Last update for a while.

Some of you pointed out that Rias wouldn't have let Xenovia manhandle Kiba like she did in the previous issue. Trust me, if Xenovia had actually unwrapped Destruction to threaten him, Rias would've shown just why she's called 'Crimson Haired Ruin Princess'.

Forewarning, this chapter is devoid of Action for the most part, mainly dealing with Shirou being brought up to speed by the O.R.C & Student Council.

And no, he's not going to pull a Dresden like in Gabrielle Blessing's fic, so for those of you expecting to see Issei penetrated by Anti-Dragon Noble Phantasms...you'll need to wait a bit longer.

That being said, let's see how things go from here.


False-Life 4: Getting to know you.

"Are you okay, Issei-san?" Asia asked, the shy Bishop placing her small palms on the Pawn's stomach, her Sacred Gear, Twilight Healing, slowly healing the narrow cut Irina's Excalibur Mimic had left with a soothing light.

"Damn it…" The lecherous Pawn muttered, utterly shamed at having embarrassed himself in front of not only Asia, but the rest of the Gremory Peerage after shooting his mouth off like he did "Sorry to worry you like this, Asia."

"I'm just glad that the wound was minimal despite it coming from a Holy Sword." Asia admitted with a sigh of relief, her shoulders trembling slightly "I honestly thought you were going to die back there, Issei-san."

"Hey, I'm the one who should apologise." Issei stammered, waving off the former nun's admittedly well-placed concerns before she broke into tears "I'm the one who messed up and ended up blowing your clothes away!"

"That's alright." Asia assured him with a saintly smile that, were she not a devil now, would've surely been accompanied by a halo & choir "I'm sure you were planning something completely different, right Issei-san? I'm just glad you're okay."

'Are we sure Rias brought you back as a Devil and not an Angel?' Issei wondered, bathing in that radiant smile despite knowing all too well the only thing on his mind at the time had been seeing Irina au natural, the pervy Pawn flinching as Koneko proceeded to massage his shoulders.

"…You might have won if you'd boosted one more time." The taciturn Rook opined, completely heedless of Issei's grunts of pain as she dug her fingers into his soft, tender flesh with all her enhanced Rook strength.

'I'd have definitely won if you hadn't given away my secret technique!' Issei wanted to retort, but thought better of angering the little Rook, especially given she already had a grip on him. One set of injuries was enough, thank you very much.

"So tell me, Yuuto." Rias demanded, the group looking up to see their King sitting across from her Knight, arms folded beneath her breasts, the frown on her face belying the concern in her eyes "How long were you planning to wait before telling me you had a run-in with Freed and an Excalibur?"

"I was actually planning to tell you the minute I arrived at the Clubroom." Yuuto admitted, his tone honest, implying no falsehood, as he gazed at his clenched fists "I'm sorry I let my anger at the Holy Swords put you on the spot like that."

"It's nothing." Rias assured him with a sigh "I'm just glad you and Issei came out of it without permanent injury." Her eyes narrowed "Still, this third party you mentioned concerns me…can you truly recall nothing about them that might determine their allegiance?"

"I only said that to those two so they wouldn't go running after him before we had a chance to ask him ourselves." Yuuto countered, a wry smirk adorning his lips "Well, that and the fact that after he destroyed the Excalibur, he stuck around to check if I was alright before leaving with the shards, so I figured I owed him that much. Either way, I definitely got more than a 'Good Look' at him."

"Nice one, Kiba!" Issei cheered, pumping his fist in appreciation of the handsome Knight's cunning, only to grimace as the cut on his abdomen stung in protest of his sudden actions.

"Indeed," Akeno noted, the Thunder Priestess' sultry smile sending shivers of trepidation down the spines of everyone exposed to it, even Rias "How particularly devilish of you, Kiba-kun, lying to your cute kohai like that, and for a complete stranger too!"

"I wouldn't say he's a stranger," Kiba countered, smiling wanly as Akeno blinked in confusion "In fact, if memory serves, he's been an object of interest for both you and Sona-Kaichou for some time now, Buchou."

"Emiya-kun?" Rias exclaimed, Akeno's eyes widening in surprise even as Issei grimaced at the mention of the Brownie of Kuoh, still nursing a grudge from the time the bastard broke his nose and got off scot-free"Are you absolutely certain, Yuuto?"

"Without a doubt." Kiba confirmed, his expression grim as he gazed at his linked fingers "He walked right up to me after driving off Freed, he even addressed me by name, as well as referring to Sona as 'Kaichou'." He glanced up at Rias for the first time "Also, it would appear he knows that I'm affiliated with you, and I suspect he knows we aren't human, though considering he referred to Sona-Kaichou by her pseudonym 'Shitori', it's possible he doesn't know we're Devils, or at least, not affiliated with the 72 pillars."

"That's…a little troubling, I have to admit." Rias muttered, a sentiment shared by all of the more experienced members of her peerage, Asia and Issei merely looking lost by the turn of events "And you're certain he had the Excalibur fragments?"

"He practically dangled them beneath my nose." Kiba muttered, scoffing wryly at the imagery "If I hadn't been so weakened from the fight with Freed, I'd probably have challenged him for them. As it is, it took everything I had just to activate the teleport circle to the dorms after he left."

"I was wondering why you skipped class today." Rias muttered, concern warring with disapproval as she regarded her Knight with a stern glare "You should have contacted me immediately, Yuuto." She reprimanded, only to sigh after a moment's pause "Either way, I'm glad you're alright."

"I'm far from alright, Buchou." Kiba countered, his tone bitter as he clenched his fists together, eyes boring a hole in the ground "I haven't been 'alright' since that night in the snow…and until I find the ones responsible, I doubt I'll ever truly be alright."

"Yuuto." Rias murmured, her eyes soft, filled with naught but concern for her Knight, only to blink in surprise as he rose to his feet, surprise giving way to realization as he made for the door "Wait, Yuuto!" she called out, rising sharply to her feet as he paused in his tracks "Don't go doing anything drastic. As your King, I won't forgive you if you do anything to bring shame on the name of House Gremory."

"…I understand what you're saying, Buchou." Kiba quietly assured his King without turning to face her "But even if you are my King, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't' for my comrades' sacrifice." His fist clenched around the door handle even as Rias flinched "I won't ask you to forgive this act of selfishness, but I'd never be able to forgive myself if I just let this opportunity pass me by…"

"Yuuto…" Rias murmured, her expression hurt as she watched her Knight walk out the door, though she made no move to stop him, her concern for him warring with her understanding of his situation, causing her to bite her lower lip in consternation "Damn it all…why can't things ever be simple?"

"We do seem to have a nasty penchant for getting caught up in the affairs of others." Akeno mused, though despite her smile it was clear the Queen was troubled by Kiba's actions as well "So what do we do about Emiya-kun?" she asked, clearly trying to take Rias' mind off their errant Knight for the moment "I assume you'll be contacting Sona-san to fill her in on the juicy details?"

"Naturally." Rias confirmed, rubbing her eyes with an exhausted sigh "While the fact he aided Kiba in his fight with Freed is something of a relief, all it means is he isn't allied with the Grigori. For all we know he could be a sleeper from a rogue branch of the church, sent to spy on our operations, or even an unaffiliated party seeking to make a move during the confusion." She lowered her hands to reveal determined blue eyes "At the very least, we need to determine whether he's a threat or not."

'If you ask me he's definitely a threat…' Issei muttered, grimacing as he recalled his first encounter with the 'Brownie of Kuoh', more specifically how the redhead had spurned Issei's heartfelt invitation to join him, Motohama and Matsuda in the act of peeking on the girl's changing room.

Now Issei was no stranger to rejection or violence on his person. Hell, prior to joining the Occult Research Club the only way he'd ever get to see any real-live T&A usually resulted in him and his comrades having the living shit beat out of them by girls on a daily basis. The only time they ever gotten beaten up by guys, it was usually the boyfriend or sibling of one of their targets, so Issei had felt perfectly safe extending an olive branch to Shirou, who had no relatives in Kuoh and, if rumours were to be believed, wasn't romantically interested in anyone either.

The only sign Issei had that he'd made a mistake was Emiya's ochre eyes narrowing in a look of disgust so intense it made the future Pawn feel lower than a cockroach before the redhead's fist buried itself in his face, sending him flying into Matsuda and Motohama, the three of them tumbling Ass over Tits until they came to a halt in a tangle of limbs at the end of the hall.

Used to being punished for his perversions as he was, Issei probably wouldn't have minded the broken nose so much if Emiya had at least gotten detention for it. But no, according to Motohama and Matsuda, not only had the redhead NOT been punished, his reputation among the staff and female students had apparently skyrocketed while theirs plummeted yet again.

In short, the possibility of Emiya Shirou being an enemy was equal parts worrying and welcome to Hyoudou Issei. Worrying due to the fact he could apparently match Freed Sellzen wielding an Excalibur, and even destroy said Holy Blade, and welcome in that Issei could finally return the favour without getting shafted for it by the faculty.


Kuoh Academy, mid-day...

It went without saying that Shirou's return to Kuoh Academy was a cautious one, the redhead Faker spending every moment twitching at shadows and sudden noises, his hands clenching, ready to summon Kanshou and Bakuya to defend himself.

While Azazel had assured him that not even Freed would be stupid enough to try anything on Academy grounds without considerable back-up, Shirou hadn't forgotten the insanity in the Stray Exorcist's eyes, and it wasn't as if Freed was working alone, as someone had to have given him Rapidly in the first place.

There was also Rias Gremory to consider. After their little altercation, there was no way Kiba hadn't informed the redheaded 'Onee-sama' of Shirou's involvement. And since Rias was apparently good friends with Shitori Souna, there was a good chance the rest of the Student Council now knew about him as well.

While this was admittedly less of a concern since, like Azazel, they apparently harboured no ill will towards humanity, it still left the Faker backed into a corner, surrounded on all sides by non-human entities that not only knew he wasn't 'normal', but had destroyed an apparently Holy Sword.

And so he'd come to school, despite Azazel insisting he get some more rest, prepared to face an ambush, or at the very least an interrogation, only to spend the entire day jumping at shadows. It therefore came as something of a relief when they made their move when Lunch Period rolled round, the Faker opening the door to his class, intending to eat on the roof, where he'd be awarded a modicum of privacy and room to manoeuvre in the event of an attack, only to find Saji Genshiro waiting for him.

"Yo, Emiya." The non-human greeted, his tone and posture so similar to that of the Faker's 'old friend', Matou Shinji, that for a moment he almost lashed out reflexively, only stopping at Saji's look of alarm "Whoa! Simmer down!" the blonde yelped, raising both hands placatingly "I'm not here to cause trouble, Kaichou simply wanted to see you!"

"I see…" Shirou noted, the Faker relaxing slightly now that one of the shoes he'd been watching for finally dropped, offering the blonde a polite nod "Sorry if I startled Saji-san, I've been expecting something like this all day and it kind of made me jittery."

"Yeah, I can understand that." Saji concurred, relaxing somewhat as he gestured for Shirou to follow him through the halls filled with gossiping schoolgirls, pausing only briefly to compliment, or flirt, in passing before growing serious as they arrived at the Student Council Office. "I've brought him, Kaichou." he called out, opening the door and holding it open for Shirou to enter, the Redhead doing so cautiously, several nameless blades ready to be brought into the world at the slightest hint of violence from anyone inside.

"Thank you, Saji." Sona offered, the reserved Student Council President sitting beside Rias on a double chair with Tsubaki and Akeno standing behind them. The rest of the Student Council and Occult Research Club were likewise scattered around the room, the former greeting the redhead with reserved smiles while the latter seemed divided between indifferent, nervous and outright hostile.

'Huh…that's right.' Shirou muttered, blinking at the sight of a scowling Hyoudou Issei, having entirely forgotten that the pervert had joined the ORC some time ago, sometime after he'd been running around claiming to have gotten a girlfriend if memory served. At the time, Shirou hadn't given the matter much thought. Indeed, like most of the student body he actively strove not to think about the Perverted Trio at all if he could help it, but it was kind of hard to ignore when someone's scent changed from that of a human to something distinctly not-so overnight.

"W-What is it?" Issei demanded, the perverts voice snapping the redhead out of his thoughts, realizing he'd been unwittingly staring at the pervert fairly intensely "You wanna start something, bastard?!"

"Issei! Calm down." Rias called out, her tone brooking no argument, the self-proclaimed Harem King flinching at her words before backing down, though he continued to glare at Shirou sullenly "I'm sorry, Emiya-kun." The redhead offered with a smile "I'm afraid Issei's still a little sore with you."

"So long as he keeps his hands to himself, we shouldn't have a problem." Shirou assured her, and in all honesty he didn't care to deal with the pervert's shenanigans at the moment, not with several decidedly more palpable threats staring him right in the face "Here," he offered, holding out the bag he'd brought with him "I figured something like this would happen, so I brought a peace offering."

"My how considerate of you." Akeno chirped, the reason for her amusement apparent as almost every female in the room, excluding herself and Asia Argento, who merely perked up slightly, straightened at the sight of the bag, their eyes locking onto it like heat-seeking missiles "More of your infamous 'Devil's Food Cake'?"

"Nothing so fancy," Shirou assured her, earning looks of disappointment from the crowd, though Sona looked oddly relieved for some reason "Just some Daifuku I made the night before."

At the mention of the ground mochi-balls the disinterested expression on the white-haired loli in the corner was replaced with a catlike intensity that would've almost been cute if looking at her didn't remind Shirou painfully of Ilya.

"Thank you, Emiya-kun." Sona offered, Tsubaki accepting the bag from him with a polite nod before retreating with Akeno to the small kitchenette the Student Council used to prepare tea "I take it you know why we invited you here today?"

"I have my suspicions." Shirou admitted, his tone relaxed as he subtly ran his eyes over the assembled non-humans, only to frown at a glaring absence among them "I don't see Kiba-san, is he alright?"

"Yuuto is…taking a leave of absence at the moment." Rias sighed, her troubled expression heightening the Faker's concern for the blonde swordsman "Oh, don't worry, he's fine." She assured him with a genuine smile "Though I must admit, it does my heart good to see you so concerned for him."

"Which brings us to the situation at hand." Sona cut in, Shirou straightening reflexively as the student council president adjusted her glasses pointedly "Tell me truthfully, Emiya Shirou-kun: Are you, or are you not, a Magician?"

"I'm not." Shirou answered promptly, only to shiver in the face of the bespectacled girl's frown "To elaborate, I'm merely an Apprentice Magus, and a rather poor one at that. If you wanted my official classification, it'd probably be 'Spellcaster' or 'Faker'."

"Aren't those all the same thing?" Rias pondered, tilting her head in confusion, a sentiment shared by Asia and Issei, who actually stopped glaring at the Faker to blink at the redhead in confusion.

"To anyone not in the know there's very little difference between them." Shirou admitted with a nod "However, there are actually several classifications a Magus can fall under, with the title of Magician being the absolute pinnacle one can achieve."

"I'd always wondered just what kind of hierarchal structure the Human Magical Societies possessed." Sona opined, her expression lined with intrigue "I assume that 'Spellcaster' holds some special meaning?"

"It essentially refers to those like myself with relatively low skills in Magecraft who don't adhere to the ways of traditional Magi." Shirou explained, waving a hand to the kitchenette for emphasis "For example, I'm quite at home with most modern appliances, whereas most 'True' Magi would consider using a typewriter instead of pen & paper, or even parchment, to be heresy."

"I see." Sona noted, even as the rest of the group, Rias included, grimaced at the idea of being denied modern comforts such as running hot water or mobile phones "And just what must one do to be classified as a full-fledged Magician?"

"Only those who discover and are capable of wielding a True Magic can be called a Magician." Shirou replied promptly "From what I've learned under my Mentors, there have only been five people worthy of being called 'Magician' in human history."

"What precisely do you mean by True Magic?" Sona inquired, her expression intrigued "And how can there only be five when I know for a fact there are entire schools dedicated to various arcane fields?"

"It's complicated…" Shirou admitted with a grimace, holding up a hand at Sona's frown "Like I said, I'm only an Apprentice Magus, and a 3rd rate one at that." He sighed as she calmed down "Let's see…I suppose the easiest way to explain the difference is that, unlike Magecraft, the effects of a True Magic cannot be replicated by modern technology."

"I think I can see where you're coming from." Rias concurred, her expression thoughtful as Tsubaki and Akeno returned with a tray laden with a Tea set and elegantly arranged Daifuku on a plate "Anyone with a match can set something on fire, and certain branches like Alchemy do share some elements with modern science."

"Hundreds of years ago, the ability to fly or talk to someone across long distances would have been seen as 'Magic'." Shirou concurred with a nod "Nowadays anyone can do either provided they have the time, effort and money to spare."

"It certainly makes more sense the more I think of it." Sona noted, inclining her head in approval, though her expression never changed "Should we therefore assume that your title as 'Faker' pertains to your school of thaumaturgy in some way?"

"It's a title used to refer to a Magus that's proficient in the use of Gradation Air." Shirou confirmed, only to sigh at their blank expressions, holding up his hand and tracing a copy of one of the teacups Tsubaki had set before him for all to see "Basically it allows the user to materialize objects out of thin air in accordance to their imagination and skill level."

"Fascinating." Rias noted, her eyes, and those of Sona glittering as they no doubt considered the possibilities such a skill could provide and jumped to the wrong conclusions like many before them "I take it such a skill must be rather valuable?"

"On the contrary, most Magi consider Gradation Air to be a waste of time." Shirou admitted, allowing the cup to vanish in a burst of Prana "For example, say that I needed a specific dagger for a ritual. While I could 'make' a dagger similar to what I need, due to the inherent flaw in human imagination, it wouldn't be a perfect match and would vanish should my concentration waver for a second."

"What the hell?" Saji chuckled, the blonde Student Council member shaking his head in amusement as he smirked at the Faker teasingly "You sure picked a lousy school to specialise in, Emiya."

"I wasn't really given much of a choice." Shirou admitted with a shrug, more than used to such comments after Rin's not-so-gentle ribbing "Due to my situation, I was ill-suited for Traditional Magecraft and my first Mentor admitted he wasn't much of a Magus, to the point it was all those who came after could do to make me somewhat competent." He smiled self-deprecatingly "Truth be told, I wouldn't be surprised if I never graduated beyond 'Apprentice Magus'."

"And yet," Sona cut in, her expression serious once more "not only did you manage to drive off a rogue-Exorcist of the Church, an established prodigy no less, but you even managed to destroy the Holy Sword he was wielding at the time."

"Thank you for that, by the way." Rias offered honestly, her smile grateful even as she sat beside the uncompromising Sona "You've no idea how worried I was when Kiba told me what happened."

"I'm just glad he was alright, it looked like that cut he received took a lot out of him." Shirou admitted, inclining his head in acknowledgement of her thanks "Although, I have to ask, why did the sword react to him like that?"

He had his suspicions, how could he NOT after adding Rapidly's history to his inner world? But he'd rather hear it straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak, and it was about time they started answering some of HIS questions damn it!

"You don't know?" Rias exclaimed, even Sona blinking in astonishment at the redhead's ignorance "I admit we suspected it may be the case, but could it truly be you enrolled here without knowing anything?"

"If you're referring to the fact I'm the only human in the room then I pretty much sussed that out my first day here." Shirou assured her, earning a round of flinches from the others "Though if it's any consolation, I haven't really looked into figuring out what you all are since it was clear you were content to play human until now."

"That's not…entirely incorrect." Sona opined, her reserved expression returning as she adjusted her glasses before striking a pose similar to Rin's lecturing pose "With the exception of Rias, Koneko, Akeno and myself, everyone in this room was human at one point."

Shirou frowned but said nothing, the redhead Faker merely letting his eyes roam over the assembled crowd impassively. Some of them, mostly the Student Council members, flinched back from his stare as if expecting to be judged unworthy, whereas the ORC were torn between amusement, Akeno, nervousness, Asia, challenging, Issei, or outright ignoring him like Koneko, whose eyes remained locked on the tray of Daifuku.

"I see…" he muttered at length, his eyes lingering on Issei and Asia for a moment, as the scent of change was most recent on them, before turning back to the pair "I take it this isn't just some initiation ritual you people do."

"In ideal circumstances we'd actually prefer if it could be that way." Rias admitted with a sad smile towards her club members "Indeed, Sona's Peerage is all composed entirely of volunteers. Whereas mine…"

"Buchou saved our lives." Issei cut in, his expression heated as he glared at the Faker "Asia, Kiba and I would be dead if it weren't for her, so don't you dare accuse her of anything!"

"Well put, Issei-kun." Akeno concurred, smiling coyly at the youth, though there was something off about her expression as she turned back to Shirou "Rest assured, Emiya-kun, while the circumstances may not have been ideal, all of us made the choice to join Rias' Peerage.'

"You all keep saying that word like you expect me to know what it means." Shirou noted, earning a coy smile from the pigtailed girl as he glanced at Sona and Rias "I take it that it's something to do with your species?"

"Not originally, no." Sona admitted, removing her glasses briefly to polish them, her eyes never leaving Shirou's own as she spoke "Tell me, Emiya-kun; What do you know of Devils?"

Now there was a loaded question if there ever was one.

Shirou would be the first to admit that, as a Magus, his education had been sub-par. Between Kiritsugu's deliberately lacklustre tutelage and his own botched efforts, it was a small wonder he'd even manage to qualify as a Master for the Grail War, and even after partnering with Rin and gaining Archer's arm, there hadn't been much time for improving his background knowledge, instead choosing to focus on not killing himself every time he tapped into the Artificial Phantasm's power.

Still, it wasn't as if all that effort had gone to waste. While Emiya Shirou's tutelage had been flawed, it hadn't stopped the man who would become the Counter Guardian EMIYA from purposefully hurling himself into conflict after conflict, improving his skills and knowledge on the battlefield as he struggled to uphold their borrowed ideals.

And that wasn't even factoring in the 'World Knowledge' that the Holy Grail granted the Servants upon their summoning, allowing even warriors from bygone eras to understand the operation of modern conveniences and weapons, provided they had skills and adaptability to do so.

As such, the moment the word 'Devil' left the reserved Student Council President's lips, Shirou subconsciously lowered the barrier between his circuits and the Artificial Phantasm, wincing slightly as information surged into his brain like a flood.

Devils/悪魔/Akuma: Passive, imaginary beings called forth and moulded by human desires, similarly to Heroic Spirits, yet more akin to a curse that acquired material form and a psyche than living creatures. Despite this, they are potentially beneficial to mankind due to understanding human suffering and can take said suffering upon themselves via a contract under the terms of equivalent exchange. In short, in exchange for a Devil granting a human's wish, that human must pay with pain.

He cut off the connection in the middle of a list of various notable 'Demon Contractor' EMIYA had encountered, and killed, over the years, grunting as the sudden halt of information made his head spin.

"Emiya-kun?" Rias called out tentatively, the Faker blinking sharply, looking up to see everyone, even Koneko, eyeing him with the same concern one would give a lit fuse, or a cornered animal "Are you alright?"

"Ah, don't worry." Shirou assured her, taking a breath to settle himself "As for what I know of Devils, unfortunately, my Mentors were all atheists, so my knowledge is patchwork at best." Which was technically true; Kiritsugu had never truly believed in Gods and while the Tohsaka were descended from Hidden Christians the time spent under Kirei hadn't really endeared Rin to the Church. Ironic naming sense aside, the less said about the Einzbern's relation with The Almighty, the better. "Unless you're trying to tell me you're incorporeal spirits possessing the bodies of two schoolgirls who grant people's wishes at a cost."

"Well, the part about granting wishes is right." Rias admitted with a chuckle, a sentiment shared by the rest of the room, the atmosphere in the room relaxing somewhat as the redhead leant back, causing her breasts to bounce pertly "Though I can assure you, this body is all mine."

"Quite." Sona muttered, levelling a disapproving look at her friend, though Shirou swore he saw a hint of envy in her normally reserved features "Indeed, entering into contracts with humans is not only a way of life for Devils, it's actually a mark of status. The more contractors a Devil has, the more influence they are said to possess among their peers."

"Though rest assured that there are certain wishes we cannot grant." Rias cut in at the Faker's troubled frown "More specifically, wishes to kill or otherwise permanently harm humans are strictly forbidden by Devil Law."

"It's also forbidden to demand more than the cost of the Wish." Sona added, light glinting off her glasses as she donned them again "We typically prefer cash or an item of equal value to the service provided, though it's not uncommon to have them perform a favour for us at a later date as well."

"You sound more like a Crime Boss than a Student Council President…" Shirou deadpanned, Sona's cheeks lighting up even as Rias fought the urge to hide her giggles, a sentiment shared by several other members of the group, sans Saji, who looked torn between joining in and defending her honour.

"In-in any case!" Sona coughed, fighting to resume her calm demeanour "As you may have guessed from her name, Rias is the current heir to House Gremory of the 72 Pillars." She gestured to herself while Rias inclined her head "My true name is Sona Sitri, I am the current heir to House Sitri of the 72 Pillars. The two of us share the duty of Overseer for this city."

"Emiya Shirou." Shirou introduced, making a mental note to find out what these '72 pillars' were even as he lowered his head in a polite bow "I have no clan to speak of, but please treat me kindly."

"A pleasure to finally meet you, Emiya-kun." Rias greeted, smiling at the Faker as he raised his head from the bow "I must admit; I was beginning to think we'd never get a chance to chat, what with you running off before I could even say hello." She pouted teasingly "That rather hurt my feelings, you know? Am I really that scary?"

"Terrifying." Shirou deadpanned, earning a snort from Sona that she covered up with a cough, the Faker rubbing the back of his head awkwardly at Rias' pout "It's not anything you've done to me personally. It's just whenever I sense you coming , I get this strong urge to run for my life."

"I'd offer you a shovel, Emiya-kun, but is seems you're doing all too well on your own." Sona noted dryly, looking honestly amused as Rias pouted furiously "Still, if that's the case, why didn't you likewise avoid the Student Council or myself? Is it because you didn't see us as a threat?"

"It's…complicated…" Shirou sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose at the challenging look in the Sitri Heiress' eyes "You see, the way I was taught to sense the energy around me was to manifest it as one of my five senses, in my case, my sense of smell."

"Are you saying I smell bad?" Rias demanded, the redhead's expression bordering between outraged and embarrassed while Akeno and Issei looked like Christmas had just come early for some reason.

"I'm not even going to answer that one." Shirou deadpanned in the face of her ire "To put it simply, aside from the scent of sulphur that clued me in that you aren't human, I can identify each of you by the 'scent' of your power. For example, Sona-Kaichou smells like flowing water." the Sitri heir quirked a brow "Akeno-san like Ozone." The pigtailed girl stiffened slightly "And I don't know why but Hyoudou and Saji-san both smell like dragons."

"Hey! how come I'm the only one being referred to without an honorific?!" Issei demanded angrily, completely missing the point of the redhead's statement even as Sona glanced at her startled pawn speculatively "Though I gotta admit I'm curious what Buchou smells like?"

"I honestly don't know." Shirou admitted, pointedly ignoring the pervert's look of disappointment as he focussed on his fellow redhead "All I can tell you is that, whatever it is, it's terrifying."

"He's probably reacting to your Power of Destruction, Rias." Sona deduced, Rias' pout giving way to a look of understanding "You didn't earn the title of 'Crimson Haired Ruin Princess' for nothing after all." She adjusted her glasses "That being said, there's one more important issue we need to address."

"Ah, yes." Rias noted, recovering admirably from her pout as she cleared her throat "Emiya-kun, during the fight with Freed Sellzen, we understand you somehow managed to destroy his Holy Sword." At the Faker's nod she continued "Tell me; what did you do with the pieces?"

"I didn't think it'd be wise to leave them lying around so I took them home with me." Shirou admitted with an offhand shrug "I didn't bring them with me to school if that's what you're asking."

"I'd honestly prefer you avoided bringing a weapon capable of harming our kind onto campus." Sona replied dryly "The only reason we brought it up is because two Exorcists from the Church were sent to retrieve the stolen Excaliburs." She raised a hand in a placating manner at his tensing "Rest assured, they have specifically asked us not to intervene in their hunt. However, as you aren't affiliated with any faction, we believe they won't hesitate to use force to retrieve the remains from your person. For that reason, I would like you to hand them over to us."

"Either that, or you could join one of our peerages." Rias proposed, smiling coyly at the Faker as she leant back, arms tucked beneath her breasts "As a member of a Peerage, you'd automatically fall under the protection of one of the 72 Pillars, so even the Church wouldn't be able to resort to force without considerable political backlash." She smiled coyly "That, and there are a few additional perks to becoming a Devil. So what do you say? Interested?"

"As tempting as the offer sounds, I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass." Shirou countered, earning another pout from the redhead "I don't have a problem handing over the Excalibur shards though. Will tomorrow be okay?"

"Yes, that should suffice." Sona agreed, only to frown, looking up at the clock on the wall as the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch "My apologies, Emiya-kun." she offered with a sigh "It seems we lost track of time."

"It's no big deal." Shirou assured her with a smile as he rose to his feet "I'll be heading back to class. Please, feel free to enjoy the Daifuku."

And with that said he left, pausing only to thank Saji for opening the door once more before making his way to his next class, most of his questions answered for the time being, and at the very least reassured that he wouldn't have to fear for his life while on school grounds.


And that's chapter 4.

For those of you wondering why Shirou's being so open with his intel at this juncture, there are several reasons.

1. Information: In order to gather more details on the 'Moonlit World' of the DxD verse, he needs to determine any discrepancies in his (and Archer's) knowledge, as evidenced by the difference between Devils from Fate & DxD mentioned above.

2. Secrecy: While normally a Magus would take their secrets to the grave rather than announce themselves, this is only in relation to 'Mundanes', those kept ignorant of the Moonlit world. Since it's clear from the clash between Freed & Kiba that the O.R.C and Student Council reside within said world, he doesn't need to hide too much.

From this brief exchange, Shirou has learnt of the existence of Devils, that they differ from his world's definition, and that they can change other species into their own.

Won't be updating for a while after this, work and whatnot, and the next few won't be heavily action orientated I'm afraid, so those of you waiting for Freed vs Shirou round 2., sorry for the delay.

Next time, Having acquitted himself well with two out of the three factions, it's time for Shirou to face the third. I'd say 'God Help Him' but that would be ironic.