Fom this point on i'm gonna shift from norman numerals to plain numbers. I'll change the old chap sometime in the future, prolly next year or smth idk

Refugees

[Chapter 11]

|| One-Sided Anything Sucks ||

It was early summer in Kuoh Town. In fact it was more than early. It arrived too early. Somebody woke her up too soon and told her she was late, so summer took the bullet train. Upon arriving at the office, realizing her mistake, realizing spring was there, she was too prideful and her spirit was too bright to go back home and crawl back to her bed. So instead she chose to stay and work, and make spring feel uncomfortable .

Issei, being a vocal supporter of the glacial glory of winter, had no other choice than to suck it up and argue with his friends as to why the blighted season everyone affectionately named 'summer' was grossly overrated and heavily romanticized with the idea of vacation, beaches, and bitches in swimsuits in beaches.

"Look," he said as he flapped the collar of his plain red shirt, doing all he could to combat the stinkin' heat. "You ever feel hot?"

"I'm constantly hot," said Raynare with a proud smirk, presently walking next to him down the streets of Kuoh from theri uni. "I'm blazing."

"And full of yourself." She wasn't wrong. Raynare was the campus' "hot prospects" and a photo model for Motohama's clothing brand. An effective one at that. But Issei rolled his eyes anyway, wishing he was rolled over by a road roller made of ice. "What I'm saying is you can't cool yourself down."

"Winter makes you cold though," she reasoned. "And then you have to shovel the entryway… and when the snows start to melt, you have a street of icky muddy slush."

"Yea but you can just wear thicker clothes and it's way easier to warm up than cool down. You can strip until you're bare naked and still you'll feel hot," he pointed out, fixing his baseball cap with the university's black and white logo imprinted on it.

"What about the homeless?"

He shrugged and replied noncommittally, "Hey, it'll fix the homeless problem too."

Raynare snorted. "You're horrible."

"Anyway; you can sit next to a fire… you have a valid reason to start a fire without getting weird looks from people thinking you're an arsonist, and!" he was getting her weird looks for even stating that as a reason alone, but he continued, "and allergies fuck off during winter! Sure you might get cold, but would you rather get cold during a season where someone stays inside all day all night or when everyone is having fun out at the beach?"

"Well I guess you have a point…" Raynare muttered, her white varsity jacket slung over her shoulder, draping above her cream colored racer crop top. "But summer isn't all bad. Allergies are a pain but that's a human thing so I don't care."

"Fair enough," Issei shrugged. Fallen Angels were predominantly selfish when they were outside their job.

"No other season is as perfect to hit the beach and get hit on."

"Easy for you to say."

"I never asked to be born sexy."

"No one ever asked to be born because that's hella creepy for the parents, but go on."

Raynare tittered a little laugh. Only Issei could look ready to kick a puppy and still make jokes about it and tickle her funny bone.

"Ice creams are twice as great in the summer."

"Bullshit. I eat ice cream in winter too."

Her eyebrows scrunched. "You have issues."

"Ice cream is a delicacy for all seasons, is my point," declared the advocate of winter. "That's a weak argument either way."

Raynare refused to raise the white flag, only for the sake of prolonging the argument and to kick away the boredom that had been peeking from around the corner.

"You get to watch girls tie their hair up. You Japanese weirdos like that don't you?"

"You read too much mangoes." By mangoes, he wasn't talking about the bean-shaped fruit that could taste as sweet and fresh like a Caribbean rainbow dipped in melon squash, or sour as hell. It could make you feel as if a sponge entered your mouth, drying everything. No. He was referring to manga — Japan's comic book. "And the current trend sneezing nowadays."

"What?"

"Sneeze."

"...What?"

"Sneeze."

"?" Raynare stared at him, dumbfounded. His expression was perfectly blank as if he was only telling her water is wet. He didn't seem like he was willing to elaborate further, so she went on. "...Well are they wrong about the hair-tying thing kink?"

To accentuate her point, Raynare slid out the black hair tie inside her slim light jeans' pocket, and gathered her waist-length raven hair and lifted it, exposing the lines of her torso, her neckline, the underside of her arms, and emphasizing the shapeliness of her chest as well as her shoulder blades.

A bead of sweat rolled down her neck as she effortlessly finished her messy bun, looking fresher already.

Issei's eyes narrowed with contemplation. "...Well I previously didn't but now I'm feeling something," he admitted. "But you can still do that in a hailstorm. Inside a house." As they made a turn, he continued, "Alright, what about this? You don't have to listen to other people's summer plans. Their weekends, how awesome their summer life is, how they're gonna conquer a mountain or water every single plant on the planet."

Raynare laughed, and her laugh was like summer itself. Bright and louder than the others. 'Freer', if he had to say, and unlike the cutesy giggles his girl friends do whenever the person they liked told a joke.

"Alright, I'll give you that…" she admitted, still giggling. "Speaking of summer, I remember reading the phrase 'she laughs like the summer rain'... I get that you humans love your purple prose but… what the hell does that mean?"

Issei looked just as incredulous as she was when she read that sentence. But it was his response that made him different, "What? 'She laughs like the summer rain'..." he parroted, as if tasting the phrase. And then he made a face as a hypothesis descended upon him. "Her laugh ruins picnics?"

Raynare laughed, and her laughter was unlike the summer rain because it would rebuild that picnic, and showed the wet picnickers there was still a reason to smile even with their damp clothes.

"That or she just drools instead…"

"Ew!" she winced, but her laughter didn't stop until seconds later as they arrived at the entrance hiding the Grigori Office, Kuoh branch.

And they immediately pace-walked to the elevator room because this place felt like an oven.

A girl with white and black bun popped up by the counter, looking half-dead and sweaty. "Oh, it's you two. Heya… Nice bun."

"Hey Lint. Thanks."

"Sup Lint."

The two greeted her as they walked past, only to put to a halt as their junior commented, "Inspired by that JAV actress don't you? She is kinda cute with a bun."

"I-It's literally just a bun! God!"

Lint's grin was every bit impish. "A bun god? Is that what they call it today?" and without mercy, she switched her attention to Issei. He was grinning too, amused by Raynare's fluster. "What're you guys up to today? If you're free, can you kidnap me? Or at least get someone to fix the damn AC? I'm dying here, haha." Lint smiled. It wasn't an impish smile anymore. It was the smile of despair.

"Please. For the love of god, tell them."

Break

"Oh sweet Baby Jesus— air."

That was Lint's imminent words as she bolted out the lift, breathing in as much cool artificial air and positive ions her lungs could carry as she staggered into a seat, and retired there while Issei and Raynare continued to their destination, parting with the clerk for the time being.

They passed the clean corridors and headed over to the receptionist to deal with the formalities, before heading to Rias' bedroom. There weren't many passersby today. Or last week. Enough time had passed for plenty that were hospitalized to leave a healthier man or woman, or… the least preferable outcome. Issei wondered how Roygun handled that. Or doctors in general. He didn't think he would be able to handle that phantom pain for losing a patient.

Pushing that depresso espresso for later drinking when he wanted to feel down and feel sorry for other people, he entered Rias' room along with Raynare following behind.

The crimson-haired Devil was seated on an armchair, and promptly took her head off her book and panned towards her visitors. "Yes?" she called out, "who is it? Grayfia?"

"The NTA," Issei announced. Which was the Japanese equivalent of the American IRS. "Pay up your tax."

"Room service," was what Raynare came up with. She decided she'd lost and didn't bother continuing.

Hearing the two, Rias immediately beamed. They had been the sweetest during the past week. Always making the time to visit and always telling her when they couldn't and why. They didn't have to explain as she'd understood they each had their own life to live, but they were so casual about it as though it was a normal thing they'd do anyway.

"Ohmygod—" Issei breathed happily, "it's so cool in here… It's like the Sahara out there. Or California."

The non-human girls didn't get that joke and shrugged it off. Issei and Raynare took a seat by the visitor's bench, resting their legs from the long walk as Raynare decided to continue their argument.

"So, Risatan, are you a summer gal or a winter gal?"

"Hm?" Rias cocked her head, her crimson fringes slanting to the side. 'Risatan' was a nickname Raynare one-sidedly decided for her despite her protest. She reasoned Risatan rolled better off the tongue than Rias-tan, not to mention there was 'satan' in there. Somehow, that defeated her logic.

"Hmm… Well, there's only one climate in Hell, with Everfrost the only place that has snow."

"What's that?" Issei pointed out.

"The innermost Ring of Hell, ruled by the Dragon Queen. People either freeze to death or end up in the belly of a Dragon."

Not the first time Issei had learned of Dragons' existence —Raynare had told him during his first few days of finding out she was a Fallen Angel— hence his lackluster reaction. "So like the Antarctic, basically."

Rias cocked her head. "You have place like that on Earth?"

"Yeah. Minus the Dragons. Pretty sure not even penguins can live there…" Issei muttered. Either that or the Arctic. Whichever was the coldest. "Vivi prolly has been to that place..."

"I think so too," Raynare added, stretching her arms to the front, picturing an Ingvild looking around for penguins in the barren arctic wasteland. Then she pictured the Leviathan in a penguin jumpsuit and instantly knew what she was going to buy for her birthday.

"We should ask her when we see her again. She was here last night, I believe," Rias suggested. "Might have gone home though." A light titter carried the end of her sentence as the Devil added, "Her voice truly soothes the soul. Hauntingly beautiful… A siren through and through."

"Mmmn…" Raynare delightfully agreed, remembering the first time she heard the Leviathan's singing. "If she can stay in one place, she'll topple the charts."

"It's good that when she hits those high notes she doesn't look like she just stepped on a lego either."

"Issei!" Raynare scolded, but her giggle came out anyway, sputtering like an old water faucet. "Those people are just emotional, you know? Singing draws out emotion."

"Well then Vivi must have the emotional quotient of a brick." Both the Fallen and the Devil laughed, and felt guilty afterwards. "She makes it look so easy. Meanwhile I sound like a dying pigeon."

"Don't belittle pigeons like that," Raynare tittered, her laugh from earlier still in the process of dying. "...Well. Not like I can sing to save my life either. What about you, Ri-tan? You like singing?"

"I can sing," Rias said noncommittally. "As to how well; I don't know."

"She's just being humble I bet."

"Oh she is," Raynare sneered, breathing noisily through her nose. "We should hit the karaoke bar one of these days."

"Yea, yea," Issei was all in favor.

"We should get Roygun too—"

"So she can pay for the food and drinks."

"No!" Raynare and Rias laughed yet again, their laughter mingling nicely in the air with Raynare's soft alto and Rias' low soprano. "I mean so Grayfia have someone her age to talk to!"

"That too."

And the three youngsters chatted and laughed for another thirty minutes. Rias asked how a college life felt like, and wondered if she asked the wrong people as both of their answers were 'eh' at best. That or college life really was that dreadful. Then she learned that neither of the two were the outgoing kind of people and wasn't interested in the clubs or societies and the like, preferring to spend their days as they so wished.

The conversation died down a little shortly after they exhausted their topics and no one wanted to speak more as they just wanted to hang out and lie down. Rias had returned to her book, her fingertips tracing the slight bumps over the otherwise plain pages. Braille, as she had learned, was as challenging as she'd imagined, especially since she'd only heard of it before and had to rely on a different sense; touch instead of sight. Her teacher praised her for picking it up so quickly, however. Apparently it'd take a human 4 months on average to learn the uncontracted version and up to two years for contracted — whereas it only took her a week.

Then again, she didn't have much else to do other than study and sleep or feel around her room. Grayfia had been taught how to care for her as well in the meanwhile, and the maid had learned the new skills just as quickly, if not at a faster rate. Rias had no doubt at the Lucifuge's adaptability — she had gone from a battlefield lieutenant into the head maid of her household in mere weeks. Mother had taken a liking to her dutifulness somewhere during that time.

…

With a noticeable sigh, louder than she intended it to be, Rias solemnly closed her story book.

The past can be terribly haunting indeed, but nothing struck her composure worse than the thought that her mother was alive, somewhere in Hell, becoming her own uncle's hostage.

As she stared outside the window of her bedchamber, the orangish hellish sky ever present, Venelana Bael couldn't help but feel like a caged bird. Except the cage was gilded in black and gold; motif of House Bael, and the door lied open, teasing and taunting her.

Her brother had been nothing but malevolently cunning; making use of the survivors of the Gremory army by stationing them as her bodyguards. He knew she wouldn't dare harm her own people. Without being directly told, Venelana knew that if she attempted to run away, Zagan Bael would execute these innocents and plant their head and their families' on a spike on every side of the roads she traveled. She might never see them, but their ghosts would haunt her forever still.

She couldn't do that. Not even for Rias. She didn't have the heart. She'd seen enough deaths.

At times like these, her mind strayed into her husband and her son. Her prided son. How could he have lost? What trickeries did Bael pull out of his sleeve? Sirzechs shouldn't be bested by him. Not even by Lord Belial. So why…? Why? How did Sirzechs lose his life?

How did she lose everything?

Why did she lose everything?

All over the ambition of her deceased grandfather?

She loved Zekram Bael with all her heart. He was prideful but he was good. Family meant more than pawns to him. His son, on the other hand, saw them as faceless peons.

The first few days of her 'house arrest' were the roughest.

The former High Lady of the Gremory woke as she always did: flat on her side, something clutching in her arms, on the left part of her great bed, warped in billowy duvets. She opened her eyes slowly, almost lazily, but she never yawned. Yawns always died inside her chest, as it was an unsightly sight for a noblewoman. While she couldn't care less how other ladies and lords might think of her, she cared about her husband's and her son's reputation.

Then, as she always did every morning, she turned her head to her right, gazed upon the empty spot, and let herself be swept aside by the waves of sorrow. Four mornings, she had counted. Four mornings that began with tears and ended with a stare as cold as a gravestone. Many times she had leaned into the phantom of Zeo's bracing arm without thinking, forgetting for a moment that he was not beside her, that he would never again be beside her.

It hurt still.

Her breath hitched, and she let out her wavered sigh. Venelana didn't cry. Devils mustn't cry — it divulged they had weaknesses; the best weapon for their enemies. But it was close. Too close. It had reached her throat and infected her eyes since the past few days. It spread like a plague all over her body each time she thought and dreamed of Zeoticus and Sirzechs and her Rias. Worry punched her throat whenever she thought of her baby daughter. She didn't even dare to question the possibility of her being alive or dead; it might break her.

If she lost Rias, then nothing in this godforsaken place could prevent her from ending it all. She was not a woman who would hesitate — the thought wouldn't even cross her mind. If Rias died, then there would be no more hope to cling on. Her brother knew. Giving her hope was part of the reasons why he had her daughter tossed onto Earth.

The slimmest chance of seeing her daughter once more was the only drive that kept her breathing. The days could be darker than nights, but as long as that last light remained, dim as it might be, Venelana refused to die, and swallowed her pride, and admitted that she was dancing to her brother's tune.

A soft gasp escaped her lips as her door swung open.

A sniffle of a sob, she heard, and she soon saw where it came from; a young girl in light purple dress. Venelana didn't recognize her immediately as she was hanging her head, staring at the red carpeted floor, both her hands balled into fists, and her blonde hair wasn't styled in its usual drill-like fashion.

Once she recognized Ravel Phenex, her heart sank.

Her half-brother had to come out the victor yet again.

"Oh no… Sweetheart," Venelana sighed sadly as she walked over to the girl. The Gremory had a close tie with the Phenex business-wise, and she didn't doubt that they hadn't betrayed her during that battle; the Black Lion's host simply had outmaneuvered the two Houses by striking fast and hard, erecting a barrier to nullify direct teleportation to block her allies' reinforcement.

When she'd learned of her brother's plan to attack the Phenex, Venelana had hoped that Lord Phenex would surrender, but no doubt Zagan wasn't keen on allowing a former enemy to join his ranks so soon. If not for Belial's Worthless then the Phenexes would have risen from its ashes…

The Bael servants shut the door behind her, and the youngest Phenex muttered weakly, "...Lady Venelana… I…um…"

"Hush now, love," Venalana whispered gently, "No need to speak. It's alright…"

She raised her head finally, and Venelana saw the red surrounding the Phenex' azure blue eyes.

"...Alright…? How is this alright? Everyone's dead. Where's the 'alright' in there? That they don't have to suffer anymore?" Ravel cracked a smile, trying her best to look distant. But her mask immediately shattered upon the recollection that the woman before her had suffered the same. She wept into her hands, wrinkling her dress' sleeves, no longer having the care to mind about such menial things that otherwise would set her into a petulant fuss.

Venelana didn't let another second pass by where Ravel felt alone, and she brought the young Devil into her arms. Offering all that she could offer; her companionship and a shoulder to cry on. Ravel didn't reject, and she sobbed loudly into her shoulder, letting out all the frustrations she had kept at bay.

Devils mustn't cry— only when they have something they need to protect.

…

It took a few minutes for the young Phenex to calm herself down. She sat next to Venelana on her royal bed, her blue eyes staring emptily as silence reigned the luxurious chamber. Venalana didn't press and waited, but while she waited, she was thinking about what her brother was planning by sparing and sending Ravel here. Definitely not to cheer her up, that was for certain. He valued little of other Devils' life, children or elderly.

The only answer she could think of had immediately made her ill in the stomach.

Venelana was kept around not purely because she was a Bael, but so that she could continue the Bael bloodline in this new world Zagan obsessed.

She failed to find any sensible reason as to why he'd spared Ravel but not her mother.

"...My brother…" she spoke suddenly, her words weak and carried by a light sniffle. "...Riser… He's… he's still alive."

Riser? The Fledgling Phoenix? "Where is he now?" Venelana carefully asked.

"In Lord…" Ravel hesitated. Uttering the name felt like forcing herself to eat ash. But Lady Venelana herself was a Bael, and her hatred would be misplaced if she despised that name. No, Zagan was the only Devil she wished dead. "...Lord Bael's army… He… He was demanded to fight. So I can live…"

Venelana sighed. Zagan, that cruel bastard… Riser was a few years older than Rias yet twice as prideful and haughty. Arrogant, to most. But he was a dutiful son. Everything he did, he did it for his family. She saw a glimmer of Sirzechs in him during their first time meeting.

She couldn't imagine the shame and frustration weighing his shoulder for having to fight for an army that destroyed his family. If there was anything that Zagan Bael knew how to do with disgusting precision, it was how to break someone's pride. Everything else was beneath him, none next to him, and he made it his point to remind everyone of that.

"He didn't agree at first, but Lord Bael he…" Ravel's voice peaked. Her hands gripped the flounces of her fiery rose dress, and Ravel pressed on. "...He…he brought me and my family in front of him. We were made to kneel, and then Lord Belial he… And…then one by one we…"

Venelana had heard enough to tell what her half-brother had planned — he realized that the Phenexes' pride burned as bright as their flames. Neither Lady Phenex or Lord Phenex would remain content for long, and neither would their first two borns. Defeat, to them, was more shameful than death. But Riser was the youngest. He was raised with love and less expectations compared to his older brothers. He was the closest with Ravel as well as the least experienced.

The most arrogant yet the easiest to tamper.

By executing his family in front of him, dimming his spirit chunk by chunk, one family member after another, the Fledgling Phenex undoubtedly caved in.

Being cunning wasn't a familial trait Venelana was proud of. Especially now. But it had helped her gain some insights to what Zagan had in mind, and though it changed little, mattered little, Venelana had to convince herself that he was not an unreadable anomaly as people might assume.

"It's okay, Ravel," she whispered, "you've no need to push yourself."

"No!" the girl snapped, seething through her gritted teeth. "I have to. This— this is how… This is how…" she sputtered, hating herself for sputtering as Ravel grimaced. "This is how I deal with this, Lady Venelana. This is the only way I know how… If I can't face it now, it will haunt me forever."

"You will face it, but no one's telling you when," Venalana spoke hopefully, gently, clasping Ravel's shaking hand. "Allow yourself a moment, sweetling. Grief isn't a surrender or a retreat; it's a preparation. Embrace it. You'll feel weak but it will make you stronger"

Ravel's expression crushed her, and Venelana once again found herself cradling the Phenex. Her reluctance to admit or show her vulnerability reminded her of a younger Rias, and Venelana let out a sigh. Not now, she told herself. Her daughter wasn't anywhere close, but Ravel was, and the poor girl was well within her reach, not somewhere in another hopefully peaceful place.

And she was now without her family, her last brother fighting on behalf of her survival, stranded in an unfamiliar place and surrounded with unfamiliar faces. She'd never replace Rias, but she could fill the hole in her heart, just as she could temporarily patch the hole in hers.

"We'll get through this…" she whispered, gently caressing her straight golden locks. "You're not alone, Ravel. I'll be here with you."

Raynare was sitting in front of Rias, mindlessly paying attention to her phone until her ears picked up a sigh.

"What's up, Risatan?" she asked.

"My mother," the Gremory sighed, getting up from her armchair, flawlessly making her way to her bed without needing to feel around. "I was just thinking about her. Am thinking about her."

'Oh boy.' Raynare looked at Issei for help as he was miles better at her at this sort of thing that it wasn't even funny, but the damn bastard was slumped asleep, his arms crossed and his head reclining back, his mouth slightly ajar. Not a very charming way of sleeping.

Yet she liked him anyway.

"...Well…" Raynare shuffled awkwardly on her seat, waiting for the Devil to crawl over her bed and make herself comfortable. "Ise's asleep but… Do you…wanna talk about her?"

It seemed the Devil noticed her awkwardness as she gave her an appreciative smile, her milky blue-green eyes radiating affection nonetheless. It was strange at first because Rias never seemed like a blind person with the way she carried herself around or when she was sitting, but Raynare got used to it. Not proud, as she didn't do anything in Rias' steps of learning, and saying 'I'm proud of her' implied she had done something.

She felt happy for the Devil, she supposed, as despite her shortcomings, nothing seemed able to break her willpower.

"Are you confident you're able to make me feel better the same way he did?" Rias asked with the same smile, and Raynare felt intimidated already.

"No," she said plainly. It might be a stupid thing to do but Raynare wanted to one-up Rias even though she wasn't hostile. Perhaps her case was a bit like cats and dogs in general; they just seemed wanting to annoy each other. "I won't pretend I'll understand. I don't even know my mother and father — Fallen Angels just fuck and leave."

"Hmm…." Rias didn't seem concerned by that fact. It was well known throughout Hell that Fallen Angels rarely ever fell in love with one another. "Let's talk about you then, if you so wish to cheer me up."

"Fine," Raynare sighed. Rias might be blind but she was a Devil through and through; she'd capitalize on her blindness to make her feel obliged to do stuff for her. Forcing her to talk about herself was just the tip of the iceberg. Her dirty tactic didn't work on Issei, so why did it have to work on her? Why was she the softer one here when she was a Fallen Angel?

Without caring for Raynare's scowl — not that she could tell anyway, Rias began, "Have you, as you say, fucked and left?"

Raynare snorted. "Yeah. I've fucked. What about it?"

"Mind if I ask why?"

Yes she did mind, for a fact. "Because I thought it'd make me feel less lonely."

"Did it?"

"No," she replied without thinking, changing her answer after she thought. "...Well I guess it did. For a while. Never for long."

"Because your partner didn't last long enough?" Raynare broke into a giggle as she shook her head. The Devil seemed pleased with herself for saying a dirty joke and making her laugh. She moved on from that without fanfare. "Have you done it? With Ise?"

"...No." Raynare hated how shy she sounded. As if admitting defeat.

"Why not? He's done it with Roygun, no?"

"I dunno," she decided to answer shortly. To keep it safe.

"You don't know?" Rias repeated, evidently not believing her answer. "You don't know or you do but you just don't want to acknowledge it? And why 'I don't know' instead of you're not interested in him? It leads me to think you might fancy having a go with him."

Raynare froze. What the fuck— how is she this good at reading her? She can't even see for Christ's sake. A fact which Raynare was glad for, albeit partially guilty for feeling this way, because at least no one saw and was able to make fun of how red her face had become.

"Why the sudden silence?" Rias teased, fully understanding the reason. "Is this a one-sided affection I'm sensing?"

With one longing gaze at the dumb bloke, Raynare let go of a sigh. And along with it her admittance. "Yeah."

"Hm."

"It's scary," She muttered. "Fucking him won't make him instantly see me either; he sure as hell didn't treat Roygun any different outside her bedroom. Fucking him will just make me sadder. It's like I'm hoping for something that won't happen."

"Why not?"

"It's called one-sided for a reason, Gremory."

Rias chuckled primly. "Maybe it's one-sided because he's not aware of it. He's not a mind reader, you know."

"Can't take hints either," Raynare huffed. "...You don't get it, Rias. He sees me as his girl friend — a friend who happens to be a girl. I don't want to ruin what I have with him. It's…this isn't an easy thing to get, you know."

Her smile softened from teasing to a gentle one. "I understand."

"...Because you have experienced it before?"

"More or less," Rias said, resting against her pillow, still in a sitting position. "Except I was on the receiving end of it."

"Lucky you."

"I was daft, I suppose," hummed the redhead. "It happened back when I was 17. Riser Phenex, have you heard of him?"

Though she wouldn't be able to tell, Raynare shook her head anyway. "Nope."

"Well, either way, I thought he was wholly interested in having a friendship with me. Apparently my actions and my willingness to talk to him have misled him into believing I wanted to make Devil babies with him."

"...Well…?" Raynare probed, unsure.

"Well what? Did I agree? Of course not. I didn't love him."

"Geez," she sighed. "How is this helpful for my case?"

"Because I'm still friends with him," Rias ended, and Raynare fell silent. "I hope he's doing alright… But, regardless of that, I may not have known him for as long as you do, but I can tell Issei is as mature, or even has developed a more mature mindset than I was then. Perhaps now as well."

Raynare gingerly looked at the 'mature' guy. At his dumb face and his open mouth. What a ridiculous sleeping posture, she thought, only to feel more ridiculed as she realized it didn't affect even a small portion of her feelings towards him. She loved him. Madly? Maybe not, but Raynare did like him a lot.

"I'm just saying, Raynare," Rias ventured. "If you don't make a move, I will."

Raynare blanked.

"...What."

"What?" Rias cocked her head, playing coy. "The past week he has never failed to make me laugh whenever he visited. I miss him just as I miss you whenever you're not around. I love a person with a broad sense of humor, Raynare. They're an extinct breed in Hell where everyone's snobbish for a good reason." Rias chuckled softly. She could picture Raynare's expression. Not her face as she hadn't been able to tell a person's face just by touching. Yet.

"But... I mean... Why?"

"From what I've gathered about him; Grayfia, Roygun, Vivi, as well as you whenever you're the only one who visited, he seems to be the same person in and out of this room. He's not fake, I believe."

Before Raynare could fully digest her words, Rias went on, "And I'll be spending most of my time, at least for the foreseeable future, under the same roof. I've lost everything. All in mere hours… If anything, it has made me realize how fleeting things are. More so with the short span of his lifetime..."

"...Mh..." Her previous flabbergasted silence had been erased with a somber one. Indeed. Humans hardly last a fraction of a Supernatural's lifetime. She wouldn't mind having to 'share' him as long as she trusted the other girls weren't planning to do harm on him or keep him around for their own. Screw the human standards of monogamy; she's a Fallen Angel. She couldn't care less of what other people might think of her.

"We'll stay young forever. He won't," Rias said soberly. A hint of sadness wasn't amiss in her soft voice. "Better sooner than too late."

To be continued…

Somber tone all around despite the liveliness of the group's interactions. No Grayfia here, sadly, because I want to emphasize Rias' dynamics with her new friends. As well as Venelana's current state. They're both tough girls without having to kick a man's ass every 10 seconds (hear that hollywood?)

You can give me flak for throwing Sirzechs under the bus, but I won't and don't care if you start yelling about the Phenexes. Let's be honest; you don't care about Ruval and not even Ishibumi gave a damn about the unnamed second son. Evidently neither did Zagan Bael. Venelana cared though. Sad as it is, Ravel will ultimately be her surrogate daughter and she her surrogate mother.

Why Zagan Bael? Cuz it's the name of a town in Poland. And it starts with a Z. And Carl Zagan Bael sounds funny to me

I'm still on a break so don't expect an updating streak. Still tho, review thxplsily and then check my other stories in me profile. the newer one like "Quit Staring at Me, That's Rude"

Obligatory "writer's server" invite link because that's the place where you can pester me with your ideas and whine "DzANZY uPdATe WhEN?" like a broken record: discord. gg/ V54pcwA - just punch these jumbled letters into the search bar. I'd expect you have the brain capacity to do that much