only shut his eyes harshly.

"Please don't do that again," Rias pleaded, the pain finally subsiding.

"S-sorry. Wh-why did that happen?" Issei asked, rubbing his head.

"We're not allowed to utter his name," Rias explained, rubbing her temples.

"A terrible weakness," Sekiro commented, and Rias looked up at him.

"It is."

Issei looked over in jealousy, as waves of anger seemed to travel from the brunette. Sekiro looked at the boy with a passive face that held the slightest bit of amusement. Intimidation didn't suit the boy.

"Anyways," Rias started, either oblivious or uncaring of the boy's anger, though he seemed happy to be under her attention once again.

She hesitated, and though she kept calm and collected, a very very slight hint of cringe adorned her features. It seemed that nobody, but Akeno noticed and she giggled.

"I suppose that once you've ranked up enough as a devil, you'd be able to acquire your own peerage, which would be something akin to...a harem, if you so wish."

Issei broke into a smile, excitement filling his eyes at the revelation. "Really?! So I can get a harem?!"

"If...if you try hard enough," Rias sweatdropped.

She coughed into her fist, signaling for the boy to listen to her.

So, with that being said," she gazed back upwards to her silent protector, "there are some important things that you two should know about being a devil."

Sekiro nodded, while Issei focused on her face, or at least, she hoped he was looking at her face.

"Right. So as devils, we have two enemy factions whom we're at war with. The angels and the fallen angels. Angels are something I'm sure you've already heard of."

"Angels, like...those people in robes up in heaven who are people of Go—him? You mean they exist?"

She nodded. "Angels are the direct servants of the Biblical God, and they reside in Heaven. They are incredibly dangerous because many ancient artifacts were derived from heaven or holy power. So they have the ability, especially for newly reincarnated devils who are still weak, to fully eradicate devils. Though, for the most part, angels themselves are rather passive. The same can't be said about exorcists or the Vatican though, who are humans that work in conjunction with Angels."

Sekiro was intrigued, though wasn't surprised. Angels who worked with humans. The Snake Eyes came to mind. They were descendants of the Okami, and the Okami's domain was the Divine Realm. Wait, was that considered heaven?

"And fallen angels were angels, but fell to their cardinal sins. You probably know them as well."

"Oh! Like...lust...and everything else," Issei stated.

'Of course, that was the only thing he could name...,' Rias had to sweatdrop...along with everyone else. She continued. "But yes. Like...lust...and everything else. Sekiro-kun, Issei, the woman that...killed you last night was a fallen angel."

"Raynare…" he uttered. Her name escaping his lips like a ghost, and everyone looked up towards the boy. Sekiro's brow furrowed in response. That explained the black, crow-like wings. He presumed that angels, then, had white feathery ones, and devils and ones that were more akin to...bats.

"But...but why me?" Issei asked depressedly, everyone's attention on him now.

"I'm suspecting that you're targeted because you own what is called a Sacred Gear," Rias stated.

"Sacred...Gear…?" Issei asked in confusion. Sekiro was curious as well, this was new.

Before Rias could speak, Akeno picked up, "Artifacts created by the original Biblical God that exude an enormous amount of power. Only humans and human hybrids can naturally own one. Some say that the most prominent historical figures used Sacred Gears to aid their influence."

Issei nodded with rapt attention, before looking up, stroking his chin contemplatively, while Sekiro thought back to the many enemies he'd fought. A lot of the enemies he'd fought were abnormally large. Maybe they held Sacred Gear?

As if coming to a conclusion, Issei brightened. "So what you're saying is...that she was targeting me because my dick is something called a Sacred Gear?!"

In a show of comedic proportions, Issei managed to project his thoughts to the group in the room, showing various beautiful women, of breasts different sizes, of hips various widths, of thighs various thicknesses, of women various races (and species. Who knew, maybe there was a hot lizard-like woman up in the heavens?), as they tried to fight each other in massive bloodshed to acquire his Sacred Gear.

"That must be why Raynare killed me! So that only she could have my Sacred Gear! That's kinda selfish actually. My powers deserve to be shared with the women of the world...worlds!" Issei shouted passionately, drive flaring in his eyes.

Everyone blinked in stupor, as one collective thought rang through their heads: 'How...how did he come to that conclusion?'

Sekiro shook his head. Let it be known, once again, that Issei was a pervert. A huge pervert.

"Issei," Sekiro said sternly, recovering from said stupor a split second before Rias did, "focus."

"R-right. Sorry senpai," Issei muttered, returning from his imaginative high.

And Rias, whose words were stolen from her mouth, pouted, as a slight blush of embarrassment from having someone else take control dusted her face.

"Rias, you too. Focus," Sekiro directed his sternness towards her, and she felt an arrow pierce her heart, slumping onto herself in shame.

"Ara ara, seems like someone knows how to take control, ufufu…" Akeno giggled, and Rias glared at her.

Recomposing herself, she continued. "Okay, Issei. Please hold your left hand up."

Upon her instruction, the boy extended his left arm upward. "Like this?"

She nodded. "Now think of something strong. Your

will. Your…...dream…to name a few."

"Right!" Issei closed his eyes in utmost concentration. That did not last long. His face contorted into that of being constipated before his eyelids cracked open, and a lecherous blush donned his face. "Guhuh…."

Crack!

The sound of ceramic cracking and splintering resounded, as miniscule shards sprayed in different directions as a shard impacted his head.

"Gah!" Issei rubbed his head, as a welt began to form.

Everyone looked around in surprise, wondering where the foreign object came from. They scanned the room for any signs of broken furniture before settling onto the boy behind Rias, who stood with his arm extended. "Focus, I said."

"You threw that at me?!" Issei shouted. "Where did you even get that?!"

"Focus, or I'll throw this at you next time," Sekiro said, reaching into his pouch and brandishing a shuriken to the perverted boy. The steel glinted in the dim light of the room.

Issei's eyes widened, remembering the skillfully deadly usage of the weapon, and he trembled slightly. "R-right…"

Rias looked up at the intimidating boy curiously, as thoughts ran through her mind about how he acquired such a thing.

"Who knew our newest member was such a weeb like Buchou?" Akeno teased, causing Rias's face to fill with red.

Akeno smiled at the behest of their leader. "Oops, you weren't supposed to know that...yet."

Sekiro only shook his head at her statement, intently staring at the boy, slowly pulling his arm back menacingly. "I'm going to hit you where it counts."

Sweat now dripping down his head, Issei closed his eyes in the utmost concentration, fearful of what his threat entailed.

"Hhggggggggrah!" He fell to his knees, losing focus. "I can't…"

The shuriken spun rapidly in the air, grazing the tiny threads of Issei's brown hair as it impaled itself onto the wall behind Issei. Issei's eyes widened.

Everyone oscillated their looks between the boy who threw it and the shuriken on the wall. He didn't even make a sound when he threw it!

"You can," Sekiro refuted confidently.

"No I can't! I can't focus on the right thing right now!" Issei retorted, looking down in shame.

"That's alright. It might be a bit difficult for you right now," Rias spoke, consoling the downtrodden boy. "Truth is, the fallen angel was afraid. She saw something dangerous in you and had to act."

"S-so...you're saying that because she saw something dangerous, she decided to kill me? Is that how it's going to be every time? Will someone always try to kill me?" Issei asked dejectedly.

Sekiro stared at the boy in pity. Here was a boy, who'd done nothing but live his life normally, and if what his lord said held any truth to her words, then he was killed for something he couldn't control.

It was like with Kuro. Kuro was constantly being targeted for his immortality. Some wished to challenge that fact. Others wished to manipulate it. It was one of the reasons why Kuro wanted to fight. To get strong. To protect himself.

"...and I want to be able to protect you too."

Kuro's words of warmth rang in his mind.

That's right. If Issei wanted to stop being a target, if he wanted to protect himself, he would need to overcome this hurdle.

But there was another thing too. Issei was now a member of Rias's peerage, like him. If he's too weak to protect himself, then what of his master? He couldn't have that. Her safety is his priority, after all.

'Perhaps…' he wondered, an idea popping into his head.

As Rias opened her mouth to speak, he sighed, before leaving his post. Soft and silent footsteps made its way towards Issei, and when he was in front of him, he kneeled.

"Yes. There will be those who try to kill you," Sekiro stated bluntly, earning a depressed sigh from the boy. "But…"

Perhaps, he could offer something. Something to boost his morale, if not just a little. His mind flickered to a remnant of his past that he did not yet want to part with. No. There was something else.

His hand crossed his waist and into the small pouch that rested on it. He had it somewhere.

He felt eyes of curiosity on him, as his hand reached deeper in, the pouch enveloping his whole hand. It was in here somewhere. He felt for random things that weren't necessary. The grainy feeling of powder, the soft feathery fan, the sharp blade of another kunai.

"Where is it…?" he asked himself, as his brow furrowed.

"Ara ara, that pouch sure is larger than what it looks like…"

"Senpai, what are you…?"

Then, he felt it. The loose rope tickled his hands, and as he withdrew his hand, the soft sound of beads clacking together resonated in the silent room.

His first prayer necklace. The beads shone unnaturally blue in the dimly lit room, and the rope was a dusty light brown from being in the sun for too long back then. It was no use to him now, but maybe it would provide solace to the boy in front of him.

He held it out in front of him, the necklace hanging loosely from his hand, waiting for his partner-in-death to grab it.

"What's this?" Issei asked, as he stared at the necklace in wonder.

"A charm. To help you grow stronger," Sekiro explained softly, pushing it to the boy.

"Why?" he could only ask.

"You'll need it more than me. You need to grow strong to protect her."

With that Issei grasped the necklace in his hands, allowing the beads to roll around in his palm before fitting his head through the loop.

"S-senpai...thank you."

Sekiro only grunted before returning to his post.

Rias's lips graced a small smile, and admiration filled her eyes as her gaze followed the boy back to his spot.

"So Rias-senpai," Issei started, who looked a lot less depressed after receiving the surprising gift, "if Senpai and I died, how is it that we're alive?"

Her attention returned to the new member in front of her, nodding. As if she were expecting for this question to come up, she pulled out a small piece of paper with a pentagram from her pocket, and raised it so the boy could see it.

Issei's eyes widened in recognition.

"When you died, you activated this. Your wish was to die in a beautiful girl's arms, so as your life expired, I was summoned and I brought you two back to life."

"That's right...I do remember saying that," he muttered, entranced by the paper.

"And as a result, Issei, Sekiro, you two have been reincarnated as devils under my name, Rias Gremory, daughter of the Marquis of Gremory, a high-ranking devil," the crimson-haired girl, announced, her wings fluttering open in a dominating fashion as she stood from the chair, the climax of this meeting finally pushing through. "With that being said…"

The group, forcing Sekiro and Issei to stand side-by-side, surrounded them with smiles on their face (save for Koneko). "Welcome to the group, you two!"

The street lights illuminated his path as he walked, the bag of logs swinging from his hand with each footstep. His steps echoed down the empty sidewalk.

Kuoh was silent tonight, he noticed. The usually loud whizzing of cars that would pass by every few seconds or minutes were absent tonight. All that was left was a dark empty street. Even the citizens of Kuoh seemed to have figured to retire tonight, as some of the lights that were present in the many buildings were flickering off.

As he continued to walk, he allowed his mind to wander. There was a lot to think about, especially over the past two days.

He had a lord again...or whatever a female equivalent to a lord was. And though it did fill him with some purpose in his life once again, deep down, he was...dare he say...afraid. Afraid of what could be again.

After all, Kuro was immortal. Seemingly unkillable, gifted with the immortality of the divine dragon. He truly thought that his lord had no weakness. Yet, there he was, laying grievously injured at the top of the tower, with blood gushing out of a wound caused by a blade.

So if his seemingly immortal lord could die, then what of Rias? He knew she was a devil, he knew she wasn't immortal, and he knew that if Kuro could die, then how much more of a possibility was death for her?

Being a devil meant weaknesses, and weakness meant death Issei showed him one such weakness that could render the whole peerage useless. What if someone who was targeting her exploited that weakness. Then what?

It was his duty to ensure her safety, but failure, especially this second time, terrified him to his core.

Maybe, just maybe he could relax a bit knowing that there was a group with him to ensure her safety, but he didn't know everyone else all too well.

Akeno, he figured, was incredibly close to Rias; far more so than anyone there, and if she was Rias's right hand man, then she would no doubt be able to protect her.

But the two others, Kiba and Koneko? He didn't know them, what their relationship was with Rias, their strengths and weaknesses. The only thing he did know was that they were there before him. But what if they had no qualms in abandoning her for their own gain?

His biggest concern, however, was Issei. They were going to have to work on his confidence, and on his ability. Granted, he looked like the type to always be the one to be picked on or shunned (unsurprisingly), but that would explain his inability to focus correctly or to take things seriously. That would have to change soon. There were bigger things at stake now, but he believed that the pervert would grow out of it, or at least mature a little.

Thinking back to the boy now, he didn't know why he did it. Why he gave him one of his prayer necklaces, that is. He couldn't help but feel compassionate towards the boy.

He didn't know the boy, but he trusted him the most. He could see in his eyes that he was innocent. Ignorant. He was a simple boy who lived a simple life with a...big, yet harmless dream. Above all though, he was instated the same time that he was. He was new to this, as was he.

A scoff escaped his lips. He could sense it now; his father's disapproving shake of his head, before saying something like, "A shinobi...like you...showing the likes of compassion? Unthinkable. Such a miserable display."

Footsteps brought his attention back to the world. Those weren't his. He wasn't alone anymore.

"My, my…," came a gruff voice, and a man wearing a trench coat and a fedora stood a distance away from the thinking Wolf. "A stray? Or so it seems."

Sekiro tensed, his eyes narrowing as he tightly gripped his bag of logs. "Who are you?"

The man let out a haughty laugh. "Who do you think you are, asking for my name, devil scum? Though if you must know…"

Sekiro's eyes widened, as brilliant light illuminated the night sky and a blue spear of light appeared in the man's hand.

"I am Dohnaseek. And I will kill you."

With a shout, he lunged forward quickly, spear raised as he went in to slash the shinobi devil.

Sekiro immediately stepped to the side, reeling his arm back before swinging the bag of logs upwards. The bag ripped open as it smashed into the man's face, breaking free of its plastic confines before flying into the air.

The man stumbled backwards at the impact as blood sprayed freely from his busted nose and lip. He gripped hos broken face in reflex, as he stared back at the boy.

"Agh! You bastard!" Came the enraged man's muffled shout, as he lunged and swung low, a glint appearing at the edge of his spear, hoping to knock the agile boy off of his feet.

Alarm bells rang in Sekiro's head as instincts took over, causing the boy to jump up into the air to avoid the low swipe. And in a split second, he planted his feet onto the man's shoulders and kicked off, using the man's face as a platform, more blood spraying out in the process.

Once again, the man stumbled back, agitation in his eyes, as he pulled his spear back, and lunged towards the boy.

A seeming parallel to his last fight. Sekiro knew what was coming next. And when the spearhead was within reach, he reacted, like a wolf snapping its jaws, stomping on the head of the spear with a small boom. A perfect Mikiri Counter. Though something felt...different.

The man stared Sekiro in the eye and lowered his hand, showing a disgustingly bloody maniacal grin. The sound of sizzling reached his ears and flesh burning filled his nose. Sekiro's eyes widened fractionally, as he looked down at the foot on the spear. There was smoke rising from his foot.

The man took this opportunity to lift the spear, causing Sekiro to tumble onto the ground, and before he got a chance to recover, the man stabbed it straight through his stomach.

Sekiro grit his teeth in pain, as the spear excruciatingly burned a hole through his stomach.

"Haha! So you were the one that shocked little Raynare. She told me all about you, and that little move you did, but it looks like that stupid move didn't work this time," The man cried in mock derision, the manic smile never leaving his face.

He forcefully unpinned the spear from his body, causing Sekiro to jerk upward slightly, and raised the bloody weapon above Sekiro's head.

"Goodbye, devil!"

But before the man could finish his shinobi execution, a blast of crimson collided with the lightspear, followed by a burst of lightning.

Sekiro felt firm hands grab his side, and he was lifted into the air with ease.

"Got him, Buchou," Koneko's familiar monotonous voice spoke.

A wave of relief washed over Rias upon hearing Koneko's words. 'Thank goodness.'

"Good," Rias responded, as Koneko quickly regrouped with Rias and Akeno.

With their objective complete, Rias and Akeno stared focusedly at the man who surprisingly escaped the combo, barely unscathed. His fedora and coat was slightly singed along its edges as he stared down the group of devils.

'It looked like Sekiro already did a number on him,' Rias thought, as she stared at the numerous cuts and ruptures on his face that had splinters of wood. She eyed the multiple logs on the ground. 'Logs…?'

"That crimson hair...it's a pleasure being in the esteemed presence of a Gremory," the man smirked, bringing her attention back to him.

"Hello fallen angel-san. You realize that you are operating in Gremory territory, do you not?" Rias asked, standing protectively over the retrieved boy and part of her peerage.

"My deepest apologies, Gremory-san. You see, I saw a lone devil here and thought it was a stray," Dohnaseek unapologetically replied, clearing away some of the blood that dribbled down his chin with his glove. "Though you would do well to keep a leash on your pets, else they may be mistaken as a stray, like that one there."

The implications of Sekiro angered her greatly. How dare he talk down on her peerage member like that? It only proved to her that many fallen angels were hell bent on making the lives of others much harder.

She wasn't going to lash out at him and stoop to their level. Her composure won over and she spoke coldly and confidently. "And it would do you well to remember that if I see you again, you won't be leaving alive next time."

"I'll do well to remember that well then, Gremory-sama," Dohnaseek laughed haughtily before unfurling his feathery wings, before taking to the skies, leaving the group alone.

After the threat disappeared, she immediately turned, concern etched onto her face as she rushed to the injured boy who was held up by her tiny rook.

"Is he still awake?" She asked, taking him off Koneko, and looping his right arm around her shoulders.

"Thank...you," Sekiro struggled to get out, as blood gushed steadily down his stomach.

"Of course. Anything for my cute little servants. Let's get you healed up," she replied softly, before turning to Akeno and Koneko. "Thank you for accompanying me. You're all relieved, I'll see you all tomorrow."

"Of course, Buchou/Yes, Buchou," Akeno and Koneko replied, as Akeno smiled behind her hand, while Koneko merely nodded, before a glowing red circle encompassed the two. A flash of red light brightened the area and when it cleared, they were gone.

Her attention redirected itself back to the injured boy. "Our turn now. Do you think you can tell me where you live? I doubt you'd want to always wake up in the club room every time you get injured."

Sekiro struggled to keep his eyes open now. He'd lost too much blood. But he managed to mutter it, softly and weakly, before finally succumbing to the sweet temptations of unconsciousness.

Rias hurriedly summoned her family sigil, the same bright red circle that encompassed Akeno and Koneko encompassed her and the unconscious boy. She needed to heal him fast. They'd stalled long enough already, though she was quite honestly surprised that he'd managed to stay awake for so long already. With that much blood lost, she was sure that, and she shivered at the thought, if she was the one to take an injury like that, she would've dropped a long time ago. Especially with a light weapon involved.

Finally, she felt the tug of the circle, signifying that they were about to teleport, and a flash of bright red light soon followed, evacuating the two devils.

Immediately, Rias was met with the smell of wood and a dark and lonely interior. So this was Sekiro's room? It was barren, void of any furniture or picture. There wasn't even a clock on the wall! She eyed the lonely mat in the center of the room, and she frowned. Was this his living conditions?

She shook her head. She could contemplate his living space later. There was something more important that she needed to do.

And with that, she began her process of healing, stripping each and every article of clothing that was on them. She carefully avoided Sekiro's left arm as she removed his clothes, and she placed him gently onto his mat.

Naked, she laid down next to him. The hard floor was uncomfortable against her back, but there wasn't much she could do. So she began to heal him. Snuggling close, she placed her head onto his shoulder, and hugged him gently. This was much more comfortable.

Edit: Now that this is done, I can go resume Chapter 3 for this, and then there's Chapter 2 for Shinto, and then there's Chapter whatever for Underworld Historians. I hope I did y'all justice for these revisions, and if any other problems do come up in Chapter 3 and beyond, please let me know. So see y'all in about four years.