Chapter 10 - Introductions to the Supernatural


A/N: With university picking up again, there is very little time to write personal stuff, sadly. Nevertheless, a lot of work has been done behind the scenes of this project, and several thousand words were written for this chapter in particular. This chapter will see some more exposition, but focus mostly on Issei and his first introduction to the Supernatural world. (when you do not count being murdered) I hope you'll enjoy!


Soma picked his seat for their first class on Friday deliberately. Having received his 'orders' from his King to approach both of their targets during class today it would behove him to be close to said targets. Seeing the blond boy already in his seat, and knowing his brother was soon to follow, Soma sat himself to Takumi's right with a quick nod to the Italian.

"Morning Aldini, you doin' alright?" He started, receiving a small smile and a nod in return. Before Takumi could reply however, the teacher entered the classroom behind the last few students. As the class quieted down the teacher took his spot in front of the classroom and addressed all of them.

"Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Culinary History. My name is Devon McStaire, and I will be your teacher in this subject for the next few months. This class will take all of you from the dawn of our civilizations all over the world to the many culinary highlights all over the world. While with your geography classes you also focus on foods around the world, here in this class we will look at the reasons why certain areas developed certain sorts of foods, and how these foods were influenced by historical events. Also, while it will not be the main aspect of this class, we will also investigate famous culinary events across history and attempt to recreate some of the foods served there. For now, though, please open your syllabus to the first chapter, and we will go over the schedule for the upcoming few months in a moment."

As his teacher finished the introduction, Soma poked Takumi briefly with his elbow while everyone was busy taking out their books. Seeing that he had the blond guy's attention, Soma spoke up. "Hey, Takumi, could you and your brother meet up with me after class? There's something we need to talk about."

His words prompted a confused look from Takumi, but the teacher had picked up the lecture again before he had the opportunity to respond with more than a small nod and a signal at his brother.

In the back of the class, seated with her Bishops on both sides of her, Erina saw her Queen speak to the blond Italian boy. Hisako had done her digging into both brothers, looking for potential issues in their backgrounds and histories that could potentially come to bite the Nakiri-family later. But, aside from a distant link to the Sicilian Mafia with one of their some-times-removed-cousins there was nothing they could find that might be damaging to her own Peerage or to the Nakiri-family at large. As such, they had gone on to discuss how to go about recruiting the two Italian brothers until late at night, going into their potential individual Evil Piece and best training regimens based on what they knew of the two boys afterwards. Erina had had to cut off the video call when it threatened to go on after midnight, considering they all had classes planned in the early morning.

She saw Soma finish his sentence, but before he could receive a substantive answer from Takumi Aldini, the teacher started talking. Erina threw a quick glance at the board behind their teacher, and discreetly flipped her book to the right page. Seeing 'Ancient Times' at the top of the chapter, together with a map lining out most of the modern Middle East and eastern Mediterranean Sea, Erina gave a quick nod and paid attention to the class, pushing the need for updates from her Queen to the back of her mind.


He had been awake for nearly an hour by now, just lying in his bed and staring at the ceiling. Last night still seemed like a weird dream to him, and he would have convinced himself of that by now if it were not for the note he had found on his nightstand. Said note had asked him to come by the Occult Research Club and was signed by a person he had only seen from afar in the two years he had been at his school, Rias Gremory.

Now, Issei was well aware that his brain was strange from time to time, and he was honestly working to change that -if slowly-, but even his brain would not have been able to come up with all the weird events of yesterday. If his memory was correct, he was stabbed in the back by someone he did not get to see, then had one of the two great 'sisters' of Kuoh try and save him, before he passed out due to blood loss. He had some vague recollection of waking up in the middle of the night, but that did not come with many details. However, the note in his room did suggest that he would get an explanation after school. Speaking of, if he wanted to get a shower in before having to leave, it was time to get out of bed and do so. Pushing himself upright and swinging his legs over the sides of the bed, Issei paused for the expected pains to wreck his body. When none were forthcoming, Issei stood up and opened his door towards the hallway, intent on going to the bathroom. The moment he stepped outside his room however, a shout came from downstairs.

"Issei, are you awake?" His mother shouted up. Issei let out a grunt in response, before his mother continued. "Could you come downstairs for a moment? There are some things we need to discuss."

"I was just about to take a shower mom; I'll be downstairs in a few minutes."

It was quiet for a few moments after he had said that before a reply was shouted back. "Alright, but make it quick, it's important, and you still have school to get to!"

Not bothering to reply to that and keep the conversation going for much longer, Issei entered the bathroom, tossed off his t-shirt and stepped underneath the shower.


Downstairs, Gorou Hyoudou looked at his wife after he put down his morning newspaper in favour of supporting said wife in the upcoming discussion. Gorou looked every bit the ordinary office worker that he was if one were to ignore all the ways in which he wasn't. His life had already been storied before he had run into Miki at the restaurant he had worked at, for what at the time had been an important mission for his old employer. Their developing relationship had caused him to leave his job at the Public Security Intelligence Agency after finishing up his last assignment in Kuoh. He had thought he had left his double life of counterintelligence and security behind with this resignation, only to then later discover that his then fiancé had some very interesting secrets of her own. They had used several sessions of pillow-talk after that to slowly reveal their respective secrets to each other, and their relationship had grown ever stronger because of it. Miki had taken him to meet her King a few times before, mostly at informal receptions and the like, and he had been offered to join the peerage as well, had he wished to do so. He had refused, preferring to remain human for the time being, but he had still gotten involved with some of his wife's Devil affairs over the years.

And then yesterday, around the early evening, Miki had suddenly stated that something was wrong with Issei, only for both of them to learn he had been reincarnated by a third party when said third party had broken through the tripwire-wards around their property, carrying with them their wounded son. Miki had used her control over the wards to affirm that Issei was recovering from his wounds, and then dragged him into the dining room to discuss how they would deal with all of this. A few hours after that they had their first meeting with his son's new King, the young 'local' prodigy Rias Gremory. He had heard from his wife that she was not a bad sort, as far as Devils went, but then the first thing she had tried was to hypnotise both of them. Gorou was of two minds on this; on the one hand it proved that their own deceptions over the years had been successful, on the other it could be considered a blatant attack on their family. His experiences had helped to keep his face straight, and he spotted the hidden signals his wife had given him moments before she asked him to go to the kitchen to 'fetch some drinks'. He had listened in to the conversation, of course, but in the end, there had been no need to bring out any of the anti-devil weaponry that they had prepared, his wife having it all well in hand.

They had learned from the red-haired girl that Issei had been killed by the Fallen that had taken up residence in Kuoh over the last few months. And while Miss Gremory had been aware of the intentions of the Fallen, she had still been surprised by the actual assassination. A small part of his mind felt like blaming the young Devil for that, but if her apparent age mirrored her experience, it might have simply been something she did not consider. Upstairs, Gorou heard the continuous sound from the shower die down, meaning that Issei would probably be downstairs within a few minutes. In response, he folded up his newspaper and placed it on the table next to the couch, gave a quick smile at his wife, and prepared for what would doubtlessly be an interesting conversation with his son.


With his hair still slightly damp, Issei nevertheless threw down his towel on the floor, to better dry his feet. Simultaneously brushing his teeth and trying to bring some method to the madness that was his hair in an attempt to nail that 'protagonist look', Issei was somewhat lost in thought as he went through the motions. Picking up the towel again to wrap it around his waist, Issei left the steamy shower for his room.

Once dressed in his uniform, Issei grabbed his bag from the chair at his desk and went downstairs, only to come to an almost complete stop as he saw a most dreaded set-up in front of him. His parents on one couch, with an empty chair placed exactly opposite to them. Swallowing deeply and wondering about the amount of trouble he was in, Issei played his part and walked to the empty chair. To his surprise however, the look on his mother's face was not the usual stern look he had faced many times before. Instead, his mother seemingly looked concerned. This was then combined with his father speaking up first, another unusual occurrence in conversations like this. "Are you alright son?"

Now, that was a sentence he had heard before, though it was mostly related to the state of his mind and coming from his mother when she had caught him looking at perverted materials again. No, this time the tone matched his mother's concerned look. As such, he nodded and replied. "Yeah, why? What's going on?"

Both his father and Issei noticed the switch in his mother's facade, as she went from worried to an expression usually combined with lectures. "What do you remember about yesterday evening, Issei?"

The youngest Hyoudou took some time to come up with his answer, before settling for a question of his own. "What do you mean, mom?"

"Please, Issei, it's important. Don't worry about sounding weird in this case, your mom and I… we understand if your answer would be considered strange or anything like that." His father replied, using a tone that seemed to both imply and leave a lot of things vague at the same time.

"Uhm, well, okay… But this is going to sound quite weird, so don't laugh please. I remember walking around the park after spending some hours after school with Matsuda, on my way home. Then… Well, I believe I was stabbed?" Issei paused, expecting this to be the moment where his parents would look at him in either panic or incredulity. To his own surprise however, both of them simply nodded for him to go on. Confused, he continued: "After that, I believe there was a girl from school doing something, she was glowing."

Once again, there was no visible reaction from his parents, other than a small nod from his father. "Whatever she was doing, she didn't look very happy about it. At that point I think I lost consciousness. Then there is some weird memory about me being awake at night, with a big-boobied naked girl next to me." The last part he added on a whim, hoping to draw some reaction out of his parents, whose faces still betrayed nothing. Still, as he finished his short account of memories from yesterday and set back, it was his mother who replied. Not with words, but by standing up and going in for a hug. Startled, Issei returned the hug out of reflex.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you Issei, I should have kept a closer watch." His mother spoke over his shoulder before his father took over.

"Nonsense, Miki. If anything, this is my area of expertise. Also, going by the look on our son's face we should probably explain some things first…"


As he walked towards the school, Issei's head was still spinning with the deluge of information he had gotten over the last hour. He had already missed the first period because of the long explanation, but that was the last thing on his mind. Apparently, his mother was a Devil, who were apparently real, by the by, while his father was a former operative of the Japanese internal security agency. Then, he learned that he was now some sort of Devil-Human-Dragon hybrid, because he had been murdered and then brought back to life by Rias Gremory, another Devil. The 'Dragon' part of his hybrid self was apparently dormant, but his mother had promised that they would start training soon, whatever that would entail. All of it did validate the note left on his nightstand however, and the fact that he now had vague glimpses from a memory of a naked Rias Gremory in his bed. Although his mother was seemingly somewhat displeased with the Devil girl after she had tried to hypnotise his parents. Oh yes, magic was a real thing too, and his mother had wings. Come to think of it, he probably had wings as well.

As lost in thought as he was, Issei completely failed to acknowledge the Student Council's Vice-President at the entrance to the Kuoh education complex. "You are late, Hyoudou, care to explain yourself?"

Still lost in his own mind, his answer came without considering the impact of his words. "I was stabbed." After that, he walked past the stunned girl towards his class's homeroom, hoping to time his arrival around the end of first period.


"Huh…" It was all the response she got to her long exposition and recruitment pitch, and Erina felt her heart sink slightly. Next to her, Soma's face showed a smirk, probably in response to her own facial expression. Across from the table that she and her Peerage members were all seated at, both Italian boys looked deep in thought. It took a few more moments before she got a more substantiated response.

"So, you're saying that there is a completely hidden world, in what might well be a different dimension than this one. That magic is real, and that all of you are Devils?" Isami Aldini replied, looking as confused as he sounded. "You must admit that this all sounds rather bizarre."

Her second Bishop replied on her behalf. "Yeah, that's basically it. That, and the fact that we're inviting the two of you to become a part of it. And yeah, it does sound rather bizarre at first, I can remember as much from when I learned I had inherited the magical talents from my father and his side of the family."

The blond boy spoke up next. "Can I just ask, why us? As far as I know neither of us have any magical talents…" Erina glanced around the table and saw her Queen signal that he would answer this one.

"Well, there are two reasons as to why we'd want to recruit the both of you. Firstly, you are twins. Twins hold a supernatural power of their own, which can be greatly enhanced when they then get actual magical powers. Second, if both of you were to become Knights, there is little need for pre-existing magical powers. As is the case with their historical namesake, Knights in a Peerage fulfil the role of close combat experts, using physical attacks to fight their opponents. Now, we're all aspiring chefs here, so all of us know our way around bladed utensils, but as Knights your skills would become supernatural. Also, to add to the recruitment pitch given by the Princess here, there are many supernatural ingredients to cook with as well…" Soma concluded with a smile, as both of the Aldinis nodded along with his explanation.

"Can we think all of this over first? Or do you expect an answer right away?" Isami asked, looking around the table and all its occupants.

"You can think things over, of course, though we would prefer your answer before the end of the weekend." Hisako fielded in response to the question. "Also, please keep in mind the fact that the moonlit world is a strict secret to everyone not involved in it, so be watchful of your surroundings when discussing it outside of this room… Also-"

Whatever Hisako was about to say next was interrupted by Erina's phone going off. As she pulled it out of her bag, a quick glance told the Nakiri heiress that she would have to take this call.


"So, that's the current state of things, my King." The voice on the other end of the line concluded her report, prompting a thoughtful 'hmm' from said King, as Senzaemon overthought what his first Bishop had just told him. Hearing that Miki Hyoudou's son had been assassinated by what appeared to be a Fallen faction, and then reincarnated by the Gremory heiress of all people, would cause somewhat of a shift in his plans. Plans which they had been preparing for the last few years, ever since it had become clear that little Issei possessed a Dragon-type Longinus. Still, he could look into how these plans would shift later, as his Bishop was waiting for his reply.

"I see. First off, I hope that Issei is alright? No lasting damage of any sort?"

"Nothing, he was properly healed by Miss Gremory, as far as I could tell."

Given the fact that Miki Hyoudou was one of his two medical specialists in Japan, that would mean that Issei was physically in top shape, especially considering the fact that she had allowed her son to go to school after finishing the initial explanation.

"Good, that is a relief. Now, given that he is officially part of another peerage, I cannot interact with him myself, I don't think. But there might be a way through which we can keep an eye on what your son's new peerage is getting up to. It would require some bureaucracy, I reckon, but we could shift some of our forces around to strengthen our position around Kuoh." The old man took a moment to gather his next thoughts, giving his conversation partner a chance to reply.

"Well, I would certainly appreciate having the most up-to-date intelligence reports on the Gremory-family, as well as those on the other Devils in the area. At the same time, I don't think we need a large show of force at the moment. They do not know which peerage I belong to, or that I am a reincarnated Devil in the first place. All that Rias Gremory should be aware of is that I am a Devil. She should also still be in the dark about Gorou, and I asked Issei to keep things that way for as long as possible. Although, maybe…"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Well, given there are two siblings to the Satans here together with their peerages, which hold at least one Devil connected to the upper echelons of the Grigori and several other figures of interest as far as we could tell, I might use this moment to request some additional forces to help with surveillance."

Senzaemon mentally assessed the situation as it would be in Kuoh, only to come to a similar conclusion. "Yes, you make a good point. Considering the increasing tensions in several parts of the supernatural world, Kuoh could certainly see some action in the upcoming few years. As luck would have it however, there might already be a suitable answer in place. Let me look into things a bit on my side, and I will get back to you with what we'll do soon."

"Very good. Thank you, my King."

"No problem, keep me updated on how things develop Miki."

With that, Senzaemon terminated the call and started to dig through the messy pile on his desk, looking for one specific form in particular.


"Alright, I'll tell the others… Yes, no problem. Tonight? That works for me, yes. I'll ask if they have the time too."

They only heard one half of the conversation, and only with their collective supernatural hearing. This meant that Isami and Takumi were somewhat left in the dark, but they had other things occupying their mind at the moment. After a quick goodbye was said however, Erina walked back to the group from the corner of the room where she had been talking to her grandfather. Throwing a quick glance around the group, she gave a miniscule shake of her head to all the Devils in the room. At that, Soma stood up and stretched out, drawing the attention of everyone else by doing so.

"Well, I have to head back to my room and drop off my stuff, especially if I want to be able to get some experimentation in before dinner. Unless there is anything else?" The last part was mostly aimed at his King, who shook her head.

"No, I think we're done here for today. Isami, Takumi, please let me know if you have any other questions regarding my proposal, and please give me your answers by the end of the weekend. If you could wait up for a bit though, Soma, I'll walk with you to the Polar Star Dormitory, as I do need to talk to Eishi and Rindou regarding something for tomorrow's meeting of the Elite Ten."

At that, both Italian brothers said their goodbyes and left the room, doubtlessly to discuss today's revelations, and both of her Bishops followed a few moments later, discussing some of the homework they had to do. Soma grabbed his jacket and waited at the door for Erina to finish packing her bag, occupying himself with dispelling the privacy spell in the meantime.


"So, what did Gramps have to say? Anything important that we should know?" Soma started as they were both walking across the rather long road from the main education complex at Totsuki to the Polar Star Dormitory. It was a clear afternoon, in contrast with the cloudy morning, with most other students relaxing outside at the end of their week. Either that or they were probably busy cooking somewhere, given the nature of the institution.

"Yes, actually. Though it is slightly troublesome." Erina started as she kept her leisurely pace. "We're probably going to be deployed to another school rather quickly, ahead of the main planned transfer programme."

If this surprised her Queen, Soma did not show any of it on his features. Instead, he replied with a rather casual tone. "Ah, so instead of that 'Friendship and Rapport' training thing we're going on exchange? And then I assume that the 'we' in this case is our peerage?"

"Yes, grandpa is planning to use the exchange programme as a way to disguise our deployment, at least initially." Erina responded, observing the calculating look on Soma's face.

"Ah, I see. So, we're going into potentially hostile territory then…"

"It is not necessarily hostile, though it does belong to other Devils. The son of one of grandfather's peerage members was recently reincarnated by them after being attacked by what were probably Fallen, and -as far as I understood- she has called for back-up from the Nakiris. However, while I would normally love to help out with this, I had really hoped for a few more weeks at Totsuki to work towards both further recruitment and bonding with all of you."

"Aha, yeah that makes sense. When would we be going there? And where exactly would we be going?"

"The plan is to head there after next week, so probably next Friday. And it's a city called Kuoh, I believe." Erina replied, only to be surprised as her Queen suddenly stopped moving. "What is it?"

Soma shook his head as he replied. "You remember Kuroka, right? Her younger sister I told you about? She is in a peerage in Kuoh…" He let his words hang between the two of them as they continued their walk, both of them momentarily sinking in their own respective thoughts. After a few moments of silence, Soma spoke up again. "At the very least having one more week would mean we can get our answers from the Aldinis, and potentially bring them along as well. Sure, it'd be too bad if we were to miss the camp, but by the looks of it we won't exactly grow bored in Kuoh."

"I suppose that's true. I'll have to ask my grandfather for more details during dinner tonight. And also for the latest intelligence about what exactly we'd be going into. Are you available tomorrow to go over all of that together?" Erina spoke, as their destination became visible from behind the small hill they were climbing.

"Yes, of course. I'll also ask Kuroka for updates. As far as I know her, she's either somewhere around Kuoh, has just been there, or is planning to go there in the next few days. Either way, she should have some information for us that we could use."

"Good, thank you Soma. I should have more information about all of this by tonight, so I will keep you in the loop." Soma only gave a nod in response, allowing an amicable silence to fall between the two of them as they approached the entrance to Soma's dormitory.


A/N 2: Things are moving along, and potentially speeding up. Up next we will see Issei's introduction to his new peerage, Erina/Peerage bonding and more!

Let me know what you think of all this, should the Aldini-brothers accept joining the Peerage? Who else should Erina invite? Do you have any other remarks and/or questions? Leave a review or send a PM!

~Alsodef