Tales Of The Fearless Dragon

by streetlife34

Delinquent, Brother, Protector of the weak, Undefeated fighter, Kind, Ruthless. Add Devil to that list. There all kind's of strange beings in this new this world, but that doesn't matter, no matter who gets in my way I will be victorious. I'm the current Red Dragon Emperor, Shirou Tsukiharu and I never lose.

24. Past Revealed And New Relationships

Hey everyone and get ready for this chapter. This will be the start of a new Arc, so I decided to start strong and cover a lot in this one. That including wrapping up somethings that were leftover and moving the plot along. I also plan on finally answering some questions in this chapter, not to mention I added a little something I think some of you will enjoy Wink, Wink. Hope you enjoy.

Note: Could everyone who keeps leaving a review just to say "please update soon" stop it. I'm already stressed enough as it is to make sure I can update before too much times passes and I've already started writing other stories that I haven't posted yet and you guys are killing me with pressure every time you ask that.

Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based parody, Highschool DxD, Highschool DxD New, Highschool DxD Born, Highschool DxD EX and Highschool DxD Hero are all owned by Funimation, Fushimi Shobo, TNK, Passione, and Ichiei Ishibumi. Please support the official release.

---

"Shirou" Regular speech.

"Shirou" Thoughts.

DRAGON SHOT Attack names.

(Shirou) Words said previously.

"SHIROU!" Shouting speech.

[Ddraig] Dragon talking.

---

Past Revealed And New Relationships

---

It was a bright and sunny morning in the town of Kuoh and three days have passed since the fierce battle against Kokabiel had ended. Both the town and the lives of everyone living in it were saved, though the vast majority of the town's people never had even the slightest clue on how close to death they were, there were a few who did.

In particular, the one who saved the town and defeated Kokabiel; Shirou Tsukiharu, who was currently in the Old School building of Kuoh Academy, making his way to the Occult Research Club room. Walking alongside him was Ren Todo, another person who fought in the great battle and was also going to the club room. While walking the two of them were engaged in conversation.

"So, how do you feel after three days of training?" Ren asked. "Are you used to it now?"

Shirou nodded. "Yeah, it felt natural when I used my armor during the fight but that was because I needed full strength the whole time, during training it was like revving up a car engine at full throttle right out of the gate. Almost made me feel jet-lagged." He described. "Now after a few days I have more control, plus I can regulate how much power I use."

"That's a relief, it would've been hell training with Balance Breaker that was stuck on full-burst." Ren said relieved. "Now we can move on to battle training."

The two of them were talking about Shirou's Boosted Gear Balance Breaker, the Scale-mail armored form that Shirou had unlocked during his last battle. These past three days the two of them had been training to help Shirou grow more accustom to his power and get better at wielding it. For reasons such as cleaning up the aftermath of the battle, everyone had free time. This was how they spent theirs.

Now though, Shirou along with the rest of the Peerage had been called by Rias, she claimed she had an important announcement for them to hear. And Ren decided to tag along, at this point Shirou was the only one who had yet to arrive.

"So why do you think Rias called for an urgent summons all of a sudden?" Ren asked.

Shirou shrugged. "Who knows, hopefully it's at least worth the trip."

After reaching the door to the club's meeting room Shirou opened the door and the two walked in, only to see something shocking to say the least. Inside was everyone sitting in their usual spots, Rias sitting behind her desk, Asia and Mika sitting on one of the couches and Kiba standing by the wall. But that wasn't what surprised. The surprise was the person sitting on the other couch.

"Hey, Sekiryuutei."

Sitting there while wearing the Kuoh Academy girls student uniform was Xenovia, who had just greeted Shirou.

Shirou didn't respond and just looked towards the others. "Any of you want to explain what this is all about?" He pointed his finger at Xenovia.

"Just watch, this is gonna be good." Mika answered, looking like she was trying to contain her laughter.

PA!

Then black leathery bat-like wings grew out of Xenovia's back. It's the wings of a Devil. Meaning only one thing.

Rias smiled at Xenovia from her desk. "Everyone, I would like to officially welcome our newest Knight."

"Wait, what?" Ren asked, thrown for a loop.

"Son of an Asian whore." Shirou muttered with a face-palm. "Why the sudden 180?"

"I found out that God is gone. So I turned into a Devil as a self-abandonment. I received a "Knight" piece from Rias Gremory. It seems like I'm not that great, while Durandal is. So I was able to become a Devil with one piece. And I was also placed in this school. From now on, I'm a Second-Year student and also a member of the Occult Research Club. Let's get along, Shirou-Kun." Xenovia says while breathing with her nose.

"Those words don't suit you at all." Ren told in bluntly.

"I copied Irina, but it looks like it's not easy."

Chuckling Kiba shook his head. "It was a rather shocking development, to say the least."

"Xenovia-san, are you sure this is what you want?" Asia asked, still concerned about all this.

"Yeah, but even if it's not, you can't exactly take it back." Mika reminded her, not really concerned.

"Yes. I'm a Devil now. I can't go back. No, maybe this was a good thing. Hmm, but since God is gone, my life was a failure. But serving under a Devil who was once my enemy is….. Even if she is a Sister of a Devil King….…"

Xenovia started to hold her head down while mumbling something. Then, she received some damage because she prayed just like Asia.

"Oh great, another one." Shirou thought, watching her Xenovia pray and get hurt.

"Ha, it's never not funny." Mika laughed at the scene.

Rias folded her arms together. "It'll be nice having a Durandal wielder in our ranks. With this, you and Yuuto will be the Sword fighters covering our left and right flanks." She then clapped her hands together. "And with this, it's the birth of the Gremory Peerage's complete set. Now that we have a full squad we can face any challenges head-on."

"Oh yeah, I just realized." Ren noted. "You've got a "Queen", two "Rooks", one guy worth eight "Pawns", two Bishops wherever the hell the second one is and now two Knights. All the pieces are used up."

"Hmph, yeah but strength-wise, I alone am worth more than all the other pieces put together." Shirou boasted. "And I proved that the other day."

Like always, everyone smiled at Shirou's arrogant demeanor, which seemed weird but it was normal for this group. Besides, he wasn't technically wrong.

"By the way, where's Irina?" Kiba asked.

"Irina returned to headquarters along with the five Excaliburs including mine. The "fragments" that act as the cores were retrieved in that state. So the mission of retrieving it was accomplished." Xenovia explained. "If they have the cores, they can use alchemy to make the Holy-Swords again."

"Was it alright to give them your Excalibur?" Ren asked.

"I have to give them the Excalibur back just in case. Unlike the Durandal, there are other wielders that could be chosen. Having Durandal is enough for me. When I mentioned the absence of God to them, they became silent. So I became an outsider for knowing the absence of God. The Church hates outsiders and heresy very much. Even if that person is the wielder of Durandal, they will cut them off. Exactly the same way as the incident with Asia Argento." She laughed at herself. "And after I was kicked out, I found myself remembering what you said, about vanity and how they can't accept anything that's inconvenient to them."

She was referring to the things Shirou said about the Church the last time they were here.

Mika nodded. "Yeah, it was easy enough to deny and argue with at the time, but after you actually experience it, that's a completely different matter."

"I realized that it was an important secret for the Church and it could never be allowed to be revealed, it's just." Xenovia's hand started to shake. "I devoted my life to the Church and God, it was the honor of my life to became the wielder of Durandal and then Excalibur. Maybe it was naive but, I just assumed that even if I knew the truth they would find a solution other than just casting my aside."

"People are always good at saying things that sound good but in the end, it's all about looking good." Shirou explained with insight. "That's a fact as old as time, as long as you fit into their system they'll make you feel as special as you want, but once you take even a single step over the line, they'll give you the boot. The Church is just one of the many that follow that principle."

"Irina was lucky. Even if she wasn't in the battle because of the wounds, she ended up not knowing the truth. She has a stronger belief than me. If she found out about God, I don't know what would have happened to her."

---

Flashback, Yesterday

At the airport, Xenovia who was wearing the Kuoh Academy female uniform was facing Irina who was wearing a grey business suit and holding a large briefcase that was carrying the Excalibur cores. While Xenovia looked stoic like usual, Irina looked at her former partner with contempt and disappointment.

"You have all the Excalibur cores now. There should be no problem re-forging those cores into Holy Swords. At this point, they only have to get the Alchemist to take care of that for them." Xenovia said very business-like but it was obvious she didn't what to be. "Irina, you should be proud, you accomplished your mission."

"Oh yes I know, I just wish you did it with me." Irina said, continuing to look at Xenovia in a negative way.

"Yes, I feel the same way." Xenovia said, causing Irina to finally lose it.

"Tell me why?!" Irina shouted. "Why did you let yourself be reborn as a Devil and I can't understand why the Church would just accept it like they did too. You know what you are? You're a traitor."

And with that Irina began to walk away with tears in her eyes, heading towards her plane.

---

"A traitor huh? Well, in the end it was for the best." Shirou agreed with Xenovia's decision. "Irina's a freaking girl-scout when it comes to God and the Church, she'd fall to pieces if you immediately told her the truth."

"Yes, I know." Xenovia nodded.

"Moving on." Rias got everyone's attention. "The Church made contact with us Devils. More precisely, the Maou talked about this incident. They said, "We would like to make contact with you because of unclear and dishonest actions of the Fallen-Angels even though we feel unsatisfactory about this". They also apologized about Valper because it was their mistake for letting him escape in the past."

Shirou groaned. "Sounds like a political problem."

"But this school is truly terrifying. Because there's another Sister of a Devil King attending this school." Xenovia says it while making a sigh.

"It's actually not as terrifying as you'd think." Shirou chipped in. "Those two aren't anywhere near as threatening as the title "Devil King's Sister" would suggest."

"Do you enjoy putting me down, Shirou?" Rias questioned with half-lidded eyes.

"I just speak the truth." Shirou brushed off. "If it makes you feel bad then you need to get your act together."

"So eloquent." Mika commented.

Rias just sighed and continued. "The truth about this incident was sent to the God-side and the Devils' side by the Governor-General of the Fallen-Angels, Azazel. The theft of the Excalibur was an action taken by Kokabiel only. The other leaders didn't know about it. He planned to break the tension between the Three Factions. Because he tried to start another war, he planned to send one of their own to stop Kokabiel personally."

"And I'm guessing that someone was the Vanishing Dragon." Kiba guessed. "Though it ended without the Vanishing Dragon entering the battle. Still, they probably planned to stop the rampage done by one of them by sending someone from their organization."

"There would also be a meeting between the representatives of the Angels, Devils, and Azazel. Apparently there is something Azazel wants to talk about. I heard that maybe Azazel would be apologizing about Kokabiel then. Though it's suspicious if Azazel would apologize." Rias said with a disgusted expression. "But that's also troubling." Rias said crossing her arms. "This means we can confirm the Vanishing Dragon belongs to the side of the Fallen-Angels."

"That's right." Xenovia said, as if she knew it was true. "Azazel is gathering Sacred Gear possessors who have a "Longinus". I don't know what he is thinking, but it's definitely something not good. The "Vanishing Dragon" is the top fighter among them. I heard that he is the fourth or fifth Strongest out of all the strong people there including the leaders of Grigori." She then looked at Shirou. "At this point, I can't be certain because I've never seen him fight, but he is far Stronger than Kokabiel, you who is his rival should be careful."

"Fourth Strongest?" Shirou repeated, almost sounding disappointed. "So he's not number one, that sucks."

"Of course that's what you'd focus on." Ren said shrugging his arms.

"We were also invited to that meeting. We have to report about the incident at the meeting because we were involved." Rias informed them.

Everyone had a shocked expression on their faces, being surprised by Rias' words. Well obviously. Anyone would get surprised if they were told to stay in the place with a meeting between the most powerful and important people were going to gather.

Xenovia then looked at Asia. "…That's right. I will apologize to Asia Argento. Since God didn't exist, then his love and help didn't as well. I'm sorry Asia Argento, I said so many horrible things to you. Hit me much as you want."

Xenovia bows her head down. The Japanese way of apologizing. Her expression didn't change so you can't tell if she means it or not.

"….….…No, I don't intend to do something like that." Asia shook her head and gave her a bright smile, so bright it was almost sparkling. "Xenovia-san, I'm enjoying my current lifestyle. Even though I'm a Devil now, I met someone….… People who are important to me. I am happy because of the place I live in now and the people I have met."

"….…So only you and I are the only Christians that found out about the absence of God. I won't be able to say something like a divine punishment to you now. So a heretic huh? I was a Holy Sword user who was admired, but now a heretic huh. I can't forget about how their eyes and attitudes changed when they saw me." There was sadness in Xenovia's eyes.

Xenovia turned to Shirou and Mika this time. "…I owe the two of you an apology as well. I said so many terrible things about you and your parents, all the while not realizing the hardship your family went through and the burden your Mother was forced to carry." She bowed her head again. "Hit me as much as—

POW!

BANG!

Before she could finish what she was saying, Shirou struck in that second, his left arm connecting with Xenovia's cheek. The girl may as well weighed as much as a piece of paper with how easily she was sent flying into the opposite wall.

Rias, Kiba, and Asia looked as if they were expecting this and just shook their heads while Ren just chuckled a bit. Mika was clapping her hands approvingly..

"All is forgiven." Shirou told her as she fell to the floor.

"For future reference, never tell Broxeed he can hit you." Mika advised. "For your own health."

"Thank you for accepting my apology regardless." Xenovia got up with a swollen cheek and headed for the door. "Then I will be leaving. There's a lot of things I need to know about before transferring to this school."

Xenovia tries to leave the room.

"U..umm!"

Asia stops Xenovia.

"On the next weekend, I'm going to go out with some of my classmates. Would you also like to join, Xenovia-san?" Asia says it with a smile.

Xenovia had widened her eyes in shock and then gave a bitter smile. "Next time then. This time I'm not interested. Except….."

"Except?"

Xenovia then said it with a smile to Asia.

"Can you take me around the school next time?"

"Yes!" Asia also answers with a smile.

"I will swear it in the name of my Holy-Sword, Durandal." Xenovia looked to Kiba now. "I also would like to have a battle with the Holy-Demonic Sword user over there as well."

"Alright. I won't lose next time." Kiba also replied with a smile brimming with confidence.

"And though I'm not confident I'll win." Xenovia said to Shirou. "I'll like to have another battle with your Dyrnwyn, this time with Durandal."

Shirou crossed his arms behind his head and said lazily. "I'll accept any challenge, just don't expect me to take accept responsibility when you get brutally injured."

After confirming that, Xenovia left the room.

Oddly enough though, a few seconds after she walked out of the room, Akeno walked in. And her expression was not a happy one.

Seeing her expression, Rias' expression became a downcast one. "Akeno, any news on Koneko?"

Akeno just shook her head upset. "I'm afraid not, she still won't come out."

"I see." Rias said, looking down.

"Wait, back up a bit." Shirou spoke up. "What's this about Koneko, and why all sad faces?"

Rias, Kiba and Akeno all looked upset and remained silent for a bit. Then Rias let out a small sigh. "…I didn't want to keep this from you, it's just I never thought it was my place to say. But now that I think of it Shirou, we all heard your secrets just the other day without permission so it wouldn't be fair to keep this from you."

"Keep what from us exactly?" Mika asked, just as interested.

"I'll tell you a certain story. It's a story of two Cat Sisters." Rias began. "The Cat Sisters were always together when they played, when they ate, when they slept. With their parents dead, they had no home to return to and no one to rely on. The two cats struggled to live day to day while depending on each other. One day, the two of them were picked up by a certain Devil. The older Sister became a part of his group, and so the younger Sister was also able to live with them. Having finally obtained a decent life, the two of them believed that they could live very happily." She then narrowed her eyes. "However, something unusual happened. It appeared that the elder Cat Sister achieved rapid growth after gaining power. Her hidden talent suddenly began to overflow by becoming a reincarnated Devil."

"I know this story." Ren chipped in. "The Sisters you're talking about are the Nekomata siblings, right?"

Rias nodded. "You know about it?"

"Most Youkai do." Ren answered.

"Nekomata? You mean Youkai that are Cat-like?" Shirou guessed.

"More than that, the Nekomata from this story of the Strongest species among the Cat Youkai, a Nekoshou." Ren explained. "They are a High-level Youkai species who can not only master Youjutsu but Senjutsu as well. Furthermore, the one in this story bloomed in magic talent as well and even invoked Senjutsu that was on the level of a Sage. That made her as strong as an Ultimate-Class Devil."

"It seemed that the elder Cat Sister, having surpassed her master in a short time, was swallowed by power and was transformed into a wicked existence that only sought blood and battle." Rias continued. "With her increase in power not stopping, the elder Cat Sister killed the Devil that was her master in the end and degenerated into a Stray Devil. Moreover, she changed into one of the most dangerous among the Stray Devils. One that completely annihilated all the pursuit squads…"

"Her power was already said to be unnatural by ordinary Youkai standards and the fact that she was also a Devil just raised the bar higher." Ren added.

"It was said that the Devils temporarily cancelled all pursuit of the elder Cat Sister. After the pursuit team that was first sent was wiped out by her." Akeno said grimly.

"That begs the question though." Mika raised her hand. "What happened with the younger Sister?"

"The younger Cat Sister remained behind. The Devils questioned her as a liability there." Kiba explained, frowning. "It was Sirzechs-sama who saved that cat that was planned to be disposed of. Sirzechs-sama persuaded the High-Class Devils that the younger Cat Sister was innocent. As a result, the situation was settled by having Sirzechs-sama watch over her."

"However, having been betrayed by her elder Sister, that she believed in and tortured by the other Devils, the little Cat Sister's spirit appeared to be on the brink of collapse…" Rias concluded. "Onii-Sama left the younger Cat Sister that had lost her smile and the will to live in my care. After that, she recovered her emotions little by little. And then was given a new name—Koneko."

.

.

.

Silence filled the room as the others who had just heard this for the first time were processing all that they learned.

"Wow, that was a bombshell to drop." Mika broke the silence. "But you dropped a bunch of hints in the middle so it was a little expected."

"Wait, then, Koneko-chan's true form is—" Asia said, letting it sink in.

"Did you know about this?" Shirou asked Ren.

Ren shook his head. "I didn't. I knew the story of the Nekomata Sisters, but in the story the older Sister's name was Kuroka and the younger Sister was Shirone. I had no idea that the younger Sister was renamed and was actually Koneko…" Ren stopped and thought back a bit. "…But now that I think about it, didn't she have a weird reaction when I transformed back during the fight?"

"Yeah you're right, she even collapsed and started trembling for a bit." Mika remembered. "Does that mean, she has a trauma?"

"That's exactly it. Koneko's older Sister had her power run out of control and killed her Devil master. And then she had just left like that. That this girl had seen all of that." Rias explained. "Because she knew that a dangerous power that could just kill her master was sleeping inside her too, she was afraid. Afraid of the power sleeping inside of her and afraid of becoming like her Sister."

"It was many years ago so, at the time she was able to put it out of her mind and slowly move on but…" Kiba paused and looked sympathetic. "The fear still remained in the back of her mind."

"And seeing me triggered those memories, didn't they?" Ren asked, though he already knew.

"It wasn't your fault. Based on the situation it couldn't have been helped at the time." Akeno assured him.

"Still though, it was wishful thinking on my part when I thought that she would just be okay with it." Rias said dejectedly. "She was able to hold it in during the battle, but after the fighting stopped, she locked herself in one of the empty rooms and won't come out."

Shirou didn't say anything, but just thought back to the last conversation he had with Koneko.

---

("…But how!" Koneko stepped forward and asked.)

(She was displaying more emotion than usual, which surprised some of the others. It seemed like she was really interested in the last part of what Shirou said.)

("…How where you able to stay in control?" Koneko continued to asked, really wanting an answer. "…For someone that strong, his grasp on you must have been incredibly deep.")

("True it was, in fact I almost didn't make it. But the key was my strength of will.")

("…Strength of will?" Koneko repeated confused, "…That's all it took?")

("That's all you need." Shirou reasoned. "When your mind is being overwhelmed and you feel yourself slipping away the only thing that'll save you is your own willpower. Mental strength means being able to withstand anything that attacks you from within and hold on to who your truly are. That is what it means to have strength of will, and my will was strong enough to push back that dark force.")

(Shirou's words where find with conviction and insight. It wasn't logic or reason but rather spirit and emotion, those were what helped him overcome the darkness sleeping inside his heart and that was the source of his indomitable will that surrendered to no one.)

("But, even though it's simple that doesn't mean everyone can do it." Shirou shrugged. "Even the other me was surprised I pulled it off. When you get right down to it everyone's will is different and while some people can do there'll always be some who can't.")

(Now Koneko looked down at the ground, like the answer she heard only made her upset. "…I see it depends on the person." Her tone sounded depressed. "…Only some people can do it.")

---

"I get it now." Shirou thought to himself, now believing Koneko's sudden interest back then finally made sense. "This was why she wanted to know so badly."

With this new knowledge, Shirou turned around and headed for the door. "Ren, what room is she in?"

"The room by the corner on the first floor." Ren answered, having sensed Koneko's whereabouts.

"Shirou wait." Rias spoke out. "Please leave the rest to us."

Shirou stopped after reaching the door. "What?"

"You're a kind person. But, it's also important to sometimes keep your distance just a little." Akeno added, agreeing with her "King" on this matter.

"Do you even hear yourselves right now?" Shirou asked rhetorically. "Tell me, how long has it been since Koneko was given to you? A few years right. And yet, in that time what have you done? Kept your distance hoping she would eventually calm down? Obviously that didn't help considering where she is now."

"You're not being fair Shirou-kun." Akeno defended. "Ever since the Chief was given Koneko-chan, she has been doing everything she could to give her a happy life, all to help her get her mind off her pain and forget her past suffering."

"In that case, that's all the more reason to not leave things to you." Shirou said, unsympathetic. "You want her to forget? That isn't possible. It's her life, it's something that was etched into her memory that can never be unseen." He explained, with emotion. "Trying to show someone a better life can sometimes help them slowly recover, but trying to make them forget is the same as trapping them in an illusion that will eventually fall apart."

"…Shirou." Rias spoke downcast. She knew he was very serious about this because the way he was currently acting was similar to how he acted after hearing Kiba's past.

"He's right you know." Ren started, though not as emotional as Shirou. "Right now, you're hoping Koneko, overtime comes out of her slump and goes back to her usual self. But considering someone who uses the same Senjutsu she fears is around, that'll be hard. And more than that, going back to normal isn't enough anymore. I think it's best to just finally have her try to face up to this. Otherwise this problem will stay with her for who knows how long."

Rias was silent, processing their argument and trying to decide what would be the right course of action in this situation. Finally coming to a conclusion, Rias let out a sigh.

"Very well, you may go to her." Rias relented.

Shirou just turned back to the door and walked out.

"Are you sure about this?" Akeno asked, still concerned.

"I myself don't have any better idea, besides." Rias closed her eyes for a moment and and then looked up. "He has a point, Koneko can't just go on the way she has up until now. It's not healthy and it's not good for her. I've tried all I can so, I'll let him try it."

"If I may, Chief." Kiba raised his hand. "I honestly don't think it'll be a problem letting Shirou-kun try to help her." He smiled. "After all, he was able to help me."

"Me too." Asia added, also smiling. "I think Shirou-san could do the same for Koneko-chan."

"Brossiah has that effect on people. He's got charisma and a Silver-tongue." Mika added. "He'll think of something."

"I hope so." Rias said, hopeful.

---

After a few minutes of walking, Shirou was on the first floor and in front of the room, Ren said Koneko was in. He tried opening the door but it was locked, so he added more force behind his grip and broke a hole in the door, thus forcing it open. When he walked in, he saw it was a dark old classroom with four walls, a few desks and a blackboard. Sitting in the back of the room on the floor with her head down was Koneko.

"Huh, guess this place was once a school building." Shirou thought, looking around. "Still considering how run down it is, I guess Rias only cleaned up the clubroom when she took over this building."

Seeing her in an instant, Shirou made his way over to Koneko, who didn't look up to see him. "…I thought the door was locked."

Her tone was quiet and blank. Like she didn't want to be disturbed.

Shirou shrugged. "You seriously think a lock could keep me out?"

"…What did you come here for?"

A sullen tone of voice, far more than the extent up until now.

"…Would you believe me if I told you?"

"….…" Still acting sullen, Koneko didn't respond.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to drag you out. I'm here to talk."

"….…"

Shirou sat down next to her, but Koneko kept her silence.

"I pretty much heard about your past from Rias." Shirou informed her. "About Senjutsu and your Sister."

"….…"

Feeling tired of how this was getting nowhere, Shirou decided to say something he knew would get her attention.

"Speaking of Senjutsu, Ren's been training with me for a while on learning Touki. And pretty soon, I'm planning on learning Senjutsu myself."

"What!"

Koneko yelled with shock clear on her face as she looked at him like he was crazy. Shirou just looked satisfied.

"You finally responded. I had a feeling that would get a reaction out of you."

"Don't you know how dangerous that is?! You'll bring danger to yourself and everyone around you!" Koneko said almost yelling at him.

"You mean the whole Senjutsu sucks in malice intent and mind-fucks your brain?" Shirou continued, not really reacting to her outburst. "Yeah I know, Ren gave me the whole explanation."

"Then why would you still do it?"

Koneko looked very displeased like she made explode again depending on his answer.

Shirou smirked. "Because the power of Senjutsu sounds pretty good and I figured I wouldn't mind having it myself."

Koneko grabbed his collar and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"ARE YOU INSANE!"

Koneko didn't stop there.

"How can you possible think that?! Don't you understand, that power is evil! If you try, you'll be swallowed by the malicious intent and fall into darkness!"

"Right, after all it's not like I know what being swallowed by darkness feels like." Shirou reminded her.

Koneko paused after hearing him say that and became silent, knowing she misspoke, then she slowly let go of his collar. "…I'm sorry."

"Don't be, you've been holding it in for too long." Shirou assured her, not upset. "It's good for you to let it out for once."

Koneko now looked at him surprised. "…What?"

"Rias told me the whole story, about you and the whole thing with your Sister." Shirou explained. "I'm not going to pass judgement on her and say she's a monster or anything because I haven't actually met her. But I have met you so I can say this, you shouldn't be afraid of a power that belongs to you. It doesn't change the fact the power still exists inside of you."

Koneko shook her head. "No… I don't want that power… It only causes pain, it's evil."

"That's like saying guns are evil instead of the people shooting. A power is just a power, at the end of the day it all depends on who's using it." Shirou argued. "Case in point, my Sacred Gear."

Shirou summoned his Boosted Gear gauntlet.

"I did a little research about the thing, specifically on the Red Dragon Emperors before me, and while I couldn't find many names, I did learn a pattern between all of them." Shirou informed her, holding up his Dragon hand. "Turns out almost all of them went mad with power and ended up killing themselves after losing control."

Koneko sat back down and nodded. "…I've heard of that… Most of the previous Sekiryuuteis were people that drowned and lost their heads in their power… I think that they were swallowed by the enormous power they had… My Sister is the same…" She crossed her arms around her knees and looked down.

"Not all that surprising, power is an amazing feeling, it's practically bewitching. But even with it, you need to be strong yourself to control it." Shirou said, looking up wistfully. "If you can't control your power, the power will control you."

"…That's right… And that's what happens to anyone who tries learn Senjutsu… It's an evil power." Koneko reiterated upset.

"By that logic wouldn't that mean the Boosted Gear is an evil power as well, I mean it has the same track record as Senjutsu, maybe even worse." Shirou pointed out. "And following that train of thought, wouldn't that mean at some point before long, I'll be swallowed by my power."

"No that's…" Koneko tried to think of a rebuttal.

"Listen, you keep saying this power is evil but the truth is, there is no such thing as a power that's evil." Shirou continued, speaking earnestly. "No power in the world can be labeled as good or evil the way people can, every power in this world has the potential to do good or evil depending on how its used. For example, Rias has the power to destroy everything yet she used it to protect this town. Even Ren, someone who uses Senjutsu himself fought for a good cause, what more proof is there than that?"

Koneko heard all that he was saying and know on some levels he was right but looked distraught. "You're all different… You might be able to resist letting your power overwhelm your mind but… Not everyone can be like that."

"I can already tell by everyone you mean yourself, then let me ask you; Why not?" Shirou asked, disagreeing with her statement. "You act like I'm doing something special, honestly not letting your own power consume you isn't hard."

"…No, you're wrong…" Koneko sullenly denied keeping her head down. "…I can't—"

"Do you know why you can't?" Shirou interrupted her. "It's because you keep telling yourself that without even attempting it, you bow out before it's even begun. You know what's stopping you? It's in here." Shirou pointed to her forehead. "Be honest with yourself, is it really Senjutsu your afraid of?"

Koneko didn't know why, but throughout this conversation, she felt it was like she was unable to not respond when he asked. Or rather, she felt like it was strangely easier to tell the truth when talking to him. Thus she answered.

"…I don't want to use the power sleeping inside me… My Nekomata power… If I use it, I… Just like my Sister… I don't want that… I absolutely don't want such a thing… I'm afraid of becoming like her… More than anything."

Like water rushing out of a broken dam Koneko let out her true feelings at that moment, she even had tears falling from her eyes which was something neither Shirou, or really anyone in the Gremory Peerage had ever seen much of. Those tears were most likely something she had been holding back for years, only now letting them fall. She then felt a hand rest itself atop her head and look to see Shirou with a gentle expression.

Shirou then reached out his hand and gently wiped her tears away, similar to how he does for Asia and Mika whenever they shed tears in front of him.

Shirou sighed. "Geez, how many crying girls am I gonna have to deal with?"

"…Senpai?" Koneko spoke, surprised by his action.

"Don't stop on my account, let it all out." Shirou advised her. "The first step to healing is facing it. You're not invincible like me so it's okay to be a little whiny every now and then, if you want to cry then cry if you need a shoulder to cry on then just ask. No man is an island and no one wants you to face this alone."

Koneko sniffled a bit, touched by his words and leaned in closer, and rest her head on his arm.

Play OST - A Certain Magical Index II - Tada, Sou de Aru tame ni

"Koneko, back when I first started training with Ren, when I told him I wanted to learn Senjutsu he tried to talk me out of it." Shirou reminisced. "He kept telling me that the odds of me actually pulling it off were almost nothing, but I still wanted to learn it anyway and when he told me it would corrupt my mind, do you what I said to convince him?"

Koneko looked up at him curious and shook her head.

Shirou smiled. "I said; If that ever happens, come and set me straight all right. That's what best friends are for." He recited.

Koneko looked surprised by his words. "…What?"

"I guessing when your Sister learned Senjutsu she was by herself, so when she started to lose control she didn't have anyone beside her who could've pulled her back in." Shirou continued. "But I'm different, even if by some micro-sized chance, I do get corrupted by this power, I at least have someone who can knock some sense into me and reel me back in."

Shirou then placed a hand on her head and told her in a warm tone.

"And the same can be true for you."

Koneko stared at him, surprised by what it sounded like he was suggesting.

"You don't have to be afraid of losing control because you won't, so stop trying to hide something that's a part of you. Instead try to let it out, step by step until you finally get over this." Shirou advised her while moving his hand to her cheek. "And if you ever feel like you starting to go over the deep end then I'll come running and knock some sense into you."

Koneko started to tremble and her two hands gripped on to the hand Shirou had placed on her cheek while they were still shaking. She then looked at him with an emotional gaze that looked both afraid and hopeful.

"…Do you promise? …Will you really stay with me… And make sure that… I don't become like my Sister?"

Shirou just kept his eyes on her and answered in a normal tone. "Do you really think I'd say all that just to lie to you?" He then cracked a smirk. "Who the hell to do think you're talking to?"

Then like a breathe of fresh air, Koneko was filled with both relief and a sense of security she hadn't felt in years. Tears started to fall from her eyes again, but this time they were from happiness rather than despair.

"Senpai… Thank you." She said quietly, with a genuine smile.

Shirou just reached out and wiped away her tears again. "No more tears." He then stood up. "Now come on, let's get out of here."

He began to head for the door and Koneko, now feeling better followed after him.

Music Off

---

The atmosphere in the Occult Research Club room was an unusual one, to say the least. It was no longer the heavy atmosphere it was earlier, but right now it felt more awkward and hard to make sense of. A short while ago, Shirou had returned to the clubroom, but before Rias or anyone else could ask about what happened, Koneko walked in the next moment.

But what surprised everyone were two things; The first was Koneko's appearance. Her hazel colored eyes now had slit pupils, on her head appeared two small cat ears the same color as the rest of her hair sticking up and moving independently. From behind Koneko's rear came a small fluffy tail, flicking occasionally as it laid there on the couch. And finally, overall she herself looked as if she was about one year older now. This was clearly her Youkai form, similar to Ren's one but obviously she resembled a Cat while Ren was a Wolf.

The second thing was where she was sitting. While Shirou came in and took a seat on the couch, Koneko stayed next to him and chose to take a seat on Shirou's lap. Looking as comfortable as a Cat resting by a sunbeam and that's what made everyone find it strange. The always stoic Koneko who was just facing emotional hardships was now sticking to Shirou with clear signs of affection. No one knew what to make of this.

"…K-Koneko?" Rias broke the silence, still dumbstruck. "Are you alright?"

Koneko looked over to her and nodded her head with a smile. "…Yes, I'm okay now."

"But, your….…" Rias pointed at her present form, trying to find the right way to address the elephant in the room, but couldn't put it into words.

"…It's okay." Koneko told her, knowing what she was talking about. "I'm not afraid of it anymore… Thanks to Senpai, I think I want to try and work past it."

Now Rias really didn't know what to say. From what Koneko was saying, Shirou had somehow helped her overcome her fear of her Nekomata side and was able to do so in a single sit-down. In other words, in a day he accomplished what she couldn't do for Koneko for years. She had never felt so surprised, relieved, ashamed, and proud in her life all at once.

"Ara, Ara, this sure is a surprise." Akeno commented at this sudden turn of events. "So then, what exactly did you say her Shirou-Kun?"

Shirou simply shrugged indifferently. "Meh, nothing special."

"Forget that!" Mika spoke out loudly, obviously frustrated. "Let's move on to something important, why is she sitting on your lap!?"

"That's more important?" Ren asked, tilting his head.

Koneko simply answered. "…Because Senpai's lap is my territory now."

Mika didn't like that answer. "Oh Hell no, you may have Super-Moe Cat ears and tail now and I'll get into gushing over that later, but right now. The throne that is my Brother's lap is mine!" She loudly staked her claim. "And no one, and I mean no one, can just waltz in and take it for themselves!"

"Now, Now." Asia stepped forward, trying to calm down the situation. "K-Koneko-chan, wouldn't it be more comfortable to sit on a pillow instead?"

Though she was trying to hide it, Asia secretly wished she could sit on Shirou's lap herself once. But right now she felt stopping a fight was more important. However, Koneko's response was simply narrowing her eyes, grabbing hold of Shirou's hands and wrapping his arms around her, as if to further stake her claim. This just made Asia blush.

While Mika walked up to them upset. "That's it, outta the way!" She demanded as she forced herself on Shirou's lap too.

Now the two little girls were both sitting on the same lap while trying to push each other off, irritation their faces and Asia came up to them as well, still hopelessly trying to quell the situation, while Shirou yawned and had the expression of someone who obvious didn't care about what was currently happening. Those around them just looked amused, finding what was happening somewhat funny.

"Ara, Ara. Looks like not even Koneko-chan was able to resist his charm." Akeno said with a smile on her face and a hand on her cheek. "He must have really smooth talk to have been able to win her over."

"Yeah." Rias simply replied her attention more on Koneko's complete change in demeanor.

"All joking aside though, it is surprising." Akeno started, now serious. "Despite what the others said, I only expected Shirou-kun to just make her feel less upset, but not only did he completely help her pick herself back up, he also helped her overcome her fear of her Nekomata side. I don't know what he said to her but, all I call say about this is he really is amazing."

Now Rias just stared at Shirou both wistful and strangely enough upset, like she had something weighing on her mind. "…He is amazing isn't her… And yet I…"

"Enough already." Mika said, decidedly. "Big Bro, say something!"

"She's right Shirou-san." Asia added. "You should say something about all this."

"Hmm, you want me to say something?" Shirou repeated, unfazed. "Well, I say…" He then moved both girls off his lap, stood up and nonchalantly said. "I could go for a smoke break, so see ya."

"I'll join you." Ren tagged along.

And with that the two of them headed for the door, but before they walked out.

"Shirou wait." Rias called out, getting his attention, she then had a downcast expression. "If you don't mind, could I talk to you a little later, in private."

Shirou just opened the door and prepared to leave. "Sure, why not." He casually answered before he and Ren left.

---

Later that day, Shirou was at home in his room, sitting on his bedside. It was a little while after the events that transpired at the club room and just as Rias requested, he was waiting for her to show up so they could talk in private. Talk about what, he didn't know.

He had been waiting for about 10 minutes and was starting to grow impatient, thankfully though, before he got up to find out what was taking so long, the door to his room opened and Rias walked in. Rias came in with her hair damp and drying up after being soaked, plus she was wearing nothing but a white bath-robe which indicated she just got out of the bath, her skin was so clear it was shiny and her face looked relaxed.

"Thanks for letting me use your bath." Rias said, walking up to him.

"I still don't see why you couldn't use the shower at the club room." Shirou pointed out.

Rias sat on the bed beside him. "It was a little crowded so I wanted somewhere else, Asia even joined me in there." She stated before smiling at him. "You know if you had asked we would have let you joined us as well."

"Your usual exhibitionist-talk aside." Shirou brushed off. "What did you want to talk about, and why did you want a bath before talking in the first place?"

Rias' smiled dropped and she became silent. "I just wanted to help myself relax before I told you this. In fact, it's been weighing on my mind for a while now."

"Okay, that's a start." Shirou now seemed interested. "Talk."

Rias looked down and seemed hesitant to say what she was thinking, soon she decided to speak up. "First let me get this out of the way. I'm truly grateful for what you've done today. You helped Koneko come out of her shell and allowed her to begin taking steps to move on. It was something I had always hoped for and the same can be said for Yuuto, it's like you always know how to help someone and act upon those thoughts without hesitation." She spoke with obvious admiration in her voice. "I honestly can't thank you enough."

Shirou just shrugged. "Yep I'm amazing." He bragged. "But it's mainly because of the difference between us. You'd like to help them but in cases like this, they usually respond to someone more similar to them. I, for example, am someone who can relate to Kiba and Koneko's situations so they have an easier time opening up to me." He explained. "While you, or in this case, someone like you. They can trust you and be grateful to you, but they can't be real with you. It's just not something people in their shoes are comfortable with."

Now Rias had an upset smile. "Yes, that's probably it. I'd always suspected it was something like that. But still, I at least wanted to try anyway, for their sake."

"Well it's not like you did anything wrong." Shirou reminded her. "Besides, it's was just happenstance that they managed to meet someone that could relate to both of them. They had fucked up pasts and so did I." He brushed off. "And that's all there is to it."

Play OST - Persona 3 - Living With Determination

"But still…" Rias continued. "It feels like I'm always doing this, like I'm taking advantage of your kind-heart. I can't do it on my own and so I end up needing you to do so instead."

"Huh? Isn't it a bit late to be feeling that way, aren't you the woman who told all her servants to "live you your sake"?" Shirou reminded her confused. "You even told me that when this all started, you didn't seem to have a problem using me then."

"I know that." Rias said, keeping her head down. "I realize this might seem strange to you, but my feelings aren't the same as they were before, especially regarding you, Shirou." She said with guilt. "In the beginning, I thought of you as just my "Pawn", but as time passed, that no longer was the case, you become something much more meaningful to me than that and that only made me feel guilty. I knew I had no right to feel that way, and that is because I have been hiding the truth from you. A truth you deserve to hear from my own mouth." Rias braced herself. "Shirou, the truth is that I let you die." She admitted ashamed.

If Shirou had any reaction to what she said, he hid it well. "Ah, you're talking about how you knew those Fallen Angels were planning to off me and yet you sat back and watched. You wanted me dead so you could reincarnate me for my Gear, even without consent." He summarized, leaning back. "Yeah I heard, Ren basically told me all that."

"I know." Rias informed him. "Ren told me that you knew of this along with why you didn't react to this information, he did so the night he revealed his Youkai side to me."

"Seriously?" Shirou asked, not knowing that fact. "Man, why'd he have to do something unnecessary like that? Sometimes, I don't get that guy."

"Regardless of what he told me, I wanted to hear it from you." Rias stated, looking at him directly. "Do you really not hate me? I wouldn't have blamed you if you hated or resented me, yet your attitude towards me didn't change. Was my promise to protect Mika so important to you that it was enough to quell your wrath?" She clearly wanted to know. "I have trouble completely believing that."

Shirou sighed and sat up. "Okay, let's say I did blow up at you and decided to hate you, what then? Would I have just left your Peerage and become a Stray Devil, what then? And if that did happen, I'd drag Mika and Asia into it as well, what then?" He asked, hoping to make his point clear. "Regardless of how I felt, I wasn't in the right position at the time, so my plan was to bide my time and became a High-Class Devil as soon as possible and free myself from this Peerage. I just did the logical thing and made the best out of a bad situation."

"…Logical?" Rias asked, somewhat taken aback.

"Yeah, I used you like how you used me." Shirou reiterated. "My choices affect more than just my own life so I've got to think with logic at times like these."

"Maybe, but still…" Rias began, not liking his answer. "How is it logical to not feel upset by this?! You lost your life, your humanity, and freedom was taken from you! It shouldn't matter if it's logical or not, you have every right to act on your emotions on this matter." She spoke, unable to stop her emotions. "I can't understand how can you just put it aside like that."

"I think the better question is why are you taking it so seriously?" Shirou asked, now putting her on the spot. "Even back when I didn't know, you knew the whole time and you were fine with it. So why are you now feeling guilty about it, to the point where you felt the need to admit it yourself?" He narrowed his eyes at her. "Why does it only bother you now?"

"Because I…" Rias stopped, finding it hard to answer now. "I know it may seem strange now, but like I said, I see you differently compared to before, not as a servant or even as family, it's more than that." Her hands started to tremble as she became flushed. "I think… I think that I… No rather, I'm sure of it." Mustering her courage, Rias declared quietly. "…I've fallen in love with you Shirou."

"Oh, is that all?" Shirou asked, hardly reacting to her confession. "I already knew that too."

Music Off

Now Rias looked surprised and even more embarrassed. "What, you knew?! Since when?"

"I'm not an idiot Rias." Shirou responded, off-handed. "It was obvious from the way you acted, you were annoyingly clingy even by your standards and you seemed to always want to be around me." He listed. "Plus, you just offered to let me bathe with you, even though you're an exhibitionist you wouldn't do that for just anyone. Only a retarded guy wouldn't figure it out."

From the way he explained it, it did seem pretty obvious. Though that raised another question for Rias.

"Wait then, if you knew how I felt why didn't you say anything about it?" Rias asked, now unsure.

Shirou stared up at the ceiling. "Because I knew… That it wasn't real love."

Rias was surprised by his response, almost hurt and even a little insulted. "Not real? How can you say that after I told how I feel? What on earth would make you believe my feelings aren't real?"

Shirou let out a small breath. "…It didn't have to be me, it could've been any guy in my shoes and you'd have said the same thing."

Now Rias was taken aback. Of all things he could say, she didn't even know how to react to that one. "What are you talking about? Why would you even think that?"

"I'm pretty sure you started to have these feelings for my right after the Rating Game." Shirou guessed. "In other words, you apparently "fell in love with me" after I saved you. So the truth is, it's not me per-say, but what I've done for you. You were trapped in a miserable situation and some guy swept in and saved you. So basically, if any guy who had the strength to beat Raiser and stop the engagement had become your Pawn, you'd have felt the same way about them." He described. "That's all it is. That's why I never responded."

"T-That's not true." Rias denied, surprised he even suggested that.

"Oh, just admitted it." Shirou replied adamantly. "Even though at your core your just a teenage girl, you never got to enjoy the everyday things a girl your age could because of your position. So naturally, you wouldn't be familiar with emotions like these, you might think it's love but it's probably just gratitude mix in with a school-girl crush. That stuff eventually fades."

"You're wrong, Shirou." Rias said, unshaken. "I know for a fact that you're wrong."

"And why's that?" Shirou asked, looking at her.

Play OST - Haikyuu - Obsession

Before answering, Rias grabbed onto his hand and held it with both of hers. She then moved in closer until their faces were only inches away and she looked him in the eye.

"Because of two things you said." Rias answered. "The first, you said I first had these feelings after the Rating Game, but that was incorrect. These feelings first came before then." She corrected. "The second, what you said, what you always say; at my core, I'm a teenage girl. That's always how you saw me and that's what I love about you."

Now Shirou was taken aback. "What?"

"When we first meet, I didn't know what to think of you, but I knew you were interesting. Before I knew it, I always kept thinking about you, about how you always did what I never expect, about how you were so strong and yet so kind, about how you never saw me as a Princess or with eyes of lust and wonder likes others did, but only as just Rias—A teenage girl. And as time went on, I found myself feeling almost drawn to you." Rias then placed one of her hands over her heart. "And these feelings truly surfaced that night we spoke under the stars."

"Back on the Mountains." Shirou remembered.

Rias nodded, smiling warmly. "That talk has always been a precious memory for me, that night when I spoke with you, I laid bare all that was weighing on my mind, it was the first time I was able to speak my truest thoughts, one that I always had to hold in. And when you told me that my desires weren't strange at all and you'd come to understand me, I think my heart had skipped a beat."

Rias then let go of his hand and then looked up at the ceiling with a wistful expression.

"Back then, I wanted to understand you as well." She continued. "I wanted to be someone you could trust and rely on, that's why started to train myself as well, but in the end, I still ended up having to rely on you. But whenever I looked back on that night I always felt my heart race, and my face would form a smile. I know I'd be lying if I said you saving me wasn't part of the reason and maybe if it had been another man, things would have been like you described. But this is different from that, deep down I know, the person I'm in love with is the young man sitting beside me who always saw the real me; his name is Shirou Tsukiharu." She confessed again, this time more natural. "Nothing will make me doubt that."

Music Off

.

.

.

Now there was nothing but silence that filled the room. Shirou didn't respond or react, as if he was completely at a loss on what he should make of this. All he could do was sit there and try to process all that he had heard. Then he looked into her eyes. In the past,there had been a number of girls who had confessed their feelings to him, but he could see it in their eyes that they had ulterior motives.

The look in their eyes was always the same, they simply had feelings of lust for him, or in other cases the girls just wanted to use him to gain a reputation or to inflate their egos by dating a popular guy. Their gazes sometimes grated on his nerves, but… This was different. Rias' eyes held no such selfish intent. Instead, it was a sparkle pure adoration. It was different from the feeling he got from Asia or Mika, or even Aika. But it wasn't unknown to him. It was enough to force him to admit that Rias' feelings from him truly were genuine.

Once he realized that, Shirou just smiled as if he found the whole thing funny.

"…Ha, well damn. I knew I was good but I didn't think I was that good." Shirou muttered as he leaned back and laid on his back on top of his bed. "You really have fallen for me, haven't you."

Rias smiled back at him and nodded with happiness and relief that he had believed her. "I have."

"But still." Shirou continued. "That isn't the main reason you called me out to talk, isn't it? So you must have told me all that to lead into something else." He deduced. "So then, what's the big thing you wanted to tell me?"

Rias' smiled turned upside down and she looked away. "Shortly after I realized how I felt about you, another feeling welled up inside of me. I knew quickly that it was guilt. Despite the fact that I left you to be slain for my own benefit, I didn't feel bad about it or ever atone. I just lived on like nothing had happened and to add to that I actually developed feelings for you." Rias' spoke with regret. "Even I knew how wrong it all sounded."

"So what do you plan to do about it?" Shirou asked, interested in where this was going. "You can't exactly take it back."

"But there is something I can do." Rias then looked at him seriously. "Shirou, let me make it up to you."

"Huh?" Shirou wasn't expecting that.

"Unless I receive some kind of atonement I can't ever let go of this guilt in my heart." Rias continued. "And it must be by your hand. Just name it, anything. I swear I will accept anything you deem fit as a way to make things right."

"So… You really want to make it up to me?" Shirou questioned.

"Yes." Rias immediately answered without hesitation.

"Then… Hold still." Shirou instructed.

Rias blinked, not knowing why he would say that, but complied nonetheless. At that point, Shirou stood up and before Rias could react he clenched his fist and swung his right fist at Rias.

PA!

Rias was hit directing in her cheek by Shirou's punch and her head was knocked back. Shirou followed by punching her in the stomach which knocked the air out of her. He then chopped her in the side of her torso which led to an uppercut to her jaw. This knocked her off her feet and Shirou continued his assault by kicking her in the gut which knocked her into the wall and finished it off by grabbing her arm and used his arm as a fulcrum in order to flip Rias backwards high in the air before hitting the floor.

THUD!

Shirou let out a huff and did some arm stretches. "For starters, that's for keeping it from me for so long."

"Gugh…" Rias groaned in pain as she laid on the floor, flat on her back. Her cheek was swollen. Her stomach, side, back and jaw were extremely sore. And her vision was a little blurry after hitting the floor like that. No doubt, she was in a world of pain. Plus, all that high-speed movement messed up her bathrobe and untied the sash, opening up her robe and thus exposing the front of her bare Naked body. But neither one of them seemed to care.

"Good thing you're a Devil." Shirou commented, standing above her. "If you'd been a human that would have permanently injured you. Well, do you regret asking for atonement?"

Rias shook her head, still lying there. "No, I swore I would accept anything you deem fit." She answered through the pain, her resolve unshaken. "I don't mind a little pain if it will make things right."

"That right?" Shirou somewhat impressed by her attitude knelled down and sat beside her. "Well then, here's how you can truly make things right. Remember when you first told me to live for your sake?"

Rias just nodded.

"A life for a life, I lost mine so give me yours." Shirou said, serious. "It'll be a new pact between the two of us, this time you will live for me. You'll stay with me and live for my sake, always. If you honestly want to make it up to me, then you'll accept." He told her as if he was testing her. "So then, do you accept?"

Rias was quiet for a moment, but then she looked up at him and to his surprise, she smiled as though she heard something wonderful "I accept your pact. I will live for your sake and always be with you. I will do whatever I can to assure your happiness and promise to never go back on those words." She then sat up and told him fondly. "Shirou, let us always be together."

Shirou was honestly surprised. A part of him didn't actually believe she would say yes, he basically said he wanted to put a leash on her neck. Yet, she was acting like he had just proposed or something along those lines. It was an odd feeling, but he realized that in the end it still works out for him. So he stood up and turned around.

"In that case, as of this moment, we are now square." Shirou decided. "You are forgiven and can live with a clear conscience, free from guilt and we'll see where this goes. I'll tell Asia to come up and heal you."

Rias didn't respond but just rested her hand on her cheek. As Shirou reached the door, he stopped and clicked his fingers.

"Oh that right, I almost forgot." That got Rias' attention as Shirou turned around and came up to her again. "There's still one last thing."

"Hmm, what is that?" Rias asked confused, not knowing what else there could be.

Instead of answering Shirou just leaned in and kissed her. Pressing his lips against hers, Rias was surprised by the suddenness of the kiss and didn't know why he was kissing her in the first place. But she didn't try to object and simply enjoyed the experience. After several seconds Shirou leaned back and ended the moment of physical intimacy, as if reading her mind he answered what she was thinking.

"I always return the favor." Shirou explained. "After the Rating Game, when I was injured and couldn't move you stole a kiss from me, so I stole one back."

After saying that, it took a moment for Rias to finally process his words. Then when they sunk in her face blushed a red almost as deep as her hair. "I thought you were unconscious at that time!" She cried out, embarrassed.

"Sorry to break it to you but I was still awake, I passed out right after our lips separated." Shirou informed her, amused by her reaction.

Rias became completely flushed and buried her face in her hands. "Have you no shame! You can't just steal a kiss like that from a woman, a woman's first kiss is something to be treasured in Japan."

"You're not Japanese, that's wasn't your first kiss, and we weren't in Japan. Besides you're one to talk about being shameless, you're literally Naked right now." Shirou reminded her, not regretting his action at all. "Now that that's done, I have somewhere I need to get to, so I'm out."

And so Shirou left for real this time, closing the door behind him. Now Rias was alone in his room and still embarrassed she sat back on his bed and laid down, staring up at the ceiling. She let out sighed but then smiled satisfied and touched her lips. "I'm glad things were able to work out, somehow."

---

{LEMON ALERT! EXPLICIT CONTENT HAS BEGAN!}

Play Song - Killing Me Softly - Luther Vandross

HUMP!

HUMP!

HUMP!

The sound of bed spring being pushed down and then coming back up could be heard as the two people on said bed were enjoying some midday pleasure. After leaving his house, Shirou had gone over to Aika's place and decided today was a good time for doing what they usually do whenever the mood strikes them. Of course, they always did it at her house because it would be impossible to do the deed undisturbed at Shirou's residence.

Right now they were in Aika's bedroom, the lights off and a small lamp being the only source of light in the room. The curtains and windows were closed, their clothes littered the floor and the two of them were under the covers.

"Auuu~!" Aika let out a moan of arousing pleasure as they continued on.

As things went on the two of them were locked in an embrace as Aika's arms were around Shirou's shoulders. She leaned in for a kiss and connected her warm lips against his, Shirou returned the kiss with equal passion while his hands explored Aika's body which caused the perverted girl to let out a soft moan in his mouth. Shirou used the moan to his advantage and slipped his tongue into her mouth as he started to explore her mouth. Aika didn't want to be outdone by Shirou so she fought back and the two engaged in a heated battle for dominance over the kiss. Eventually, Aika pulled back from the kiss due to a lack of air and Shirou smirked victoriously.

Not having had enough yet, Shirou grabs her legs and spreads them apart, then proceeded to thrust his rock-hard cock into Aika's hymen which it effortlessly tore through, causing Aika to cry out in pain and pleasure. Shirou silenced her with a kiss and slowed down the speed he was entering her with so prolong his enjoyment. Soon he pulled back and leaned down to her chest, upon doing so Shirou took a bite into the tip of Aika's breast along with roughly sucking on it which resulted in her letting out another moan.

"Auuu~ You're so rough~!" Aika cried out through her moans.

"You know you love it." Shirou quietly replied, not stopping.

Shirou sped up his thrusting and went even deeper which caused more pleasure for both of the teens. Aika wrapped her legs around Shirou's hips so he didn't pull out too much. Shirou pounded Aika at an amazing speed. Aika could only moan in response because Shirou's thickness and length were repeatedly smashing against her cervix and G-spot at the same time. Soon Shirou was moving at a speed that sent a wave of pleasure through Aika's body.

"AUGH~! You're going to rip me in half~!" Aika cried out with ecstasy.

"Shut up before the neighbors hear." Shirou responded.

Shirou never stopped thrusting and kept ploughing into Aika, moving in back and forth and not slowing down for a second causing the bed to rock even harder than before. Their bodies were pressed up against each other as Aika was let out deep breaths while Shirou still looked ready for more. Then grabbing onto her hips he pushes in with one final thrust much stronger than all the rest and the force of it was enough to make Aika let out a loud, lewd scream as she hit her climax.

{LEMON END}

Music Off

---

"Haa~, that was nice." Aika sighed.

It was a few minutes later and now the two of them were fully dressed, went down to the living room of Aika's house and were now sitting on a couch with a small table in front of them. Aika was enjoying some tea while Shirou was smoking a cigarette. They both looked completely relaxed and at peace like they were cooling off after getting out of a steam room.

"You should really try a smoke." Shirou offered. "It's great after sex."

"Sorry, but I have no interest in damaging my pretty pink lungs." Aika declined.

Shirou shrugged. "Your loss."

"Still though, your endurance was crazy, I was being torn in half yet you still looked ready for more." Aika commented.

"Don't be surprised, if I wanted to a could do twenty women in one night without running out of steam." Shirou brag, confident.

Aika gave him a perverted smile. "Oh, twenty women, is right? So do you plan on doing that anytime?"

"Don't turn this into a conversation." Shirou warned her irritated, puffing more smoke. Aika just snickered at him.

"By the way, I happened to notice you seem a bit more stressed lately." Aika noted. "Did something happen?"

Shirou burned out his cigarette and sighed. "It's just been a really eventful few days, I hardly had any time for myself and to top it off, just earlier today some girl confessed her love to me."

"Hmm, another girl has fallen for the charm of Kuoh's Dark Prince?" Aika joked, leaning in closer. "Who was she?"

"It was Rias." Shirou answered, blunt.

Aika blinked, a little surprised. "Wow, that happened sooner than I expected."

Shirou raised a brow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're both extremely popular and your both in the same club so you spend almost every day together." Aika reasoned. "Plus people have already started rumors ever since you two first walked to school together that first day, as for me, I figured she'd fall for you at some point. But I somewhat hoped you wouldn't."

"Why's that?" Shirou asked, now curious.

Aika now had a mischievous smile. "Because that would upset all the girls at school that were hoping you played for the other team."

If Shirou had a drink he would've most likely taken a spit take after hearing that. True enough though, Aika wasn't kidding as she reached into a small book bag by her feet and took out two Doujinshi books. On the cover of one book were two boys with one resembling Shirou and the second resembling Kiba. The other book also had two boys on the cover and once again one of them resembled Shirou but the second one on this book resembled Ren instead.

Shirou's eye twitched. "What the hell am I looking at?"

"Oh isn't it great? I made these Doujinshi just for fun and then I started selling them." Aika explained, still smiling. "The Prince & The Hound is about you and Kiba, while Forbidden Feelings is about you and Ren. The female students at the school of all ages are crazy about this stuff, after all, no girl can resist BL."

"That's not what I'm asking." Shirou replied, clearly unhappy. "What I mean is why do these exist?"

"Well, as you know, even though all the male students are total perverts, the female students are just as bad, if not worse but unlike me they try to hide it. So I figured I could make some extra money off their horny desires with some deviant-art." Aika explained. "And thus, I had a friend of my draw the art-style while I wrote the smut, and before long everyone wanted a copy."

Shirou face-palmed. "Lousy school of horny fucks." He cursed. "And you, I don't recall giving you permission to use me as a model for your Yaoi smut."

"Okay, I see where this is going. If you let me keep selling this stuff I'll give you 50% of the profits." Aika offered.

"Alright deal." Shirou accepted. "Can't do much if people have already seen it, might as well just milk it for all it's worth."

"That's the spirit." Aika patted his shoulder.

DING!

Shirou's phone went off and he checks it to see he had gotten a text. After looking over his phone and reading the text he just looked indifferent and stood up.

"Guess it is about that time." He said to himself.

"What's up, going somewhere?" Aika asked, interested.

"It's just something small, no worries." Shirou brushed off while heading for the door. "Later."

And with that Shirou took his leave.

---

It was now the afternoon and the sun had started to set over the horizon, making the sky into a deep orange colour. Shirou was currently in the middle of Devil work, having been summoned by the request of one of his client's. The client in question was the man who first summoned him when the incident with the Holy-Swords first began, the tall man with black and blonde hair in a kimono whose name Shirou never found out, he only knew him as Aza.

He was always an unusual client. Aza only ever made strange requests like asking Shirou to go buy bread in the night. And before that, he said "Let's go fishing" and had Shirou accompany him to a nearby fishing spot. Though Shirou never complained because he gives back more than what was demanded.

He started by giving him a bottle of alcohol, then an expensive looking painting, and then jewels, and then even gold nuggets. And of course, Shirou accepted all those payments without having to think about it.

This time the request was for Shirou to join him for a meal and the two of them were sitting in Aza's hotel suite while eating a large plate of sushi.

"You must really like fish." Shirou commented while eating. "I mean, first you went fishing and now you ordered sushi for dinner."

"I figured I wanted to give it a try, after going to the fishing pond, I wanted to try some fish for myself." Aza reasoned. "Besides, this is the first time I've ever eaten sushi so I wanted someone else here in case I needed help finishing it."

"Yeah well, this ain't real sushi, its just some cheap repackaged crap you can find anywhere." Shirou argued. "Now the sushi I make, that's real sushi."

Aza smiled and took another bite. "I see, I have to try someone of these days."

"Well as long as you can pay for it." Shirou joked.

Aza then ate one last piece of sushi and then stood up. "I must admit though, it's never boring with you Devil-Kun." Aza then narrowed his eyes and smirked. "Or would you rather I call you Red Dragon Emperor?"

The room was suddenly filled with silence, both the aura around Aza and the atmosphere in the room became heavy and oppressive. Shirou just looked amused. "Haha, you can call me whichever you want, Aza. Or would you rather I can you Azazel?"

If the now revealed to be Azazel felt any surprise from Shirou's words, he hid it well. "Hmm interesting, how'd you figure it out?"

"It's elementary my dear fish-man." Shirou jokingly replied. "I've been able to sense a huge power from you since the day I first saw you, but I didn't have anything to compare it to until I fought Kokabiel. I realized your power was almost the exact same as his' only much bigger, meaning you were a Cadre Fallen Angel. Plus the fact that you called yourself Aza was practically giving me the rest of the answer."

Azazel sheepishly rubbed his head. "I guess that was my bad. Still though, the fact that you figured out means that what I've heard is true; you are smarter than you look."

Shirou narrowed his eyes. "Hey! You saying I look stupid!?"

PA!

Instead of answering him, Azazel brought out his wings and sprouting out from his back were 12 Black-feathered wings that were as big as Kokabiel's, only they looked a bit different. Not just Kokabiel, but Raynare and every other Fallen-Angel he had met thus far had the same kind of wings, they were Black but, they were more of a dirty Black with messed up feather, resembling that of crows or a ravens wings. Azazel's wings seemed different, his feather looked fresh and undamaged, also the color, while still Black felt different. It was like the Black of a starless night, a true Blackness which light could reflect off of.

"You are correct, I am indeed Azazel the Governor-General of the Fallen-Angels. It's a pleasure." Azazel introduced himself.

"Drop the formality would ya." Shirou brushed off. "So what's with the whole inviting me over, aren't we technically enemies because of what happened in the Race War?"

"After what happened with Kokabiel, I thought it was time I finally introduced myself to you." Azazel told him. "That and one other thing, I also happen to have a special interest in that Boosted Gear of yours."

"Oh yeah, I heard you're a "collector" now." Shirou told him, unconcerned. "You grab whatever Sacred Gear you can like an Otaku grabs figurines and your organization is made of almost nothing but Sacred Gear users."

"You're correct, but I prefer to think of myself as a researcher of interesting things in this world." Azazel argued. "And I must say you're development is incredibly interesting, you have a unique way of using the Dragon's power, you've found and claimed the lost Holy-Sword—Dyrnwyn, and you've even obtained Balance Breaker and used it to defeat Kokabiel." He listed with fascination. "I can't decide who interests me more, between you or Albion."

"You mean the Hakuryuukou?" Shirou asked, now interested.

"Unfortunately, I couldn't be as present as I'd liked, so I sent someone else to take care of it if need be, in my steed." Azazel shrugged his shoulders. "I must say I was impressed that he was able to follow my directions this time."

"Well, I'm glad you're happy because it was a buzz kill for me." Shirou replied, unhappy. "I was so looking forward to a good fight and it ends with just a "Sorry, maybe next time" type of ending. Total disappointment."

"Ha, you two even have similar personalities." Azazel said amused before his face became serious. "But it's better you didn't fight him, especially after you had just broken free from being consumed by your Inner Darkness."

Now Shirou was confused. "What are you talking about? I mean, I'm not surprised that you know about that given your position and the fact that you had a witness, but why would you care about what happens to me?"

"For more reasons than you'd think. I was being honest when I said I decided to reveal myself after what happened with Kokabiel, but didn't you wonder why I first approached you in the first place?" Azazel asked, now walking up to him. "The truth is I've known about you since your Darkness first awakened during the battle against Phenex."

Now Shirou had his guard up. "Wow, slow down, what the hell are you going on about? Why would you be watching me, and what do know about me anyway?"

"You want to know?" Azazel raised his hand and gathered magic. "Instead of telling you, I'll show you."

The tip of Azazel's index finger started glowing a royal blue colour and he placed his finger on the center of Shirou's forehead. And then at that moment, Shirou felt a repulsing force going for his mind, it was there was a seal on his brain and it was being hit by a strong impact until the seal was shattered. Then all of a sudden, like water flooding out of a broken dam, memories started to erupt into Shirou's mind.

FLAAAAAASSSSSSHHHHHHH!

---

I remembered…

Pain coursing through on every part of my body.

It hurt so much, I didn't even have the energy left to scream.

I didn't know who they were or why they were doing, why. That's what I wanted to know.

It's been so long I've lost my sense of time.

It had been so long my mind had started to become hazy. I could barely remember where I was.

But I could feel the pain my damaged body was in. My body was bruised black and had some cuts from a whip around a certain part. But more seriously, it was covered in gashes and slash marks from sharp edges similar to a blade and there were also puncture point that was the result of being pierced by metal spikes. It would be hard to find any part of my body that wasn't damaged. Most of my wounds were still dripping blood, there was even a small puddle of blood on the floor beneath me.

The one who did this made sure to maximize the damage without killing me, it was like a masterpiece in the art of torture.

As I began to wake up, I began taking in my surroundings, I was inside a dark room that looked like some kind of dungeon, the only source of light was the small bit of sunlight that came in from the small crack in the ceiling making a small ray of light. At the end of the room was a small wooden door that looked kind of heavy and was reinforced with metal. As I tried to lift my hands I noticed they were chained to the wall making me grit my teeth.

But most importantly, I took notice to the person standing before me. He had the appearance of a young man that was dressed in a somewhat demonic-looking Black armor that clung to his muscular body like a second layer of skin, along with a cape that looked noble and almost kingly. He had long brown hair that goes to his hips with many bangs covering his right eye. But the most defining thing about him was his expression. It was cold and callous like he didn't see a thing wrong in what he was doing or didn't even care. And he looked at me with the same eyes a person would look at an insect with, it was as if he thought he was so much better than everyone, like the world wasn't good enough for him.

The man walked up to me and with a wave, his hand seemed to flash out like a transparent blur and slashed over my face. It made another small cut over my cheek but I didn't react, it definitely hurt but I didn't have the energy to cry out in pain or even lift my face at this point. All I did was remain motionless while blood dripped from my cut, this only seemed to irritate the man judging from his sneer.

"You no longer even the strength to even acknowledge the damage." He spoke in a cold voice. "What a truly pathetic sight."

Even though I could hear him, I still had no idea what he wanted or what he was even hoping for when he cut me.

"It seems you've reached the limit of what your weak human body is capable of and yet despite being the next vessel, the Darkness hasn't awakened for even a moment." He noted with disappointment. "I was hoping drawing him out and destroying him within his vessel would've been a simple matter but it seems we'll have to take a different approach."

As usual, I didn't understand a thing he was talking about. During this whole ordeal, he and some others would always talk about things like "vessel" or "awaken" and no matter what they said I couldn't make sense of any of it. But I understood his next words perfectly.

"He'll awaken if we destroy you mentally, if torture won't work then we have another method." He looked at me with a merciless expression. "Your sibling is also in our possession, if I show you her bloodied corpse, maybe that'll bring better results."

My eyes immediately widened and despite my pain and fatigue, I look up at him with a horrified expression, which he took notice to.

"I see that trigger a reaction, that means we're on the right track. Good." After saying that he turned and walked away.

The door closed with a small slam and I was alone again with my thoughts.

"Mika."

I bit my lip, not out of fear but frustration from this whole situation. I didn't understand anything, where I was, what I'm even doing here, or what these people wanted with me. All they did was constantly hurt my over and over again and for what; I didn't have the slightest idea. And now they plan on doing something even worse to my Sister.

This is all so ridiculous.

At first, I thought "If this is my fate, then just kill me" death would be better then having to endure this. But those thoughts were destroyed, I couldn't die yet, or rather…

This rage growing inside of me like a burning inferno wouldn't allow me to. My wrath was all that kept my will intact. Reason and logic just seemed to fade away until I couldn't feel anything besides emotion and I could hear an unfamiliar voice.

"I can lend you power."

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONN!

Sudden his eyes were overshadowed by his bangs while a shadowy Black aura started to emanate from his body.

Now that aura grow into pure Darkness that looked as if would swallow anything it touched and a large amount of it surrounded Shirou's body, creating a shockwave, the Darkness continued to erupt and wrapped around his body like a cocoon.

Before long the Darkness started to fluctuate until it finally dispersed, almost as if it shattered like glass. What was seen was Shirou, still held by his shackles but now his body was cloaked in an aura of Darkness, it was wrapped around him like a visible outline.

When he opened his eyes. They shined a brilliant, almost blinding Golden glow that resembled treasure, they weren't Shirou's eyes anymore, those eyes carried a cold stare, one that felt like they were staring right through you and could send a chill down your spine.

The first thing that happened was all of Shirou's open wounds had stopped bleeding and with little struggle he pulled his arms out which immediately broke the shackles off, thus setting him free. With this new freedom, he walked towards the door and with a simple push blew the door of its hinges and broke it open.

I didn't know how and frankly I didn't care, all I knew was that I was free and had a chance to get away from all this. But first and more importantly, I had to find Mika.

Something else I didn't question was this strange feeling I suddenly felt, it was almost as if I knew where Mika was and so I decided to act on that feeling and rushed to where I believed she was. I found the place in a matter of seconds and stop in front of a wooden door that looked identical to the door to the room I was looked in, and just like that door I busted it down and walked through.

What I saw only fed the already raging torrent of flames that was my wrath. Inside the room was the same dungeon-like chamber that I was in, however standing in the center of the room was a person that I assumed was a man, whose face was hidden by a skull-like helmet and was wearing a Demonic guard-like armor, he noticed me the moment I stepped forward. But that wasn't what got my attention.

On the floor of the chamber and at the guard's feet was the bloodied form of my little Sister, face down on the floor in a puddle of blood and severe open injuries on her back, it looked like the damage that was done by a blade. Mika didn't even twitch, it wasn't clear if she was even still breathing.

"How did you—"

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Before he could finish speaking, Shirou roared in a frenzy of madness and rage. At that moment, like a bloodthirsty animal, Shirou pounced at the guard in front of him intending to kill him. In an instant, Shirou passed him and his fist shrouded in Darkness tore through his flesh like hot butter, that was all it took because a second later his whole body vanished without a trace, as any Devil's corpse would.

With that deed done Shirou slowly stepped up to the fallen form of his Sister and reached out to her. With the greatest tenderness and gentleness, Shirou was capable of, he held his Sister in his arm, feeling relief that she was only unconscious after feeling her pulse. The fire in his eyes dimmed as he held her close like she was the most precious thing in the world to him right now.

Then as he began to start walking again, intending to leave this place the fire reignited.

Why I did she have to go through all this. Why did I have to go through all this. What even is this place and who are these people. No… I don't care, that isn't important anymore. All I need to know is how I'm going to kill these people.

Yes… Yes, I will kill them, all of them. I swear, I will never forget this hatred, I'll make all of them suffer in the most painful way possible. And then… I'll kill them, especially him. I'll kill him… Crush him… Destroy him.

As the Darkness was coating Shirou for such a long time he could feel himself sinking deeper and deeper into it. His mind was being influenced by it, became more violent and driven by emotion. But what he didn't realize was the Darkness was trying to consume him and there was another presence within him was trying to use this opportunity to overshadow his mind.

And things only got worse when he heard something from the distance.

BAAANNNGGGG!

[AAAAGUUAAAAHHHH!]

I knew that voice, the voice of the person who had just screamed. Even though it was pretty far I could still recognize who it belonged to and that filled me with dread. I wanted to just keep walking, I wanted to stay away from because I was terrified of what I might find.

And yet, I couldn't stop myself. Before I had even decided, I was already running towards where I heard the scream. All the while inwardly hoping and praying as much as I could for it to not be what I feared it was.

Once Shirou had arrived at the source of the voice and stopped running he saw something that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

He was currently in the middle of an area at the end of the stone-walled hallway and arrived at a room was similar to a center hall because all the paths around this place seemed to lead here. The room was a round-sphere shape and large enough to fit a great number of people.

Standing in the middle of this room were three people. One was the same Black-armored man who was with Shirou in the torture chamber and beside him were two others, one was a tall woman in glasses and a voluptuous figure, she wore a low-cut dress which exposed quite a bit of cleavage. She had brown hair tied in a bun and tanned skin. The other was a man had Black haired tied in a small ponytail, pale skin, pointy ears and was dressed in noble looking clothes with red belts and motifs, coupled with a violet cape. They each looked somewhat injured, like having signs of a struggle just a moment ago.

But what truly horrified Shirou was what he saw beside them.

Laying at their feet were two corpses swimming in a pool of blood. A man with jet-Black hair and a woman with snow-White hair. Shirou recognized them instantly, they were his parents; Mikoto and Hideki Tsukiharu. His Mother had a hole pierced through her chest and his Father had a gash cut over his throat, you didn't even need to check to already know they were dead.

"Looks like they're finally dead." The tanned woman said pleased. "Took long enough."

"The method may not have been the most dignified but the end result is all that matters." The Black-armored man spoke.

The pale-skinned man seemed to notice something and turned towards Shirou. "Look."

They both did and all of them were surprised to see Shirou cloaked in Darkness and frozen in shock.

"He escaped." The Black-armored man noted disgusted. "What a nuisance."

"Not exactly, take a look." The tanned woman argued, with a smirk. "That aura says it all, he's awakened."

"Then this objective was a success." The pale-skinned man said gladly. "Now all we need to do is kill the vessel."

Shirou wasn't paying attention to anything they were saying. His full attention was focused solely on his parents, or rather their remains. Tears threatened to spill out. Hot, angry tears. It wasn't true, it was a nightmare, he wanted so badly to believe that, but he couldn't. But he felt no grief or sadness. Only a hatred and rage that wanted to destroy everything.

"A-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONN!

"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL PURGE YOU! I'LL GORE YOU ALL! I'LL GET MY REVENGE ON EVERY LAST ONE OF YOOOOOOOOOU!"

The Power of Darkness erupted as Shirou bellowed violently. It was a sad and painful screech filled with wrath. The Darkness spread further and further through his body and skin like it was going to swallow him whole. This made his aura swirl and wave around his body wildly. Then the Power of Darkness radiated around him and grew bigger and bigger until it exploded and starting rising upwards like a pillar of darkness concentrated around him. And it kept growing, become more like an erupting volcano than a pillar. It spread further and until it consumed everything.

The three who were standing over the dead bodies of his parents realized the danger they were in and used teleportation-circles to get away before the Darkness reached them.

---

Play OST - Transformers The Movie (1986) - The Death Of Optimus Prime

After the Darkness erupted from Shirou and those other three had vanished, the Darkness kept growing until it lost control and burst out into an explosive force that wiped out everything in sight. The building they were inside of was a large stone fort that resembled a castle, but now it was nothing but a large, deep hole in the ground, so large it looked like a meteor hit it and so deep you couldn't even see the bottom. There was absolutely nothing left.

A few feet away from the newly formed chasm was Shirou who was still shrouded in Darkness and still holding Mika in his arms. He was slowly walking away from the chasm somehow completely unaffected by the explosion and looking ready to kill anything that came across from him.

On the outside, where he was currently walking was nothing more than a wasteland. There were no glass or trees, or any sign of life anywhere, just flatland and a barren emptiness in every direction. But that wasn't important, all that matter was getting as far away from here as possible.

"Well, would you look at that."

Shirou's attention was immediately drawn to an unfamiliar voice that sounded close by. Appearing from seemingly out of nowhere was Azazel who was only a few steps away from Shirou and had a downcast expression.

"I was hoping it didn't come to this, but the worst possible outcome came to pass." Azazel spoke upset. "Well, at least you survived."

Shirou put his guard up and looked ready to attack if he had to. He was similar to a wolf cub in the wild threatening to pounce. But Azazel didn't seem worried and just kept up his approach. When he was right in front of Shirou, Azazel raised his hand and gathered magic. The tip of Azazel's index finger started glowing a royal blue color and he placed his finger on the center of Shirou's forehead. And then at that moment, Shirou felt a repulse going for his mind, the Darkness broke away from his body and faded to nothingness as Shirou collapsed to ground unconscious. On the way down Mika fell out of his grasp and hit the ground herself.

---

The scene had changed completely, from an empty wasteland to a hospital in Tokyo. In a hospital room were two beds that both had children sleeping on them, one was Shirou, the other was Mika. The sun shined brightly through the open window as a gentle breeze blew through the room.

They were both in a comatose state and wrapped in bandages, Shirou especially. Everywhere on his body from the neck down was wrapped in bandages while Mika's bandages were only around her torso, and they were both had IV's strapped to them.

Sitting on a chair by the wall and looking over the two siblings was Azazel who brought them here. After a while, he stood up and walked over to their beds and stopped first in front of Mika's bed.

"There's only one thing to do now."

As he said that he gathered magic power over his hand and placed it over Mika's forehead. After a few seconds, he stopped and moved on to Shirou.

"I can take these memories away from them, but their lives from now on will be far less than peaceful. Still, at the very least, they won't have to worry about the supernatural. And this way, I can also seal his Darkness back up for a little longer." Azazel said to himself as he placed his hand over Shirou's forehead. "I'll keep my promise, Hideki, Mikoto."

Once he was done with Shirou he pulled his arm back and the magic around his hand faded away. As he was about to walk away and leave, he heard a sound and looked back. Azazel saw that Shirou was trying to open his eyes and was barely conscious. Azazel sighed and turned around to leave, saying a few parting words.

"It's okay, your safe now."

Music Off

---

Back in the present. Shirou just stood there, awestruck at everything that had just flowed through his mind in a flash. If it wasn't for his mental fortitude it might've overwhelmed him enough to make him faint and pass out. That wasn't to say he wasn't feeling something, it almost looked like he was in a trance.

Azazel just sat back down, as if he was waiting for Shirou to responded after processing all that he'd just seen.

After a few more minutes Shirou turned his gaze towards Azazel and finally spoke the words that were on his mind.

"…You were there."

"Yes, I was." Azazel simply replied.

"But I don't get any of this." Shirou placed a hand over his forehead. "What was all that, why were there things I couldn't remember before but can now see clearly and why are somethings different?"

"You've been a Devil for a long enough time to know about memory manipulation magic." Azazel answered. "That's what I used on you and your Sister back that, I basically washed away everyone's identities and anything involving the supernatural."

"But why?" Shirou questioned.

"Well for starters you were just a kid, but honestly anyone who had just gone through all that would have been unstable or even broken on the inside. Learning of the supernatural world and the role you played in all of it definitely would have been too much at the time." Azazel explained. "Still, I couldn't change memories that were backed by evidence, I hid who killed your parents but not the fact that they were dead, I changed how you escaped from the torture chamber but not the fact that you were tortured. And you get the idea."

Shirou understood what he was saying. "Then, when I remembered someone had released me…"

"That's right." Azazel knew what he was referring to. "I had to hide the Power of Darkness and since you vaguely saw me at the hospital it was easy to plant the idea that someone had saved you, all I needed to do was blank my face."

Shirou narrowed his eyes. "But what about the people who captured us? Why'd you hide that Bastard's face when he's the one I've wanted to kill my whole life?" He asked what he felt was greatly important. "I can remember how much I wanted to kill him when I was a kid, and I still feel that way now. So why'd you make so I wouldn't even know his face?"

"He was also apart of the supernatural world. And even if you knew, you were still a child trying to find a way to survive until a few years ago, would knowing of made any difference?"

Shirou grit his teeth frustrated. "Fine, then answer this; Why'd they go after us in the first place and who were they?"

"The reason they targeted you was pretty simple. It's because they knew that you were the descendant of Shirōu Amakusa." Azazel stated. "They were Devils that wanted to completely wipe out that bloodline, a bloodline of a human said to have been chosen by God. And so they believed they could accomplish that by killing the current vessel before he could pass on the blood to the next generation, killing your parents was a bonus because they have been the enemy of Devils for ages."

"But that doesn't make sense. If they wanted me dead they why am I still alive?" Shirou pointed out confused. "They had me right where they wanted me, so why waste time on torture?"

"The lingering spirit isn't something that can easily be destroyed like that." Azazel told him. "Even if you kill the current vessel he can still move to a different source, like another member of your family or something to that extent, so they didn't want to take that chance. In order to completely destroy it, they had to make the vessel awaken and thus bind the spirit to the vessel before killing him. The torture was needed to break you in order to trigger the awakening."

Shirou then clenched his fist and placed a hand over his chest. "But why did the power only come out then? If I could've just come brought it out sooner, then I could've gotten to Mika before she was tortured." He then looked down at the floor. "And maybe… I might've reached Mom and Dad in time."

"My guess is that it was deliberate." Azazel guessed, getting Shirou's attention. "At the end of the day, Shirōu Amakusa is the one who decides if he comes out or not. He most likely could have awakened sooner but chose to wait until he deemed when he could truly claim your body without a struggle, and that ended up being the same time everything took a downward spiral."

Shirou bit his lip so hard it almost cut the skin. "…Damn it." Part of him wanted to scream, but he held it in.

"Fortunately he wasn't able to take over your body that day." Azazel added, like a consolation. "While you were in the hospital, not only did I change your memory, I also placed a seal on you. It was a seal designed to inhibit uncontrollable power, it wasn't full proof but it was the best that could be done at the time. Since your awakening was premature it worked. But now that the seal is broke it can't be resealed."

"I know that much already." Shirou told him. "That's what the other me told me before he disappeared."

"And for the last thing you wanted to know; the ones who captured you." Azazel said, with a displeased expression. "They are known as the Old Satan Faction."

Shirou blinked, not familiar with that name. "Old Satan? What's that mean?"

Shirou knew of the Great King Faction led by the Bael Clan and the Devil King Faction led by the Four Satan's and that both Faction more or less ruled the Underworld, but he'd never heard a word about this Old Satan Faction.

"If you want details, ask Rias Gremory or anyone else who had knowledge of the history of the Underworld." Azazel stretched out his arms and got comfortable in his seat. "Now then, I've done what I had intended so I'm done. If you don't have any more questions, feel free to go home."

"I have one more question; The most important question." Shirou said, looking serious. "Why were you even involved in any of this? These Old Satan Faction guys had a grudge against my parents and they wanted to destroy the other me so they targeted me and my Sister, but when it all ended you showed up, and you not only rewrote our memories, you sealed the other me. So why would you do all that, what does any of this has to do with the Fallen Angel's top Leader?"

"I had a feeling you'd ask me that." Azazel didn't seem bothered by his question. "All I was doing was repaying a debt."

"A debt?" Shirou repeated, not understanding.

"The truth is those two actually helped me out once." Azazel confessed. "Even though they worked for the Church they didn't follow the same mindset as them, that's why they didn't think of every Fallen Angel or Devil as their enemies before even meeting them, somewhat like you. And so they did me a small favor in the past that was a big help and I owed them one. So when you two were captured they decided to cash in their favor."

"Then, they asked you for help?" Shirou guessed.

"Actually, they asked for one thing; if they happened to not survive they wanted me to make sure their kids would get out of all this safe." Azazel informed him. "They knew if someone like me got involved in a matter between Devils in order to help former High-Ranking warriors of the Church, with the War still fresh on everyone's minds, it would only cause huge problems." He explained, with a frown. "So I waited until it was over and wiped away your memories, they wanted you two to go on living without knowing of any of this."

"Then why did you fix my memories?" Shirou still questioned.

"Your Father asked me to do this; if you two ever did get involved with the supernatural he wanted me to tell you the truth." Azazel told him. "If living a safe life was no longer possible, then at the very least you two deserved the truth."

Shirou then became silent. This was all so much to take in, yet he knew he couldn't deny any of what he has learnt. All he could do was take his leave and so he turned around, headed for the door and opened it. Before walking through it he stopped.

"Are you going to fix Mika's memories?" Shirou asked quietly.

"The spell placed on you two is connected after I fixed yours, her memories will come back naturally in less than half a day." Azazel explained. "Just tell her everything I told you and her memories will be restored by the time you're done."

Shirou didn't respond and closed the door behind him.

---

Night had fallen over the town and Shirou had quietly made his way back home. He walked in through the door and went to the living room, his eye-lids were half-closed and his shoulders were slumped, he resembled a man who had just returned from drinking at a bar after finishing a long, gruelling day of work. The house was dead silent and no one seemed to be around. No one except Mika sitting on the couch who seemed to be typing on her phone.

Mika noticed his approach and smiled. "Hey, you're back."

"Yeah." Shirou gave a tired response.

Mika's smile dropped when she noticed the state he was in. "Did you go out drinking? What happened, you only come home like this when you've got something weighing on your mind."

She looked a little worried and Shirou just let out a sigh. "Is anyone else here?"

Mika shook her head. "Just me, Asia's out doing her Devil work, so she won't be back a little while."

"That's good." Shirou then went over to the couch and sat down. "There's… There's something I need to tell you."

---

That's the chapter. The starts things off this chapter was mainly me taking care of everything I felt was leftover from previous events so now we can focus on moving forward. The first on that list was Koneko, it really wouldn't make sense for her to just be okay and be her usual self after seeing Senjutsu which trigger her trauma, so I made her just able to hold it in until the battle was over and afterwards the effects hit home. Plus one of the main reasons why I had Ren's identity hidden for so long was so I could set this up. In Devil Reborn, Shirou helped Koneko overcome her turmoil with Senjutsu sooner than the canon and they became really close after that, so I decided to follow that course of action in my version.

The second was Rias. A lot of you seemed upset that Rias left Shirou to be killed and got off scot-free so I decided to bring it up here. Plus when Rias confessed and Shirou described what he believe she felt, for me, that's what I think of her feelings for Issei and all other OC's that replace Issei in other fanfic, all they do is just basically everything Issei said and did just with minor differences and Rias falls for them the same way, which gives you the idea that she fell in love with the actions rather than the specific person.

To avoid that I made their relationship different. Every other OC Protagonist that's paired with Rias usually falls for her first and just blows to her, so it's typically "I love Rias" or "I live to serve Rias". My character wasn't either of those and instead, made her fall for him first. Plus her reasons for falling for him were beyond just saving her. And him beating her up was something I added for all you readers out there who wanted something like that.

As for the Lemon, I figured I might as well just add it to let everyone understand exactly where the two of them stand with each other. Shirou and Aika's relationship is simply one of mutual casualness and pleasure, they just care about doing what they are comfortable with without worrying about morals or commitments. That was also my first time ever writing a Lemon and I don't plan on doing this often, so don't expect much.

Finally the last bit of this chapter. It's finally been revealed, who tortured Shirou and gave him and Mika their scars as well as killing their parents; the Old Satan Faction. I had always planned on making them the ones because considering they are hardcore traditionalists on the ways of the Old Devils it would make sense that they would want to kill the bloodline of the most prominent Christian in Japan. Plus it sets them up as more meaningful enemies for Shirou and Mika, especially Shalba.

And I had Azazel be the one who saved them back then as well had him reveal the truth to Shirou because I figured out of all the people in the supernatural world he is the one who is the best at working behind the scenes so it wasn't hard at all putting him in this role. When it comes to Shirou's parents though, at first I wanted to give them a full backstory that was a chapter-long, but it was much harder to put it together than I thought, I had some ideas but I just couldn't make them come together, so I decided to just cut to the chase and show you what you needed to see.

Now the story will be moving forward to the Betrayal of Peace Arc in the next chapter and It'll be a wild Arc

Anyways thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, if you want more then be sure to leave a review if you like the story than click the follow/favorite, and as always have an awesome day.