Bryce groaned as he slowly opened his eyes expecting to see the ceiling in front of him. However, that was not the case. When he opened his eyes, he found himself alone and was met with a black sky with clouds as it was nighttime.

'Where am I?' He mentally asked himself as he stopped floating and landed on the dark water. He continued looking around trying to figure out where he was, he didn't see anything. Nothing but miles and miles of water and the sky.

What is this place?'

Can't you see? It's your own head!

Bryce froze as he heard a voice that had spoken to him. Turning around he saw a darker version of himself, he was wearing a tattered dark cloak and there was white mist hovering around him.

"Who are you?" He asked slowly.

"Who do you think? I'm you remember? Your true self, the one you keep locked up and try to hide from everyone." It replied before Bryce eyes widened in shock and then were replace with anger. 'Puppeteer, why is he out? He has no reason to be out and about.'

"No. you are not. You're just hallucination that I've been trying to get rid of for a long time."

"Hallucination…. Hehehe… Bryce, I'm not a hallucination. I'm very real and more importantly I'm the darkness that you hide in your heart, And I have to say, it's starting to get dull.

"What do you want?" He asked his dark half.

"Is it not obvious? I want out and I want you to drop this charade you're doing." Puppeteer spoke.

"Charade?" Bryce called out in confusion.

"This role of playing big brother. It's ridiculous. Stop fighting for others, it's pathetic. You should only be fighting for yourself." Puppeteer told him as he jumped off the rooftop and landed in front of his host.

"Remember our fight with the Phenex, you had intervened to free that redhead from her marriage and the others from being slaves. Commendable but pitiful."

"Why did you help Rias?" He asked.

"Because Izumi said that she wanted to give them a chance." Bryce answered.

"Ah, but that's not what you want." His dark half said as he appeared behind him with his arms crossed and his smile. "You wanted nothing to do with the devils after what you've been put through, you had every right to decline but no you just listened to Izumi."

"That's not—" Bryce tried to speak but was cut off.

"And before that there was the situation with that little fallen angel Mittelt was her name? You could've killed her along with the others but you didn't. Instead, you chose to spare her and bring her home, now why is that I wonder?"

"I did it because I saw myself, she wasn't even fighting me when I confronted her at the church. She was so hurt that she wanted her life to end and was okay with receiving death from. One look in her eyes and I saw me when I was a child all over again. I wanted to help her." Bryce explained.

"You wanted to help her? Hahaha." Puppeteer let out a dark laugh at his host's statement. "Help, that's funny. If you really wanted to help her, then you should've put her out of her damn misery. But alas, you've opened your wounded heart and let another one in your life."

"What are you implying?" He inquired.

"You know what I'm talking about. She'll betray you, once that little angel learns who you are and what you've done she'll leave you like everyone else in your life has." Puppeteer stated coldly.

"She hasn't…. left me." Bryce said slowly.

"Yet." Puppeteer added darkly. "She'll leave you just like the others. Asia's a blind puppy that is desperate for love and still prays to a ghost that's been long dead. I wonder how she'll react when she finds out the truth." Puppeteer stated as he started walking around his original self.

"Izumi, that girl should've stayed dead. She was the one of the factors that played in creating me and it was because of her that you discarded all of your emotions to kill all that were involved that night. However, she is also the reason why you went soft." Puppeteer stated as he stared at Bryce with scorn.

"No, I will not let her die nor let you get that chance." He growled at his dark half.

"There you go again, letting Izumi once again control your decisions. Maybe you have really gone soft."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh nothing, just that you can't seem to think for yourself or you never decline to that girl's wants and needs. You've become dependent on her just as she does with you."

"I will only kill if absolutely necessary." Bryce said growling at his dark half. "Killing is not always the answer."

"So those kids you fought during your captivity were necessary?" He said causing Bryce to flinch and take a step back. "Or what about you the scientists that experimented on you?"

"The kids were my age and were already far gone, I tried saving them and in return I get stabbed in the gut over and over until I finally decided to put them to rest. And those people you call scientists were horrible and sick-twisted at what they did and they deserved to die." Bryce growled at Puppeteer. "They had threatened to kill Izumi and I lost it when I thought they did, the only regret I have for them is not suffering a lot more."

"And what about Rias or Sona and their peerages?"

"That's diff-" Bryce tried answering but his dark half cut him off.

"The Hell it is. IF I recall, the redhead threatened your family a few times and should've been killed on the spot the next time you saw her and the enabler was threading on thin ice when she kept trying to persuade us to help before using a tactic and brought up her sister… should've killed her right there. How are they any different from the others?" Puppeteer argued.

"Their just kids. They're teenagers, they don't know what they are doing. And their decisions were blinded by their emotions." Bryce replied.

"Wrong. They're Devils by the end of the day, and they aren't kids anymore once they threaten someone but then again they are the weakest kids I've ever seen. Kind of a disappointment if you ask me. The truth of the matter is they are like the others scientists." Puppeteer said before his face morphed into a twisted smile. "but you are the worse of them all.

"….What… ?"

"When you killed your captors did you not think about their lives that had outside of the place or were you too caught up in your grief and anger that you let it blind your actions?"

Bryce felt himself go stiff.

"Those poor souls, even if they did torment you they were killed nonetheless because of you. Have you ever thought about it? Even if those captors, they probably had a family or somebody out there waiting for them and you killed them without a second thought."

"They… they had killed Izumi… and I couldn't….. I couldn't reach her…"

"She should've stayed dead!" His dark half kicked him in the stomach causing Bryce to drop to a knee. "She should've been a drive for you not an anchor. She should've been a primary example of your failures! You couldn't save her then, you can't save her now. You may have taken in the nun and fallen angel but all you did was only prolonged their demise! In the end, you get them killed just like everyone else! So, stop playing this brother role and become what you always were, a monster!" Puppeteer yelled with fury in his tone.

"The same monster that had slaughtered his foster family, the one who couldn't save people because of his hands were filled with blood. You can't save anyone, only kill them because you are a killer and your hands will never be clean from the bloodshed you have caused!"

Bryce couldn't breath as his dark-self kept speaking, his breathing was erratic, his ears were ringing he felt like he was having a panic attack as memories of his past were resurfacing in images of dead bodies on the floor and his main tormentor smiling at him.

And then he started hearing voices, voices of those he had killed.

Y҉̝̙̤̱͍̜̗̺͙͙̮̻̫ö̦͍̮̠͙̟͚̮̫ͯ̓̏̉́̋ͪ͑ú ̸͒͌̋̇́̓̀͢k̸̴̜͍̗͕i̢͚̙̭͓̩͉̭̣̘͉͕̦͙̳l̛͙̯̥͔̯͉̱͕͔̂ͮͦͭ̐̐̒͋̎l̇ͪ̇̑͋̄͆̎̈ͯ̀҉͓̫͈̜̘͇̤̩͚̠ͅe̋̔͊͌̐d̶ ̗̘̟͙͉̖̩̞͈͂ͫ̎̿̒ͬ͛̄̚m͉̲̭̫̏ͯ͆́e͗͑̊̎ͬͫͯ̈́̂ͤͥ.̵͓̱̳͍͈̜͔̼̻̳̹̫̰̺̣́͝

W̼̝̼͖̮͉̤͜͠h̨͑̄ͫ͗̇̽͐̄́̏̀ͣ̆͗̿͘͟y̟̮͇̜ͧͤ͒̚,̡̛̞̠̩̬͈ͅ ̣̖̙̺͙̰̟d̷̷̙͎ͥ̑i͏d̞̲̰̮̣͙͔͓̜͈̰̩͓ͩ̍̇ͤͫ̑͒ͩ͂͐̓̋ͭ i̫͍̪̭͓̪͇̽ͬ̇ͨ̑̾̄ ̼͍̬̹̪̣͖͕̟͙̝͚̂̓̏ͦͪ͛ͬͧ̿̌́ͦh͞a͆̋ͨ͐ͪ̐̔̉̅ͮͨ͆͋ͮ̋v̶́e͕̳̱ ̶̮͚̉̓̕͡t̤̭ͮ̚o̶̶̢̪͖̻̪̰͓̱͇̠͔̦̩̎̃͗̒̄̿̇̅̎͒̐̐ ̭̮̣͈̫̟̭̥̜̟͔͎̼̍̓̋͑̈̇ͪ̊̈́͋̍͊̆ḓ̸ͬi̶̺̗̥̗͚͓̠͍̼̥̮͇̩̫͘e̮̣̜̺̗̤̠̩͖̥̻͉̝?̪̘͔̤̻̻͓̺ͪ́̈́ͯͨ̒ͨͣ̀

H͊̈ͭ̒҉͜͡ȩ̶͙̳͈͎̹ͦ́ͫ̔̉l̩̳͕̭̯̤̰ͅp҉͝ ̵̡͗ͥͧ̆̂̉͐̽ͯ͠m̧̺̽͟e͋̆ͣͣ̽̍̿͒̌̅ͬ̈́͊̀̚.̓ͪ͏͏͕̜͜.̒̎̅̄ͭ͋̆.̴͌ͧ̊̃̄͒ͤͨ̏̌ͩ͢͢ ̵̛̉͂͌̌ͦ̆̾ͥ̾̐ͪ͂́̚͜p̸̗̪̲̹̮̹̻ͨ́́̅̿ͪ͊l̻̖͓͚̫̫̯̯̺̖̞͍͚ě͓̟͓͍̱̗̣̥͚̹̯ͯͣͫ̿̈͌͑ͬ̃̚ạ͍̗͓͓̞̝̓ͬͬ̿͆ͪ͒s͜͡͞ë̔͛͋̄́ ͇͖̱̱͙͑ͬ́̀̿ḥ̤̗̣̦̲̭ẽ̾ͬͭ̔͜l͎̺̣̼̼̥̜͖̗̝̞̣͐͆ͦ̒͒̂̿̒̌̿̿ͣp̨̬̭͕͉̜͈͕͔̮̮̲̝͎̬͈̕͡ ҉mͣ̓́ͤ̇̌̊̈̊͗̐̓̌ͥͬe̺͖͔̞͈̦͍͓̬̰.̞̜̖̬̙̒͌ͥͧ̚.́̂ͨͤͬ̀ͮͪ͗͊̈ͮͧͩ.̷̴̣͎̺͚̘̙͑ͤ̊̀̍̿

M̹̩͕̖̘͌ͬ̉͑́o̶̭͎̣̥̪̩͖̹̤͍̼̙̰̅̑ͨ͒̂ͧ͗͑̀͊͌̈̉ṋ̦͔̯̣̼̭̪̤͍͓͚ͮ̈͑̄ͫͤͧ̈́̑̂̌̿̇͂̕͠͞ͅͅs̵̢̲̘̜̩̤̘̓ͭ̊̇͒͋̚͝ͅt̶̵̨̺͕̥͖̝̥͎̍̔͂̀ͨ̾̊e̹̜̩̘̟͚̣̪̤̳̾̌ͫ͑̈́̒́͌̑̆ŗ̷̸ͯ͒͆.̣͔̼͚̩͉̿͐̈ͯ̈̄.̶̘̱̰͙̱͈̖̣̩͈̳͕̭͓͡.̢̦̞͕̦̮͚̬̗̺̹̟̦ͬ͊͆͂͗ͮ̒̌ͥ͋̑ͫ

Y͏́͟ou͉̣͖̙̣͇̣͙̥̙̻̭̱̩̓͗ͩͬͦ͐ͫͭ̍̑̎͗͋̄ ͙͉̳̟̍̾ͦ̊a̖̚͜ŗ̤̞͇̰̘̲͕̩̯̹e̵҉̶̩͇ ͚̦̘̲̹͎a͇̤̗̪͖̫̜̘͔̅̐̉̑̎̑̾̀ͦ͟ ͉̦̘̗̱͇̥̯͇͕͎̗̖̆̒̆̒ͯ̈̆̽̒ͨͨ͊̚m͏͜o̦̹͈̭̜̽͐̎̾̔̈́̍͘ͅͅn̷̠̹̻͙̦̗̙̼̳ͭͨ̓ͫ̋ͧ̈́̌̚͞s̟̔́͢͝t̝͇̭̼̻̺̰͉̦̠̟͉̩̓̄ͥ̂ͯ̃̆͋ͨ̂͂̔̌̑́ͅe҉̡̡r̟͖̹̠̰̘̗͍̫ͫ̒̌͐ͮͣͣ̿͗̈ͅ

Puppeteer watched as his other half struggled to stand and smiled at what he saw. He looked up at the sky and saw that it was slowly turning blue meaning it was almost time to go back but he figured he would drive one final nail in the coffin before letting Bryce go.

"If only she could see you right now, I'm pretty sure she would hate you the most out of everyone in your life. Xenovia… the first person to accept you… Your light…. She'll despise you more than anything and want nothing to do with you…. The light she provides you will burn out and once that light of yours is gone… I will take over and finally we will be free!"

Bryce gasped as he suddenly shot up from the bed and panted. His breathing erratic as he remembered the dream he had just had. For a few minutes, he continued doing this before he slowed down and started doing some breathing exercises.

As he slowly calmed down, he raised a hand to his hair and clutched it tightly as he gritted his teeth in anger.

"Dammit."

*Knock* Knock* Knock*

Bryce raised his head up to the sound of knocking on his door.

"Yes?"

"Oni-chan! It's me, can I come in?" Mittelt's voice ranged through the door. Bryce quickly wiped the sweat from his forehead and put on his mask before answering.

"Hang on." He said as he got up from the bed and walked over to the door. Opening it, he saw Mittelt in her pjs. "Morning imouto."

"Morning Oni-chan!" She said wrapping her arms around his midsection and pressing her head into his chest. Lifting it up she gave him a smile. "Come down and eat, Izumi and Asia made breakfast."

"Asia made breakfast with Izumi?" Bryce asked with his eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"Asia said she wanted to learn how to cook. She was watching a food show last night that she really enjoyed so she wanted to try making homemade food." Mittelt answered.

"I see."

"And um…" Mittelt gained a blush on her cheeks as she released him and touched her index fingers together. "….I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Can we… can we go hang out today… just you and me?" She asked as he tilted his head. "I never really got to explore on my own much and… if it's okay with you…" She trailed off as she tilted her head down worried that he would say no but her fears were put down as she felt a hand caress her head.

"Sure. We can hang out if you want." He said as her eye brightened up.

"R-Really?" She asked as he nodded his head causing her to hug him tightly before she grabbed his hand excitedly.

As they went downstairs, they were greeted with the smell of bacon as they saw Asia digging into her own food.

"Oh, good morning Bryce-nii." She greeted as he nodded his head.

"Morning Asia. Where's Izumi?" He asked as he noticed the brunette was nowhere to be seen.

"She said that she needed to use the bathroom, she would be right back right away though." Asia stated as she started eating her eggs.

Bryce nodded his head at the answer as Mittelt pulled him over to the counter where their plates were. Mittelt had eggs and pancakes while Bryce had biscuits with sausage gravy on it and the last plate near theirs was a mixture of both.

"You made this Asia?" Bryce asked as the blonde nodded her head.

"Mmhm, I wanted to try cooking so I asked Onee-chan if she could teach me. I wanted to do something for you guys after everything you both did for us." Asia said.

Izumi then came from behind her and wrapped her arms around the blonde nun.

"And because of that, Asia here has learned how to cook breakfast from the greatest chef of yours truly." Izumi boasted.

"Greatest chef huh?" Bryce said with a raised eyebrow as Izumi giggled. "I thought those titles were unnecessary."

"They were since someone didn't want to compete with me over that." She said referring to Bryce who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Titles mean nothing unless you earnt them, and too I would find it pointless to go into a cook off with you since you clearly make better food than me." He

"Oh come on, Brycie~." She teased as she made her way over to him and poked his cheek. "You can't just say that I'm better than you when we clearly haven't had a competition."

"I see no need for one." He stated before taking a piece of biscuit and was about to eat until Izumi guided his fork into her mouth. "Really?" He deadpanned.

"I'll keep doing it until you say yes~" She cooed while he silently growled at her. He was about to retort until Asia intervened.

"Um… what are we going to do today since it's the weekend?" Asia asked.

"Oni-chan and I are hanging out today." Mittelt perked up as she turned her head to him with happiness.

"Oh, you are?" Izumi raised an eyebrow at this.

"Yes. I'm spending time with Mittelt."

"We're going to zoo." The blonde angel stated as he turned his head to her. "Is.. is that not a good idea?"

"No, it's just weird I've never been to a zoo before." Bryce said as she looked at him with widened eyes.

"What!? Y-You've never been to a zoo before!?" Mittelt exclaimed as he shrugged his shoulders.

"It's not that big of a deal, I see animals all the time." He said which caused Mittelt to pout.

"That's not the same!" Asia added as she stared at him.

"I have to admit it's a little disappointed Bryce." Izumi added while crossing her arms.

"How are you disappointed and last I checked you haven't been to a zoo either?" He questioned giving her a blank stare.

"Well…" As the brunette was about to answer her question, a teleportation circle appeared in the center of the room. Recognizing the sigil, Izumi smiled while Bryce stared at it blankly and it wasn't until the people that came out that his expression changed. Serafall and Sona. The former he had no problem with, the latter however.

"Good morning everyone~" Serafall announced while waving a magical wand in her hand.

"Sera-chan. Sera-sama!" Both Izumi and Asia greeted while Mittelt tilted her head in confusion on why the woman was wearing a cosplay outfit. Sona made her eyes to Bryce and once they met, she slightly flinched when she saw the glare he was giving her before it changed back into a normal blank stare.

"Greetings everyone, I hope you are doing well." Sona greeted.

"What you guys doing here?" Izumi asked, a bit surprised at the sudden arrival.

"Well, my lovely So-tan and I wanted to check on our adorable otouto and congratulate you guys on your fight with Riser." Serafall explained in a childlike tone.

"I see." Izumi nodded her head but knew there was something more to it.

"And the Phenex family wanted to meet with you two." Sona added earning a frown from the brunette.

"Why, are they upset that their son was no longer engaged?" Izumi asked.

"They wouldn't say." Sona said while fixing her glasses. "Only that they would like to give you a favor or something to repay you guys for your intervention."

"Oh, well… I guess if that's all they want…." Izumi trailed off as Bryce turned to the elder sibling.

"That really can't be it." He said with uncertainty in his tone. "It's probably me they want to question since I was the one who almost killed their son."

"I'm sorry, they wouldn't say anything else until they met up with you." Serafall gave him a apologetic smile.

"Great." Bryce muttered with a scowl.

"Don't worry, I doubt they want to do anything to you other than thank you for freeing Rias." Sona reassured earning a glare from Bryce.

"I didn't ask for your opinion." Bryce said coldly earning shocked looks from everyone except Izumi and Sona both knowing the reason why his tone changed.

"No.. you didn't." Sona said as Bryce sat up and pushed his chair in. He then placed a hand on Mittelt's head who had grabbed his sleeve when he was about to leave. "I guess we'll have to put your plans on hold for today, imouto." He said in a blank tone.

"It's okay, oni-chan…. But you make it up to me later." Mittelt said with a pout on her face as Bryce nodded his head, ruffling her hair a little more before leaving.

"I'll go ahead and meet them now." He stated before leaving completely.

"Okay, what happened?" Serafall immediately started asking as she turned to Izumi.

"He's a bit angry at Sona."

"Yeah, I know that part but I want to know why." Serafall clarified as she turned to her sister. "You didn't do anything bad did you?" She asked earning a sigh from the younger sibling.

"It's more like what I said to him. I was a bit fed up of him just not helping Rias and words were said that can't be taken back and now he's glaring at me like I'm the enemy." Sona stated.

"I believe it's partly my fault as well, since I did not tell him about your favor and I kept him in the dark for that, so don't blame yourself completely." Izumi added.

"Sona, I understand that you only wanted to help Rias but you need to remember to keep a cool head in arguments like that." Serafall scolded her.

"I know. I wasn't looking at it from his perspective, I just didn't want to see my best friend become someone's slave over an arranged marriage contract." Sona said as SErafall placed a hand on her arm.

"I'm glad you do but it's not me you should be apologizing to." Izumi said.

"I doubt he wants to talk to me after our last conversation." Sona countered while looking at where Bryce had left.

A few minutes later, Bryce had emerged in his battle attire with the cloak and everything.

"Sweetie, it's just a meeting there's no need to go into that outfit." Serafall said until Bryce shook his head.

"I don't trust people that easily, if they do anything that even considers as trying to kill me then the Underworld's going to have a few dead families on their hands." Bryce said with a blank face that caused the elder Sitri sibling to frown even more.

It seems that he was more damaged than she originally thought.

"I promise that they will not attack you, so please just calm down okay?" She gently pleaded him as she stared at him with warmth in her eyes. Bryce stared into her eyes and immediately sighed knowing that he should listen to her. He let himself shift clothes before going into an outfit consisting of a long tee shirt with black pants and black shoes.

"Is… this better?" He asked slowly.

"I'll take what I can get." Serafall said before walking over to him and grabbed his hand. Bryce slightly jump at the feeling of her hands holding his before calming down and stared at the ground. It's a been awhile since she's done that. "We'll be back everyone, So-tan play nice and don't do anything else unnecessary~" Sera called out as they both teleported to the underworld.

Once they both were gone, Mittelt turned to Sona and gave her the stink eye causing the latter to slightly waver at the look she was receiving.

"What's wrong?" Sona asked politely as the blonde came up to her.

"Stay away from my oni-chan." Mittelt said before huffing and walked away from the Sitri who looked at her bewilderment.

"Sorry about that, Mittelt just angry at you for hurting Bryce." Izumi apologized.

"I figured." Sona said while sighing.

"Don't feel too bad, Sona-san. Bryce-nii will forgive you, he isn't one to hold a grudge." Asia reassured while Sona and Izumi let out a small groan.

'I'm not too sure about that.'

Serafall and Bryce had arrived into the Gremory mansion with the latter quickly looking at his surroundings at frowned when he saw just doors that led to other rooms and no opening. Serafall noticed his behavior and frowned at what she saw.

'He's literally scanning the room for a way out incase something goes wrong. And his shoulders are very tense…' Serafall thought as she saw him move his head up to the ceiling and heard him let out a low groan.

'Damn, no escape routes.' Bryce thought as he continued looking around. He was in the Phenex house last time he was in the underworld not Gremory, so he was in a bind.

"Ah, I see you have arrived." Both occupants turned around and saw Sirzechs along with Grayfia appear before them.

"Hai, I'm back Sirzy and I brought otouto with me." Serafall said as she wrapped an arm around Bryce's neck who wasn't affected by the sudden action.

"It is nice to see you again, Hayate." Sirzechs greeted as Bryce nodded his head.

"Lucifer, Lucifuge." Bryce greeted emptily as Serafall pinched his arm.

"Hey now, no need to act all hostile we are in someone else's home and we're guests." Serafall softly chided him and Bryce look up before letting out a small sound.

"Right, apologies for rude greeting." He said still in a blank tone that caused Serafall to sweat drop.

'That's not any better.'

"That's alright, considering our last interaction I believe you aren't one for social gatherings." Sirzechs predicted as Bryce nodded his head. "Well forgive me when I say that this meeting won't be as short as you want it to be." He apologized as the teen nodded his head while looking away as Serafall gave him an apologetic smile. "Now please follow, we have a few people that would like to talk to you."

Sirzechs and Grayfia then turned around going through the doors with Bryce and Serafall following them. As they went through the mansion, Bryce kept looking at all the maids and butlers that they kept running into but not out of awe, out of alert. He was trying to see if any of them were a threat in case he needed to run.

All three adults notice his body language and slightly frowned wondering what could have made him into this. Serafall knows but only half the story as she remembered the images Ophis had shown her and still shudders at the thought of it.

They soon reached the room where everyone was gathered and Bryce gazed over at the people that were in front of him. He recognized first pair of adults to his left side. The first was a middle-aged handsome looking man that had long crimson red hair and bright blue eyes with a short red beard. Next to him was a beautiful woman with short flaxen hair and violet eyes with a large bust.

Bryce knew that the woman look similar to Rias and realized that these are her parents that he was meeting up with and then turned to his left. He saw a blonde man with blue eyes and short hair that reached his shoulders like Riser, and next to him was a woman with long blonde hair braided into twin tails and dark blue eyes.

Bryce let out a small sound as he did not feel comfortable. It wasn't the parents that he had problems with, it was his means of escape in case things went south. He didn't have time to scout the area on his own and he has no idea where he was at in the Underworld other than the place itself.

Serafall noticed his breathing that he was slowly becoming erratic as she gently place a hand on his arm bringing him out of his stupor.

"You okay?"

"Y-Yeah." He answered in a slow tone that caused her to worry about what was setting him off.

"Hayate-san, welcome." Lord Gremory greeted as he and his wife gave a bow as did Lord Phenex and his wife. "I'm Zeoticus Gremory. This is my wife Venelana and I've see you already know my son and daughter-in-law." He introduced as Bryce gave a bow in return.

"Likewise." He answered before turning to other two.

"I'm Ignis Phenex and this is my lovely wife Layla Phenex." The Phenex patriarch introduced as his wife gave the boy a gentle smile.

"A pleasure to meet you Hayate-san." She said in a soft tone. Bryce didn't like this, shouldn't these people be angry at him for ruining the whole wedding that they had planned for a long time? Something about this didn't seem right.

He would've continued pondering if not for Serafall, dragging him over to them and sat on the open couch while he remained standing.

"Would you like to sit?" Sirzechs offered as Bryce shook his head.

"Thank you but I'm okay standing." He said as he gazed at the ground. "Sorry to sound rude, but what can I do for you?"

"Well, this is about you ending the marriage contract between Rias and Riser." Zeoticus started.

"What about it? Is this about me destroying it, don't think too much." Bryce replied. "Sona… asked me to help Rias out with her problem in return that she would let two people I'm taking care of into school at Kuoh." He explained.

"Now, now, no need to lie. We know about your strain relationship with Rias because of previous events." Venelana said softly that caused Bryce to narrow his eyes. How did they know about his problem with Rias and her peerage?

"You do…" He trailed off as they nodded her head.

"Yes, she had come to me the night before the Rating Game." Sirzechs interjected. "My first action was to find the one responsible for making her cry in the first place. I thought it was her marriage to Riser but leave to my surprise that it was a boy she spoke to." He said turning to Bryce whose expression went blank. "She had talked to me about her faults and how much she had screwed up to this day and how she was viewed."

"And let me guess you want to punish me for hurting your daughter that way?" Bryce thought as he was ready to escape if necessary. He had measured all of these devils' power level and he knew when he was outmatched. Well at his base power, if he was in his other state or that one… he knows that he could easily kill them but he wouldn't do that.

While he may not like Rias, he would never take away her family.

"Actually…" Venelana trailed off as she stood up and gave a bow to Bryce surprising him. "We would like to apologize for the trouble Rias has given you."

"W-What…" Bryce asked while tilting his head in confusion.

"We would like to thank you for disrupting the marriage." Ignis said as he and Layla did the same thing.

"W-wait… why are you… I thought you would be at least angry to some degree for hurting your daughter." Bryce said towards the Gremory and then turned to Phenex. "And you for almost killing your son."

"We love our daughter with all of our heart but she can be difficult at times. We gave her a lot of leniency and freedom more than she should have, because of this we believe she hasn't really matured enough to do certain things on her own." Zeoticus stated.

"While she wasn't as arrogant like Riser, she has been spoiled and her actions have shown that, we were beginning to worry that she would slowly lose her way. Luckily, a young man was able to put her back on track." Venelana added while staring at Bryce.

"As for Riser…" Ignis started as the young man turned his attention. "We knew that he was arrogant and had this belief that our clan's ability was invincible letting it go to his head and becoming who he is now. But because of you, his attitude has tone down a bit and he's learned that our clan's abilities doesn't make us invincible."

"Hayate… I know this is a selfish request of ours but please take care of our daughter." She started as she grabbed his hands with her own. "We know you don't see eye to eye with her but it's because of you that's she willing to change. Had you not come into her life, I believe that she wouldn't be where she was at right now."

"My sister would've been in misery if you hadn't stepped in. Despite the relationship between you two, I do believe that everyone gets a second chance." Sirzechs interjected before bowing his head at him.

Bryce could only stare at disbelief at Sirzechs and Zeoticus before changing his gaze over to Venelana who was still holding him. He could see nothing but a kind motherly smile on her face and nothing else, he wanted to say no but he felt like he couldn't… as if he would be hurting the matriarch for his own selfish reasons.

Y̘͎̮̫̣̱̯ͅo͕̺̺͖̹̤̟̦̤u̮̜̙͓̻͓̦̭ ̏̅̀̈k̨̧̛̈̒ͬ̐͋ͭͤ̄̎̒ͯ̆n̦̺͕̘ͧ̈́̓̌ö̎̊̋̽̋ͭ̉̇͗̄́ͩ́w ̢ͫ̓̍ͬ̾̔ͬͫ͗̈́͗͞y̪̲ͫ̔o̴̵͖̙̣͇̣̫̥͔͉̟̰̖̯͙̎͆̃̿̔͛̃̑̇̔̄̃̈́̂u͋̾̆̈́́͘ ̷̠̯͈̣̻ͭͣͭ̏̌c̨̧̛͕̱̦̻̞͍̗͕͊̍́̐͋̿̏̀á̱͈͇̹̼͈̗͓̫̩̣̆͐̂ͬͥ̇̃̈̈ͨn̢͠ ̼̭̲͔̖̘̟̭̱͂̒̂͗̌ͨ͑̇ͧ͟j̨̃ͩ̉͛͗̾͌̆̅́͏u͉̹̦ͥ̈́ͩs̬͇̺͉ͣ͆̌̎t̵̡̓̅ͯ̀͌̓ͪ͑̐̀̆͟ ̳̳̺̙̣̀̂̓ͩ̚s͍̰͕̣̘͙͈͇̹̲̭̞̆̎̂̈́̏ͮ̓ͫ̉̆ͦ̉a̢y̰͓̩̘̯̻͉̖̰͖ͨ͊̈̔͊ͬ̏̈́͛͑ n̼̟̗͇̗͖̺̼͚̖̣͌̇̇̓ͬ̐͋ͬ̎ͬ̌o̼̘͇̫̺̦̬̳̰͖͈̟͖̊͋̄̅͌̽̿̈́͒̏ͨ̇͆,̫̤̺̫͕̖̘͚̝̣͖͍̼ ̨͋̍̋͗̽̈ͬ͐ͧ́̑͒̓͌̂͠yō̵̫̗͔͔ͦ͗̚͠͝u̙͎̟̝̱̩̬̗͙̱̦̪̖̒̊̓ͣͬ̌ͩͨ̓͂̍̈ͤ d̰̻̩͓ͭ̆͊̚o͉͙͖̜͔̜͎̜̺̘̫̮̗n̬͈̳̍͒̐'̵̵̹̙̳̜͉̘̠͚̹̎͐̑́͐ͮͦ̑ͧt̝͓͔̙͙̖̟͇̝̠̼͉ͨ̐̎̂ͣ͌͌̇ͭ́̑͗ ̵̼̻̹̣̳̺͕̞͈ó̠̻̹̞̩̝̲̙̼̱͛̾̋̉͂͒͛̾̋͡ẃ̖̝̜̜͕̩̻̭̥̣͉̪ͦ̓͊͒̈ͥ̎̐̆͛̒̓ͅȩ͖͔̇͊ t̶͝h̠̹̯̜̜ë͆͗̒̈̓̋̀̚m̦̣̖̺̤͙̝͖ͅ ̮͍͇͖͔̳͕͚͇̼̜̱̅̐̉ͧͮ̒ͬ͋̍͂ͫ͗a̦̩͚̺̤͙̠͕͙̲̜̙̙͖f̵̥̮̠̭͇͚͐ͯͫ͊͐̚t̢̘͎̬̳̘̪͔̩̙͚͉̪͟eͪ͒͒̔ͬ͌ͮ͂ͦͫͮ̅r̵̠̬͇̞͉͉͔͇̯͔̻̦̮͡͠ ̸̨̞̦͍̮̗͇͚̙͔̖̜̜̭̥̹͘ã̢̳͓̙ͣͨl͏͇̪̻̟̘̜͈̩̻͓͉l̢̙͈̙͚͙̙̹͓͓ͮ̓́́ͣ͑͊͌̆́͠.̰̯̬̻̮̹͙̗̻̳̦͑̓̀ͩ̌͋ͩ̎̊ͦͦ ̹͇͎͓̳̦̰ͯͬͥ̏̂̓̿Ạ͕̙̩́̊ͤ̈ņ̸ͫ͏ͅd͈͔̳̫͕͙̺̻̳̬̟̳̻͉ͬ̆ͫͨͨ̎ͯ̾ͣ͌́̓̈́̈́ ̤̝͕̭͔̓̌̏̀ͪt̤̼͓̪͕͎͇͙ͩͤ͛ͨ̋̑ͭͤh̵̳̪͚̜̲̙̣͇̗͙̲͔͍̅͗̎̀ͭ̈̎̃̏͋ͭ̏ͥ̐ͅé̛̳̦͎͝ỵ̘̹̈͛͋ ͍͓͖̼̌̅ͧͮ͜s̫͙̲̮̽ͥ̆ͧͦ͘̕͟h̥͊o͉̬̜̠̲̮̟̖͕̤̜̳̝úl̷̵͢d͛̒̄̚ ͙̘̬̪͓̘̰̘̼̜ͨ͆̇ͣͧ̌̽͋̀̈́̓ͅs͚̝͎͔̹͎̥ü̠̭̤̠̪͎͖̫̤͖̳̣̦̃̓ͥ̃̃ͦ̄̎͆̀̒̇́ͅff̨e̟̪̠̣̜̞̤̻͌ͯ̈̓ͬ̂̑̒̀r͕̘̭̺̻̩̘̻ͤͣ͂ͭͥ͒̌͐ ̟͖̫͕̦͍̙̤͈̜̪̗͇̆͛̍͗̍ͩ̂̌ͭ̿ͣ̀̚t̔͑ͬͮ̂̒ͮ̂͂̆̀ͥͫ̎̚h̸̋̆͆͠͠e̖͓̙̫͙̻̪̳ ̭̥̠̪̯͙͈̯̲͚͍̦̩ͤ͐͂ͧ͌̑ͤ͛͋͂͗ͭ͗ͣͅc̸ͤ̀͞o̷n̶͚̘̞̥̼̟̩̟̟̞͎͇̫͖̆͐ͣͮ̒ͬ̈́͐̂̅͆ͧ͑̈́͟s͙̙̙̮̬͚͈̘̪͕͚ͅe̫̮̟̬̬̰̱͖̲͔̞͈͖͑͛̏́̇́̂̄̊ͬͪ̾̚q̲̙̩̊ͧͥú̜̯͕̳̬̺͎͇̩͋̉͂͗́͊̌ͫeͪ͛̇̒̍̐͐̃ͣ̑̈́̊̇͛ń̶̗͈̘̰͇ḉ͉̰̖̜̘̰̠͉͚̺̜̥̾͆͋̒ͨ̏ͣ͛ͦͦͪe͢s̴ͪ̓̏̆̎̅ͯ̑̂̒͑͐͛ͫ̒͟҉ ̅͋̉̉̅̂o̷͠f̵̙̤͉̝̠̳͚͂̅͛̓̓ͧͩ͘͞ ̪͉͌͌t͙͉̝͕͚̲̩͉͚̟̰h͌̃͒e̺̭͉͕͍̣̦̳͗̐̓̿̾͊̒̂i̞͎̰͉̬͖̯͈̙̰͍͛́͋͂̃͋̽̒ͪ͐̅r̢͔̻͉̖͎̱̭ͨ̎̓̒͑ͦ̓ͩͅ ḁ̻̹̖͇̺̥̖̖̰͉͖̟̜͚̂̅̍̿ͫ͂̒̀̽ͣ̊̓ͭ̏̒c̓ͥ̈ͬt͌̾͒̈́ͪ̆̑ͪ͑͆̀̃ͦ̓͏̮̟̹̝͎̺͖̦̱̲͉̯̫ͅiō͕̘̼̯̹̥̺̱̯͉̻̱̭̖̻̉ͧͮ͊͐ͯ̍̍̏̆̒̃̐̒ǹ͈̤̰ͥͩs̝͞ ̜̗͙͙͐͌̃́̚f͏̡̟̞̱͖͍͇̘̬̰͉̳o͛̐͆̃͊͢͠҉͔͖̙̝̞r̥̼̫̼͖͈̳͍ w̬̞̘̮̠̖͎̔̃ͥ̈̾̓̽͜͡hͧ̃̏̀ͥ͊̆ͣ̌͏̟̥̜̬̗͉̱͚͙ả͇͓̤̘̜̦̯̗̘̭̞̭̮̗̼̌͑ͥ̃ͮ͑̓ͩ̅͛̓͐ͭ͆t̡̐ͧ̀̿ͦ̐̆̓̇͏̬̮͉̜̗̠̝̱̗͢ ͙͖̼̫͙͉̓ͦ̽ͥ̾̊t̨̻̭͖̹͗̈̽̚h̏ͦͬ̒̿ͦͨͦ̃̒̌̚̚̕͝҉̰̪̠̘̦̳̗͚̳̘͖̣̮ẽ̢͊͂͌̊ͮ̒ͬ́ͪͬͪ́y'͖͍̭̳͉̤͈ͨ̈́̒̒͗ͥͯ͞v̻̥̼̖͕͛ͪ̓ͭ̄e̲̤̻͇̩͍̘̝̬̖̠̜͓̯̓͒͛̿͆ͧͯ̍̑̌ͨ̑͂̓ c̦͕̬̣̲̫̫͇̣̱̦ͧ̏̒̒ͧ͊͊̌ͨͣ̒̕aͣ͛ͯ͑̚̚u̗̘͚̹̖̝͓̩̰̬ͅs̢͚̠͉̯̝̫͉̜̬͔ͦ͒̾͐ͣ̓̐͒̏̚͜ḛ̬̘͎̱̤̤̱̱͉̳͙̜͡d̷͘͏.̥͇͕͎͔̥̲̙͙̞̠̭͔̼̞

Bryce slightly flinched as Puppeteer got into his head once again, and was starting to struggling on what to do. He was complementing listening to him and not want to get involve with them due to his hostility towards Rias but…

He slowly looked back up into Venelana and for some reason he felt his body calm down, as if all the tension in his body suddenly disappeared. Seeing at her face…. Made him think back to Ophis who also gave him the same smile when he met SErafall again… he turned his head to the said woman and saw the same gentle smile on her face as if she was okay with whatever choice he went with.

Xenovia… when she made that same smile to him before she left the orphanage. Both of them making a promise to see each other again, he doubted that she wanted to see him now after what happened but he was still going to keep his promise even if he did end up hating her in the end.

'While they did raise Rias and put her in a bad position, they're not responsible for what she had try to do to my family. She made her own decision to try and kill Mittelt, and revive Izumi. So that's her fault.' He thought to himself.

Bryce let out a sigh causing them to frown thinking that he was going to decline the request and while it would be disappointing, they could understand from his point.

"Okay." He said slowly causing Serafall to look at him in shock as so did the others as he answered. "I will look after your daughter and her peerage, along with Sitri and her peerage but my warning to them still stands."

"That is all I ask." Venelana stated softly that caused Bryce to flinch at her tone.

'She's not even angry about it. She's just giving me this smile knowing that even I said no… she would be fine with any choice I made… why?' He questioned mentally as he tried to figure out why.

"We also would like to request something as well, Hayate-san." Layla said as he turned his attention to her. "You can come in." She asked as a figure suddenly made its way out of the shadows and Bryce could only let out a sigh in disbelief at what was happening.

'Unbelievable.'

Izumi and company were out of the house and at the zoo enjoying themselves. Izumi had decided to take the girls to do some extracurricular activities, and knew that once her other half was done with the meeting, then he would appear at where they would be at. Giving Mittelt, the chance to spend time with her older brother like she initially wanted too.

Speaking of the two, she was on the bench across from them as both Asia and Mittelt were watching the whale swimming through the glass. Asia and Mittelt both of their eyes were filled with excitement and awe as both never really been to the zoo. Turns out both girls always heard about it or seen glimpses of it on a brochure or tv but never actually visited.

"Look, Mittelt! It's a giant whale." Asia said as she pointed at the sea creature.

"I see that, let me take a picture of it." Mittelt said while scrambling through her the purse that Izumi had gotten her back on the shopping trip to pull out a camera.

Izumi smiled at the blondes as she enjoyed seeing them so happy and having fun like normal teens, not bounded by the chains of being a excommunicated nun or seen as a second class citizen in the Grigori. Speaking of the former, she's been digging into some research about their pasts. She had given some info about Asia and Mittelt to a friend of theirs to find out more about them. There was more than to Asia just being excommunicated for healing a devil, it was a specific devil in general.

From what her colleague told her, the devil's name was Diodora Astaroth which left Izumi growling in anger. She had heard of all 72 pillars and that Astaroth was one of them, and that the current head of the said clan was not one of the devils that she hated.

The guy had a fetish with nuns in general, finding beautiful ones at that taking them into their peerage either coming off as a nice person before forcing his piece into them and then slowly break their will down until they become nothing sex dolls for him.

Dolls that he could enjoy.

Izumi growled in anger and fury as she wanted to find the head badly and slowly give him suffering like never before and then send his soul to the pits of hell where he'll rot for eternity. To think that someone like him was still existing and doing this to women.

'Still, I shouldn't be too surprised given my similar interactions with disgusting individuals.' Izumi thought to herself as she remembered bits of her past before shaking her head.

"I can worry about that later, right now I should enjoy the rest of this time with my family." She muttered as she watched her two girls taking photos of the sea creature.

"Worry about what?" Izumi turned her head and saw Bryce walk up to her with his normal blank expression on his face.

"I'll tell you about it later. How did the meeting go?" Izumi asked as he slightly averted his eyes.

"It was about as troubling as you can think it." He said as she gave him a smirk.

"Really~?"

"*Sigh* no. it was fine. Both sides actually wanted to thank us for our intervention before and at the wedding." He said as he sat down next to her.

"What do you mean?"

"Rias had spoke to her parents about our conflict before the wedding and how she wanted to improve from her faults. Her parents and her brother basically thanked me for putting her back on track and requested that I give her a second chance." Bryce explained.

"But do you want to?" Izumi asked him.

"I already told them that I gave her a warning but it sounds like they were expecting it, even though I wanted to say no."

"So why didn't you?"

"As much as I don't have the best relationship with the redhead…. Everyone has their faults, and sometimes we make very irrational decisions to cause us to be who we're made out to be and not what we want to be." Bryce said.

Izumi scooted over to him and gently ran her hand along his arm to comfort him. She could tell that he was having a hard time on deciding what to do.

"Plus, she's still young and she's bound to make mistakes, eventually she'll learn from them. Not like us."

"I know what you mean." Izumi whispered as while leaning her head onto his shoulder, still tracing her fingers along his arm. "Still, don't focus on the negative outcome and think more to the positive."

"Will you be willing to give them a chance to redeem themselves?"

"*Sigh*" Bryce let out a loud sigh before nodding his head. "Fine."

Izumi giggled at his sigh before leaning upwards and kissed his cheek.

"That's better. Now come on, let's spend the rest of the day having fun with the girls." Izumi said while taking his hand and dragging him over to their family. Mittelt had turned around and immediately jumped onto Bryce who had patted her on the head as Asia did the same thing but gentle. The four spent the rest of the day hanging out at the zoo, visiting different exhibits with land and sea animals. Izumi couldn't help but smile as she watched the smiles on all of her families faces but mostly when she saw Bryce's face his lips curled into a genuine smile she wanted to cry.

When was the last time he was able to smile like that without a caer in the world, without looking over his shoulder while being hunted?

'When was the last time he showed this amount of emotions?'

After the fun day at the zoo, everyone had went home and decided to retire. Mittelt and Asia decided to take a bath while Izumi went ahead and made dinner and Bryce went to do some training. However he had to go to the store due to Izumi missing some ingredients.

So here he was now in casual clothes looking over the list on the paper of what he needed to get for dinner. As he was going around the store he bumped into two faces that he did not want to see.

"Bryce?"

Hearing his name, he looked up and inwardly frowned at who he saw, Rias. Two people that he did not want to talk to at the moment for two reasons.

"Rias." He greeted.

"Nice seeing you here to." Rias said casually causing him to avert his eyes from her. While Rias was still slightly hesitant around him, she wasn't going to walking on egg shells and avoid him. Even if it was slow start, she did want to regain his trust and wanted to fix the air around them that was always filled with tension and unease. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm here to pick up ingredients for Izumi, nothing more than that." He answered her. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm doing a little grocery shopping of my own." Rias answered with a smile. "My kouhai doesn't like to go outside that much and he's a shut-in afraid to come out, so I'm getting some food for him."

"You mean the one with inside that sealed room." He replied as her eyes widened in shock.

"How did you—" She was about to ask him how but trailed off when she remember the first meeting and how they talked about Gasper at the last second. "oh right, our first meeting." She said in a nervous tone.

"Relax, I'm not going go after him or anything. Izumi just said that as a warning to keep you on your toes and be careful with choosing your battles." Bryce reassured her as she nodded her head.

"I see." Rias said as they both left the aisle and went down to the frozen food one. "So, if you don't mind me asking…"

"What is it?"

"Why are you not acting hostile towards me, right now?" She asked as he stopped and turned his head. "After our last conversation, I thought that you would be wanting to avoid me right now."

"I do…" He said earning a flinch from her. "But… you do deserve a second chance. However my warning still stands, cross that line and it will be last thing you ever do." He said while giving her a cold look.

"Noted." Rias said before picking up some eggs and put them in her basket. "I did mean what I said, that I would make up for this and change myself."

"Hmm?" Bryce asked while tilting his head in confusion, causing Rias to look at him wondering why he was confused until she remembered that had told Izumi and not him.

"Oh right, um. Right after you left, Izumi said that she would be giving us specifically me one chance at redemption. I also took your words to heart." Rias said.

"My words?"

"When you talked to me about failing my peerage. You were right. Despite the wedding, I've had so much time to help my peerage with their troubled past, but instead of doing that I had coddled them and let them deal with it how they want to." Rias stated while giving a frown. "Koneko refuses to use Senjutsu because of what happened with her sister, Kiba is hellbent on revenge for the Holy Swords and Akeno won't even spare a second with her father after what happened to her mother, and Gasper… he's so afraid of his own powers and people that he won't even come out of his room." Rias then looked at the door seeing a reflection of herself.

'Why is she… why is she talking about this with me…?'

"Back then, I didn't want to put too much pressure on them but looking at it now I should've tried harder to help them cope with their troubled pasts. Maybe if I did, things would be a little different." Rias then turned to Bryce. "And then when the marriage happened… I was angry and felt helpless. MY parents had put me into a loveless marriage for the benefits of both houses and not thinking about how their daughter felt. Being put into that, I didn't know what to do but I wanted to get out of it so bad that I was willing to do anything to get out of it because I knew that I was never going to be loved or seen more as another sex toy for Riser." Rias growled while clenching her fist.

Bryce kept up a blank gaze as he listened to Rias telling him about her problems.

"However, in doing that, it caused you to make questionable decisions and when we came in along with the fallen angels it just added more stress." He said as she nodded her head.

"I won't that apologizing to you is going to make everything better but I really do want to become friends." Rias said. Taking a chance, she dropped her basket and walked forward to Bryce grasping his hands with her own.

"What are you-?"

"Bryce… I know we didn't have the best start but on my promise as Rias Gre-" She paused for a second before shaking her head. "No, as Rias your senpai, I will earn your trust again and do what I will to become your friend, no matter how long it takes." Rias said with her tone sincere.

Bryce let out a small sigh as he stared at Rias. She was right, he wasn't going to trust her right off the bat and apologizing wasn't going to make anything better but he saw the apologetic look in her eyes with a hint of determination. She really wanted to make up for what she had done and wanted to end this distrust between them.

'Please take care of our daughter.' He remembered the redhead's mother and her request to him, for some reason he felt the need to follow it up. He didn't understand it, was it because he didn't want to disappoint them or Serafall, was it because he would follow what Izumi wanted or was it… something else?

He honestly didn't know. His head's been hurting for awhile now due to Puppeteer's spiteful words and attempts to make him give in to his other self but he was still in control to make decisions.

"Well, it doesn't look like I can stop you from doing so…" He trailed off as he looked to the side. "If you feel the need to do that… then go ahead."

Rias lips slowly curled into a smile.

"Thank you." She said while letting go of his hands and picked up her own basket. "For listening to me vent and giving me a chance."

"Just don't screw it up." He said as he turned around and picked up his basket before walking away. "See you around Rias." He said while finishing up his shopping as Rias gave him a farewell and went to leave the store.

After finding all the ingredients for Izumi, Bryce had finished his trip and made his way back home to his family, where he would be greeted with the sight of Mittelt chasing Asia who was screaming in panic with Izumi peeking her head out the kitchen and smiling as if nothing was wrong.

Izumi moaned in her bed as she felt move her body all around her bed. After everyone had ate dinner she had immediately went to take a shower and head off to bed because she wasn't feeling well… that was the excuse she told them.

In reality, she was feeling hot, extremely hot and bothered. Her cheeks were flushed and she was panting every now and then while trying to find a comfortable spot on her bed.

"Mmm~… dammit…. Not now…" She moaned as she threw the covers off showing her black bra and panties where she had her hand reaching towards it but was doing every ounce of willpower to hold back.

She was in heat due to herself being a half dragon. She goes through this phase every 3 months due to not having a mate. Female dragons are aggressive during their heat and will start lusting after the ones they love. Usually, a females lust levels and desires are low because they have a mate to satisfy their needs and keep themselves in check but because Izumi doesn't have one it's the exact opposite.

"Nngh…. I need to… Ah… keep…myself…" She panted every time she felt her body become hotter than normal. She was after one thing and that one thing was in the room across from hers. Izumi wanted Bryce and wanted to mark him as hers but she didn't.

The two reasons was she didn't want to force him to love her and take away something that is treasured and special between two people. The second reason was because of Xenovia.

While Bryce hadn't talked much about her, Izumi knew the girl was his first friend and first person to care about him. He only mentioned Xenovia a few times when they had talked about their pasts but always talked about her with a warm smile on his face.

Izumi wasn't sure if he was in love with Xenovia or had cast those feelings aside but she wished it for the latter. The brunette herself had grown to love Bryce after everything they've been through and he never left her side but she's never made advances towards him.

Despite all the teasing she usually does, she has been holding herself back. She didn't want to make a move until his feelings with Xenovia were clear even if it was a long shot.

But she could only take so much.

"Hah… Ahh… mmm…" Izumi panted as she slowly got off the bed and shivered, running a hand over her large breasts. "…I need… him…. I need him… now." She had used her free hand to lift up her bra just above her cleavage and started fondling it, igniting a feeling of pleasure.

"Aah! Mmph!... mmph… mmm…" Izumi had tried to cover her moans but once her left hand reached the hem of her panties, she knew that it was pointless. Putting her left inside her panties, she ran two fingers over her clit and elicit a loud moan as she back arched upwards.

With her legs spread out, Izumi started pleasuring herself as she stroked her clit and her breasts, fondling her right tit as her fingers brushed over her pussy, her juices starting to drip out of her core.

"Aaaahhhhh! *pany *pant* pant* pant*" She stopped rubbing her clit and put two fingers inside, immediately started thrusting them in and out. Izumi's body rocked back and forth on her bed as she furiously rubbed her core. Wishing that it was something else instead of her two fingers, thinking of the one person that she wanted.

"Bryce…. Harder… give it to me…. aah~" Izumi moaned as she had her tongue out, licking her all around her breasts before sucking on it. She then stood up on her knees thrusting into her core, fondling and licking herself faster as she felt her some coming close to climaxing.

Not wanting to waste time, Izumi rocked her hips on her fingers and rubbed her breasts as fast as she could then finally shove her fingers deep inside her pussy.

"AaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" She moaned loudly as she climaxed and her juices sprayed onto the bed. Feeling tired, Izumi dropped back onto the bed with a flushed face, panting as she took her fingers out of her snatch and lift them up to her face, observing how sticky they were before dropping them to the side.

Izumi sighed in exhaustion before turning over on her side with a frown.

'I can't keep this up for much longer…. My instincts are going to take over soon… but at this rate, I don't think I care anymore…' Izumi wondered as her eyes rested and she went to sleep.

It was morning as Sona was on her way to school with her queen Tsubaki walking along her side. The former was reading a book but was also thinking about how to talk with Bryce. She remembered Izumi telling her that Bryce would come around eventually but she wasn't so sure.

After all he had his reason to do so, she did play the sister card with him and that crossed a line. So while she did want to apologize, she couldn't just go after him right away. She would give him his space before going after him until he was ready to hear it.

'*Sigh* Still, I don't think waiting around for him is going to work. So the best option is to give him space and then talk right after, otherwise it will look like I don't care.' Sona thought deeply.

She was brought out of her thoughts when Tsubaki had grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Sona."

"What is it, Tsubaki?" She asked her [Queen] who motioned her head to look forward. Following her gaze, Sona looked in the distance and saw two people in white robes waiting for them at the gates of Kuoh. However, the thing that caught Sona's attention was the weapon that was on one of the figures back.

One of the four Holy Swords of Excalibur, Durandal.

A/N: It's been a while since I've updated this so its not dead. Trying to do the same for all the other ones. Next Chapter will be the start of the Excalibur Arc and a reunion between two friends on different sides will finally come. Will they reconcile and accept their new selves or drift apart and break the bond they've held for so long?

Only time will tell.

HellLaser descending back to Hell.