Diabolos of the Student Council, Part 1

Kuou Academy was home to a number of unique students, some popular and some not so popular. Word tended to travel around the school at a downright scary speed. As such, if there was a spectacle, you can bet the entire school knew about and was on the lookout for it.

In this case, the spectacle was a dog. A large, black Labrador.

Not the largest of dog breeds, but big enough to be intimidating, especially considering its colour. The only word that could be used to describe it was "black," but in truth it seemed somehow darker than that. Another factor was the fact that its eyes were an unnatural red. Yet, despite its intimidating appearance, the dog did not frighten many at Kuou Academy because of what specific kind of dog it was. The breed was not important, but the dog's function was what comforted everyone.

In short, it was a service dog. It led around a blind student.

Said student and his dog were walking into school this morning amid the whispers of the students. Aketoshi Iwachi held the lead as his dog, Baskerville, pulled him towards the school building. He was a pale boy of 16, a first-year at this particular school, with mid-length, curly, pale, blond hair. His eyes, hidden behind a pair of shades, were almost totally white. He was of average height for his age, though hid a slightly muscular physique beneath his school uniform. His whole appearance, in fact, screamed "pretty boy." Said uniform consisted of an open black blazer-jacket with white highlights, a creased white button-down shirt with a loosely-tied black ribbon around the collar, black trousers, and a pair of brown shoes. He walked in a slight hunch, trying to seem as small as possible. Even though he could not see the stares he got from the other students, he could feel their gazes upon him and hear what they said about him in whispers.

Most of what the other students said about him was pity. "I feel so sorry for him" and all that shit. Among those were the hormone-driven girls who took a romantic/sexual interest in him because they felt some deep-seated need to "protect" him. He wasn't particularly fond of those, either. In a weird way, he was actually fond of two out of three members of the notorious "Perverted Trio" – the two who complained about the attention he got from women weren't making pity-fuelled comments on his blindness.

The third, Hyoudou, didn't say much, if anything, about Aketoshi, so Aketoshi just assumed he was another pitier. Though I suppose if he is, our roles have been somewhat reversed, Aketoshi mused. He did not know the details, but from what he could gather, Hyoudou had run afoul of a fallen angel a few days ago and had to be resurrected by one of the other demons of the school, Rias Gremory. Being part of a different Familia himself, Aketoshi was not allowed to get involved, otherwise he might have felt inclined to befriend Hyoudou, or at the very least become more of an actual acquaintance.

Oh, yes, Aketoshi is a demon. Did I forget to mention that?

"Always the drawer of attention," his companion for the morning commented, remarking on the other students' not so subtle stares.

"Unfortunately so," he replied. "Coming to school with a different girl each morning probably doesn't help." He said the latter part with a held-back feeling of irritation.

His companion chuckled softly, not losing her dignity for a second. "It's hardly out fault our master wants to you know the route by heart before she'll let you make the journey alone. You're a first-year at the school now; you can't just transport in every day any more."

"I'm well aware." It was only the second week of his first semester at the school. He had been here before during the daily meetings of the Familia, but it was always through magic circle since he did not attend the school at the time. "But as you well know, blindness isn't quite the hindrance for me now that it was when I was human."

Despite his irritation at the perceived coddling, he was happy that they were looking out for him. He also took joy in the company of someone other than his dog; he just wished he could be sure it was because they liked spending time with him, not just because they were worried about him.

The one he was walking with this morning was a 17-year-old second-year by the name of Reya Kusaka. She was a slim girl with long, brown hair that ended in two short braids, and matching eyes. She wore a blue headband in her hair. She was wearing the Kuou Academy girls' uniform, which consisted of a white, button-down shirt with a black ribbon tied around the collar, a red skirt with white highlights, a matching black shoulder-cape and corset, both with white highlights, and brown dress-shoes. Not that Aketoshi could see any of this for himself, but it was not her looks that made him like her. She was very soft-spoken, much more so than the rambunctious girls that made up most of the school's population, which appealed to him as an introvert. She was easier for him to speak to than most.

"I know that," said Reya. "Just humour her, all right? She doesn't think you're incapable or anything, she's just trying to be safe."

"Yeah, I guess."

They walked into the school building and through the halls. Though he could not see any of it, Aketoshi could make out quite a lot with his other senses. The chatter of voices, the small sounds as shoes impacted the floor, doors opening and closing – all of these sounds reverberated around the area, bouncing off of people and objects, and allowed Aketoshi to know where everyone and everything in his vicinity was. His sense of touch, just as supernatural as his sense of hearing, told him where things near him were even without the sonar-like effect his hearing provided. Air displacement as he moved informed him when he was moving close to something, or vice versa.

His senses of taste and smell were also equally sensitive.

Sometimes, he thought a bat-like Sacred Gear would have been more appropriate than the dog-based one he had. The demonic wings he could summon were quite appropriate, though.

"I'll see you in the student council room after school," Reya said as they reached his classroom.

"You'll have to settle for me hearing you," Aketoshi quipped.

Reya gave a polite chuckle and waved as she walked off to her own classroom. Aketoshi walked into his own classroom and found his seat near the front of the class, between two girls, both 16 years of age like him.

On his left was Koneko Toujou, a girl he knew but wasn't especially close to. Part of that was because she was part of a different Familia – yes, she was a demon, too – but another part of it seemed to be his dog. She didn't like Baskerville for some reason. She was a petite girl, even by the standards of the first-years, with snow-white hair which had two long bangs going past her shoulders at the front and several loose bangs hanging over her forehead, while the back was styled in a short bob cut. There was a black cat-like hair clip on either side of her head. Her eyes were gold.

On his other side sat Ruruko Nimura, a human girl Aketoshi had taken to quite well. She, too, was short, though not as short as Koneko. She had dark, brown hair styled in two long ponytails that went almost all the way down her back, and green eyes. There was a pair of green clips in her hair. She was wearing the Kuou Academy girls' uniform, which consisted of a white, button-down shirt with a black ribbon tied around the collar, a black shoulder-cape with white highlights and matching corset around her midsection, a red skirt with yellow highlights, and a pair of brown shoes. She also wore a pair of striped stockings that alternated between a light shade and a dark shade of green with every stripe.

Koneko wore the same uniform, but forsook the shoulder-cape. She also wore a pair of black, knee-high socks.

"Mornin', Toshi!" Ruruko greeted him cheerfully. "Toshi" was a nickname two other overly cheerful people used for him, so he never minded it.

"… Morning, Iwachi," Koneko said blankly.

Aketoshi made sure Baskerville sat on the side of him Ruruko was on in order to avoid upsetting Koneko with his presence too much. "G'morning, you two," he said politely.

"And hello to you, too, Basky," Ruruko cooed as she leaned down to pet Baskerville, who happily licked at her hand in response.

Aketoshi grimaced slightly at that. "Basky." Such an undignified name for his dog. Not that he was above cooing over his own dog, but he at least always used his full name.

He doubted any human would call him something like that if they knew what he really was.

The end of the school day came, and it was time for the real work to be done.

Aketoshi once again found himself walking through the hustle and bustle of the school, only this time it was more chaotic. Students from all three years were in a hurry to get home, meet their friends to hang out, or go to their club meetings. To him, the school was alive with sounds and smells. Yet the crowds parted for him like the red sea – as ironic as that comparison was – when he neared. As much as he hated being treated differently, he had to admit that it had some perks. Moving through the school was rarely a problem when everyone jumped out of your way the second they saw you coming.

He arrived at the student council in no time and went inside. The room was set out like an office, with multiple desks throughout. They were wider than the desks in the classrooms to allow for more paperwork. There were strange symbols on the walls, though, things that most humans would be unable to identify, and the room was absolutely teeming with demonic power.

He was the third one there, as he often was. The others had to put actual effort into navigating through the crowds. The two in there were two women who you couldn't keep away from their work if you were actively trying.

Sona Sitri, known to the humans of the school as Souna Shitori, was the master of the Familia and the student council chairwoman. She was an 18-year-old, bespectacled third-year with a slim figure, black hair styled in a bob cut, and violet eyes. There was a small, white hair clip on either side of her head. She wore her school uniform formally, to absolute perfection.

The vice-chairwoman of the student council, Tsubaki Shinra, was also a bespectacled 18-year-old with black hair, though hers was long, straight, had split bangs over her forehead, and extended all the way down to her knees. She had heterochromia, which led to her having a violet left eye and a light brown right eye. Her body was, to put it politely, more developed than Sona's, particularly notable in her fuller breasts.

"Good afternoon, Chairwoman, Vice-Chairwoman," Aketoshi greeted, bowing politely to his master and her Queen. He appeared calm, but his heart was racing. It always did when Sona was around.

"Good afternoon, Aketoshi," said Sona.

"Hello, Ake," Tsubaki greeted him. "Ake" was another common nickname of his. It was also what Reya usually called him.

With the greetings out of the way, he took a seat at his desk. He subtly took some deep breaths, trying to calm his racing pulse. Sona's presence had been having this effect on him since not long after he'd met her. It was hard not to feel affection for someone who took you in when you had no place else to go, but at some point, that affection had grown into a crush of epic proportions. He had never and nor would he ever actually see her, but simply her presence – the sound of her voice, her scent, the tingles any physical contact, no matter how minor, sent through his body – was beautiful to him.

But he couldn't focus on that now. He had duties to attend to.

Paperwork.

This demonic dealings would not begin for quite some time yet. Sona loved this school and took the duties of the student council as far more than a simple cover story. He would have to deal with the mundane work before he could move on to more supernatural endeavours.

His paperwork was always printed in Braille so that he could read it. He was hoping he could get at least something done before his chief distraction arrived.

No such luck.

The door flew open with a loud bang. "I'm here, Toshi!" came the high-pitched, energetic voice of a girl who had gotten being a "covert pervert" down to a science.

Tomoe Meguri was a second-year student of 17 years old. She was quite beautiful, though breast-lovers often disagreed due to her flat chest. She had shoulder-length, reddish-brown hair that was tied in two short ponytails at the back, with swept bangs over her forehead and a single strand of hair – an ahoge – sticking out from the top of her head like an antenna. She had something of a reputation for liking boys who were younger than her, and since Aketoshi was both the youngest member of the student council and the only boy in it so far, that meant he got the lion's share of her attention.

Such as now.

The door had only slid halfway closed behind her by the time she got to Aketoshi's desk. She stood behind him, leant down, and hugged him from behind. He felt the heat rising in his cheeks as he felt every sensation amplified. That was the issue with using demonic power to enhance all his working senses beyond a level even demons were usually at – everything was amplified. The softness of Tomoe's cheek rubbing against his and the heat rising in his own cheeks, for instance, were both far stronger than they would have been back when he was human.

"Ah, that's better," Tomoe said as she him in her arms and rubbed against him. "I've been deprived of you all day!"

"R-Really?" he asked, snark worming its way through his embarrassment. "So that wasn't your scent and breathing I noticed in the vents above the boys' changing room during P.E. earlier?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Tomoe said, accompanied by a nervous giggle.

"Tomoe," Sona spoke up sternly. "How many times do I have to tell you not to distract Aketoshi from his work?"

"You can keep doing it every night for the rest of time, Chairwoman," Tomoe chirped, hugging Aketoshi tighter. "You'll never stop me cuddling Toshi! I have, like, a medical need to smother him. Besides, he likes it! Don't you, Toshi?"

He actually did, albeit with quite a lot of embarrassment, but hell if he was going to admit that out loud. "I'm not bothered," he said.

"See, Chairwoman? It doesn't bother him."

Sona's gaze was strict and unforgiving. "You have work to do, too, you know," she said.

Tomoe pouted. "Killjoy." But she conceded and released Aketoshi, who immediately and dutifully got back to doing his paperwork. Then Tomoe moved the chair from her own desk next to his – very close to him, in fact – and started doing her work at his desk, her arm brushing up against his the whole time.

Sona levelled Tomoe with a glare. Tomoe stuck her tongue out and carried on.

Aketoshi spent the rest of the afternoon with a red face, unable to bring himself to speak up out of sheer shyness at the prolonged contact.

When all the paperwork was done for the afternoon, the time came for them to do their real jobs: making pacts with humans. The desks were all moved, pushed up against the walls, revealing a large magic circle at the centre of the student council room. That was what they used to transport to their clients.

It was also what Aketoshi was using at this very moment.

The magic circle on the leaflet in the client's possession glowed dark blue. The light spread out and upwards, encompassing the entire room. Just as quickly as it started, it stopped, revealing Aketoshi and Baskerville to the client.

"Good evening," Aketoshi introduced himself, bowing. "My name is Aketoshi Iwachi, and I'll be your demon for the evening. Do forgive the presence of my dog, Baskerville. I'm afflicted with blindness, you see, and my canine companion here is of great help to me." He patted Baskerville on the head, which the Labrador appreciated greatly.

"… Well, at least I don't need any visual input from you for this," said his client, a college-aged guy. This place looked like some sort of dorm more than a house or apartment. "No offence."

Aketoshi shrugged. "I'm not supposed to be rude to clients even if you did mean offence, so don't worry about it."

"… Right …" The client cleared his throat awkwardly. "I'm, uh, my name is Hazu. I'm studying textiles in college so I can become a tailor when I graduate. I need somebody to help me with my tailoring, but I don't have enough money to pay anyone. From what I understand, you guys don't always charge money?"

"Money can be used, but so can personal possessions, items of worth, or in extreme cases, even the client's life. Don't worry, though," he said, smelling the odour of sudden perspiration and hearing a pick-up in Hazu's heart-rate, "I doubt you'll be charged your soul for something like this. That's typically for the big stuff. Like, say, you wanted untold riches, or a harem of beautiful women? That stuff we basically have to pluck out of thin air is the stuff that'll get you killed. For something like this, I'll probably just end up taking some of your stuff back with me. If it's any consolation, we try not to take those deals when people want too much. The forces of Heaven can get a bit smitey when we do that."

"… Okay then," said Hazu. He decided not to question any more, lest he have a crisis of some sort. "All I really need you to do today is stand still with your arms out so I can measure you up. I need some practice making clothes tailored to specific people."

"Sounds easy enough," said Aketoshi. He nodded to a corner. Baskerville left his side and sat where he indicated. "Ready when you are."

Hazu picked up a tape measure from his coffee table. "Arms out, please."

Aketoshi raised his arms outward and to the side. Hazu went to work, taking the tape measure and measuring him from his right wrist to his right shoulder. He kept it there for several moments, then moved on to the left. Aketoshi quickly grew to find this awkward, so he tried to start a conversation. "You don't mind Baskerville being here, do you?"

"I am more of a cat person, to be honest. But your dog's fine. He seems well-behaved. I was thinking about getting a pet, myself. It gets a little lonely being away from home some days."

"I thought this felt like student accommodation. You attending college far away from home?"

"Yeah. I head back home during holidays, though, so it's not too bad. How about you? Do, uh, do demons even have family and stuff?"

"We're each other's family. Or, at least, I think of the other demons as family." He smiled warmly. "I've only been part of this whole thing for two years, but being around the others feels like being at home." He frowned. "Up to and including the way your family can sometimes drive you a tad crazy." He thought his next words through carefully and decided that if he was going to talk to anyone, it may as well be someone the others were unlikely to talk with. Assuming he always used Aketoshi's services in the future, anyway. "I feel a bit smothered sometimes. I can't see, but I'm not inept. I wish they'd trust me to take care of myself more."

"Maybe they do," Hazu suggested. "I might be wrong, but you seem pretty asocial to me. I bet if I'd just said 'you're dog's fine' and that's it, you wouldn't have said another word the whole time you're here." Aketoshi did not deny this. "Thought so. Just going by what you're saying – and again, I don't know any of the others, so I could be totally off here – I'd guess that they know you won't make the first move to socialise, so they make it instead. Worrying about your disability could just be a pretence."

"… Hmph."

That was all Aketoshi could really say. He couldn't really deny the possibility Hazu was presenting, but he wasn't an optimist by any means. One thing Hazu was right about was Aketoshi being asocial. He wouldn't ask them about this, at least not without a ton of mental preparation, so it was really a matter of observing their behaviour with his four working senses and, if that produced no results, work up the nerve to just come out and ask. He hoped he wouldn't have to do that. "Thanks, Hazu," he said after a few minutes of awkward silence. "You've given me something to think about."

"No prob," said Hazu. "Now, I've finished with your top half. I'll be doing the waist and legs next."

"Just so long as your hands don't go anywhere funny," said Aketoshi.

Aketoshi had a few more contracts that night. During his last one for the evening, he asked the client where they were in town. He found out that he wasn't very far away from home.

He decided to just walk home from the client's place.

Sona would be angry, of course, but it wasn't like his house was far from here, and he knew the area. The last client paid in cash, which he could just deliver to the student council room tomorrow. All that going back now would do was waste time, as he would drop the money off, then either transport home using the magic circle or walk home from the school. It should be fine, right? he thought as he walked through the dark, empty streets with Baskerville in front of him, off his lead. This late at night, nobody was out, so Aketoshi using his enhanced senses to navigate wouldn't draw any attention. Even if someone was out and about, he would hear and feel them coming long before they saw him, so there was nothing to worry about.

About five minutes after he left the client's house, Baskerville started growling.

"I know," Aketoshi said soothingly. There were footsteps about thirty feet behind him which had been following for the last minute or so. A particular sensation was emanating from whoever it was. Fallen angel. Just fucking perfect. Of course, the one night he chose to be a little rebellious, he just happened to come across one of the very few fallen angels in town. Fuck my luck.

Still, there shouldn't be anything to worry about. All he would have to do is identify himself and his master, and any reasonable fallen angel would quickly realise he's not a stray and that getting into a fight would be counterproductive to the tense stalemate the factions were in.

Two minutes later, the fallen angel still wasn't approaching. Worse than that, Aketoshi could hear another set of footsteps, further away but still within range. Rather than lead the fallen angel to his house, risk getting a human involved, or risk the idea that this second set of footsteps was another fallen angel, Aketoshi decided to take matters into his own hands.

"I know you're there, fallen one," he said, pulling to a stop. "My name is Aketoshi Iwachi, and I am a servant of Sona Sitri, heir to the House of Sitri. I am no stray demon. There is nothing for you here. Kindly cease following me."

"Ugh, and here I thought I was being subtle," said a bratty-sounding voice. The footsteps got faster and drew closer, and a scent entered Aketoshi's nose. He focused on her, ready to fight if he had to. He could hear the blood pumping through her veins as well as the heart that was pumping it. Every breath she took reached his ears. It was easy to pinpoint her location and tell that she was a rather small girl, not unlike Koneko. She had blonde hair tied into twin-tails, and blue eyes. She was dressed in Gothic Lolita attire: a black Lolita dress with white frills, a large black bow on the front, and a green jewel embedded on the collar, white thigh-high socks, and black shoes. She also wore a large black bow on top of her hair. "You must have balls of titanium to think you can threaten me like that, demon."

"I could say the same to you, stalking a demon through territory owned by demons," Aketoshi retorted. "So, why not just call it even and part ways peacefully?"

"Pfft. 'Peacefully,' he says." The fallen angel gave a derisive laugh. "It would be a funny old world if our kind and yours threw around words like 'peacefully' all the time. And demon or not, anyone who walks around in the dead of night wearing sunglasses is just asking to get stabbed. You going for the full douchebag look or something?"

"Or something. Are you really going to go out of your way to make this fight happen? Because I assure you, that will not end well."

"Yeah, but the experience will be worth it." Her voice was filled with interest. Her wings spread out behind her, causing a minor disturbance in the air. Aketoshi heard the soft sound of a feather hitting the floor near her feet. "That dog … I've read about that. It's mean to look more wolf-like, but Sacred Gears change with the owner's feelings and all that shit. It's one thing for someone to walk around with their Sacred Gear openly on display, but keeping a Longinus out for the world to see? Dude, you're almost literally begging for trouble."

She really is determined to do this, he thought. A feeling of not quite admiration but not quite disrespect, either, filled him. "I'd guess it was your excess of pride that led you to falling," he said. He reached up and removed his shades, deciding he would rather not break them during the inevitable scuffle. He sent a mental signal to Baskerville, whose form began to shift. "'Pride cometh before the fall,' as they say. I'll give you one last chance to back out before history repeats itself."

The fallen angel looked him in the eyes, which held no comprehension of her, and began cackling. "Oh, man! You're blind? You're standing there, acting all high and mighty, and you can't even see me?" She summoned a spear of light, and even though he couldn't see it, Aketoshi's demonic instincts felt its presence and screamed at him to avoid it at all cost. "Longinus or not, this is gonna be a breeze!"

"My dog begs to differ." Baskerville had, by now, grown quite significantly into a more wolf-like dog, like a huge, black Saarloos with hungry red eyes and snarling fangs. "And Baskerville isn't often mistaken."

There was no point at this stage, of course. A pair of familiar scents had entered the scene.

"That's enough."

Sona's voice cut through the tension like a knife through butter. She and Tsubaki, having just transported to the area after sensing something was wrong, sent glares that promised retribution of the fallen angel proceeded any further with her attack.

"I have no doubt that my servant told you who he serves," Sona said to the fallen angel. "So, I can only assume you have a death wish, fallen angel. If that is the case, then feel free to continue this course of action and I'll gladly indulge you. If you wish to live, however, then I suggest you cease and desist right now and we can forget this ever happened. Rest assured, however, that if you approach one of my servants in this manner again, I swear on the name of Sitri that you will not leave this town alive."

"Ooh, so dramatic," the fallen angel said mockingly. "Fine, have it your way, you precious little demon princess. I'll let this slide for now. You should feel honoured, dog boy. Remember this as the day you narrowly escaped being killed by the amazing fallen angel, Mittelt!"

With that, she took to the sky and flew away, leaving a number of feathers behind.

Sona then turned her attention towards Aketoshi, and he knew he was in for a chewing out. As she approached him, though, he took note of a third breathing sound apart from Sona and Tsubaki's. He was quite practised at tuning out the sounds of his own body, so he knew it wasn't his. "Before you lay into me," he said to Sona, "I should point out that we still aren't alone."

Their watcher released a gasp at being discovered, and rapid footsteps reached his ears, growing quieter and quieter as they ran away.

"Human," Tsubaki observed.

Not just any human, Aketoshi thought, sniffing at the air and detecting a scent he had become quite familiar with in class. Ruruko.

He didn't need above-supernatural senses to feel Sona's gaze burning into his skull.

Elsewhere in town, at an abandoned church …

Mittelt landed just outside the main doors and marched in past the stray exorcists guarding the place who greeted her with a polite "Mistress Mittelt." Polite, not respectful or loyal. These were not Grigori exorcists. Mittelt didn't see why outsourcing to another stray exorcist organisation was necessary, but their presence was disquieting. Kalavana had once told her that people like this, who were merely hired for a purpose, held no loyalty but towards what they were getting out of it. This made them untrustworthy.

Well, Raynare seemed to think they were trustworthy, but then, this whole operation had been her idea.

"'Grab some rare Sacred Gears,' she says," Mittelt grumbled to herself. "'It'll be fun,' she says. Ugh. Like I need any extra power, anyway. I'm awesome just as I am." Too awesome for Heaven, she noted internally. She was still a relatively new fallen angel, having only fallen about a decade ago, and she was still getting used to it. Speaking blasphemy in a church, even one abandoned by God such as this, still made her uncomfortable.

"You're late," said Dohnaseek, the only man in their group. He looked to be in his middle ages, though that meant nothing given how angels, fallen or otherwise, hadn't aged since the beginning of time (good thing, too, otherwise the angels would have gone extinct ages ago due to their inability to reproduce without falling). He had short, black hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a pale, grey trench coat over a white dress-shirt with a matching ascot, black trousers and shoes, a pair of black gloves, and a black fedora. "And I don't see any take-out. Your one job was to get the food."

"Eat me, edge-lord," she snapped at him.

"I'm not into kids, half-pint."

Mittelt growled. The fact that she hadn't grown at all since falling even though fallen angel women were supposed to be voluptuous and sexy by nature irked her to no end. How am I supposed to tempt humans like this!? she would think in anguish whenever the subject came up. I don't wanna be stuck luring in the creeps for the rest of eternity!

"For your information," Mittelt spoke up again, putting on her most superior-sounding voice, "I didn't make it to the take-out place because I found something better. Something I'm sure Raynare will be very interested in."

Dohnaseek scoffed. "The idea of you finding anything useful is almost funny enough to laugh at, but mostly it's just sad."

The hidden door to the nave beneath the altar opened and a mature, feminine voice said, "Are you two fighting again?" The one who emerged was Kalavana. Now she was a specimen of what fallen angel women should be: tall, buxom, and beautiful, and damn if she didn't know it. She had long, navy blue hair that obscured her right eye, and her uncovered left eye showed that her eyes were brown. She wore a maroon, tench coat-like top with a wide collar, a matching miniskirt, and black heeled shoes. That was it. There was nothing worn under her coat, which was open at the top to expose as much of her cleavage as possible before it became outright exhibitionism. The gold necklace around her neck, hanging so perfectly as to hover only a few inches above the valley between her breasts, served to emphasise her sheer sex appeal. "If I've told you once I've told you a thousand times, Dohnaseek: stop picking on Mittelt."

"You only stick up for her because she follows you around like a lost puppy," Dohnaseek sneered.

"And you only pick on her because you're a brute and she's smaller than you," Kalavana retorted. "What made you fall again …? Oh, I remember. You decided to take your work-related frustrations out on some humans. Did butchering a small village make you feel big because they couldn't fight back? Does picking on Mittelt because she's smaller than you give you that same feeling? You really should go out and get laid, darling. I think you'll find it's a much better way of exerting yourself."

"Of course you'd say that, whore," said Dohnaseek. "I may have killed an entire village, but at least I didn't fuck them all. Plenty of angels fall by having sex with humans, but you're the only one I've heard of who fell after losing her virginity and then proceeded to seduce and sleep with literally every man in town over the course of only three days. It's a wonder the Grigori managed to communicate with you with as full as your mouth must have been."

Kalavana showed no signs of being bothered by his insults. "Do you think you'll make me angry by saying that? I'll have you know that I consider my lust one of my best qualities. I mean, look at this body." She shamelessly started feeling herself up. Mittelt watched, enviously. "This was going to waste up in Heaven. I daresay falling was one of the best things I've ever done."

Mittelt sighed. "You both have such cool stories about how you fell," she grumbled.

Dohnaseek smirked. "Oh, yeah. At least we actually did something. What was it you did? Just feel a little pride?"

"I was doing a good job!" Mittelt growled in frustration. "Of course, I was gonna get a little full of myself! And what's wrong with that!? I'm awesome! But nooooooooooo! I feel proud of myself for all of a few seconds and those motherfuckers dropped me like a sack of rocks!" She grinned. "But no more! Raynare's gonna appreciate the info I'm bringing in, I just know it! Then I'm with you three, straight to the top of the Grigori!"

"I'll believe that when I see it," Dohnaseek said derisively.

"Don't count her out just yet," Kalavana said supportively. "Let's at least hear what she has to say."

Mittelt stood up straighter at Kalavana's support. Ever since she had fallen and joined the Grigori, Kalavana had been nice to her in a way few other fallen angels had. It was nice to have someone who didn't make fun of her petite body when compared to other fallen angel women, even if Kalavana's own body proportions often turned Mittelt green with envy, almost literally on one or two occasions. She had quickly grown to view her as something of a big sister, something she didn't realise she was missing from her time as an angel, where they all treated each other as brothers and sisters. Unless you messed up and fell, of course, at which point the whole family just disowned you.

Kind of fucked up if you really think about it.

The trio walked down into the nave where Raynare was waiting. "Why don't I smell food?" she asked when she saw them coming. She, like Kalavana, had the lust-inducing beauty that all fallen angel women were supposed to have. She was an attractive woman with a slender body and large breasts. Her eyes were violet, and her long, silky, black hair flowed all the way down to her supple hips. Her attire was immensely more revealing than Kalavana's. Black, leather-like straps were pretty much all it was made of, and they only covered her breasts and her crotch, leaving all her other skin on display for the world. Black gloves ran up her arms with small lengths of chain hanging off them, and spiked shoulder-guards sat on her shoulders. Her legs were covered with black, thigh-high, heeled boots.

"Mittelt claims something amazed her so much that she had to rush back here without getting the food," Dohnaseek said dismissively.

"Seriously?" Raynare groaned. "It's not bad enough that we're stuck playing the waiting game until that nun gets here? Now we have to go without eating on top of the boredom?"

"Here her out, why don't you?" Kalavana suggested. "I doubt she'd come back empty-handed for no reason."

"Fine, fine," said Raynare. She fixed her eyes on Mittelt. "Out with it, blondie. We don't have all night."

"Technically, we do," Mittelt pointed out.

"… Just get the fuck on with it."

"Okay, okay. Jeez." Mittelt took a breath and explained. "I noticed this demon walking through town with a dog. I was just gonna go around him at first, but then I really looked. It wasn't a normal dog. This fucker was walking around with a Longinus on display."

Raynare swiftly perked up at that. "A Longinus? You're sure?"

"Positive. 'Canis Lykaon,' I think. It's a shadow-dog that makes swords and shit. This fucking demon was just walking around with it. But you know what else?" She grinned widely, gleefully sharing this next bit of information. "Not only is he not one of Gremory's servants, so his master doesn't even own the territory, but he's blind!" She cackled. "I hit the fucking jackpot with that one! Only problem was that his master, Sitri, turned up. Bitch put a real damper in my mood. I could've had us a Longinus by now if he'd stayed alone."

"… Well, okay, colour me impressed," Dohnaseek said with surprise in his voice. "You actually got us something useful. Good job."

"Told you not to discount her," Kalavana said, wrapping her arms around Mittelt and hugging her from behind. Mittelt felt irritation at her own flat chest as Kalavana's massive knockers practically engulfed her head. "Good work, Mittelt."

"Th-Thanks," Mittelt mumbled, trying not to let her insecurities show.

"Yes, very good work," Raynare said, grinning like a maniac. "That pathetic excuse for a teenager turned out to be a bust, but with Twilight Healing arriving in the next couple of days and a Longinus of all things belonging to a blind demon …" She laughed. "We really lucked out with this place! Mittelt, Kalavana, the two of you see about capturing this demon and bringing him here."

"Yes, Raynare," said Kalavana.

"Sure thing, boss," said Mittelt.

"Try not to be seen by the other demons. Sitri may not own this territory, but she could still cause us trouble if she was onto us. Targetting a demon unaffiliated with the owner of the territory will only keep us out of political trouble. Be careful. Dohnaseek and I will focus on making sure the Twilight Healing girl is kept within our grasp." She smiled at each of them. "This is our chance. If we can pull this off, they'll have no choice but to promote us. We'll be in the high ranks of the Grigori in no time."

Mittelt felt proud of herself. This was the closest their group had come to feeling like a genuinely united bunch the whole time she'd been part of it.

Aketoshi arrived to school early the following morning. Sona had allowed him to simply use the magic circle to enter through the student council room for the first time since he'd begun attending Kuou Academy. This wasn't something to be excited about. Her only words for him following his altercation had been "Go home. We'll talk about this in the morning."

They were talking about it now.

"Do you mind telling me what possessed you to walk straight home from a client's house instead of coming back here first?" she asked in a mostly level tone, but there was just a hint of anger in there.

"I was close to home, anyway," he attempted to justify himself. "The only thing I had to bring back was cash, which I could just keep in my pocket until morning. I knew where I was. I don't need a babysitter. You should know that by now."

"And the fallen angel?" She raised an eyebrow. "When were you planning to summon us? You know better than to leave the rest of us out of it if you're attacked."

"What would have been the point? You were clearly keeping tabs on me, anyway. I'm not a noob any more, you know." She remained silent at that, and he got the feeling he had struck something. "Besides, I could have easily taken her."

"I know."

"Huh?"

"I know you could have taken her. I know of your capabilities, Aketoshi. But a numbers advantage is never to be overlooked. Besides, fighting the fallen angels isn't only dangerous for you. This isn't Sitri territory. Rias and I have an arrangement because we're friends, but this is Gremory territory, so we don't have quite the same sway over it that she does. If we were to, say, come into conflict with some fallen angels in town, they could easily claim ignorance of the arrangement and make us look like the instigators. This wouldn't have any long-term consequences if we won, but they wouldn't face any, either. If you had thought to summon me, I could have done what I did anyway and you would have received a light scolding at absolute most, even though you allowed a human to witness your Sacred Gear changing."

Aketoshi lowered his head, shamed. He couldn't deny that jumping straight into a combat mindset about the whole thing had been stupid on his part, even if he knew he would win. He was letting his frustration get the better of him. "I'm sorry, Chairwoman," he said, meaning it.

"Good," said Sona. "Classes will be starting soon. You should go. But be glad; you're no longer being 'babysat' on your way to school because of perceived coddling. You're being escorted so we can be sure you won't do anything stupid."

"Yes, Chairwoman."

He left the room and walked to class as she had ordered. Very, very occasionally, he wondered what it was like among Rias Gremory's Familia. The Gremory family were famous for their affectionate treatment of their servants. Sona, on the other hand, was incredibly stern, and while she wasn't uncaring by any means, she kept her emotions strictly schooled and rarely showed affection openly. The most people tended to get was a small, sincere smile which Aketoshi couldn't even see.

Yet he was happy to be with her. Disappointing her as he had made him feel like shit. Baskerville sensed his mood and licked his hand in an attempt at comfort. He patted his good boy's head in thanks.

He got into his classroom, sat down, and gave a cursory "Morning." He got a terse one back from Koneko, as usual.

Ruruko did not greet him this morning, but he could feel her taking glances at him all throughout class.

So, yeah, a blind O.C. member of Sona's Familia. Something a bit different since I usually go with Rias'. Him having Canis Lykaon plants this solidly into A.U. territory since that means Tobio doesn't have it in this timeline.

I'd like to take a moment to thank makoto x chelia for providing me with some help and suggestions for this story.

I'm basing Aketoshi on Matt Murdock/Daredevil somewhat, at least in terms of his sensory abilities. Did you guys know that comic!Daredevil can identify anyone he's spent at least five minutes with by smell alone, and differentiate between identical twins based entirely on their individual scents? That's the sort of thing you can expect here.

I'm basing this on the official English translation of High School DxD, only the first volume of which has been published as of the time I'm writing this. It's published by Yen Press and I highly encourage supporting the official release now that it's available. A few changes are: they're called demons and not Devils, it's called a Familia and not a Peerage, and some words that were capitalised in the other version aren't capitalised here (such as demon, angel, and fallen angel). Viser's name is also Byser in the English translation, but that has no relevance to this story since Aketoshi won't be there to meet her.

As you can no doubt see, Ruruko is not yet a demon at this point in time. I'm trying to flesh out her reasons for joining Sona's Familia a little, as in canon all we get for an explanation is "she found out about demons and asked to join," so I'm trying to add a bit of substance to that. This first arc will likely be shorter than it was in canon since Aketoshi isn't involved with Rias' Familia, and therefore would not be witness to Issei's introduction to demonhood or his relationship with Asia, which knocks quite a bit off the arc.

Azazel says in canon that all fallen angel women are incredibly voluptuous and seductive. Mittelt, to me, does not fit that description, making her something of an oddity among her kind. I decided to make this the foundation of some insecurity. I hope you like it. I'm trying to develop the villains of this arc a bit and make them more three-dimentional. Tell me what you'd like to do with Mittelt and Kalavana – they're the main villains on Aketoshi's side of things, while Issei will be dealing with Raynare like in canon – and I'll see what I can do. I have notes for whether they live or die, so I'm prepared regardless of what you want me to do with them.

The only confirmed harem members are ones who are present from the start (Sona is with Aketoshi [she's the main girl for him, in fact] since … well, I don't really care for Saji since he's basically Issei minus any charm), and Ravel for Issei since Aketoshi, for obvious reasons, won't be as involved in the Riser arc as other O.C.s might be. The only reason I left Momo off is that I don't know if any of you want to see her with Saji (I felt safe having Ruruko with Aketoshi because she gives up on Saji in canon, so I didn't see a problem since nothing ever comes of her crush on him). Please leave suggestions for anyone you want to see in either harem.

Aketoshi: Sona Sitri, Ruruko Nimura, Tsubaki Shinra, Tomoe Meguri, Reya Kusaka, Tsubasa Yura,

Issei: Rias Gremory, Asia Argento, Akeno Himejima, Koneko Toujou, Ravel Phenex,

Suggestions for both the harem and Aketoshi's future Familia – though that won't come into play for a while, so don't expect to see the results of that too soon – are welcome. Characters from outside the series are welcome to be suggested for the Familia, though I won't go too nuts with the crossover stuff. There are three confirmed members already since Sona trades out some of her servants later in canon, but they'll be going to Aketoshi in this version rather than Rias and Issei. Here it stands so far:

King: Aketoshi Iwachi

Queen: Free

Bishop: Free

Bishop: Free

Knight: Bennia Orcus

Knight: Free

Rook: Loup Garou

Rook: Free

Pawn: Ruruko Nimura

Pawn: Seven free

Try not to be too worried by what I said about Saji. I'm not one to write bashing fics, myself, so all I'll really try to do is make him more likeable without making him too O.O.C.

Please follow, favourite, and review. I'll see you all next time.