Chapter-9

Hyoudou Residence

"Issei! Issei, wake up."

Mrs. Hyoudou's voice can be heard through the door. After not getting any answers from her son, she opened and was immediately greeted by a slightly muted ringing sound from Issei's mobile phone. She entered the room carefully, not wanting to break any CDs which were littered around the floor along with his manga, only to find that her son was still asleep with his head smooshed into his pillow.

"Issei, wake up or you will be late for your date.", she said loudly, as she shook him a bit to wake him up.

"Mommm.. it's still too early, let me sleep." Issei's muted voice can be heard through the pillow.

"Mom!" Issei yelled, his face and hair both drenched with water. "I said it is still too early too -" he took out his mobile phone that was below his pillow and found out he overslept. It was 12:30 and he had to meet Yuma in half an hour.

"Oh crap!" He muttered before immediately getting out of his bed and quickly skips over to the bathroom.

"Jeez! That boy is just like his father." Mrs. Hyoudou said to herself, before she went over to the wardrobe to pick out some clothes for her son to wear for his date. It was a special occasion. The fact that a girl actually asked her son out truly filled her heart with hope for him. He was a good kid but it's a pity his kind hearted nature was foreshadowed by his perverted behaviors.

Mrs. Hyoudou sighed as she places the clothes she picked on his bed.

"Issei, I have placed your clothes on your bed.", she said loudly so that he was able to hear her from the bathroom. "When you are dressed, come down. I will have breakfast ready for you."

Downstairs, her husband was sitting at the breakfast table, busy reading the day's newspaper.

"Did you wake Issei up?" He asked as he turned to the next page.

"I did, though I am afraid I think he will arrive a few minutes late for his date.", she replied with a bit of a worry present in her voice.

It made him laugh a little, and he put away his newspaper. "Oh, don't worry dear. A few minutes late is nothing. Remember our first date? I was an hour late."

"You really shouldn't be boasting about that, Gorou." She scolded her husband, who just laughed in a self-deprecating manner.

"I still can't believe that our son is going on his first date today. I guess he is really growing up huh..." he replied in with a bittersweet smile.

"He is. Though, I hope he grows out his perverted phase soon." There was some hope present in her voice.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap…" Issei muttered as he tried to hastily put on his socks, skipping down the stairs on his one leg going where he saw that his mother already had placed the breakfast on the table. She was waiting for him at the table with dad.

"Where are you planning take Yuma on date Issei?" His father asked.

"The movies, then we take a walk around the shopping mall to see if she finds something she likes." He replied, his mouth still filled with food.

"Do you need some money for the date?" His dad offered, reaching for his pocket.

"No, dad. I was saving some of my pocket money to buy a new console. I will be using that." Issei replied as he put down a now empty plate. "Thanks for the meal, mom." He thanked her before getting up.

"Good luck on the date, and please… try to keep your perversions in check."

"Yeah."

As he left his house he was welcomed by a soft sunlight hitting his face. It was a lovely day for a date, he thought to himself. He was then greeted by a cute girl who seemed to be cosplaying as a bat, and she was distributing some sort of paper. She was giving it to anybody who passed her by and when she saw him, she gave him a paper as well.

The paper had some sort of an intricate design drawn on it, as well as something written below the design.

"'We grant you wish, huh...'" he read out loud, "sounds like a scam to me. Still, maybe I will take a look at it later." he said to himself as he put the paper inside his pocket and leaved for the shopping district.

Kuoh Shopping District

"You don't have to be here you know, Nagisa and I have things under control" Said Shizuma.

"I know that. But I was bored so decided come help you out a little." Akane replied her as they both were sitting in a café with disguises on, keeping an eye on Raynare who was standing across, waiting for Issei to arrive. "Speaking of Nagisa… what are those three up to?" She asked her other clone on the radio.

"Hmmm from the way I see it, they are thinking about setting shop at the old church. The three of them are currently throwing all the broken benches out." Nagisa replied.

"The old church huh… from what I remember after the old priest died, the exorcists where able to get their hands on that church. Irina's father was one of the priests' who moved here to work there, though apparently the plans fell through the last moment. But I don't know if they were able to set up the armory."

"Maybe they did. It would explain why our fallen friends has taken interest in that building." Nagisa mused.

"If that is the case, we might have some problems getting in there to take a look at what they are doing", Akane said.

"They will leave at some point of the day it's not like they would be living their form now on. Maybe then I can enter." Nagisa replied.

"Even if they do that, they might leave behind some detection seal that might catch someone entering the building. Remember, the building is out in the open. Anyone can get inside there - they will take necessary precautions. If you enter the building now there is a risk, they might relocate." Akane shot down her clone's idea.

"Our best chance to infiltrate is to use Freed's men or to be more precise disguise as one. We know some of his men are arriving tomorrow with some sort of package, if we intercept them on the way we might be able to enter the building disguised as one." Akane continued.

"Ok. So which one of us would be the mole?" Shizuma, who had been listening in to the entire conversation, asked.

"None. You two are needed here. I will be sending out a new clone that I made yesterday." Akane replied.

"This plan is good but it still has a fatal flaw. What are we gonna do when they ask us something that the person we are disguising as knows, but we have no chance of knowing?" Nagisa wondered.

"Oh. Don't worry my dear Nagisa - I have some plans for that." Akane replied as Shizuma gave her a look of suspicion, "but first, in order for this plan to come fruition, I need some help. Luckily, I happen to know someone who would be happy to provide me just that." She said, picking out her cellphone from her pocket. She dialed a number and called it.

After a few tones, someone picked up. "Hello?"

"Sitri, it's me." Akane told Sona.

"Orimura-san." Sona, who recognized her voice, replied shortly. "Do you need something?" She asked without wasting time.

Akane smirked at her response, thinking; That is why I like you, Sitri. You are always so direct and right to the point.

"Yes, actually. Are you still searching for Rogue Exorcists in Kuoh?"

As she asked that, she felt Shizuma shake her a bit. When she looked at her, she saw her pointing towards Raynare who seemed to be talking about something with the newly arrived Issei. She nods at her clone as she leaves the money they owed for the coffee at the table. Then they stood up, hand in hand.

"Yes. Me and my peerage's familiars are searching all around Kuoh nonstop, though we still haven't found any of them." Sona replied.

"Then we might be able to help each other out." She replied as they followed Raynare and Issei through the crowd.

"Pardon me?"

"You see, while spying on a fallen one of my clones, I came across a meeting that took place between the fallen angels and the leader of the rogue exorcists -"

"So they are working together?" Sona interrupted.

"Yes, they are, though it seems they are only doing grunt work for the fallen. As during the meeting, the leader of the Rogue Exorcists mentioned that they were successful in retrieving the packages for them. I am interested in finding out what these packages are." She told her as, she felt Shizuma leaning her head against her shoulder; they were, after all, masquerading as a couple.

"Ok... so what do you need my help for here?"

"The leader mentioned that some of his men would be arriving here in Kuoh with one of the packages tomorrow. That's what I need your help with. I need you and your peerage to be on the lookout for these exorcists at every entry point to Kuoh."

"So, you want us to capture them?" Sona asked.

Akane elaborates her plan, "No, no, no, I want you all to cause an accident so that in midst of the chaos, I can capture one of them and leave my clone in his place to act as a mole."

"Magical or man-made accident?" Sona asked.

"Man-made, and make sure that the accident is severe enough that it might cause someone a temporary amnesia. As that would excuse my clone's unawareness during the beginning until I have tortured all the information she need out of him."

It was quiet for a few seconds before Sona said, "Hmm… an interesting plan you have here, though we might need Rias and her peerage help in order to execute it smoothly."

"Sure, sure. So… where do you think we should meet?" Akane asked.

"Let's meet at Akeno's place tonight where we will discuss the details with the rest of them. Was that all?"

"Yeah. See you later tonight." Akane said before putting away her cellphone.

"It seems like the two of them are heading to see a movie" Shizuma whispers to her as she saw Issei standing in a small line at the ticket counter with Raynare at his side.

"Well, then we should get a ticket as well. Wait here." She joins the line, and she got a stand a few people behind Issei, but she let out a breath of relief, as she still could hear him loud and clear from that distance.

"Two tickets for your name." Issei asked at the counter, and as he left, Akane quickly used her sharingan to take a quick look at the seat numbers. Trying something similar to what she did in the hotel to get a seat near them was really an unnecessary risk. Just knowing which seat they were in was enough.

She approached the counter. "Two tickets for your name, please." she asked.

After giving the booking clerk the money, Akane looked at the tickets pressed in her hand. She then went on to join her clone that was standing beside the entrance of the theater, keeping a keen eye on the target that had moved to stand in a line going through the security checkpoint on the entrance.

They both quickly joined the line as well, and after a few minutes, they passed through the checkpoint and entered the building. There were still a few minutes left of the last show on the screen. They watched as Issei took advantage of the time to get some popcorn and drink for himself and his date.

She wraps her hands around Shizuma's waist and hugs her while burying her head in her neck. She kissed a few times which resultant in a moan coming out from her clone's mouth. It also embarrassed some bystanders enough to avert their eyes from them.

"Their seat is to the middle left of two rows in front of us, while our seats are in the corner. "She mumbles to her clone between kisses.

"I would have preferred to sit a row behind them, but we will manage." Shizuma whispered into her ear, warm breath tickling her skin. "Hmmm, we still a have ten minutes left. Let's go take a seat." she said, a bit louder than before.

Near the Abandoned Church

Nagisa was hiding amidst the branches of a tall tree which lent her a full view of the abandoned church. Like she had informed her boss before, she was there keeping an eye on the fallen who - for the first time under her watchful eye - were doing something blatantly suspicious.

"Ahh! Why do we have to do this busy work? They should be doing this for us.", Nagisa heard the midget fallen complain, loudly enough so that she could hear her even without any chakra enchantments. They were still in the middle of the process of dumping damaged and decayed furniture out of the abandoned church.

"Stop complaining and get to work! You know very well why they can't come here right now.", Kalawarner scolded her.

Dohnaseek seemed to be inspecting the place from the inside as she had not seen him for a while. The only thing that told her he still was there, was the occasional calls to him from his fellow fallen, and Dohnaseek's annoyed responses.

As she observed the two fallen bickering an alert notification popped in her glasses.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." She said to herself as she read through the info. A stray demon had appeared a kilometer away from where she was standing.

She quickly gazed down to check up on the fallen ,who looked like they still were unaware of the news. Good, she thought as she sighed of relief, though if that demon comes anywhere near this area they will catch up on him. They might change their location if they think the church is compromised.

Nagisa knew she had to stop that from happening, so she decided to take out her cellphone to call someone who could deal with this situation for her.

"Hello" Rias replied.

"Gremory-san, it's me, Akane… or to be more accurate, one of her clones speaking.", Nagisa introduced herself.

"Ah, yes, Akane mentioned that her clones were keeping an eye on the Fallen for her."

"I still am doing just that, though there is a bit of a problem for which I need your assistance." Nagisa tells her.

"Ok what can I do for you?" Rias asked.

"A stray demon has just appeared in an area one kilometer to the north from my current position, the abandoned church, and I wondered if you could take care of him before he comes near me."

"Another stray demon? Crap! We were not informed about this one either. We were just in the middle of installing the new device that would help us tracking down these stray demons all around Kuoh. Well, there goes the perfect opportunity to test these bad boys out." Rias replied. She sounded more annoyed than concerned.

"I am pretty sure other opportunities to test those devices will come, Gremory-san. Now, can you deal with this stray for me?" she asked.

"Sure. Let me contact my peerage. It will take a minute or two. In the meantime, tell me what are our fallen buddies are up to in the abandoned church?" She asked, somewhat nonchalantly.

"You can ask Akane about that later. I updated her about the situation, and it seemed as if she had some plans ready." She said, knowing that her mistress had told her and Sitri a few but she also knows that she would have kept a few things a secret.

"Well then…", Rias began, sounding a bit disappointed. "Happy hunting." She then added before abruptly ending the call, leaving Nagisa alone with the dial tones.

Let's hope that the stray demon is not a pain in the ass like the one Akane mentioned she fought on the night she arrived, she thought to herself as she put away her cellphone.

Inside the Theater

The movie was at its half-way point and most of the people in the crowd watched the scenes intently. Except from Akane and Shizuma, who was keeping an eye on Raynare and Issei.

Oh - and there was also the pervert who sitting beside Akane who looked more interested in them than the movie.

"You know…", Shizuma began, "whether it's for the mission or not, this might be our first date" she tells her, smiling, "I didn't believe we would ever cross this line, but we did."

"Does this really surprise you after we all have had sex?" Akane asked, playfully nudging her.

"I know it's stupid but it kind of does surprise me a bit", she said. "I have always thought you were just taking comfort in us, or it all was something you did out of boredom. But now… I am not so sure."

"While it's true that our escapades started out as a way for me to evade my boredom… and to relieve some of my stress, it has now evolved into something that I now appreciate dearly. It's the only relationship I am in where I am not actively pursuing to gain something in return." Akane replied, as she let her one arm wrap around Shizuma's shoulders, pulling her closer.

"Hm, it is just a shame we can't go back to my room after this to properly celebrate our first date." said Shizuma.

"We will get plenty of opportunity to do that later my dear, though…" Akane replied but a sparkle of mischief appeared in her eyes, "that doesn't mean we can't have some fun now.", she said, lowering her voice as her eyes darkened with lust. "Hop on me." She whispers, patting her thigh.

Shizuma wastes no time and straddles her. She leans forward and kisses her passionately. The second their lips meets, Akane lets out a rumbling moan.

Their make out session was, however, soon interrupted by a huffing noise. When both of them turned around to see where that noise was coming from, it was the pervert who was sitting beside Akane's seat who had his dick out in the open, his hands stroking it. His eyes were glazed with desire and he did not fret as their eyes locked.

Akane, who would have messed with the guy if it was some other day - or even given him more material to masturbate to, but she was not in the mood.

"Enjoying the view there?"

"Yeah…" he answered, his hands dropping its pace as a hint of uncertainty was heard in his voice. He was not used to this response.

"You wanna see my girlfriend's boobs?"

"Uhm…". He cleared his throat. "Yeah, sure". His smile had returned, and curled his damp lips.

Shizuma, who knew what Akane were doing, put on a seductive smile and started to teasingly play with her shirt. Akane invites the guy to come closer, and when he does, Akane wraps her one arm around his neck, he gasps.

"Oh", she said quietly, "we are going to have some fun with you tonight." His eyes widened and she caressed his stubbled cheeks before she twisted his neck in an unnatural angle, immediately killing him. She then placed his head back against the headrest, making it look like he had just fallen asleep. When she was done, she returned to Shizuma who wasted no time taking up where they left.

-x-

"This would be the area that Akane must have been talking about. The distance and direction does check out." Akeno says out loud.

"Well then be on your toes. Everyone on, accounts of recent events the stray we are looking for might be similar to the Akane fought be on your guard the moment we enter Purgatorio." Rias warned her peerage. "Akeno, can you open the Limbo Gate?" she then asked her queen who nodded before she summoned a large magic seal in front of them, and they started to go through the seal one by one.

Once inside the Purgatorio, the magic seal closed itself.

"Ok, Koneko, can you catch the stray's scent?" Rias asked her rook who nodded in response. "Good. Lead us to its source."

Koneko nodded again as she quickly started to follow the stray's trail with the rest of them following her.

"Two strays in one week? Oof. This might be a new record." said Kiba as they moved towards their target.

"Yeah I surely hope this doesn't become a weekly occurrence.", Akeno chimed in. "Rias?" she then called out to her king who seemed to be busy thinking through something.

"Yeah?" Rias replied.

"Is there something on your mind?" Akeno asked.

"There is, but it's not important right now. Look." Rias said, pointing towards something in the distance.

"Wait, is that…?" Akeno began, not finishing what she was going to say.

"Yes. Get ready." Kiba replied, summoning his swords as he was getting ready for the serious fight. They were facing not one but two stray demons, and they seemed to be heading their way.

Evening

Akane and Shizuma on the other hand were following Issei and Raynare. They had left the theater, and the duo had first gone shopping, and then led them to a BBQ restaurant, where the two of them had their late lunch. The couple finished their meal, and now it seemed as if Raynare was leading Issei towards a public garden.

There were very few people present in the area of the Garden, which complicated things for Akane and Shizuma. After a quick survey, they slid inside crown of the trees, following them in the shadows.

"It is sort of surprising that there are so few people here." said Shizuma.

"From what I can remember, this area is mostly used for picnics during the daytime. But during the night its only home to youngsters who want to make out in private... and hobos, of course, which most people don't really want to deal with." Akane replied.

"So what? Raynare wants a quiet place to make out with her date." Shizuma jokingly replied.

"If she wanted to do that she would have taken him to a love hotel. She is, after all, a fallen. Remember? No, whatever her plans are for Issei, she wants it done quietly."

"Like… killing him?"

After a short moment of silence, Akane puts forth another possibility. "Perhaps. Or, kidnapping him to be taken to Azazel for possible recruitment."

"What are we gonna do if that happens?" Shizuma asked.

"If that does happen, then we know Raynare is not the traitor as she is following Azazel's orders... Which mean our job is done and I can go and stop her." Akane said.

"Does that mean we will be making enemies with Azazel and fallen?"

"Our interests lie with Rias and the devils now, not the fallen angels, my dear.", Akane chides her gently. "Rias wants that boy in her peerage and if we help to make it a possibility, she would be grateful to us. Since she is a devil, she would want to give us something back in return." she explains to Shizuma who nodded with a somber expression. Akane did not notice it.

"Look. They stopped." Akane informed her, pointing towards Issei and Raynare who now were standing in front of a water fountain, talking.

Before Akane even got an opportunity to listen into the conversation by enhancing her hearing, both of them witness her stabbing Issei in the stomach with a light spear.

"Crap!" both of them cursed in unison.

"What do we do now?" Shizuma asked her quickly as she saw Issei fell down onto the ground, with blood freely flowing out of his wound.

"Nothing. Rias knows Issei was going on a date with a fallen angel. She would have planted a summon seal on him. She should be arriving here at any moment after what has just happened..." Akane said as they saw Issei crawling away from Raynare who mercilessly fired another spear. Issei choked on a scream, and slowly, the light in his eyes went out, forever darkened by the spear that ended his life.

"Or, I can just take his body back to her." Akane mused.

The moment she spoke, she noticed that Raynare started to prepare a spell, probably in order to destroy the dead body. Akane could not let that happen, and she quickly jumped out from the tree. "Oh no, you fucking don't." she hissed.

The surprise in Raynare's face vanished the moment Akane kicked the side of her head, making her body sling away from the body and onto the ground.

As a trail of dark blood trickled down Raynare's head, she turned around to look at her assailant and fire was burning in her eyes.

"YOU", Raynare growled as she stared at her.

Beta readers-Raquiesha, Echoes19