He who was just an ordinary man

VI

Romani was no stranger to stress. Stress and he were old acquaintances and he would often find it striking him at the worst moments. However, normally when he was stressed out it was over things that some would consider to be rather trivial.

He would never deny that he would at times - maybe - blow certain problems out of proportion and get worked up over them. Remembering names, birthdays and how the students at school were generally getting on in life. That sort of thing. Even if worrying about students was mainly the concern of the homeroom teachers, Romani still couldn't help but get a little worked up about it.

These situations would often burrow their way into his head and lurk in his thoughts for several days before they passed. All the while he would nearly drive himself up the wall with worry but rather unwilling to act on it for fear of saying the wrong thing. Which was another topic he would often get stressed about.

Suffice to say that Romani and stress were very close.

This wasn't stress Romani was feeling at this very moment, however. This deserved a much stronger adjective to describe his current emotional state. Panicking seemed to be appropriate, much like apprehensiveness or tension. However, these words all seemed to fall just shy of what he was feeling.

A grand burden weighed itself upon his shoulders, such was its mass that Romani was convinced it would have matched a freighter if it was a solid existence.

He had spent the remainder of the day hunched over his desk with his head in his hands, his eyes wide and his breath shaky and rough. The source of all of it came down to what he had agreed to do later on in the day. Ordinarily, he would have been fine with going to the park with Issei just to make sure that there was nothing wrong with it.

However, Romani knew that there was something wrong. He couldn't explain it and he didn't know if he wanted the explanation if someone could offer it, but he just knew that there was something wrong. The last time he had nightmares, it was easy to dismiss them as paranoid delusions crafted by his overactive imagination combined with falling on his head. Even then, when he said to himself that it was easy to ignore them, he knew that was a lie as well.

It had been downright impossible to ignore them to the point where he had gotten up in the dead of night just to stroll to the park to see if he was right.

The lack of a corpse had never been more welcome.

However, that feeling lasted for barely a moment before it had been snatched away from him. Replaced with a deep feeling of guilt, a sense that he had failed. That feeling had been gawing irrationally in the back of his mind all through the night and it seemed as though nothing had been able to stamp it out.

At least until Issei had walked in, looking as alive and healthy as he had done so before the weekend. Healthy in the physical sense at least.

Then he revealed what had occurred over the weekend.

And Romani felt the guilt slam down on his shoulders like a sledgehammer, returning in full force that he wasn't even sure how to react. It didn't make any sense.

Issei said he remembered dying and yet he was strolling around the school looking as if nothing had happened to him.

At the same time, not a soul except for him and Issei remembered Amano Yuuma. It seemed downright impossible to consider, seeing as though Romani talked about her. Heck, he talked to her as well. Yet not a single person could swear they had even seen the girl at all and found the whole notion of Issei getting a girlfriend laughable.

Ignoring the fact that on the day Issei had brought her in, she had been the entire topic of the school gossip.

It was irrational and downright impossible.

Yet it was happening all the same.

Romani had no idea what was going on and he doubted that Issei had a clue either. The boy said he remembered dying and yet there was nothing wrong with him at all. By all rights, it happened just like it did in his nightmares but by that logic, Issei should have been…

He shook his head, wiping that disturbing thought from his mind and leaning back into his chair, staring at the wall opposite him in silence. All the while his mind was burning with questions and worries.

All of which had been brought about by his latest nightmare, this one striking him in the middle of the day. Accompanying his eye pains.

The pair again and the image of some fedora wearing guy throwing what looked like a lightning bolt at them. Or some javelin made of light, a spear perhaps?

Some sort of weird thing which was on a course to kill him.

At least according to his nightmare.

He was dubious to put any stock in them but the last time he hadn't Issei could swear that it happened just as he had seen it occur. With the girl killing him and leaving his body in the park.

Romani released a shaky breath, reaching up and rubbing his right hand over his face.

He was much too stressed and personally had no clue what to do next, he dragged his hand down the front of his face, resting his elbow on the armrest and leaning into his, staring at nothing once again as he continued to think.

All his nightmares had one thing in common.

The park.

It was somehow the key to this, yet the idea of even attempting to go there was causing his body to vehemently recoil from the idea as if it was on fire. His flight or fight instincts - which might as well have been flight and more flight - were all but screaming at him to avoid the park at all costs. For how long, he didn't know but he wasn't going to ignore it this time.

However, Issei was still set to go to the park which left him with one option.

Stop Issei going to the park tonight.

It sounded simple in his head yet the past few days had convinced Romani that nothing was ever so simple. In fact, it seemed to him like something was out to get him.

He directed his attention upwards at the clock, watching as the hands ticked by at the speed of a glacier. Biting his lip, he slowly rose up from his desk. School was due to end soon, which meant he would have to catch Issei before the boy left and convince him that going to the park was a bad idea.

Turning to the door, he rushed at it and slid it open. Stepping out into the corridor and speed-walking down it as fast as he could physically go, occasionally glancing over his shoulder before looking back around.

He really wished that no one was going to get injured in the last ten minutes of the day.

For Issei, this day had been a mixture of confusion and…

Nothing else, it was just confusing for him. He felt as though he was stumbling in the dark without a single clue to go off of. The only consolation he had was the fact that Romani-sensei was also in the same boat as him. Although from the looks of the nurse, it wasn't a pleasant boat to be in and Issei could say the same.

He had looked to be confused, frightened and a little bit pained. Especially when he was trying to remember Yuuma's name. That didn't make sense to Issei, considering he could remember her flawlessly but he was grateful that at least someone remembered her.

It was…almost comforting in a way, to know that this had actually occurred and that there was someone he could actually speak with about all of it. Maybe Roman-sensei wasn't the most confident of people but to Issei, it just mattered that the man knew.

It mattered that someone knew.

Made all the better with Roman-sensei saying he was going to help him out, the thought managed to bring a ghost of a smile to his face. A faint ray of sunshine upon the storm that was his current feelings at the moment.

"Pssst! Issei-kun."

In fact, he could almost hear Roman-sensei's advice right now.

"Issei-kun!"

'Wow!' Issei dumbly thought to himself 'I must be really out of it…It's like Roman-sensei is really here right now.'

"Issei-kun! Over here!" The boy then paused when he realised that the voice wasn't inside his head, Issei looked left and right before he eventually spied Roman-sensei hovering near the exit of the school, waving his hand over to the boy and making sure not to attract attention.

At least, Issei assumed that had been the goal in mind.

Unfortunately, Roman-sensei was still wearing his white coat and had a frazzled look about him which managed to attract the attention of nearly everyone in the courtyard, all of whom sent the nurse bizarre looks as they walked out of the front gate of the school. Issei raised an eyebrow at him in bewilderment before shaking his head and rushing over to him.

"Roman-sensei!" Issei greeted with a nod of the head, sliding to a halt in front of the man and trying to compose his expression as best as he could "Are we going now?"

"Listen, Issei-kun…" Romani gulped loudly, looking over his shoulder and then around the pair to see if anyone was close enough to eavesdrop. He eventually hunched himself so that he was looking the teenager in the eye "Listen…I think going to the park is a bad idea." his voice was tinged with fear, his eyes were wide and frantic. Looking as though something was going to jump out at him at any time.

Issei blinked at him, then furrowed his brows in confusion "What? But…but you were fine with it earlier!" he argued, mystified by the turn around "What-"

"I-I was!" Romani hurriedly nodded his head, raising his arms and ushering them downwards, trying to get Issei to be quieter as several more students looked at the pair as they walked past. "B-but that was before…" he swallowed, shaking his head "L-listen, I just think it's a bad idea now. I mean, y-you said you got stabbed or something right?" he pointed at Issei with a shaky expression "A-all the more reason not to go back."

Issei frowned, throwing his arms wide "But that's why I need to go there." the boy countered with a desperate tone of voice "T-there has to be something that tells me what's going on here! Why are you saying not to all of a sudden!?"

"B-because that was before-" Romani cut himself off, shaking his head before letting out a shaky breath "L-listen…after you left I…" he swallowed, reaching up and rubbing his forehead "I saw the park again."

Issei made a face of bewilderment at him "What do you mean you saw the park again?"

"I mean…" He rubbed his hands over his eyes, struggling to explain what it was that had occurred and if he was being honest, Romani had no idea himself what had occurred. "I saw the park like before with the…" his hands fell away, lowering to his side before the right hand gestured to Issei "...date."

Issei widened his eyes, leaning forwards "You mean like…the dream thing?" the boy's eyes darted left and right "Like…" he squinted "C-can you see the future?"

"No!" Romani snapped quickly, cringing when Issei flinched at the intensity of his voice "I mean…I don't know! I don't know much of anything right now but I'm telling you that going to the park is a bad idea!" Romani leaned forwards, resting his hands on Issei's shoulders and gripping them tightly "I'm telling you, Issei-kun!" his face was pale white and pupils dilated "Don't go to the park. I don't understand what I saw but it's bad news…alright?"

Issei looked away from him, biting his lower lip and clenching his eyes shut before opening them again "How do we know your visions are certain or whatever?" Issei asked, looking back at him "What if it doesn't happen or what if they don't mean anything!"

"What if they do!" Romani replied back, letting Issei go and stepping away "I'm sorry, Issei-kun but I…I can't take that chance and I don't think-no. I know you shouldn't either." he reached up, rubbing the bridge of his nose "I…I didn't do anything about the last nightmare or vision or whatever and you ended up…hurt or whatever happened to you…"

"But I'm fine!" Issei pressed a hand against his chest "I'm not dead so…what does that even mean?" the boy countered "What if it's nothing?"

Romani looked down, clenching his eyes shut and pulling his hands into fists and tensing so hard that his knuckles turned white "What if…Issei-kun its….I don't know!" he threw his hands up, stepped away and ran his fingers through his hair "I don't know…" he sniffled "I just don't know…"

Issei's expression softened, his eyes darted downwards and he felt a similar wave of helplessness roll over him.

That was the crux of it.

Neither of them knew.

The pair remained silent, standing near the gate of the school while the other students walked past them in complete ignorance as to the situation the two of them were in. The novelty of the situation had worn off and they were barely getting any glances from bystanders at this point.

Issei bit his lip, reaching up and scratching the back of his neck "Your…um…dream?" the boy asked in a strange voice, as if he wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to phrase the question "What happens in it?"

Romani blinked at him "Wait…you believe me?"

Issei shrugged his shoulders, giving Romani a half smile "Yeah, I mean…you believed me, right?" the boy stated "It wouldn't make sense if I didn't believe you."

Romani sniffled slightly "...Thanks, Issei-kun."

"So…erm…the dream?" Issei asked, stepping a little closer and whispering "What happens is it like you're there or…birds eye view or something?"

The nurse furrowed his brows in concentration, if he was being honest he didn't want to try and recall the experience at all but it seemed important to do so. At least it would keep Issei out of danger, probably. He still wasn't sure what all those nightmares even meant. "It's…erm…sort of hazy?" Romani explained slowly "Like I'm sort of there but sort of not?"

Issei gave him a blank look, not entirely understanding.

"Right, anyway…" Romani steadied his breathing "It's…it's dark." he started "We're by the fountain in the park and there's this guy wearing a…like a suit? He's got a fedora and everything." the nurse gestured to his head, causing Issei to do a double take.

"Wait, seriously?"

"Yeah."

"That sounds pretty suspicious."

"I know, right?" Romani nodded along before he shook his head. "He…says something, I can't remember what but then he has this weird…like…" the nurse made gestures with his hand "Spear thing? It's like…made of crystal or-"

"Light!" Issei replied hastily, nodding his head "Light, right?"

"Y-yeah…" Romani nodded his head, then looked down at Issei's gut "Ah…that was what the um…" he made stabbing gestures towards his own chest, Issei flinched and nodded his head.

"What else?" Issei asked, Romani shook his head.

"That's it." The man replied "He threw it at us and then…" he gave a helpless shrug "That's all I got."

"Well…what if we go to the park during the day instead?" Issei suggested, earning a blink from the nurse.

"Huh?"

"I mean…your vision said it was dark, right?" Issei remarked with a straight face "What if we go when it's day time?"

Romani gave Issei a mystified look before opening his mouth, then he slowly closed it again as the suggestion filtered into his head. He furrowed his brows "Would…would that actually work?"

Issei looked similarly helpless. "I mean…they're your weird dreams." the boy replied honestly, looking around for a moment before returning his attention to the nurse "Would it work?"

"I don't know." Romani blinked "I mean…I saw you die and well…" he gestured to Issei - being very much alive despite what he saw - before shaking his head "Maybe it's nothing?" he ventured with a guess, although from the looks on their faces neither of them truly believed that to be true.

"Well…" Issei cupped his chin, giving a thoughtful hum "it wouldn't make sense to-" he cut himself off and glared to the side towards a group at the far end of the courtyard, Romani followed his line of sight and squinted at them before looking back to Issei.

"Something wrong?" The nurse asked, Issei shook his head and turned back to him.

"They were just saying some nasty stuff is all." The boy complained, folding his arms over his chest then blinked "Wait, you didn't hear them?"

"You did?" Romani replied with a surprised look, then darted his head back towards the group who were well outside the range at which he could reasonably hear anything "Wow…teenage ears are something else." the man slumped slightly, raising a finger and flicking his own "Am I losing my hearing or something now?"

"Y-you're not that old, Roman-sensei!" Issei assured him, waving his hands in front of the nurse with an hopeful expression "You're…um…youngish?"

Romani stared at him for a moment "...Youngish?"

"I mean…you don't look that old."

Romani continued to stare at him.

"...This isn't making you feel better, is it?"

Romani slowly shook his head.

"Sorry."

"It's fine…" The nurse sighed, waving his hand and dismissing it "I know I'm older than all the students here so I'm basically ancient in your eyes." giving a shaky breath, he reached up and rubbed the bridge of his nose "...I'm really tired, Issei-kun."

"Same." Issei replied with a hollow chuckle of his own, the confident expression melted away to reveal just how exasperated the boy actually was "I sort of want to just stay in bed and not move."

Romani snorted, "Sounds like my idea of a holiday."

"Play some of my ero games-"

"Okay, maybe not that much-"

"Look through some of my magazines-"

"Again, not my thing-"

"Then I would-"

"Issei-kun." Romani raised a hand, cutting the boy off and giving him a strained look "Too much info."

Issei gave a nervous chuckle and nodded his head "Yeah, probably…got our minds off the whole…thing, you know?"

The nurse paused for a moment, then exhaled and looked skywards "Yeah, I suppose it did. Thanks Issei-kun."

"I should be thanking you." Issei replied with a half-smile, wiping his nose with his forearm "No idea what I would be doing if no one else believed me." he paused for a moment "Also your…weird futures visions or whatever they are."

Romani slowly looked down at Issei for a moment before shrugging "I don't even know what they are so…" he massaged his brow "Just avoid parks at night, is my suggestion."

Issei thinned his lips "I mean…it's still bright now." the boy remarked, gesturing upwards "School's over."

Romani opened his mouth to reply before he closed it again "I mean…yes, technically but I do finish later than you and I have to lock up everything." the man replied with a shrug before he paused. "I mean…it would take something like five or ten minutes."

"It would still be pretty bright out." Issei replied with a shrug "I can hang around for ten or so minutes, then we can go."

"What are you two talking about while everyone is going home?"

"Gya!"

"Bwah!"

Both Romani and Issei released similar shouts of surprise at the sudden voice, the pair looked as though they wanted to leap out of their skins as they spun around in the direction of the third party.

Akeno Himejima stood near them, her head inclined slightly to the left with a hand resting on her cheek, propped up by her other arm "My, my…I didn't know what I was quite so scary." she looked between the two of them in amusement before she looked up at the nurse "And Romani-sensei, that's twice now you've screamed in fear at the sight of me…that really hurts my feelings."

Romani shivered slightly before shaking his head, still grasping his heart in fright before he exhaled and hunched himself forwards "Maybe you should stop sneaking up on people then?" the man advised her with a still shaken look "You almost gave me a heart attack…again."

"Ah." Akeno released a noise of understanding before nodding her head, smiling a little wider "Yes, I must apologise but I couldn't help myself." she bowed her head slightly.

"It's fine…" Romani sighed, waving his hand "Just…don't do it."

Akeno smiled a little wider but didn't actually respond to the request, Romani had some sinking feeling that she wasn't actually going to adhere to him. She had the same smile that Leo had when the woman found something about him that she wanted to tease, like a cat finding a mouse and not letting it go.

It was actually a little bit of a blow to his confidence that he could see this smile on a student who may or may not have determined herself to scaring him because it was funny. At the same time, it was rather harmless. Looking to his right, he saw that Issei was currently flushing red and opening and closing his mouth repeatedly, looking wholly unable to form any sort of words in front of the girl.

Romani gave him a bewildered look before shaking his head and returning his attention to Akeno "What are you doing here anyway? I thought the Occult club normally stays at school late anyway?"

"It was my turn to get snacks." Akeno replied with an idle shrug "Then I just saw how vulne-how you and Issei-kun were seemingly talking about something and got a little interested."

Romani and Issei picked up on two entirely different parts of that sentence.

"You were about to say vulnerable!?"

"Akeno-senpai was interested in me!?"

One was exclaimed in pure accusation while the other was tinged with euphoria, Akeno merely smiled at Romani before glancing at Issei out of the corner of her eye.

"Is it so strange for a Senpai to be concerned about her underclassman?" She asked, giving the boy a perfectly innocent expression "Especially when there have been all sorts of wild rumours today about you trying to find a mystery girl." the dark haired woman gave a sad shake of the head "I was merely wondering if perhaps you haven't been getting enough sleep."

"I-I-I'm fine." Issei stumbled through the sentence with a giddy look upon his face before he glanced at Romani out of the corner of his eye "A-and it was just a dream is all!" he replied, giving a smile that couldn't have been more fake if he had tried "J-just couldn't get enough sleep is all! Roman-sensei was telling me all about that, right?"

"I was?" Romani blinked at him before he turned to Akeno and rapidly nodded his head "I mean, yes! I was. Very important. Sleep."

Akeno raised an eyebrow at him "Considering how you stumbled into school this morning…" she trailed off meaningfully at the subtle flinch from the nurse "But I suppose that gives you first hand experience, does it not?"

"...Yeah…Something like that." Romani nodded his head at her.

"So, was that all you two were talking about?" Akeno asked, looking between them once again before her eyes flickered to Issei and she gave him a smile that nearly had the boy explode, at least that's how Romani saw it given how bright his face was. "Was it really? You wouldn't…lie to your Senpai, would you?"

Issei rapidly shook his head.

"Good!" Akeno exclaimed merrily, clapping her hands together "So what else were you talking about?"

"W-well-" Romani began, already thinking up an excuse.

Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, Issei beat him to the punch.

"Breasts." Issei replied with a perfectly straight face, Romani froze on the spot as if he was an ice sculpture. He might as well have been at the way the heat seemingly drained from his face and left him rather pale.

Akeno's eyebrows slowly rose up her forehead, her eyes shining with clear surprise as she looked between the two of them "...Breasts?"

"Yes." Issei nodded his head once "Well, I was actually talking about my collection of…um…" the boy froze before shaking his head "Actually, doesn't matter. I was talking about what I do to relax which involves looking at magazines."

Akeno looked at Romani with a non judgemental expression, that somehow made it worse.

"It also includes playing ero-games and stuff like that?" Issei chuckled nervously "You know?"

"...Not really."

"A-ah, right…" Issei nodded his head, wincing "You probably wouldn't and um Roman-sensei was talking about his wife."

Romani made a face like he had been stabbed, Akeno's jaw snapped shut and the girl looked dangerously close to laughing.

"His wife?" Akeno asked tilting her head ever so slightly "You were talking about breasts and erotic games and so Romani-sensei started talking about…his wife?"

"Yes." Issei nodded his head, then saw Romani slowly turn his head to stare at him "I-I mean no!"

"No?" Akeno asked, frowning at them "So you weren't talking about Romani-sensei's wifes breasts?"

Romani made a strangled noise.

"Yes…wait no!" Issei made a face like a dying fish "I mean…wait, erm…"

Akeno chortled, cutting Issei off from whatever else he was going to say in a vain attempt to sound reasonable. She turned to face Romani and stepped closer to him with a deeply amused expression on her face, Romani was a fountain of anguish at this moment.

And Akeno looked as though she was drinking deeply from it.

"Sensei." She spoke in a perfectly calm tone of voice "I do not know about you but…" she gave a faint shake of the head and a light sigh "I don't think it is appropriate to talk to students about that sort of thing." giving him one final smile, she walked past them "Have a wonderful afternoon. I have."

She departed through the gates afterwards, leaving Romani and Issei standing by the entrance of the school with differing expressions.

"...Issei-kun?"

"...Yes, Roman-sensei?"

"...What happened?"

"...I panicked."

"Ah…I see." Romani nodded his head slowly, his lips drawing themselves into thin lines "Why did you bring up my wife?"

Issei grimaced "I was trying to think of topics that didn't involve breasts or eroge stuff and then I remembered you had a wife so…" he trailed off.

"I see." Romani gave another nod of the head "So your effort to deflect from the conversation of breasts was to talk about my wife…which now has spawned a rather unfortunate misunderstanding."

Issei scrunched his face up "...Sorry."

Romani sighed loudly, reaching up and rubbing his face with both of his hands "Not as sorry as me."

Neither Romani nor Issei had been sure what they should have expected when they entered the park. Truth be told, neither one of them was entirely sure what they were supposed to have been looking for as well. The simple face was that when they eventually did arrive at the park, there was virtually nothing here save the occasional dog walker.

Issei walked forwards until he was standing just a few metres from the fountain, then crouched down and ran his hand along the patio.

Romani stood just behind him with a troubled look on his face as he stared down at that one specific section of the path. Both he and Issei knew the significance of it.

"There isn't even a drop of blood." Issei remarked to himself, sounding almost confused as he stood back up "There isn't…anything." he muttered further, bringing his hands up and rubbing his eyes before he turned to the nurse "I don't know what I was expecting…maybe a stain?" he released a huff "Not a lot but just something here, you know?"

Romani let out a hum in response as he stared down at the patio, his lips pursed before he released a tired sigh, reaching up and rubbing his forehead "I don't know Issei-kun." He replied honestly, "There's just…nothing here."

"Yeah…" Issei sniffed, the boy ran his fingers through his light brown hair and frowned to himself "I just…would it be weird if I wished there was something here?" he looked back at Romani and asked with an unsettled look on his face "That's not normal, right? To come here and wish you saw your own blood stain?"

Romani shook his head "Probably not, no."

The pair fell into a silence, both of them ignoring the background noise of leaves rustling in the wind and the frequent chirping of a bird. The sun was already starting to set in the distance, the lighting dropping into dull orange haze.

"...Now what?" Issei asked, looking towards Romani with a hopeful look in his eyes, the gleam just made the nurse feel a mixture of guilt and hopelessness of his own. He was banking on this almost as much as Issei.

"Now…I don't know." Romani admitted, looking skywards and exhaling to himself "I really don't know."

"We can't just forget about this…" Issei mumbled with a troubled frown "It…I need to know why Yuuma-chan…" he reached up, grabbing his head and rustling his hair "I need to know why no one else can remember her…I…did I really die? What is all this supposed to mean?"

Romani opened his mouth to respond, then closed it again when any sort of sentence failed to string itself together. There was nothing he could do to address Issei's worries and that hurt him. Because he did want to provide some measure of comfort to Issei but he just wasn't able to. There wasn't anything he could do.

Issei eventually lowered his hands to his side, then looked at Romani with a thoughtful look "...Do you think the Fedora guy might know?"

"Huh?" Romani did a double take at Issei, then widened his eyes in alarm "Issei-kun! No! That's a terrible idea!"

"But it's the only thing we have to-"

"No! Absolutely not!" Romani denied, vehemently shaking his head and walking towards the boy with a frightened look on his face "It's a bad idea! No, it's a terrible idea. Even if my weirdo nightmares have a hint of truth to them, it's a terrible plan that's going to get you hurt."

Issei clenched his jaw "But he and Yuuma-chan both have those weird light spears or whatever, so maybe he can-"

"Kill you?" Romani cut him off, wincing as Issei recoiled "No…Issei-kun, I don't know how you're alright and I don't think you should question it." he exhaled shakily "You're alive and that's all that matters, that's great! It's actually wonderful." he threw his arms wide, gesturing to the boy up and down "You're alive so you should try and stay that way. Do not go off and do something reckless. Please."

"But…what if your dream isn't true or something?" Issei argued further "I mean…you said I died and here I am." he pointed at himself "What if it's not that dangerous?"

"What if it is?"

Issei opened his mouth to reply before he snapped it shut, his eyes briefly burned with defiance before they dulled, the fire slowly leaving them before they turned downwards. Romani cringed at just how defeated the boy looked now "...But what if I never find out?" he muttered slowly "What if I just…"

"Issei-kun…" Romani spoke in a gentle tone, reaching out and placing a hand on his right shoulder. "No answer in the world could possibly mean more than your life." Issei mechanically looked back up at Romani "I didn't tell you about my nightmares so you could run into them. Please just…promise me you won't do anything reckless."

Issei stared at him in silence for a few moments before he gave a half-hearted mumble of affirmation and stepped away from the nurse "I'm just…" the boy sighed, reaching up and rubbing his eyes "I'm gonna go home…see you tomorrow, Roman-sensei."

Romani frowned as he watched Issei stroll away from him, reaching out towards the boy and on the verge of calling his name before he held himself back. The outstretched fell down to his side and hung limply. The nurse's jaw clenched shut and the man released an exhausted sigh. He could tell that Issei was disappointed in being unable to find any answers to their current problem.

In truth, that bothered Romani as well but he knew for a fact that whatever answer they might uncover would not be worth either of them risking their lives so recklessly. Especially not if his nightmares held any weight to them. The fact he was now basing his future choices off disturbed visions he would get at random intervals was another staggering mountain of stress that fell atop his already tense shoulders.

By all rights he should dismiss them but the last time he had done so…

According to Issei, they hadn't ended well and had played out exactly as he had seen all those times. Despite that, Romani felt as though there was something missing. The dreams showed Issei dying and Issei himself admitted that he was certain he did die from the stabbing. However, he was alive and without any evidence that he had been injured on his person nor in the place where he had died.

They were both missing the conclusion of that evening. Issei clearly didn't remember what happened and Romani's nightmare always cut off at the point where Issei had just been…injured.

Something had most certainly happened to Issei that he was alive. Something that was lost to both him and Issei and it probably related to this park and the strange man he saw in his nightmares.

Romani exhaled, shaking his head and putting his hands back into his coat pockets as he turned away. His face was tired, he had gone through the motions of extreme guilt, then to stress, then to panic and now all he wanted was to go home and lie down in his bed and pass out.

Some part of him did want those answers, however the side of him that had a greater preference for self-preservation demanded that he leave well enough alone. Hoping that when he awoke tomorrow, this entire endeavour would - rather ironically - be nothing more than a bad dream and he could go back to his usual routine.

And Issei could go back to doing whatever it was that he usually did.

On second thoughts, he would rather that Issei not do that either. The boy had really shown some progress with Yuuma and looked as though he was turning his life around.

Romani felt his face scrunch up at the thought of Issei before going off on the date and even during the date. He had never seen the boy look so happy before in his life and now it was all gone and replaced by a tired and desperate boy just searching for the simple answer to the question 'why me?' and Romani really could empathise with that right now.

Why did this happen to Issei?

For that matter, what was happening to him too?

As always, his hand sought out the comfort of the ring on his left hand. His thumb idly traced the surface of the bronze coloured ring. He closed his eyes and exhaled, the simple gesture always comforted him before and today was no different.

His eyes eventually opened up again, slowly returning his sight to the park and thinning his lips. He wasn't going to get anything else done here today and even though it wasn't even dark yet, this place just seemed to put him on edge even just standing around.

Romani shivered once, his hands going into his coat pockets and his body making a heel face turn and walking out of the park. As he left the park, he hummed to himself in an effort to distract from the turmoil of his mind. His lips twitched upwards as the opening theme to Magical Girl Levi*tan flowed freely from his throat.

He always had some source of comfort he could rely upon in these times.

Issei's was eroticism.

His was innocent magical girls.

Issei had never felt so tired in his life, the sheer feeling of fatigue that gripped him gave him the impression that he could fall onto his bed and remain asleep for years. Quite frankly, that thought sounded rather appealing to him. Falling asleep and being left alone to his dreams which would - no doubt - involve some rather unclothed images of well proportioned women.

Or so he would normally think.

"Welcome home, Issei." He heard his mother call out to him as he opened the door to his house, stepping inside and removing his shoes. "How was school today?"

"...Fine." He replied back in a bland voice, he wasn't sure what exactly he could say that they would believe anyway. He slid his shoes beside the door and stepped further into the house and closed the door behind him. "...Bit tiring is all."

"Then perhaps you should spend more time studying." His mother chided in a light hearted voice, her not so subtle attempts to get him to change over the years had been met with little success before and they weren't going to be met with much success now. "You'll be wanting to do well on your future exams, won't you?"

"Yes, mum." Issei called back through, entering the living room and looking around "Take it Dad is still at work?"

"Yes." Hyoudou Miki responded with a light smile as she looked up towards the boy, finishing up her ironing and folding up the clothes "He'll be back a little later today. A last minute overtime or something along those lines."

Issei gave a hum in response, turning towards the door and pausing for a moment "...Mum?"

"Yes, dear?"

"...If I said I got a girlfriend, would you believe me?" He looked over his shoulder, asking her with a curious expression.

Miki paused in her folding, her expression turning blank for a moment before she gradually raised her head and turned it in his direction. Blinking several times at him before giving him a gentle smile "...Which game does she belong to?"

Issei gave her a flat look "...In real life?"

"Aren't you a bit old for imaginary friends?"

Opening his mouth to press the issue further, he stopped and shook his head "Nevermind."

Miki frowned at him, placing the folded shirt on the ironing table "Issei." she called out to him, the boy paused and looked over his shoulder at her "...Do you have a girlfriend?"

"...I don't think so."

The unsurprised look on her face sort of hurt him but he had expected it. He doubted they would believe him unless he actually brought a girl around and showed her to them as a way of physical proof they could see and hear. Then again, Issei probably wouldn't believe that either Matsuda or Motohama could get a girlfriend either with how they also acted. He would demand some measure of proof as well from them.

Talking with Roman-sensei was a bizarre thing. For someone to take his words at face value was nice.

As he reached the door to his room, he turned the handle and stepped inside. His eyes swept across the posters he kept up to the collection of magazines he had on the bookcase and then finally to the small portion of video games he had as well. Some he had borrowed from Motohama with the intention of playing them at the time.

He stared at them for a few moments, debating whether or not to actually do anything with them before he shook his head, exhaling and walking over to his bed and falling on top of it. He felt the normal desire to ogle at women's breasts leave him rather swiftly, his lips curled downwards. What he wanted most right now was answers to his never ending questions.

Was he actually stabbed?

Why does no one remember Amano Yuuma?

If he was stabbed, why was he still alive?

Why was Roman-sensei having nightmares about Issei being killed and stuff that might happen before it happens?

All of which were burning in his mind, occupying his every thought at this moment but there was one that stood out amongst all of them as the most pressing question in his mind.

What had he done wrong?

By all rights, the date with Yuuma went smoothly. She looked like she had a good time, she laughed, she smiled and everything else. Issei made sure to go out of his way to ensure her comfort during the date and kept all talk about boobs and the like on the down low. So down low that he had buried them six feet under.

Despite all of that, at the end of their date she had just stabbed him without a second thought.

He just wanted to know what he had done to deserve that.

His teeth grit together before he aimed a glance towards his window, watching as the sun was gradually setting in the distance. Issei focused on that sun as it dipped further and further down, pushing himself up and crawling across his bed until he was leaning against the windowsill with his chin resting on the edge of it. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

Roman-sensei had told him that someone was going to be at the park tonight who meant them harm and had expressly warned him against going and Issei had responded with a somewhat half-hearted grunt of affirmation but had never really meant it.

If Roman-sensei found out about what he was going to do, Issei was sure that the nurse would be more frightened for his safety than disappointed in him.

Right now though, he really did want those answers regardless of personal danger. Besides, there was no guarantee that Roman-sensei's weird visions were accurate. By all accounts, the nurse had seen Issei die and yet he was still alive. Granted, Issei didn't know how he was still alive but the point remained sound.

He thought so anyway, he wouldn't claim to be that smart.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, Issei steadied himself to head out to the park the moment he saw the skies turn dark.

Leona watched as Romani lethargically made himself a cup of coffee, she had been watching him since the time he woke up all the way until he came back from work. He looked horrible when he went off and he looked horrible when he came back.

The morning problems were him looking just about ready to bolt at a slightly louder than average sound, combined with the black bags that clung to his face she had been debating whether or not to tell him to call in sick just so he could get a few more hours of rest and return to being perfectly healthy.

He had been insistent that he was fine and that he would get better over the course of the day and when he came back, he had looked at least a little better than before. As opposed to being jumpy he now just looked done. She was convinced at this point that if he were to fall into bed, he would just remain there.

"Roman." The man hummed at her voice as he poured the milk into the coffee, content with just staring at the mug as he did so. She frowned ever so slightly before leaning forwards and calling out again "Roman."

"Y-yeah?" He turned towards Leona, blinking lazily at her before he shook his head and gave her a faint smile "Sorry, I was spaced out there for a moment."

"Spaced out?" Leona raised a dubious eyebrow before her expression morphed into one of concern as she leaned forwards on her chair, resting both her arms on the table and giving him an up and down glance "You looked as though you were improvising Voyager."

Romani gave her a briefly puzzled look before his eyes widened in understanding and he let out a snort, shaking his head and turning back towards the coffee "Something like that, I suppose…" he muttered in response as he placed the milk back into the fridge and picked up his coffee "Just a little bit out of it today is all…"

Leona raised an eyebrow at him before she leaned back, folding her arms across her chest and giving him a stern look "Roman."

The man blinked and shifted his attention back to her "Yes?"

"Sit down."

Romani looked at the chair that Leona was pointing at and then back at her with a raised eyebrow, she continued to give him a blank look while pointing at the seat. Eventually snapping her fingers once to emphasise it.

Nodding once, Romani positioned himself in the chair opposite her, feeling an unusual tension fall over him as he shifted in the seat. Her sapphire blue eyes locked onto his green ones with a certain intensity to them.

"Roman…What's wrong?" She asked, giving him an unblinking stare.

Romani released a nervous chuckle as he looked to the side "Nothing…just a late night is all. Trouble sleeping…I'm fin-"

"Try again." She cut him off with narrowed eyes "You made that coffee without putting in actual coffee beans."

Romani stared down at the mug and blinked as he saw he had made nothing more than boiling water with milk poured into it as well. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly as he tried to formulate a reply before his shoulders slumped, his eyes drifted back upwards and he stared at the woman sitting across from him with an exhausted gaze.

"Roman…" Leona's eyes softened as she leaned forwards, giving him a reassuring smile "What's wrong. Tell me honestly."

"...Been having nightmares recently." He admitted quietly "...Bad ones too." he commented on further, reaching up and rubbing his eyes "It's…I can't…" Leona's visage cracked as Romani sniffled rather loudly, she could already see some tears falling down his left cheek "I don't know."

"Roman-"

"Issei-kun…" Romani gave a hollow chuckle "He brought in a girlfriend before the weekend, you know? We saw…" he looked up and gave her a desperate glance "...Do you remember seeing her?"

Leona raised an eyebrow at him "Of course, why wouldn't-" she cut herself off mid-sentence. Her eyes widened and her expression froze. Gradually, her face started to fall before she looked back at him "...Roman…why do you ask?"

Romani gave her a pure smile as his eyes looked as though they were moments away from shattering "...Because no one else does."

Giving a shake of the head, he released a breath "But…it's…Leo I'm scared and I-"

His eyes burned.

Issei stood in the park, the moon was rising in the far distance. Casting an intimidating ethereal light over the area which illuminated both Issei and the man standing opposite him.

He was tall, his expression was hidden beneath the shadow cast by his fedora. His coat was dark grey, his posture was lazy and virtually disinterested in the boy in front of him. Despite that, the murderous intentions the man held positively radiated from him.

He was going to kill someone.

Issei was visibly shaking as he stared at the man, the grey suited individual took a single step forwards and tilted his head to the side.

"...Do you know Amano Yuuma?" Issei called out.

"Who?" The man responded in a lazy tone of voice before shaking his head "It doesn't matter that much…" he looked left and right "No sign of any accomplices."

Issei blinked at him before he frowned, finding a bit more courage "Do you know here…" he pointed at himself "She…she stabbed me-"

"Stabbed you?" The man made a point of looking Issei up and down "...Clearly her aim needs work. Then again…you devils are like roaches." he spat out "Much too difficult to squash, more so than you have any right to be."

Issei looked confused "Wha-"

"With no one around and no sign of any signature on you…" He trailed off, then released a pleased hum "A Stray. Well then…" he chuckled in a low voice as he took yet another step forwards and extended his left hand "I suppose I shall do this town a small favour…"

His left hand flashed with light, a long spear of pale blue energy started to form in his palm "...And put you down, right now."

He hurled it towards Issei-

Romani hunched forwards, flying to his feet and breathing heavily, almost gasping for air as he rested his hands on the table to brace himself. Utterly unaware of how he had looked and oblivious to Leona's shocked and somewhat terrified expression, his sudden movement had thrown the chair to the ground.

His eyes slowly shifted to the side, soon followed by the mechanical turn of his head as he stared out the front of the window.

Leona watched as his face turned more ashen, sweat already dripping down his brow.

"...Issei-kun…" He gasped out the name with what little air he had left, then launched himself forwards.

"Roman!" Leona called out after him, watching him scramble through the living room and towards the front door. Ignoring the fact he was still in his casual clothes of a plain black t-shirt and light grey tracksuit bottoms. The only thing covering his feet were a pair of slippers as well, hardly the most solid of footwear "Roman! Where are you going?!"

Romani didn't so much hear her for the hammering of his heart in his eardrums.

He barely even registered anything beyond the fact that he had another nightmare and the feeling of dread had intensified. It was now crushing him.

Flinging open the front door, he continued to ignore Leona as he sprinted out and disappeared down the street as fast as he could manage.

Leona's cries of alarm fading away into the background as Romani pushed as much strength into his body as he could muster.

Issei looked around the park as he entered, hunching himself closer inwards in an effort to keep warm. It was slightly chilly and he couldn't help but wince at the growing headache, it had started when he left the house. It was as if every little noise was magnified to him, a chirping bird in the distance was like an airhorn.

Cars were the worst, it was as if he was standing next to a jet engine whenever one of those had driven past him. Then there were all the lights which were starting to hurt his eyes on his path here. He was probably coming down with something, or at least that is what he told himself.

Despite his growing illness, he needed to be here.

He turned around and looked into the distance, seeing the moon start to rise above some of the skyline buildings and cast a light over the park. He squinted and looked away from the bright light, blinking repeatedly and shaking his head.

"Was the moon always that bright?" He muttered to himself in confusion before he dismissed it and walked further into the park. If Roman-sensei's visions held any weight to them at all, he would find some sort of answer here.

He had to.

Otherwise he didn't know if he would ever find out and he just couldn't imagine that.

He didn't want to imagine it either.

Issei paused when he noticed something odd.

The park was silent.

His lips parted in momentary confusion and he cast another glance around himself, failing to see any sign of movement at all. Not even from a late night jogger or a dog walker. Not even from a stray animal. He couldn't hear or see anything.

"That isn't creepy." Issei mumbled to himself as he pressed onwards, approaching the fountain where he remembered being stabbed and coming to a halt at the base of it.

"Alright…" He coughed to himself, looking around "...Now what?"

Issei stiffened. It was as if someone had shoved an entire pack of ice cubes down the back of his shirt. His body froze over, unwilling to move an inch from its current position.

"Now?" Another voice called out behind him, gravelled and most certainly full of venom "Now I do the simple duty of pest control."

Closing his eyes and finding what little nerve he still had, Issei turned around and locked eyes with the stranger standing barely a few metres from him.

He was exactly as Roman-sensei had described him to be, tall with a dark grey long coat and a similarly coloured fedora.

"...Do you know Amano Yuuma?" He called out after a moment's hesitation.

Romani's limbs were on fire. He had never pushed them so hard in his life and he was convinced he had never quite run so fast in his life either. His body clearly knew that as well given as though it felt like his heart was about to explode in his chest and his lungs were about to escape from his throat with how heavily he was panting.

Through it all, Romani continued to push his body beyond his limits. Ignoring the pain in his limbs and his mind screaming at him that this was a very bad idea.

Right now, that didn't matter.

In his heart he knew that Issei was in danger.

And it was all his fault, if he had never told Issei about that vision then the boy probably wouldn't have gone to the park in the first place. They both wouldn't be there at all and now he was running as fast as he could to get there in the desperate hope to save Issei.

The logical part of his mind was also asking what he actually intended to do once he got there?

There was - of course - no answer. Romani Archaman was a coward through and through, so running willingly into danger was something that just never occurred to him as a possibility. He never thought of a solution to danger because he would always be running away from it rather than towards it.

He wasn't sure when he had entered the park, the sights he passed by seemed to blur at some point as he continued to storm through as fast as he physically could manage. His eyes locked onto the distant form of a teenager with dark brown hair in a raincoat.

That would be Issei, considering the man opposite him was wearing that same outfit he had seen in his nightmares earlier today. He watched the man extend his left hand and form a spear of pale blue light.

"Isssssseeeeiiii!" Romani called out as loud as he could, watching as the youth turned his head in his direction and widened his eyes. Romani briefly wondered what kind of sight he must have been but ignored it.

In favour of tackling Issei to the ground and was utterly unable to bite back a scream of agony as something struck his back, moving along the length of his shoulder blades as it passed over him. Whatever hit him had been a grazing strike but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

"Roman-sensei!?"

"What the-!?"

Two voices called out at once, one in a state of horror and the other in bafflement.

Romani and Issei thudded into the ground a moment later, the nurse rolled off the student and onto his back. Another pained whimper broke free of his throat as he put pressure on the wound cutting across his back, he could already feel the sting of tears building up in his eyes, the water blurred Issei as the boy leaned over him with an expression of pure shock leading into horror.

"Roman-sensei!" Issei cried out, then looked over his shoulder at the man "You bast-" he then widened his eyes, diving over the nurse and narrowly avoiding another spear of light rocketing through the air where he had been last.

Issei scrambled to his feet, grabbing Romani by the arm and dragging him upwards, eliciting another pained cry from the nurse as the slash was exposed to the night air. Issei looked back and paled "I-it's fine Roman-sensei!" Issei assured him with a terrified expression "You're gonna be fine!"

"Hardly." The fedora wearing man scoffed as he narrowed his eyes at Romani "How did you breach the Bounded field?" he demanded before he looked between the pair of them in disgust. "A stray and a human?" The tall man in the fedora mused with a tilt of the head before his eyes narrowed "I didn't know that your kind kept pets, little stray. Perhaps you fatten him up like a chicken to consume later."

The man shrugged, his left hand flashed and a glowing spear of light manifested in his palm, his fingers wrapped around it and tightly gripped it.

"No matter…I will put you both out of your misery here and now!"

Drawing his arm back, he hurled it forwards at the pair.

With Romani on his shoulder, Issei was much too slow to reach this time.

Not that he actually needed to do anything, Romani roughly shoved the young man out of the way as the spear approached him.

Time seemed to slow down for Romani as he watched the spear sail towards him, his eyes staring at it unblinkingly.

'Wait…am I going to die?' Romani thought to himself in confusion as he watched the spear approach his torso.

The spear of light shattered into nothing, a wave of black energy struck it and consumed the light entirely. Romani slumped against the ground with a hiss.

"What the-!?" The man gasped out again, then snapped his eyes to the side and promptly jumped back. Avoiding the white blur crashing into the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust. As the man was skyborn, a pair of black wings burst from his body and kept him from touching the ground. "More devils?!"

"Don't sound too surprised." A voice called out, thick with confidence as a figure swaggered into the light of the park. Crimson red hair gently swayed in the breeze and deep blue eyes narrowed at the man "Considering you are in our territory, aren't devils expected?"

The man clenched his fists before he slowly lowered himself to the ground, his eyes remained locked onto the red haired girl before he slowly shifted his head to the dissipating cloud and saw the shorter girl with pale white hair and dull golden eyes.

His vision then turned to the sky as another figure floated downwards, this one with thin batlike wings and her hair down in a ponytail.

"...So I see." The man responded after a moment of silence "And your business here?"

"I was just coming to collect my pawn." The red haired beauty responded in a casual tone as she gave him a sharp smile "He's been ever so worried lately and it seems he might have had reason…considering what has just happened here." she paused for a moment "But there's really no need for further violence…provided you turn and leave right now while I'm being generous."

"I see…that red hair of yours." The man released an astonished snort "To think the rumours of your appointment as a supervisor of a territory were true after all, Rias Gremory." he took a single step back and spared Issei and the wounded Romani a glance "Still, I should warn you to keep your dogs on a leash…you never know when another concerned citizen like myself might think of them as strays and decide to perform some…community service."

"Thank you very much for your advice…" Rias gave him a closed eyed smile "I will be sure to take it to heart and properly inform him of what to expect when interacting with Fallen." her eyes opened again, the smile vanishing "And how to deal with them in the future."

The man released a wry chuckle "Is that so…very well then." he extended his wings and gave them a single powerful beat. Launching himself into the air and swiftly out of sight.

"...Gremory-senpai?" Rias turned her attention to Issei, who was staring at her with naked surprise. Still visibly shaken as to what was going on before his attention darted away from her and towards the man lying on the ground "Roman-sensei!" he scrambled forwards, sliding to a halt next to him "H-hey, Roman-sensei! He's gone! You're alright now!"

"Buchou." Akeno whispered next to her "What do you intend to do?"

Rias watched the display before she turned to Akeno and gave her a gentle smile "He saved my newest pawn." she whispered back "I'm not about to let that debt go unpaid." she sent a wry smirk in the direction of Koneko "Besides…I don't think that little Koneko would forgive me if I let her source of candy disappear without first making an attempt."

Koneko's head twitched in her direction.

"Issei." Rias called out, startling the boy and causing him to turn in her direction.

"Rias-senpai! You have to call an ambulance, Roman-sensei is-!"

"That won't be necessary." Rias assured him with a gentle smile, Koneko turned to her and received a single nod from Rias. The white haired girl gave a single 'hmph' as a reply before she approached Romani, walking out of the crater she had made when she landed and stepping to his side.

"...Eh?" Issei blinked as Koneko leaned down, then easily picked up Romani as if he weighed nothing, the man - even in a state of delirium - was still lucid enough to give the girl a baffled look.

"Do you eat your greens…at home or something…?" Romani muttered out in a daze.

"No." Koneko responded honestly.

"Wha-how did…eh?" Issei just fumbled over words as he watched the girl who was nearly half a metre shorter than Romani effortlessly picked him up and started to walk away.

"Issei." He then jolted again when he found Rias staring at him in amusement. "I think we should have a conversation…one long overdue, it seems."

AN: Crisis averted…

But not really.

Don't worry though. Romani won't become a devil.

Because that would be the stupidest possible shit I could possibly pull in my life and for the purpose of this story. This isn't me joking, I would legitimately regard turning Romani into a devil to be a complete car crash of a story plot point.

Also some slight deviation from canon but nothing too much yet. Don't worry…

We'll get there.