(WARNING! BEFORE THE CHAPTER IS A VERY LENGTHY AUTHOR'S NOTE! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ, FEEL FREE TO SCROLL DOWN UNTIL THE BOLD LETTERS GO AWAY!)
Super sorry for the delay. Two reasons for it: 1, I got a Nintendo Switch for my birthday, and got very very distracted by it, and 2, I was reading more of the light novels to get a better understanding of the source material. When I finished the last chapter, I was on volume 5, and now I'm halfway through volume 9. I'm glad I did that, because I've learned some things that have really helped me solidify some of the ideas I had planned. With my new knowledge, I am even happier with the plans I've laid out for Yoko and this story.
Another thing I want to address is that people seem to think that Rias left Yoko in the dark out of malice. Not the case. As Hanlon's razor states: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity".
Remember, she left Issei alone for what's implied to be days, and only when he was attacked by Dohnaseek did she appear before him. Since Issei is a few planks short of a raft, he didn't really put anything together. Sure, he noticed changes in his body, but he wasn't very active in figuring it out. Yoko, however, is so obsessed to sticking to a schedule that the disruption of it, combined with the strange changes to her body, sent her into such a tizzy that she had to take a whole day to regain her composure. If she hadn't had that confrontation with Murayama, and Sona hadn't stumbled across it, then Yoko could have spent days agonising over everything, slowly going mad over it. Yoko was lucky that Sona came across her when she did.
Rias leaving Issei alone has always been one of the biggest "wtf bitch" moves that she's made, to me. Like, you leave this guy who now, essentially, has super strength and speed, and don't expect something terrible to happen? What if he got into a fight and accidentally caved someone's face in? Or what if he was running across a road, and tripped thanks to his shock over his speed, and got run over, or something. All sorts of terrible things could have happened while Issei was left alone to his devices. But Rias, in her infinite "wisdom", felt it best to leave him alone.
On the matter, what the hell was she thinking, showing Issei a photo of Raynare? Hell, in the anime she had a picture of them together! Anyone with a brain could tell from that that Rias had someone following Issei, doing surveillance on him. It's a good job that Issei is both too stupid to put it together, and too distracted with dreams of having a harem. A lot of Rias' plans are stupid, and she's also pretty stupid. Sure, Rias probably didn't help Issei out because of the chance for causing strife with the Fallen, in case they were acting on orders, but she never says that to Issei! It just makes her come across as a calculating bitch who knew he was going to die and decided to use his death to her advantage.
Another example of Rias' stupidity? Her Rating Game with Sona. She knew, and it was expressly stated, that Sona knew all of their strengths and weaknesses. Yet she didn't expect that Sona would capitalise on one of the biggest and easiest weaknesses to exploit within the Gremory group—Gasper's weakness to garlic! Gasper was taken out straight away, because Sona was in the side of the shopping mall with the fucking grocery store that, hmm, what do you know, has fucking garlic in it! For fucks sake, she's acknowledged that Sona was better at strategy than her, yet she expected that merely doing the opposite of what she thinks Sona would expect them to do would work? Chess involves thinking several steps ahead, and from what I've seen of Sona, she's like Shikamaru Nara in that she can plan quite a few steps ahead. Rias would have been demolished if Issei hadn't done as Issei does best and came up with a stupid yet amazingly useful spell thanks to his obsession with tits.
However, despite all of this, I will be doing my best to be fair to Rias. I won't be bashing her, just showing that she's a flawed character who is far from being perfect. It makes her realistic, if not quite a bit thick (in more ways than one ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)). Rias isn't my favourite character—far from it (Azazel holds that position atm)—but I make it a point to try and not bash characters. Even if a character has flaws and I don't like them, I try to be fair to their original, true characterisation, to an extent at least. Good protagonists have flaws that get ironed out as the series goes on. I'm not entirely sure what Rias is like later on in the series, but I'll assume the best and she improves. Rias does have some flaws that have been pointed out by her mother and Grayfia, so whether or not she improves on them is, for me, left to be seen.
Ahem, sorry about that. Got a little carried away.
Finally, sorry if this chapter seems a little all-over-the-place. This story is largely an experiment on third person POV and what can be achieved with it. When the POV is centered on Yoko, I am trying my best to have it reflect her state of mind at the time. Until last chapter, the POV has been a bit more ambiguous, but it will focus on Yoko a lot more now, get into her head more. I wanted to give an outsider look at Yoko before getting into her head. Hopefully, I've managed to do that on some level. Another reason this took a while was because I didn't want to rush it.
Still, tell me if this chapter is confusing and/or jumbled and I shall endeavour to improve on it. But for now, I hope you enjoy this (very late) chapter.
Rias Gremory expected a lot of things out of life. She expected to become the next head of the Gremory family, doing her parents and the clan proud. She expected to dominate the Rating Games, once she was old enough to participate, and become number one. She expected her Queen to be by her side, occasionally making lewd comments and teasing her, but still being ever supportive. She expected her Rook to eat her own weight in sugar on a daily basis, and for her Knight to step up to defend her at a moment's notice. She expected her brother to do everything he can to embarrass her, and for his wife to discipline him and remind him of his station. She even expected a certain fire bird to do his absolute best to earn the Biggest Douchebag of the Year award, several millennia in a row.
What she hadn't expected was her childhood friend storming into her clubroom, dragging her new Pawn along with her.
"What were you thinking, Rias?" Sona said, crossing her arms and glaring over her glasses.
"Tea, Kaichou?" Akeno said, raising the tea pot with a smile. Rias often envied her Queen's unflappable nature. When Sona shook her head, Akeno turned to Yoko. "How about you, Ikawazu-san?"
Ikawazu Yoko blinked rapidly. "Er…sure?"
As Akeno led Yoko to one of the sofas, Rias turned her gaze to Sona. "What do you mean, Sona?" She sent a quick glance at Yoko, who was staring at her cup as if it was going to bite her. "We've discussed this…Besides, I should ask you what you're thinking, dragging my servant in here like this."
Yoko did a spit-take with her tea. "S-Servant!?"
"Ara, would you like a napkin, Ikawazu-san?"
"Huh? Er, yes, thanks."
"That is why." Sona said, nodding at Yoko, who was trying her best to dab up the tea she spat on her trousers. "Would you like to explain to me why I found your servant wandering around without the faintest clue about her new condition?"
"Now hang on, you keep saying servant—"
"Ara, you missed a spot, Ikawazu-san."
"Wh—shit!" Yoko started dabbing her shirt with the napkin.
"I wanted her to get used to the changes in her body before bringing her here." Rias said, feeling like she was being interrogated. The narrow-eyed glare her friend was sending her said that might be the case.
"Yuuto-kun, would you bring Ikawazu-san another napkin?"
"Of course, Akeno-san."
"Shit, this is gonna stain!"
"…" Sona looked like she was trying to wrap her mind around it all. "You…left a Reincarnated Devil alone, with no explanation about the changes to her body? No explanation about her new senses, or aversion to sunlight, or even about her physical capabilities?" She shook her head, slowly, thinking it through. "Didn't you cover this before you reincarnated her?"
"Oi, you keep saying weird stuff like reincarnated—"
"Here's your napkin, Ikawazu-san."
"Oh, thanks. Shit, that tea was hot! Why am I just reali—fuck!"
"Well…it never came up." Rias said, feeling defensive.
"How does something like this not come up? Surely you told her what she was getting into."
"…"
"Rias."
"What does it matter to you how I deal with my new servant? I can handle this situation however I please."
"What would you have done if she did something with her new strength by accident? I saw her about to hit one of her classmates. Ikawazu could have seriously injured her without even meaning to. And that's if she's lucky."
"Look, I already said I wasn't going to—"
"More tea, Ikawazu-san?"
"I figured she would be weirded out if I just approached her out of the blue and told her all that," Rias explained. "I wanted her to slowly come to terms with her new body first, so it wouldn't be too much at once."
"No, I don't wan—"
"A scone, maybe?"
"You're dodging the question, Rias." Sona pushed her glasses up, glaring through them. "Why would she need to adjust before you told her anything? Surely you told her what would happen when she became a devil."
"No, look, I—"
"Maybe some lemon water?"
"I told you it didn't come up." Rias said, her brow starting to twitch. "It's none of your business, anyway."
"She may be your servant now, Rias, but she's also a member of this school. Her wellbeing is my concern."
"Well—"
"How about—"
"WOULD EVERYONE JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!?"
Silence.
Rias paused with her mouth open, Sona raised a brow, Akeno covered her mouth and tilted her head, Kiba looked like a deer in headlights, and Koneko stopped halfway through eating a large melon bread. They turned to look at Yoko, who had shot to her feet and was glaring at everyone in the room.
Yoko, used to attention, didn't break a sweat. "I was brought here because I was told I could get some answers. Answers to questions like, 'How come I woke up in my bed, without a scratch on me, cleaned up and redressed'? Or, 'Why the hell did my date sprout wings and shank me', and 'Why, oh why, did I hear my sexagenarian neighbours' disturbingly kinky intercourse for six hours straight last night, as if I was in the same room as them'!? I go to the same grocery store as Satanaka-san, for fucks sake! How can I look that sweet, old lady in the eye when we run into each other buying groceries, without having the mental image of her being thoroughly pounded by her husbands—apparently—humongous, wrinkly meat stick!?"
Everyone stared.
Yoko panted, glaring around the room with a wild look in her eyes. "Somebody better answer those questions, and more, or I'll…I'll…" she looked down at the table and picked up her cup, "or I'll break this nice, very expensive looking tea cup! And I'll do it across pretty boy's face if he doesn't stop approaching me like I'm some kind of raving maniac that he needs to calm down!"
Kiba paused in place, having been slowly approaching her from behind with his hands raised. He sweat dropped at the threat, and took two steps back, lowering his arms.
"…Ok, Ikawazu-san," Rias said, slowly, as if she was indeed addressing a raving maniac who needed calming down, "just put…" she sweat dropped, "put the teacup down, and we'll explain everything."
Yoko glared into her eyes for a long moment, before putting the cup down, and falling back on the sofa with a thud, "I'm keeping it within arm's reach."
"That's…fine…"
"And tell pretty boy to stop looming over my shoulder."
"Yuuto, could you come over here, please."
"Of course, Buchou."
As Kiba did that, Sona turned around. "I'll leave the explanations to you, Rias. After all, it is your responsibility."
"Yeah, see, that leads into my first question," Yoko said, ignoring Sona leaving now she'd got what she wanted from the Kaichou. "What the hell do you have to do with what's going on?"
Rias sighed. "Akeno, could you prepare another pot? This will take a while."
Despite Yoko's demands to get answers straight away, Gremory had insisted on waiting until the tea was ready before giving any. Now, Yoko liked tea as much as anyone—and Himejima's tea had been, from what she could tell before she'd spat it all over herself, very good—but the burning desire to know what the fuck was going on made her a touch impatient. That, and the burning pain beneath her damp trousers wasn't doing her mood any favours.
However, after a couple of minutes of waiting, Yoko started to calm down a little. With her oncoming calmness came a sharp embarrassment that she had acted so ridiculously. It didn't make her any less impatient, but the returned sense of self-awareness made her batter the feeling into submission.
She didn't regret demanding answers—the last 48 hours had left her wanting for many of them—but she wished she had been a bit more…subtle about it. She also cursed herself for dropping her mask so readily, letting a group of strangers see that she wasn't in control of a situation. They now had power over her, power that Gremory had obviously—to Yoko anyway—exerted by making Yoko wait until Gremory herself was ready to give Yoko answers.
It was like the date with Yuma all over again, and Yoko refused to let that red-headed foreigner gain any more ground in this battle of wills.
Picking up the cup again—feeling a twinge of amusement at the wary glance from Kiba—she drained what was left of the tea. Yoko stared down at the cup. Somehow, Himejima had managed to distract her from the conversation between Gremory and Shitori and got her to sit down while the two talked. Every time she tried to interject, Himejima managed to divert her attention each time, and it wasn't until Yoko had calmed down that she realised it. It was a flawless display of misdirection and manipulation, and it put Yoko on edge.
She refused to let herself get pulled into their pace again. Fortunately, her outburst had managed to pull the momentum on her side, enough that she could get a word in and demand her answers. But while the wait had calmed Yoko down, she knew the same could be said for them. Whatever happened next, Yoko knew that her composure had to be staunch, impregnable. She couldn't let Gremory or her cohorts get a leg up over her again.
"Would you like a refill, Ikawazu-san?"
Yoko snapped out of her musings. She looked up to see Himejima standing to the side of the sofa, teapot in hand. Yoko briefly considered whether or not she would be losing or gaining ground by accepting. That lasted for a moment, before she realised that in the end, it was just a cup of tea, and probably didn't matter all that much. She shrugged, putting the cup on the table and waving towards it. "Sure."
After pouring the tea, Himejima went around to the other members of the Occult Research club and filled their cups too. Starting with Gremory, then Kiba, Toujou, and finally herself. Toujou ignored hers in favour of devouring the giant melon-flavoured bread in her hands, bite by tiny bite. Complete with cute little "om" noises. Kiba, after thanking Himejima, took a dainty little sip from his, as if he was from a shojou manga. Himejima sat next to Yoko and brought her cup up to blow on it. Finally, Gremory took a sip from her own, almost as daintily as Kiba.
Yoko decided to follow suit, and she was almost blown away with how good the tea was. This time she didn't spit it out in surprise, so she got the chance to truly savour the mouthful. Turns out, Himejima was better at making tea than even the most expensive café that Yoko had ever visited.
"So, Ikawazu-san," Gremory started, snapping Yoko out of her reluctant enthrallment with Himejima's tea, "before I can answer your questions, I need to tell you a story."
Yoko frowned. She was about to demand why, but she then noticed the looks she was getting. Gremory especially was giving her a…she wouldn't call it a wary expression, but it was at least expectant. She realised then that they were expecting her to get angry again, and to demand her answers there and then. Yoko assumed that Gremory said that, expecting the response, and had her own response ready to gain ground on Yoko again.
Whoever controlled the conversation had the advantage. By making Yoko come across as unreasonable, Gremory would have grounds for treating her as such, controlling the flow of conversation to make herself come across as reasonable. The basics of winning an argument with an unreasonable person was to remain perfectly reasonable. As person A yells and gets angry, person B stays calm and on topic.
By trying to provoke Yoko into acting irrational and unreasonable, Gremory would win the argument by acting the opposite. Doing so would mean that Yoko getting the answers she wanted would be unlikely. Gremory could easily deny answering any questions Yoko might have. She could, potentially, claim that she was unwilling to deal with Yoko unless she was calm. Telling an angry person to calm down tends to have the opposite effect. If Yoko became angry and unreasonable enough, Gremory could demand that she leave her clubroom.
Just because Gremory said she would answer Yoko's questions, it didn't mean she wanted to.
Yoko wasn't going to give them the satisfaction. She might be dead tired, with enough pent up expectant energy to power the academy three times over, but she was damned if such amateur manipulation was going to get the best of her.
"Alright, I've waited this long, I suppose I can wait a little longer."
Yoko felt smug, but it turned to confusion when Gremory…relaxed. Instead of looking upset or annoyed that her machinations were seen through, the foreigner looked relieved.
'Is this another attempt at throwing me off guard?' Yoko stiffened as a thought came to her. 'Did…Did she predict that I would see through her, and had a response prepared? Is she one step ahead of me?'
Yoko's eyelid twitched.
"Well, I suppose I should start from the top," Gremory said, clearing her throat with a prim cough. "Everyone in this room, are Devils."
Yoko stared.
"We, the Devils, have been at war with beings known as Fallen Angels since ancient times. We have been fighting for possession of the Underworld, otherwise known to humans as Hell. The Underworld is split into two areas, one for Devils and one for Fallen Angels. The Devils form pacts with humans and receive sacrifices to increase their strength. The Fallen Angels, on the other hand, control humans to eliminate Devils. Then the third group, the Angels, come in to destroy both races on God's orders. Again, this three-way struggle has persisted since ancient times."
"…I didn't realise that the Occult Research club also doubled as the Creative Writing club. Or is this just stuff you've read on Wikipedia in your spare time?" Yoko raised her eyebrows. "Is this all you do in this club? Tell wild stories? Where's the campfire?" She scoffed.
"The Occult Research club is mostly a front. It's my hobby. In truth, as well as being a place for research, the club serves as a gathering place for us Devils."
Yoko narrowed her eyes. She did hear Shitori mention Devils in her argument with Gremory. While she could believe Gremory taking part in such flights of fancy, she couldn't see the straight-laced, uptight Shitori Souna roleplaying as a Devil in her spare time.
"What about Kaichou? Is she a Devil too? Or was she just humouring your delusions?" She then remembered something else Shitori said. "And what did she mean by Reincarnated Devil? Is that what you call new members in your little Dungeons and Dragons campaign? If so you can count me out; I have better things to do than sit around and roll dice and play with figurines."
Yoko may have snarked, but she was doing so to buy herself time to think. She couldn't figure out what Gremory's aim was with telling such a tall tale. Naturally, she didn't believe a word of it, and she was getting annoyed that she was being side-tracked from her answers with such bullshi—
Unless…these were her answers.
Gremory opened her mouth, but Yoko cut her off. "Tell me…what do these Fallen Angels look like?"
Gremory blinked. "Typically, they tend to have black hair and dark eyes, but there is the rare case where they retain their fair hair and eye colour from their time as a pure Angel. They also have feathered black wings, the amount dependent on their power."
Black wings burst out of Yuma's back, sending dark feathers into the air as they flapped behind her.
Yoko's whole body stiffened.
"I see that you have realised it." Gremory said, catching Yoko's gaze with her own. "Two nights ago, you were attacked by a Fallen Angel."
Yoko fell back against the sofa. She stared at her knees, brow furrowing in thought. She laced her fingers together, resting her elbows on her thighs. She clenched her fingers, bashing down the surge of emotions that remembering that night unleashed. Ignoring them, and after waiting until her voice wouldn't waver, she asked, "Why was I targeted by her?"
"There's no chance a loser like you could be a threat to us. Even with one of the Sacred Gears given by God…"
"Sacred Gear…" She muttered, looking up, back into Gremory's steady gaze. "She mentioned that term…"
"Yes, I believe that you were targeted by the Fallen because you possess a Sacred Gear."
Yoko bit the inside of her lip. Any thoughts of maintaining ground or seeing through machinations were gone. This was too big to be concerned with such things. She still wanted to claim bullshit on Devils and the like existing but…what else could explain everything that had happened?
She'd been attacked by a woman with black wings. She woke up in her bed, perfectly healthy the next day. What else could explain these events other than supernatural forces at work? She'd already accepted that the events of that evening happened, as well as the mysterious, previously unexplained circumstances that had led her back to her bed. Of course, the explanation for such absurd incidents would be absurd in of itself. She had so many more questions, she didn't know where to begin.
After thinking about it for a minute, she decided to address the most confusing aspect of it all. "She…she didn't just attack me, did she? She…killed me. Stabbed me through the heart with a spear. So how can I still be alive?"
"…Reincarnated Devil…"
"…Before, Shitori said, 'Reincarnated Devil'."
"That's right. On that night, you died. On that same night, I resurrected you…as a Devil."
Yoko wanted to laugh. It just sounded so absurd.
"I'm sure you've noticed, in your limited time as a Devil, that your senses, your energy, everything rises during the night. That the sun itself drains you, feels as if it is piercing your skin. That is because Devils thrive during the night. Our power, our senses, they all become stronger during night-time. Conversely, the sun is our natural enemy."
"…So you were the one who put me in bed? Who re-dressed me, disposed of my clothes, and healed me?"
"Yes. Devils of the same household can be healed through skin-to-skin contact."
"Why…" Yoko's brow twitched. "Why didn't you tell me about all this? Did you enjoy leaving me to figure this shit out by myself? I bet you sat here, laughing at the thought of me freaking out as my body went through these changes!"
"No, nothing of the sort!" For the first time during the conversation, Gremory wore an expression other than cool disinterest. Her brows were furrowed, her cheeks flushing in indignation. "I merely wished for you to have the time to come to terms with the changes. I didn't want to overwhelm you with too much information at once."
"Well, newsflash, but I was pretty fucking overwhelmed when I heard my neighbour's oncoming divorce several houses down the road from my bedroom window! When I opened my curtains, and felt like I was being jabbed by red hot pokers! And being kept up all night hearing my next-door neighbours frantic banging was more than little 'overwhelming'!"
She didn't mention how the disruption of her routine added to the experience; refused to give them more ammo against her. That shred of restraint made her realise that she needed to calm down. She was getting careless. She had forgotten, in the chaos of the last few minutes, to keep her emotions in check. Yoko took a deep breath, and slumped back against the sofa.
From the way Gremory's face was going blank again, it was clear to Yoko that Gremory herself had been getting emotional. The possibility that it was an act came to mind, but she was getting the sense that Gremory wasn't quite the mastermind Yoko made her out to be. Plus, her response was too emotional. Gremory had slipped up, shown weakness, and Yoko was sure that someone as prideful as Rias Gremory wouldn't make themselves look weak on purpose.
"I admit that the way I went about this wasn't…optimal." Gremory said, wincing slightly.
…Ok, that blew Yoko's conclusions away. She'd expected justifications, attempts from Gremory to make her decision appear correct. The last thing she expected was honesty and…was that some humility?
Yoko was suspicious, to say the least.
'Why would she admit that? Is…is she trying to make me warm up to her, make herself look more approachable?'
Yoko's eyelid twitched.
"As I said before, I didn't want to overwhelm you, but I can see now that might not have been the best choice. I didn't take your personality into account, and you became worked up when I intended the opposite. That was my failure as your master."
Such a humble statement might have shocked Yoko speechless, if not for that final bit.
"Master? Of me? You?" Yoko fired off, staring incredulously. Yet again thoughts of remaining calm had been blasted away by the red-head's words. The entire conversation was just too bizarre for Yoko; it felt impossible for her to keep up, never mind gain any ground on Gremory.
Gremory blinked, then grimaced. "Yes, in order to revive you, I had to bring you back as my Devil servant." She clicked her fingers, and in a flash of light, a box appeared on the desk before her.
Yoko's eyes almost bulged out of her skull.
"During the three-sided war between the Devils, the Fallen Angels, and God and his Angels, both sides had large armies that warred against one another since time immemorial. As a result, all three sides lost most of their troops, and the war ended several hundred years ago with no side winning."
For the first time since Yoko spat out her tea, Kiba spoke up. "The Devils were no exception. High ranking Devils with peerages, who commanded around 20 or 30 troops, lost most of their underlings because of the war. Such was their losses that they couldn't even form new armies."
Himejima had a sip of tea before continuing, "I heard that most of the pureblood Devils passed away in that war. Even after the war, there are still problems between the Devils, the Fallen Angels, and God. Despite the Fallen Angels and God's side losing most of their troops, we are still in a position where we can't let our guard down, or else we'll be in trouble."
Yoko, in the very back of her mind mused that, if they were trying not to overwhelm her with information, they were doing a piss-poor job of it.
"Because of this, the Devils decided to use a system to form small groups of soldiers; the Evil Piece system." Gremory reached into the box and pulled out a crimson item from it. Yoko recognised it instantly.
"A chess piece?"
More specifically, Gremory was holding a Bishop. "By using Evil Pieces, High-class Devils, such as myself, are able to reincarnate other species into Devils. We do this to rebuild our numbers, as Devils have a very low birth-rate. If we didn't resort to something like this, we would eventually die out. To bring the you who was killed back to life, I used my Evil Pieces to turn you into a Devil."
"…But why chess?"
"Devils with Peerages decided to ascribe the traits of the human game chess to their Devil servants. It was also sarcasm, as most of them are reincarnated humans. Since then, chess has become a popular game in the world of Devils. That's not important, though."
That still didn't answer Yoko's question, but she decided that out of everything, it was the least questionable thing she had heard that afternoon.
Gremory continued, "Devils who are masters are the King; in our case, that is me. From there they created 5 special traits that consist of Queen, Knight, Rook, Bishop, and Pawn. Since they couldn't make an army, they decided to have a small number of Devils and give them enormous powers. This system was made in the past few hundred years, and this unexpectedly became popular amongst Devils with peerages."
Yoko felt a sense of foreboding. "How so?"
"They started to compete against each other. For example, exchanges like 'My Knight is stronger!' and 'No, my Rook is stronger!' occurred. As a result, High-class Devils started to play a game like that of chess against each other using their Devil servants. We call it the 'Rating Game'. Anyway, now there are even tournaments for it. The strength of the Pieces and how strong they are within the game affects the Devil's social standing, as well as their peerage's. There is a thing called Piece Collect, where Devils gather humans with talents and make them into their Pieces. It's very popular recently. Talented servants become a Devil's status."
Yoko felt the beginnings of a headache forming. It went nicely with the lump of iron dropped into her stomach. The idea that these Devils were collecting people and battling with them like they were Pokémon or something made Yoko feel ill. Even to her, that was pretty fucked. That nausea turned to anger as she considered something.
"Is that why you revived me? Because you wanted me to fight for you, or whatever it is these Rating Games are about?" As she spoke, another question came to mind. "And come to think of it, how the hell did you find me to revive me? I refuse to believe you just stumbled upon me while you were out for a walk."
Gremory reached into her desk drawer and pulled something out. "Do you recognise this?" With a flick of her wrist, a piece of paper flew onto the table before Yoko. Looking down at it, Yoko frowned, then gasped.
"The leaflet! I was handed one on Sunday." She had totally forgotten about it.
"This is one of the leaflets we give out. This magic circle is used to summon us Devils. These days there aren't many people who would draw this circle to summon us. So, we give these leaflets to people who look like they would summon Devils. On that day, one of our familiars was handing them out in the business district. You got it at that time, Ikawazu-san. After you were attacked by the Fallen Angel, you called me while you were on the verge of death. You wished so hard that it summoned me. Usually, my servants like Akeno and the others would be the ones summoned."
…
That…wasn't right.
Yoko almost frowned, but just managed to restrain it. She had basically stopped listening after Gremory said about wishing on the verge of death.
As much as she hated to admit it, as much as the recollection made her chest feel hollow yet full of spikes, she hadn't wished for anything on the verge of death.
Her vision began to fade, the encroaching blackness covering her view of the sunset. '…whatever…I guess…it isn't all bad…at least…I don't…have…to…try…any…more…it's…kind…of…a…relief…actu
The world tilted on its axis. The room turned red as her vision warped. All the frustration, all the confusion, the awe and wonder and terror of the supernatural existing, all of it faded as one, powerful emotion overtook it all.
Sheer, unadulterated, rage.
Gremory. Was. Lying.
Such was her anger that she couldn't move, couldn't react. Her face froze at whatever emotion it had been showing before her world turned upside down. She couldn't remember which. It didn't matter.
Why was Gremory lying? What would she have to gain? What does it imply? Could she have had something to do with it all? Why else would she lie about something so minor? All these thoughts and more swirled around her tired, frazzled brain, the fuzz of sleep deprivation blown away; she was fully awake now.
The flustered, reactionary mess that she had been for the entire conversation was no more. The anger focused her, brought everything into perspective.
She hadn't been staying ahead in this conversation. Hadn't been keeping up, even. Despite the repeated attempts at telling herself to stay unemotional and focused, she had been the opposite. How could she be anything else? What Gremory had been telling her was so far out of her perception of reality, how could she react in any way other than shock.
But now, now she could focus. Emotions weren't her enemy in this conversation, they were her greatest ally. One specific emotion in particular.
The sheer, soul-searing infuriation coursing through her veins was a perfect focal point.
Her mini episode lasted all of a few seconds. The world realigned itself, the natural colours of life seeping back in. For the first time since entering the room, Yoko felt like she was seeing everything clearly.
Her eyes darted around the room. On Kiba, who had that famous smile of his frozen on his face. His poker face was incredible, but was it because he was just that good, or did he not know that Gremory was lying?
To Himejima, whose own smile was firmly stuck on. Her demure, unassuming smile looked as if had been painted on, the perfect depiction of a traditional yamato nadeshiko. But despite that, Yoko didn't miss how Himejima's eyes were just then returning from a glance at Gremory.
Toujou had stopped eating, and was giving Gremory a blank look—not that was new. But the look she gave Yoko after was not so empty; the girl's emotionless expression was top notch, but the eyes don't lie. A mysterious look in those amber eyes told Yoko…she didn't know, but the change in them when Gremory lied gave Yoko the impression that the junior knew more than her peers.
And Gremory…it was clear to Yoko that Gremory was just that good at lying. Yoko could have almost believed it herself, if she didn't remember her dying thoughts, clear as day. If she had, perhaps, allowed the pain of the experience to warp her perception, to let her believe a lie that, in all honesty, was kinder than the truth.
But that memory was the premise for Yoko believing everything that Gremory had said until this point. If Yoko had just written off her own experience, had let the pain of the emotions she was suppressing win, then she wouldn't be in that room, demanding answers. Would have written it all off as a strange dream and memory issues.
That memory and her anger were her greatest weapons. She couldn't let go of either of them.
"When I was summoned and saw you, I knew right away that you were a Sacred Gear possessor and that you were attacked by a Fallen Angel. But there was a problem: Ikawazu-san, you were on the brink of death. Not just Devils, but humans also die if impaled by a Fallen Angels spear of light. You were in that kind of condition, so I decided to save your life."
Yoko felt like she was starting to understand, just a little. She was certain that Gremory didn't save her out of the kindness of her own heart. She must have wanted something, something that Yoko possessed. Perhaps, the same reason she was targeted by Y…by the Fallen Angels.
"There's no chance a loser like you could be a threat to us. Even with one of the Sacred Gears given by God…"
Yoko took a minute to prepare herself. Despite how useful her rage was at that moment, it wouldn't help her if it gave away her suspicions. As much as Yoko was positive that Gremory was a lying sack of shit, she had the feeling that calling her out on it would only go poorly.
She had one last question, or at least, the last question she'd ask Gremory directly. "What exactly are these Sacred Gears, anyway? I assume that they're important."
Gremory nodded, not looking as if she felt any guilt over lying about the death of a peer. "Indeed. The only reason the Fallen Angel approached you was so she could check if there was a dangerous thing inside of you."
"Dangerous?"
Again, Kiba spoke up. "Sacred Gears are an irregular power that is bestowed to certain humans. For example, most of the people whose names are recorded in history are said to be possessors of a Sacred Gear. They used the power of their Sacred Gear to record their names in history."
Yet again, Himejima continued after him. Yoko was starting to wonder if it was rehearsed. "Presently, there are people who possess Sacred Gears within their bodies. You know those people who play an important role worldwide? Most of those people possess a Sacred Gear."
Gremory carried on. "Most of the Sacred Gears have functions that are only usable in human society. But there are exceptional Sacred Gears that are a threat to us, the Devils, and fallen Angels. Ikawazu-san, stand up and raise your hand."
Yoko blinked, not feeling inclined to do anything the red-head asked—no, demanded. Gremory's tone left no room for discussion, and it rankled Yoko something fierce.
Gremory stared, then sighed. "If you would please."
Yoko still wanted to tell her to fuck off, but she figured she might as well go along with it.
"Why exactly am I doing this?" She asked, getting up off the sofa.
"You're going to awaken your Sacred Gear."
Yoko's eyes twitched, just managing to stop them widening. Despite the overwhelming anger she felt at the moment, she was a little bit excited. If Gremory was to be believed—as hard as that was to imagine—then Yoko was about to unlock a hidden power inside of herself. The idea that she had something that supernatural beings, such as Devils and Fallen angels, considered dangerous was appealing.
Yoko would take any advantage she could get in this disadvantageous situation she found herself in. She raised her arm.
"Close your eyes and imagine the strongest thing that comes to mind."
"Strongest thing?" Yoko said, frowning. "Like what?"
"Like perhaps an anime character who you consider to be the strongest being."
"I don't watch anime."
Gremory looked as if Yoko had shot her dog. A stifled giggle from Himejima snapped Gremory out of her daze. "Never? Not once in your life? Maybe when you were younger?" Gremory said, sounding as if she was pleading. As if her life views were crumbling around her.
Yoko knew the feeling.
"Why is this even necessary?" Yoko asked.
"There are many factors that are involved in awakening a Sacred Gear." Kiba said. "One of them is how the user is feeling at the time."
"In this place, filled with demonic power, it will be easier to summon your Sacred Gear." Gremory said, seemingly recovered from whatever had shocked her. "Picturing something that reminds you of strength should be enough to awaken your Sacred Gear here."
Yoko…supposed that made sense. On some level. Still, she struggled to think of such a thing. As she said, she didn't watch anime. The only time she had ever watched anime was when she was a child, when she visited her childhood friend's house.
Yoko stiffened as an idea came to mind. Her cheeks went warm, and her gaze drifted off to the side.
Gremory noticed. "Have you thought of something?"
Yoko, unable to speak, gave a sharp nod.
"Then mimic the pose of that person. You have to imagine it strongly ok? You cannot hold back."
Yoko's blush deepened. Even her powerful rage was overtaken, for a moment, by the embarrassment rising to her face. She took a deep breath, and glared at Gremory, barely managing to keep a pout off her face. "Th-This better not be a prank!"
"Of course not." Gremory placated, raising her hands slightly. She glanced at Himejima, who was staring at Yoko with a strange gleam in her eyes.
Yoko tried to ignore it, not even wanting to begin unwrapping whatever that was about. Taking another deep breath Yoko closed her eyes, raised her hand, splayed out her fingers, and, cheeks bright red, yelled out, "M-Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"
The room was silent for a moment. Yoko's blush spread further across her face as her trembling arm remained pointing straight up. Her eyes were screwed tightly closed, not wishing to see the reactions to her shout.
"Now, open your eyes." Gremory said, after a while, not giving anything away in her tone. "As I said, it should appear easier in this place."
With great reluctance, Yoko opened her eyes. She gasped as her arm began to glow. The light spread across her arm, and once it vanished a red gauntlet covered her arm down to her elbow. The most striking feature was the jewel on the back of where her hand was.
"This is…"
"Your Sacred Gear." Gremory peered at it, tilting her head, and hummed. "That Fallen Angel saw your Sacred Gear as a threat and therefore killed you."
Yoko didn't say anything. She remembered what Yuma had said to her. Perhaps, at some point, Yuma had thought Yoko a threat, but what she said after stabbing her implied otherwise. She clenched her gauntleted fist.
If she ever saw that bitch again, she'd show her how much of a "loser" she truly was.
"Do you have any further questions?"
Oh, Yoko had plenty. But she wouldn't be asking Rias Gremory any of them.
She didn't know why Gremory had lied to her about how she was revived. Maybe Gremory was trying to come across as her graceful saviour. Maybe Gremory was doing that Piece Collect thing she had mentioned, and didn't want to admit it. Maybe it was both. If there was one thing Yoko knew, it was when someone was trying to pull a con on her. She'd done it enough herself to recognise the signs. To notice the small inconsistencies that such a thing aroused.
Because no matter what Gremory said, and no matter how much it pained Yoko to admit, she had not wanted to live that night. The sheer agony the acceptance of her fate wrought was so vivid and fresh, that it was all the proof she had needed to accept that it had happened. That the supernatural was real; that Devils, Fallen Angels, and Angels were real. (The summoning of the box was pretty good proof too, but Yoko was making a point, damn it!)
It was also the rock-solid proof that Gremory had lied to her about something as important as her death.
And Ikawazu Yoko was, if anything, someone who used whatever she had to its fullest to get an advantage.
Yoko decided, then and there, that she would never trust a thing Gremory had to say. She would use Gremory, and the Occult Research club, use them all until she got everything she needed. She would learn everything there was to know about being a Devil. She would take this tragedy, and turn it into her future success.
Perhaps Yuma had been right, maybe she had been aimless. Well, now she had an aim, a goal: to find out the truth about her death. Once she figured it all out, she would decide what to do next. But whatever she did at that point, she knew one thing.
There was no way in hell (literal or otherwise) that she was going to accept being somebody's servant. She wasn't going to be pitted against others in battle as if she were a Pokemon, or a literal chess piece, all for the benefit of some rich girl's social status.
So, Yoko, with her Sacred Gear at hand and her wits and guile primed, looked at Rias Gremory, and smiled. "One more question. What did you do with my clothes? I really liked that top."
And with that, Yoko's new life as a Devil began.
Rightio, there's chapter 5. Loved it, hated it? Review and tell me what you think! Or don't, I'm not the boss of you. Be nice if you did tho, just Saiyan.
I hope Yoko's narration wasn't utter garbage and horrible to read. And yeah, it was a big exposition dump, even bigger than the canon one, but I figured it made sense to have it. After all, Yoko had a lot of big questions, and they needed big answers. Yoko isn't the kind of character to be happy with incomplete explanations of what she's interested in. (yet another reason it took so long to do this chapter was because i was kinda putting off doing the big exposition dump chapter, soz)
((omg these chapters keep getting longer and longer, i don't mean for them too, yeesh))
Onto the review corner!
DschingisKhan: I hope my explanation about the lack of a home visit was satisfactory, I figured that it would make sense, considering canon.
And yeah, Yoko wouldn't be where she is in life without a strict routine, and she's kinda begun to rely on it a bit too much.
Yeah, she was panicking pretty hard—I was worried I over did it a bit, but responses have been favourable.
Tamaki has a rough time of it, being divorced and alienated from his daughters, but yeah he's not that effective as a parent.
I thought it would be interesting, glad you agreed! In canon Raynare wiped people's memories of her, and I wondered how that might affect people who were directly affected by her in such a way, and that phone call was the result!
Thanks for another review, they're super appreciated! Hope to hear from you again!
Raiyoukai: Thanks for the praise! Yeah, I saw what you meant—I hope it's less clunky now, but I feel like this chapter might have been a bit all over the place, so it might be worse now. Hopefully, that isn't the case.
Yup, yup! I felt it was only natural to react that way. It would be pretty emotionally devastating. I'm hoping to showcase the effects of what Raynare did a bit more than in canon. There isn't really any mention of how it affected Issei until volume 9, and since Yoko is a different person naturally she would handle it differently as well.
Glad you enjoyed her interaction with her pops, I'm also excited to expand on their relationship and history more. Their relationship is strained, and I hope the explanation, when it comes, is good.
I wanted to cut Yoko off from a big resource that she had from before the "incident". If she's going to ever improve as a character and a person, she needs to lose access to certain things.
I'm glad you like the way I ended the Murayama and Katase subplot, I'm quite proud of that one myself.
Her neighbours, ahem, nightly activities came to me as I was writing the chapter, and it made me laugh so much I just had to include it. Still, it let me establish something that will happen in the future, so that was a nice bonus XD
Thanks again for the review! I super appreciate every review I get, and getting multiple reviews from people always makes me happy! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that it wasn't a big pile of garbage!
MrMayhem FF: Thank you very much! I'm glad you like the story thus far! Asia's relationship to Yoko will certainly be special, and it probably will become romantic, sorry. But, it also might not, and if it does it might not be for a while. Heck, romance is going to take a while with anyone, given how prickly and traumatised Yoko currently is. Anywhoo, I hope enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you enjoy future chapters.
Belgianreader: Thanks, thanks! I always try to be original with my stories, and I haven't seen anything like that be done, yet. I wanted to subvert the trope of the protagonist saving a girl from a gang, and it went even further with the memory erasure.
I'm glad you think so! I tried hard to make Yoko realistic and interesting.
As I said earlier, Rias wasn't being malicious—remember, Hanlon's razor!
I'm glad you've been enjoying my story so much! I hope this chapter was enjoyable too, and I hope that you continue to enjoy it!
Dracowoman: Glad it wasn't too long a wait for you ;) Sorry, there won't be an bashing in this story, not if I can help it.
