Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or Highschool DxD, or any of its characters.
There are times when people choose to ignore others.
Taking no notice of their pain, disregarding them, or even standing by due to indecision.
That sickened me, oh so much.
What was even more unbearable was when I was forced to do so myself.
When I could have done something, yet couldn't take action
It made me feel like I was failing at my own existence.
Chapter 23:
Questions and more questions
Griselda Quarta was not sure how her day would play out when she first woke up this morning. After the disaster that was the Paris mission, she was immediately called back to the Vatican and placed on standby until further orders.
That wasn't a problem in itself since she honestly felt the need for a break. Yet despite that, she kept herself busy with various tasks, trying not to let her mind wander and dwell on recent events. That being said, today she decided to do some research in the Vatican's archives to pass time.
She did not know how the rest of her day would turn out after that, but she certainly was not expecting it to lead to her current predicament of sitting across and drinking tea with Cardinal Vasco Strada.
Griselda couldn't help but feel a bit anxious despite their history together. The man in front of her was regarded as a living legend in the church, venerated for his many heroic deeds from the past till the present.
Also, it may not have helped that in addition to that Vasco Strada, the number two ranked Exorcist of the Church, was a man of incredibly imposing presence that would likely terrify your average bystander.
While his old age could be seen on his wrinkled face and grey hair, his body was one that made people question his age. Standing easily two meters tall with a muscular body that puts to shame those of a professional bodybuilder. He possessed a thick neck, thick chest, thick arms, and legs with a girth that may have exceeded Griselda's waist.
More often than not, the man intimidated people unintentionally by his very image which then led to awkward conversations afterward.
Being so much larger than regular people may seem cool to some, but it was more trouble than it was worth, especially (though not limited) to getting clothes, everything he wore had to be tailor-made.
Vasco himself was sitting behind his desk, a specially commissioned one since the old man could hardly fit behind a regular one.
With a creak in his seat, Vasco locked his hands and rested his chin on them. "Would you care for some snacks?"
Griselda shook her head. "No, thank you."
"Very well." The old man nodded and crinkled his eyes taking on a gentle look, the tone of his voice being one of compassion, going straight to the point. "So tell me, Griselda, do you want to talk about what happened on your last mission?"
The female exorcist maintained a neutral expression and shook her head from side to side once more, yet she avoided eye contact. She should have seen this coming, her old mentor could always tell when something was bothering her. "There's nothing to talk about, it wasn't anything new to our line of work."
The elder church warrior remained stoic as he observed the blue-eyed nun, from his knowledge this was not the first time his former disciple had experienced loss, but this was the first time she had lost her entire team.
"Just because it isn't, doesn't mean it should be something we accept," he stated.
"No… we shouldn't."
"Take it from an old man that's been in it for a while, it's not a weakness or a sin to allow ourselves to mourn for the loss of our comrades." He explained softly. "Your superiors would have understood if you would've requested some time off."
He understood more than anyone how difficult their chosen path in life was at times.
The old man vividly recalls when he first started his journey as an exorcist and new to being a man of the cloth. The division he trained in and fought alongside started with about fifty members in its ranks.
Some of their names he couldn't recall, but he could still picture their faces in his mind. Young men and women, barely past children really, training till their bodies broke and fighting until the last heartbeat against their sworn enemies.
One by one they left this world and before he knew it he was the last of them. Out of his generation, he was the only one that actually managed to reach old age.
Losing comrades is never easy.
All one could do was hold onto the memories and find the strength to move forward.
"While I understand your concerns, I couldn't just sit idly by." The nun said softly. "Especially after I heard about the robbery that took place."
The Cardinal priest raised a curious eyebrow. "... I see, you found out about the theft of the Holy swords."
"For good or ill my ward and her friend aren't very good at keeping secrets." She admitted with mixed feelings.
There was a moment of silence as Vasco contemplated. "How much did you find out?"
"Not enough, I know the broad strokes, but hardly anything concrete."
The giant old man leaned back in his chair and a loud crack echoed, Griselda, being unsure if it were from the chair or the elder's bones.
"I'm not surprised, the investigation is still underway and quite frankly all of the Vatican is on edge." He elaborated, locking his fingers together once more. "Many of our top exorcists have been called back and put on standby in case anything else major occurs."
That much Griselda figured out by herself, she barely finished her call with Xenovia before she received a new one, this time from her superiors, ordering her to return to the Vatican immediately. At first, she considered that it may have been because of her mission failure but she shortly realized it was another matter entirely.
Even now she couldn't believe what she heard.
The theft of the Excalibur fragments.
One of the Holy church's most sacred treasures, holy swords forged from the shattered remains of the legendary Excalibur itself.
Six of them were divided between the three major branches of the Holy Church. Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant, each of them possessing two swords.
With the seventh one currently lost to time and unaccounted for.
Weapons of such power that they were very difficult to replicate or even come close to.
And ironically with very few that could truly harness their power.
Whether there was a special requirement or the will of the swords themselves, finding a person capable of wielding even one of them was extremely difficult. It was because of this that at times there were only a few wielders present with each generation.
As such the swords that were without an owner remained locked away until people with the potential to wield them appeared.
While there have been attempts in the past to steal them, no one had previously succeeded, for they were one of the Church's most guarded possessions.
The shock of the robbery had rocked the Church to its very foundation.
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around who could've stolen those swords," Griselda muttered, massaging her temples. "A single one is concerning as it is, but three of them..."
"I can understand your concern, but the nature of these robberies aren't quite as simple as you may believe," Vasco interjected and further elaborated. "The crime scenes were examined quite thoroughly, and it wasn't the work of some random thief. It was far too clean for a robbery, the ones involved knew of the location of the fragments and even the security placed around them."
Before the nun could comment, Vasco cut her off and gave more context. "They had someone on their side who knew the ins and outs of the vaults, not only that, the magical locks placed on them were opened normally, not forced, meaning that they had proper credentials to open them, and only the high echelon of the church have access to them."
Griselda took a moment and let this all sit in, a glare beginning to burn in her eyes. "Is that why there's so much chaos in the Vatican, they are looking for a traitor among our ranks?"
"Yes, and that is another reason why so many of the high-ranking exorcists were called back. Some of us, including myself, had access to the vaults so they are trying to check our alibis."
"This is preposterous." She spat in indignation, if that were the case she shouldn't even have been called back since she didn't have any clearance to the vaults.
"Indeed it is, but it is currently our only lead to finding the culprits. However, there is another element that we are blatantly ignoring." The elder remarked grimly and took out of his desk a picture, passing it to Griselda. "This was found at one of the vaults."
"A fallen angel feather?" The blue-eyed nun muttered in mild shock, recognizing the item from previous encounters. "The fallen are involved in this?"
"It would seem so, but the investigation team is focusing on finding the traitor rather than the owner of the feather first."
As much as Griselda wanted to be angry at this revelation, she did have to admit this alone was hardly enough evidence. "That may be the case, but I believe it would be far easier to discover the traitor than locate some unknown fallen angel."
A grim sigh escaped the older man's lips. "This isn't some random fallen angel Griselda."
There was a cold shiver running down Griselda's back as she heard this, a foreboding feeling approaching her. "How would you know your eminence?
"Because I fought against the owner of this feather many years ago. I would recognize it anywhere."
"If you do, why didn't you report it to the investigation team?"
"I did, but those fools believe it isn't conclusive enough proof." Vasco sighed in mild annoyance. "They believe it was planted there to trick us to focus on the fallen instead of our own ranks."
"To be fair to them though, angels in general often shed feathers when they reveal their wings. It's rather easy to procure one and plant it somewhere to incriminate one of them." replied the younger exorcist.
Griselda herself recalled cases where devils would plant fallen angel feathers at the areas where they were conducting their nefarious schemes, misdirecting the exorcist that would come to investigate with a false lead.
It may have sounded like a stupid trick, but it worked more often than she'd like to admit.
Sadly, the Cardinal had another opinion entirely on the matter. "That may be true, but I personally believe that the investigation team is in denial out of fear rather than inconsistency."
"Fear?" Griselda muttered that word with a hint of uncertainty, her skin turning pale as realization dawned on her. She was praying she was wrong. "Your eminence, who does the feather belong to?"
A grim look made its way on the old exorcist's face, the wrinkles on his face deepening as he spoke. "The angel of stars."
"Kokabiel?!" The shock wasn't enough to describe the state she was in, her eyes were shaking in her head. "One of the cadre's of Grigori?!"
It all made sense now, why the investigation team was afraid to point fingers at him. A simple traitor among them was honestly a preferred outcome in comparison to this.
This wasn't just some small-time mook, but one of the Fallen's top brass.
If the devils had their Ultimate class, and the angel had the Seraphim caste, then the fallen angels had the Cadre.
If a being of such power was indeed behind this robbery, then the situation at hand just got that much worse.
"The very same." Vasco nodded, his face a grim mask. "You can imagine why people are anxious to start pointing fingers at him. The mere idea that he may be the one behind all of this terrifies them and they are hoping his feather being there is just a setup."
Old bones cracked as Vasco's fingers tightened. "However, knowing what kind of man Kokabiel is, he may be planning something big involving those swords, something to break the current status quo we are currently in."
A deep breath was heard and Griselda leaned back on her chair, trying to wrap her mind around all of this. "I don't understand, why would he need the Excalibur fragments for that?"
"I thought about that myself, as to why would Kokabiel steal the fragments. I believe I have a good grasp of his personality and while normally he has little to no interest in magical relics of any kind. My guess is that they are just means to an end for him, some kind of a piece in a far larger scheme. He needs to create a situation with such an impact that will stir the pot for all, not a mere squirmish between the church and the Grigori. "
This wasn't the first time this fallen angel tried to instigate enough chaos to make the Great War reignite. His last attempt was during World War II, trying to use different supernatural groups to back up and help the humans expand their little war. Encouraging the Germans to dive more into the occult. The Church had a nightmare of a time covering up certain events, keeping the supernatural hidden from the general public.
It hardly mattered if the humans were off killing each other, they've been doing that practically since the beginning of civilization, but if other supernatural factions were to get involved, it drastically changed things.
Needless to say, Kokabiel and his cohorts at the time had to be stopped before things truly got out of hand, and a young Vasco Strada was among the men that were tasked with that very mission.
In the end, they succeeded, Vasco fought tooth and nail against the Fallen managing to corner the very angel of stars himself forcing him to retreat and abandon his plan.
From there onwards, Vasco had been heralded as a hero by many generations of exorcists to come, but the old man only saw it as pointless admiration.
Stopping him though wasn't as easy as others believed it involved many missions and fights before they actually reached the fallen angel, and the fight with him was hardly a walk in the park.
Back then, while he may have been in his prime, he didn't yet quite have the lifetime of experience he was now possessed, nor did he have the skill and patience with the sword he honed over the years.
There were certain points on which he outclassed Kokabiel, but he was cocky, he was brash, and he made many mistakes.
Many lives were lost that may not have been needed to be, while many more were injured.
Vasco himself had a couple of scars left by the warmongering angel that still ached to this day.
He knows first hand how crafty Kokabiel is and his involvement in this theft gave him a nasty feeling of dread.
Whatever his plan was, it mustn't be allowed to come to fruition.
"I can presume what will happen once the investigation is concluded and realize that I was right. Several exorcists will be dispatched to different areas of risk where the fragments could be used to cause a massive tragedy." The old church warrior explained to Griselda. "I myself will most likely be dispatched to protect the Pope."
There was a pause as a frown soon made its way on the old man's face. "Also this may be just speculation on my part, but I may have an idea regarding Kokabiel's accomplice."
A bitter taste invaded the nun's mouth, beginning to see a pattern. "Let me guess, you have no concrete evidence and the investigation team won't consider it either."
"Indeed." Vasco agreed in equal disappointment. "In any case, I looked into the matter myself, and most of the personnel that had clearance to the vaults have been accounted for, and if their alibis do in fact turn true, none of the current members of the church could have done it."
"That could only mean that a person who was once part of the church and possessed clearance to the vaults could have opened them. That was why I was in the archives myself, I was looking over old records to see if there was anyone who could match this profile."
Vasco pulled a file case out of his garbs, Griselda noting how small it appeared in the man's very large hands. "Only one man was found."
Carefully Griselda picked the file and began reading its contents, her hands starting to crush the file case as she saw the name of the person, a murderous sneer ruining her beautiful face. "Valper Galilei… The genocidal Bishop?!"
She was seething at just hearing the name by itself, hearing that the maniac had resurfaced and was behind this theft made her want to stab something. "H-How would a monster like him still have clearance for our vaults?!"
"I can see your outrage Griselda but take a deep breath," Vasco instructed, and thankfully she obliged. There were very few things that could enrage his former student like this, but in this case, he understood the reason behind it. "Good. I'm sure you remember the scandal that took place years ago regarding Galilei."
"Remember, I was one step away from going on a full-blown manhunt for him." Her voice dripped with venom. "His inhuman experiments, the desecration that he committed under the name of God. I could never forgive him for what he had done."
Griselda was no saint, she understood that sometimes difficult choices must be made, and when it comes to trying to reach new heights in the fields of mysticism and science, morally questionable decisions were often made in order to get results.
However, Valper Galilei was far worse than that. Once he no longer had use for his 'volunteers' he simply disposed of them.
Most of his subjects were children, ones that likely had bright futures in front of them if only they lived.
Perhaps what truly made Griselda seeth with so much anger was that at one point Valper had requested Xenovia to be part of the program he was upholding once he realized how much potential she had.
Griselda shivered at what could've happened if she gave in to the madman's insistence and influence at the time.
"While I share your feelings regarding the man, I do have to give him credit for being a crafty fellow," Vasco remarked offhandedly. "We were successful in capturing him, however, he managed to escape right before his trial. It is for that reason why he still was in possession of clearance to the vault. The people who are allowed access have the required clearance spiritually inscribed to their bodies. Because he escaped before the trial was concluded, we were unable to strip him of his qualifications. "
"Just how lucky can that snake be?" The vexed woman groaned.
"Very much it seems." The Cardinal priest sighed. "If my theory is right, Galilei is working under Kokabiel in mutual interest. Both of them had what the other needed in order to secure the fragments. Kokabiel had the raw power required to reach the vaults, while Galilei had the clearance needed to open them. "
At first glance, the robbery may seem like the result of incompetence on the Church's part, but the way it was dealt with was rather ingenious. The time the investigation team is wasting looking for a traitor among their ranks is nothing but a wild goose chase that is giving the thieves enough time to cover their tracks.
"What their next step is, remains to be seen."
"I can only pray your theory is wrong, your eminence," Griselda muttered and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Those two madmen working together will most likely lead to an unspeakable tragedy. Still, if a being of Kokabiel's level of power is truly behind this, couldn't he have just forced open the vaults?"
"That would've been counterproductive," the Cardinal remarked. "The vaults are enchanted, if one were to attempt to force them open the contents of the vaults would be teleported to different secure locations."
"But how would Kokabiel be aware of this inform-" The nun paused, the answer immediately dawning on her, the fallen was working with a man that knew the inner workings of the Church. "Galilei."
"Another reason why I'm certain he is involved in this."
"No wonder the Vatican is in such chaos."
It was confusing at first, but now everything was falling into place. The fact that their superiors were choosing to stay ignorant instead of taking the proper action was all the more infuriating.
"Sadly, it is what it is." The old man leaned on his desk, a look of disappointment present in his eyes. "We were caught off guard and it's now spiraling out of control. I myself was just about to embark on a plane to Japan when I was called back here."
"Japan?" Griselda blinked confused. "Were you assigned a mission there?"
From her knowledge the church hardly dispatched her old mentor on the field all that much these days, not because he was too old but because it was best to keep one of their strongest weapons nearby in case something major were to occur.
This also gave room for the younger generation exorcists to go and gain experience as they can't keep on relying on their predecessors forever.
That being said, Vasco Strada being assigned a mission meant only one thing, that's there something or someone that must be utterly destroyed.
It was for reasons like this that the old man was given the moniker 'Violence of Heaven'.
"No, it was a personal trip." A sharp glare formed into the exorcist's eyes. "I was on my way to repair a mistake our house had committed."
"That being?" Griselda's skepticism reflected in her tone. With how things have been going recently it felt like it was getting hard to keep track of the many mistakes the Church had made.
"You did hear about the recent scandal involving a holy maiden healing a devil?"
That question struck a chord within the blue-eyed nun, the dhampir Andreea words replaying in her head.
"It would have been hard not to hear about Asia Argento and what she did." Her brow creased for a moment before becoming confused. "Wait, you tried to go to Japan and find her?"
A sorrowful nod was his response which only made Griselda's confusion grow even more.
"Why?" she spoke in bewilderment. "She was branded as a heretic and excommunicated."
"Yes, but that happened strangely fast." He straightened himself and locked his fingers once more. "Tell me, Griselda, how do our trials usually go? Does it take long for a verdict to be made?"
"It depends." she reached and cupped her chin in thought, recalling the trials she participated in. "Even if it's an open and shut case, it should take at least two or three hearings before a permanent verdict is declared. If it's a complicated case with many variables involved it can take several hearings to come to a definitive verdict."
"Yet in the case of Asia Argento, everything was solved within a single hearing." His fingers tightened into a firm grip, Griselda saw past her mentor's stoic mask and sensed his anger. Before the older exorcist continued. "They judged and excommunicated her immediately."
"No matter how you look at it, this was quite an unusual case. Asia Argento was within church territory when the incident took place and was also guarded at all times. So how is it that she just so happened to stumble upon a wounded devil that was in need of her assistance, at the exact moment when her guards just so happened to take a break?"
A flat line became Griselda's lips. "You believe she was framed?"
"I just looked at the facts that the jury refused to even consider in their rush to excommunicate the young girl." He pulled out another file case from his robe and placed it on his desk. "When things didn't add up I started investigating the matter myself."
"I found so many inconsistencies that it's almost insulting. She just happened to be sent to help in a remote church territory when up to this point she had dispatched in highly secured locations, the guards assigned to her that day were not her usual ones, the wards in the area were triggered yet no one went to investigate it and they happened to check on her at the exact moment she was in the process of her healing the wounded devil that seemingly appeared from nowhere and also escapes all pursuit."
This had conspiracy written all over it and yet no one did a thing to help the poor girl!
Vasco considered himself a man of patience and understanding, but there were simply some things he couldn't keep a blind eye towards, and this whole situation made his blood boil.
"While I understand your revulsion to how her case was handled, it doesn't change the fact that she healed a devil with her sacred gear, she used God's gift to heal our sworn enemy. "
"She used our Father's gift as it was meant to be used, to help those in need. It may have been used on a devil which I might add could have tricked her into doing it, another point no one questioned, but she did what she thought was her duty."
The sacred gears were the blessing granted by the Almighty Father for mankind. Those who inherited them had the choice to decide how they shall use the gift.
They had the choice to use it for themselves or to help those in need, not because others dictated so for them, but because it was what their hearts decided, but very few made that choice.
Throughout the centuries, history had shown sacred gear users tended to cause more harm than good with their gift from God, that's common knowledge, but there were a handful of virtuous souls that used their gifts for the sake of others.
Asia Argento was one of those few.
And this was how she was being repaid for the kindness that she has shown.
"I followed her career as a holy maiden. Until that point that was her one and only mistake, other than that, she healed and saved many others. If she did deserve punishment for her actions, it would be a harsh scolding, perhaps some form of penance if you wanted to push the issue but not ex-communication."
He picked up her file and stared at it longingly with eyes full of regret.
"I gathered enough evidence to reopen the case with a proper investigation and trial." His fingers tightened and crushed the file, his tired eyes drifting down in shame. "Yet, I didn't act when it mattered... I'm too late."
"How so?" his former disciple asked.
After letting go of the file he closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "I have connections here and there, a couple of good ears in our enemy's ranks. They tipped me off that Asia Argento had made contact with the Fallen and was taken under their protection."
"If she is truly as innocent as you claim, I'm sure that if you were to talk with her you could convince her to return for a proper trial." Griselda tried to point out, while it may be difficult, it wasn't too late. "Though the Grigori may not be so open to handing her over since she possessed a rare sacred gear. Their leader Azazel was someone who could be reasoned with."
"If that were the case, it would have been so much simpler." The Cardinal narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glow present in them. "Just today I received a report from one of my informants on the devil's side. Asia Argento has been registered as a Bishop under Rias Gremory."
"... I see," Griselda muttered in disappointment, if her former master was right, it only made this event even more tragic. "No matter what you do now, it will mean little."
Throughout the history of the church, there have been various cases of humans losing their humanity, transforming into something else entirely. But while there were many such cases, very few were able to regain their humanity once it was lost.
In addition to that, from her own understanding, there was no way to undo the conversion done by the Evil pieces even if the person wants to regain their humanity.
And at the end of the day, even if there was a means to revert the effects of the Evil Pieces if such a method did exist, it was most certainly a closely guarded secret. After all, this could destabilize the devil's already unstable society.
As much as the pure-blooded devils hate to admit it, their low birth late forced them to be dependent on the Evil Piece system in order to replenish their ranks.
That being said in the eyes of the church, once you become a devil, there's no coming back.
"Yes, even if she was framed, her being converted into a devil would make people believe otherwise. The pieces were all set in motion from the start." The old man spoke solemnly, for once his expression made him look every bit his age. "Her fall from grace, her ex-communication and branding as a heretic, and now joining the devils. No matter how you look at it everything points to it being true. Even if I were to find the devil that caused all of this and make him confess before a jury that it was all his fault, it will be for nothing. What's done is done."
Once more, he found himself unable to act when it mattered. The bitter taste of regret lingering in his mouth, his fists itching to hit something.
The only solace he could find is that Asia Argento was still alive. He knows not of what awaits her, but there was still hope left, one last lingering bit of it.
"I can only pray for her soul and hope that she will find happiness even as a devil."
Griselda closed her eyes and breathed out, trying to get some order to her thoughts. "... For a long time I have had a hard time putting my faith in the church, but the more we talked the more I realized I had reason to do so."
"Never forget what I taught you many years ago Griselda. It is not the church that we offer our prayers and faith to, it's the Almighty One." The Cardinal stated solemnly, he understood Griselda's point of view, and he could not fault her for it, he himself can see the flaws of the house he serves, but just like he mentioned, his faith lies with God, not those that claim to represent Him. "How about we change the subject, for now, I think we talked enough about depressing matters for one day."
"That would be nice." The blue-eyed nun nodded tiredly.
"Mhm," Vasco recalled their initial meeting today, growing somewhat curious. "So tell me, my dear, what were you researching in the archives when I found you?"
"I was looking to see if we had any files of a man that I met in Paris on my last mission." The admittance on her part felt strained, the nun still feeling sore about how it all turned out. "He was a rather intriguing fellow both in powers and personality, but I felt like I've heard his name somewhere but couldn't quite recall where."
"So you wanted to see if we had anything on him?" asked the Cardinal, his curiosity lightly piqued.
"Yes, but I just wasn't able to find anything under the name Emiya-"
"Did you just say Emiya?" Vasco cut her off, his body stiffening the moment he heard the name was uttered. "You encountered that man?"
Griselda on her part was quite surprised that the exorcist reacted this way in response. "I take it you know of him?"
"Not exactly." He mused, narrowing his eyes as he recalled. "I had a chance encounter with him a while back and though we hardly exchanged any words I could tell just by looking into his eyes that he was an indecipherable man. I've met men like him in the past, they are far more dangerous and unpredictable than devils."
Vasco wouldn't lose in a fight if it were to come down to it, that much he could tell easily. Yet, it was the look he saw in the man's eyes that made the exorcist tread lightly around him. To this day he did not understand how a man could possess such a cold machine-like gaze, hollow of emotions, yet could still feel that there was a person behind those empty eyes of his.
Whether what he saw was the true nature of the man or perhaps something he adopted as a mask, he couldn't be sure.
One thing he was certain of, Emiya Kiritsugu terrified him, more than any devil or monster out there he had encountered.
"... Was he really like that?" Griselda muttered strangely baffled by the way the young man in her mind was described. "He seemed a bit awkward at times, but overall a good person. There was a kindness in his eyes."
"He was?" Her mentor's eyes blinked a couple of times. "Strange... those black eyes of his conveyed many things, but none of that."
"Black eyes…?" The nun tilted her head as she pictured the boy's face in her mind. "His eyes were the hue of golden-brown almost amber."
There was a long moment of silence and Vasco's lips turned into a flat line, something wasn't adding here. "Griselda, is the man you are talking about named Emiya Kiritsugu?"
"Kiritsugu?... No, he said his name is Shirou."
"Shirou, you say…?"
"Yes, he was there looking for Loup Garou, our hired tracker." The nun further elaborated. "While I don't know the details behind it, he said he was there representing Sona Sitri."
"Sona Sitri, the sister of the current Levithan," Vasco muttered, trying to draw parallels with what he knew. "Something is quite curious here, another man by the name of Emiya, one with connections to one of the Maou. This can't just be a mere coincidence."
Both sharing the same name, it could be a coincidence.
Both from the same country, also a mere coincidence.
However, both of them possessing affiliations to the Maou's?
That was too much to be a simple coincidence.
Griselda was also beginning to see what the older warrior was getting at.
"Who is this Kritisugu Emiya?"
"Very few know him by his name, most know him by the moniker of 'Magus Killer', he's quite elusive, to say the least. A very meticulous and efficient mercenary that appeared out of nowhere eight or nine years ago and was responsible for bringing down some of the most wanted criminals in the underworld."
"If he is that well known, how come I couldn't find anything on him?" Asked the female exorcist.
No matter how much she searched there simply wasn't anything under that name, if he was truly such a dangerous individual, then there should have been at least a mention of him.
That is of course unless information about him was confidential.
Which then opened a whole new can of worms entirely. Ugh… suddenly her head was beginning to hurt.
"He works in the shadows. He may be the one physically responsible for the downfall of many dangerous criminals but he does it under the table so to speak, the credit usually goes to those that contracted him."
That did make sense for the nun. In order to avoid connections to the murder, many people in a high position or power often employ others to handle their dirty work rather than take care of it themselves, in spite of how much they would enjoy killing their enemies personally.
While that was true, it wasn't anything new. This has been a practice practically since antiquity.
"So what makes him so special compared to other mercenaries, because last time I checked that field was rather large."
Vasco leaned in his seat, understanding Griselda's point. "Well, besides his rather 'extreme' methods of securing his targets, it's his selectivity when it comes to who he kills."
"Selectivity?"
"While I do not know of every person that was brought down by that man, the ones that I do know of were people of high interest. Serial killers, black market dealers, human traffickers, old-Maou regime extremists, and so on. People who can represent a threat to not only underworld society but the human one as well."
And that wasn't going into detail regarding some of the methods the man used. While they were brilliant in context, they were not methods that one faint of heart could put into practice.
Then again, those faint of heart normally can't stomach murder, even if it was for the greater good.
"Odd… you would think that someone like him would be very well known."
"As I said, he keeps a low profile." he mused and almost chuckled at his own remark. It was common practice that most involved with the supernatural make sure they don't allow civilians from learning of their existence.
Still, one had to be very thorough in order to keep themselves hidden from the many factions and organizations of the supernatural world.
Or have someone of high enough influence and power make sure that information about them gets suppressed.
Vasco pressed his index and middle fingers together against his temple, rubbing it slowly as he tried to make some sense of what he knew. "What's strange is that he seems to work primarily for Sirzechs Lucifer himself, but he also seems to take jobs for other people of high interest. I heard some rumors that he often does dealings with Azazel of the Grigori."
What the old exorcist couldn't make sense of was what Emiya Kiritsugu gained in all of this was. He certainly did not seem like the kind of man that was driven by a thirst for wealth or power.
So what was it?
"Could he be a sacred gear user?" Griselda asked, feeling somewhat anxious the more she learned of this man. "I do hear that the Grigori have been recruiting many of them the past few years."
For years the tide of power between the Angels, Fallen Angels, and Devils has been constantly shifting all because of the sacred gear users, but within the last few decades especially it fluctuated violently.
From what Griselda was aware of, with each new generation the number of sacred gear users that would awaken was minuscule one, never passing by a two-digit mark, yet the current generation had a disturbingly high number of people awakening their sacred gears, the number long passed the hundreds.
"I highly doubt it." Vasco pondered on it for a moment. "Perhaps Azazel hired him to procure him sacred gears, I do hear that he was also responsible for bringing down some dangerous wielders."
"That is a possibility… I also heard that Azazel recently put together an assault team called 'Slash/dog' who are often tasked with bringing in dangerous sacred gear users."
It didn't help that the leader of the said team was a Longinus user himself, further tipping the balance of power to the Grigori's advantage.
Truly, Azazel was a shrewd individual despite his apparent easy-going nature. If God forbid another war would be ignited between the angels, fallen angels, and devils, the Grigory would have an unprecedented advantage with the number of sacred gears they had collected and users that they recruited throughout the years.
Though that alone was already concerning, it was a matter for another time.
"In any case… I do not believe this is a coincidence." Griselda crossed her arms under her breasts inadvertently causing them to pop out even more as she leaned back in her seat, staring aimlessly at the ceiling. "Whatever it may be, there is a connection between the two men. Could they be related perhaps?"
"Hard to say, only time will tell," Vasco grumbled, half annoyed, it was unknown variables like these that ended up becoming a real pain in the future, he knew that first hand from personal experience. "If this Shirou is anything like Kiritsugu, he will be a difficult man to pin down."
Griselda observed the older man in front of her for a bit, collecting her thoughts on the young man they were talking about before speaking up.
"I'm not sure what to think to be honest, while he did possess some impressive combat prowess, he was rather unpolished in many ways, he may be a promising fighter but still an amateur overall."
The wrinkles around Vasco's eyes deepened, a small frown taking over. The more he thought about it, the more questions would arise. Questions he knew he would not get an answer until he met this 'Shirou' face to face and see with his own eyes just what kind of person he really is.
If the theory about him and Kiritsugu being related in some manner are true, it only further complicated things.
Just what kind of secrets does this Emiya family possess?
My left eye was twitching as I stared long and hard at the opposite side of the table, the sight before me making me unable to enjoy my breakfast.
I tried my best to ignore it, believe me, I tried, but what I was seeing was something I simply couldn't act like didn't exist.
I placed my chopsticks down, causing a small click from the table, gathering the attention from the others present.
With a deep inhale I spoke. "Iri…?"
"Yes, sweety?" She asked with a dazzling smile. Her ruby-colored eyes twinkling.
The innocent look she had didn't help, it only served to make my eye twitch even harder. Slowly I raised my hand and pointed at the cause of my distress. "What did you do to my shirt?"
My mother blinked and stared at where I was pointing, at the shirt, my shirt, the very one she was currently wearing. "Oh this, I saw it on a show together with Illya and thought it was super cute. So I made one for myself."
And so she did.
I honestly have no idea what show she could have possibly been watching with Illya but for some reason, she stole one of my shirts and printed a big red square on the chest area that had 'Sugoi Dekai' written on it.
My left eye twitched once more. "Okay… but why are you wearing it?"
"I told you, it's super cute!" She almost squealed in delight and had such a pleased look on her face.
My mind had a hard time computing all of this. "I… you…"
"Let it go."
Honestly, for once I decided to listen to Archer. "... You know what, forget it."
"Oh, don't be like that Shirou, you still have a dozen identical shirts, one less won't kill you." A mischievous glint became present in Iri's eyes, a look that instinctively told me I was screwed. Before I could react Iri tugged on the shirt and slowly started pulling it up. "But if you really want it back that much-"
"No, no, no!" I blurted out in a hurry, shifting my gaze to the ceiling. "You keep it if you like it that much!"
"Really!? Yay!" My mother cheered victoriously, leaving me to stare dumbfounded at her.
"She played you." Leysritt deadpanned.
As much as I wanted to reject that statement, sadly I couldn't deny the truth.
I don't think I ever won an argument against my mother in my life, the woman always knew what buttons to push to make me fall back and surrender.
Then again, it's nothing that strange considering that no one in this house really can win an argument over Iri once she sets her mind to it. Not even my dad.
"That was fast… I expected more of a fight out of you Shirou." Sella followed up with her own remark.
My eyes slowly drifted to the side and I sighed. "Sella, try to imagine what people would think if I wear that shirt now, especially with what's written on it."
There was a visible pause as she pondered over it, red eyes widening as realization dawned on her.
"Oh..." She muttered softly, her cheeks turning slightly red at the thought.
Not sure about others, but I think wearing a shirt that had 'Sugoi dekai (super big)' written on it was just asking for trouble.
Also, I think that this particular shirt is ruined as it is, it's supposed to be a loose shirt and yet it was a rather tight fit on Iri, especially so on her chest. My guess is that she also modified it to be tighter in addition to adding the new logo to it.
That being said, recovering the shirt didn't really mean much considering that I couldn't wear it anymore.
A sigh escaped my lips and I grumpily munched on my rice. This sure wasn't the way I wanted to start my day. It didn't help that earlier aunt Maiya tried teaching me how to drive my motorcycle, which unfortunately didn't quite turn out the way I wanted.
Somehow I didn't take it slowly enough when I tried turning it on and ended up rushing off with it crashing right into the bushes, the rose bushes I might add.
Needless to say, I ended up with thorns in places I don't even want to think about.
Yet, strangely that felt less painful than the previous 'shirt' discussion with my mom.
Illya chuckled half-heartedly next to me. "Sorry Onii-chan, I was the one that asked mama if she wanted to watch the show with me and Miyu, I didn't think she would get that hooked on it."
"It's no big deal Illya, like usual, I just need time to cope with Iri's unpredictable antics."
"I think that's a losing battle…" Sella remarked with a deadpan.
"It sure is." I sadly agreed in a similar tone.
A moment of sympathy and empathy passed between us before my eyes drifted down in my lap as I felt something crawl up my leg, before I knew it a cute white ball of fluff soon took a seat there. "Fou?"
I took a piece of salmon and gave it to the small critter, which he eagerly accepted as he looked around his surroundings in interest. "I know Fou, it takes some getting used to this place."
Bringing Fou home was certainly an experience in itself. It was only when I got back at the front entrance of my house that I realized something, I had never actually asked the others if it would be alright for me to get a familiar and bring it back home.
Sure, considering how I am now involved with the supernatural and it was a good idea to get a familiar. Sella herself mentioned in her lectures how most mages utilize familiars in one way or another, hence me getting one in hindsight was probably a good thing.
Still, I supposed I should have asked or mentioned it first.
The moment I stepped into the house with Fou on my shoulder I received an interesting array of reactions from the different residents at the time.
Iri, Liz, Illya, and Miyu all had their cute switch flipped on and started gushing all over Fou with how adorable and fluffy he is, even the ever serious and stoic Aunt Maiya couldn't help herself and give the furry fellow a couple of pats. Fou, fortunately, seemed to enjoy the attention as he basked in the affection of the women who fawned over him.
About a half an hour later of petting Fou did I finally manage to talk about keeping him here, and much to my own wry amusement, Iri instantly greenlit it. Which, while I did appreciate it, I couldn't help but wonder if she accepted this way too fast.
Just saying, most parents would at least give you a responsibility speech, tell you that you need to properly feed and take care of your pet. Then again, I really shouldn't be complaining about things going smoothly. Plus it wasn't like I didn't have the intention of not doing those things either. So maybe I can take it as my mom simply trusting me.
There was however one member of the house that was less than pleased about this whole ordeal, and that was Sella.
Upon seeing what was now on my lap Sella's mood went sour, her gaze quickly shifting at the matriarch of the house. "I still can't believe you agreed to let that creature in the house."
Iri for one was still smiling innocently.
"Oh, what's the big deal Sella, it's just one small pet." Her beaming smile most likely only further annoyed Sella. "Besides, Illya always wanted one."
The maid was definitely not enjoying the new resident if the way her mouth kept twitching was any evidence. "For one thing it's been shedding a lot of fur on the carpet, and you should see the chew marks on the sofa."
At the incriminating words, Fou shifted in my lap, tilting his head. "Fou…?"
"Don't worry Fou, Sella may seem a bit harsh but she doesn't hate you," I reassured the little fellow, giving a small pat on the head. "Also Sella if you see Fou making a mess just tell me and I'll fix it."
"That's not the point Shirou… " She grunted in annoyance, her expression growing exacerbated as she stared at Fou. "And why did you name it 'Fou' of all things?"
"I had to name him something, and there were no ideas that came to mind."
In spite of saying that, I did actually suggest several names but each time Fou would growl annoyed at each option. It was after about fifty names more or less that I randomly threw in 'Fou' among the suggestions and it was the only one that didn't seem to get a negative response.
It was a long hour, and quite frankly, I wasn't in the mood to keep the naming game going.
"That's like naming a cat 'nya', or a dog 'woof'." the maid deadpanned.
"I'm not very original, I am aware, no need to rub it in." I rolled my eyes, lifting Fou up to my eye level. "Do you want a different name?"
"Fou," it stated seriously.
I then turned back at Sella. "See, he's okay with it."
"You know that hardly confirms anything." The maid muttered in mild annoyance.
I couldn't help but give her a cheeky smile. "I know, but it also doesn't deny anything."
"Fou!" Strangely or not, I believe Fou was agreeing with me.
"Whatever." Sella rolled her eyes, slightly showing admission of defeat. "Just stop feeding him at the table, it's poor manners."
"Yeah, alright," I said while sneaking Fou another piece of salmon.
Fortunately, the rest of the breakfast went by fast without any more shenanigans so I managed to enjoy the rest of my food somewhat.
It wasn't long before I was up and getting ready for school. Just as I finished putting my last book in my bag I heard a knock and turned around to see aunt Maiya leaning against the door frame.
"Are you sure you're up for school?" while she didn't seem overly concerned per se, she did seem mildly curious about my current condition.
"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked.
The rolling of her eyes was telling me she wasn't quite agreeing with me. "You're little bike stunt earlier would make me think otherwise."
"Which was hilarious might I add."
I ignored Archer's jab, as well the memory of him snickering when I crashed earlier. "I just got a few bruises and cuts, nothing to cry over."
It would be completely childish of me to mope over something so small after the amounts of beatings, trashing, stabbings, and other types of miscellaneous wounds I received the past couple of months.
"Just checking." Her shoulders shrugged casually, but her gaze grew much softer. "Be a dear and try to be more careful next time, if you break something you're mother wouldn't let me hear the end of it."
Not only her but me as well, however, what matters most is not making them worry for my sake. "I'll be careful next time."
"Good boy." she smiled softly followed by waving her hand back and forth. "Now off you go, you wouldn't want to keep your friends waiting."
I only nodded in response, taking my backpack and slowly taking off. As I passed the living room I shouted. "I'm off to school, see you all later."
"Take care sweety!"
That was clearly my mom shouting back loudly, likely covering up anyone else that might have attempted to give me a goodbye.
As I was putting on my shoes at the front entrance I felt something soft brush behind my legs, looking down I saw the little fellow staring curiously at me. "Fou?"
I gave him a couple of head pats before standing back up. "Watch the house while I'm gone, okay?"
"Fou!" And just like that my so-called familiar dashed back in the house all excited.
While I wasn't sure how well having Fou as a familiar will turn out in the long run, it was rather nice to have a pet.
Though there was one thing that kept lingering in my mind.
Right before I left the kitchen, I caught a glimpse of Iri shifting her arms under the table.
They were trembling.
In spite of being here before, it was still interesting whenever I entered the perimeter of this building. Up until now, I did wonder how come students never heard or noticed anything strange about it nor bothered to check it out.
I could practically smell the magical energy from the bounded field erected around the area. While I couldn't tell what it did, I assumed it likely caused the people to get confused, making them wander to somewhere else, and forget why they found the building suspicious in the first place. At least that was one of the most standard setups for them explained to me by Sella during my magecraft lessons.
Rather simple if that were the case, but a pretty effective measure to ensure privacy when you consider that it's a building on a school campus. Preventing many young and curious students with too much free time for their own good from looking in or simply hanging around.
Now that I think about it, before I got involved in the supernatural I always found this place curious, to say the least, but never could quite linger whenever I was close to it.
I knocked on the door but there was no response. I knocked again and cracked the door open, checking if there was anyone around. The door was unlocked, so unless they forgot to lock up when they left, they should still be around here.
"Is anyone here?" I called out a bit louder this time and fortunately, I got a response.
"Ara?" The vice president of the ORC peeked her head from one of the backrooms, violet eyes stared at me mildly surprised by my presence. "If it isn't Emiya-kun, what brings you here?"
"Himejima-senpai." I offered her a courtesy nod to the black-haired beauty and brought up the file case I had under my arm. "Nothing much just brought over some papers from Sona."
As the Gremory Queen stepped out, she tilted her head ever so slightly to the side. "Strange, I thought Sona-san said she will bring them over personally."
A dry chuckle escaped my lips, what she was saying was true but as she could see I was the one here. "Something came up and she couldn't come over yet. Don't worry, she will still drop by but will be a bit late, so she thought I would bring over the documents instead and give Gremory-senpai some time to look them over by the time she arrives."
My explanation elicited an amused chuckle from my senior classmate."Classic Sona-san, always micromanaging."
Sad thing was, she wasn't wrong.
"Just a bit." I smiled briefly, an image of Sona dealing with stacks of paper in her office came to my mind.
"Maybe a tad more than 'a bit'." Her tone did hold a bit of teasing to it, though I wasn't sure if it was directed at me or at Sona. The soft laughter didn't last long and she seemed to focus at one of the backdoors in the room. "Rias we have guests!"
Immediately after the shout, another one replied shortly. "Be right there!"
I blinked a couple of times the following moment, right after the Gremory King replied there was some kind of splashing sound that followed. "Was... that water I just heard?
"Oh?" Himejima-senpai didn't seem to be surprised by what I just said, however a large amused smile soon formed on her lips in the following seconds. "Oh right, this is the first time you visited while Rias is relaxing. This will be fun."
I failed to see what she was pointing at. "Fun?"
Before I could further inquire on what she meant, the one and only Occult Research Club president stepped into the room. "Morning Emiya-kun, just wait a moment, I'll get dressed and be with you in a minute."
"..." The moment I saw her the words died in my mouth and I had to do a double-take.
There she was, Rias Gremory herself, waltzing around in the room without a care in the world wrapped in only one minuscule bath towel, which did little to hide her abundant curves or protect her modesty. I could see her body glistening and shining from the water still present on herself.
My only solace was that she didn't linger too much in front of me in that practically naked state and proceeded to go behind the changing panel that was placed in one of the corners of the room. Allowing my brain to eventually reboot itself.
Not sure exactly how long I stood there gasping like a fish on dry land. It was only when I felt a finger under my chin that I broke out of my frozen state. Himejima-senpai was absolutely beaming in amusement as she pushed and closed my jaw. "Let me take a shot in the dark, Sona-san must have mentioned at one point or another that dear Rias may be exhibitionist."
I tried to avoid eye contact with her, for one thing, she was far too close for my personal comfort. I could feel her body lightly pressing into mine and I was also getting the vague impression that she was enjoying the present situation far more than she should.
"... She might have," I answered shortly, trying to remain calm.
Actually, now that she mentioned it… I think Sona did drop the bomb that her childhood friend was an exhibitionist a couple of times when she was ranting but I thought that was her just exaggerating things out of anger.
"Then let me remove all doubt and misunderstandings." The Queen smiled mischievously, almost purring as she said her words, her lips drawing closer to my ear to the point I could feel her breath brush against it as she whispered slowly. "Rias is in fact an exhibitionist."
At the moment I wasn't really sure what was making me more uncomfortable, the little bit of information she was sharing or the way she went about to say it, either way, I was feeling very awkward and my face felt like it was on fire. "I s-see... "
"Oh, you seem rather flushed." The amusement never left her even as she took a step away, the ever glowing twinkle in her eyes was beginning to remind me way too much of Iri's whenever she found a way to make me feel embarrassed. "Are you perhaps excited at seeing a woman's naked body that badly?"
Suddenly I began recalling Tsubasa telling me to be careful around Himejima-senpai. I think I was beginning to see where she was coming from.
As I tried to untie my tongue and give a reply, salvation came for me in the form of a karate chop on top of the Gremory Queen's head, one delivered by the Crimson-haired devil in question.
"Stop teasing him Akeno, also stop talking nonsense." The redhead huffed in mild annoyance, fortunately for me, she was now properly dressed in her school uniform, though the tips of her hair were still a bit damp. "I am no exhibitionist Emiya-kun. I simply like taking baths, and often take a few at school before the day is done."
Before I could comment on that, Himejima-san beat me to the punch. "Most people don't take baths at school Buchou."
"True, but most people don't have the benefit of having a bathtub in their clubhouse and it would be a waste of people's effort not to use it."
"You also sleep in the nude Buchou." The violet-eyed Queen followed up.
"And?"
"Most people also don't do that."
"Well, most people don't-"
There seemed to be a moment of awkwardness on the Gremory heiress's face as she realized that I was here watching the two of them bicker back and forth. She coughed into her fist as if to clear the air. "Still, it isn't that weird, is it?"
It was a herculean task on my part to keep a straight face as I replied. "I'm not the best person to ask that."
"Yes, perhaps it will be best for us to move on." She nodded to herself with a smile. "To what do I owe the visit, Emiya-kun?"
"Just dropping off these papers from Sona," I said and handed her the file case. "She said she'll be here shortly, and that you should go over them by then."
Her brow twitched for a moment when she saw that paperwork was involved, which I couldn't blame her for. "Thank you for bringing them. You two can just relax while I go over these."
Once she was at her desk I started to feel a bit out of place here. Perhaps this was noticed by Himejima-san as she gestured for me to sit down on the couch. "Would you like some tea?"
"I would appreciate some, thank you." I smiled courteously and took a seat, trying my best not to make too much noise and disturb Gremory-senpai.
It wasn't long before the tea was ready and I was served a cup, Himejima-senpai taking a seat next to me. "So how is your new familiar treating you Emiya-kun?"
While I didn't want to bother those reading, it would appear that the pony-tailed Queen was in the mood to chat.
"Not exactly sure what to say, Fou has been quite well behaved for a wild animal." I mused as I recalled the first couple of days after I brought him home. Now that I think about it, Fou seemed pretty well adjusted to living indoors, which is strange now that I thought about it. Considering I didn't need to do any sort of training for him, it was making me believe he might have lived with someone else before me and is used to it. "If anything he seems a bit too smart at times."
"Really now, how so?" Himejima-san asked, her curiosity lightly piqued.
"Well… let's just say when I took him shopping for some things and he was being awfully picky about them." The memory of that day replayed in my head, I took Fou to the pet section of the department store. There were some basic necessities that I had to get him if I were to keep him indoors.
At first, everything was fine, at least until I had to get him something to sleep on. The moment Fou saw a particular bed he became incredibly adamant that it will be the only one he will accept, with no room for negotiations.
That wasn't too bad in itself, but there was one tiny problem.
The damn thing cost over two hundred dollars.
For a damn dog foam couch.
That was more than the whole budget I started out with, let alone what I had left after I got the rest of the stuff. It didn't help matters that Fou refused to let go of the display piece and I had to struggle to take him home. The lone "Kyuu!" of despair as I dragged him away remained freshly in my memories, as well as the stares from everyone else in that store who watched us leave.
Fou was certainly grumpy when we left and I didn't get him the foam couch. Heck, he kept ignoring me the rest of the day after we got back home. As well as visibly depressed and listless the day after.
It was only when I decided to cheat by trying to trace a copy of the foam couch that I managed to remedy this. It did take me a good number of attempts to trace it since it was nowhere near a sword or a weapon in general but I succeeded in the end.
Fou was in a good mood for the rest of the week after he saw his new coach.
"Oh my, that must have been rough."
"I'll manage, I guess I will need time getting used to taking care of a familiar." A half chuckle escaped my lips. "Speaking of familiars, how is your bishop handling hers?"
"Surprisingly well. You'd think having a baby dragon for a pet would be a hassle, but he is very docile, at least when he isn't around other males, otherwise, he starts electrocuting them."
Hm, now that she mentioned it, the baby dragon did seem to have something against Hyoudou, zapping him whenever he was too close to Asia-san. "Ouch, that must hurt."
"Quite, electric shocks can cause severe harm but also offer truly fascinating reactions from their victims. The way the seizures cause one's body to bend and contort violently after having their neural system thrown out of balance is simply breathtaking."
Sweat was running down my face as I listened to her. Perhaps I was just imagining it, but this girl was looking rather blissful as she detailed some rather morbid facts.
"... I see," I muttered and rumbled through my mind for anything to change the subject. "What about Hyoudou, still crying over that slime?"
"Unfortunately." And fortunately for me, this subject was enough to change her mood to a more crestfallen one. "He often looks at the sunset and laments the future that they could have had together."
Thus I immediately sighed, while I wanted to be glad about successfully changing the subject, this was hardly better. "That guy needs a hobby."
"I'm sure Issei-kun has plenty of hobbies… but I think they all involve women in one way or another," Akeno stated while giving a wry smile.
"That is something I have no doubt about."
All occupants of the room turned at the one who said that. At the entrance, a familiar face was standing across the doorframe. Himejima-senpai was the first to welcome her. "Welcome Sona-san."
"Himejima-san." She returned the greeting, her violet eyes shifting to her friend behind the desk. "Rias."
"Sona." she greeted back.
For the following half-hour, the two Kings would discuss and go over many different matters involving both the school and their duties as devils.
One of such duties was compiling the number of devil contracts each side has established the previous month. While it didn't seem much at first, it did help to keep tabs so that the clients that request the service of one side weren't overlapping and also serve to prevent accidentally taking requests from the other.
While this may not be a bad thing for the client, but for the devil houses that they conduct business with, it is seen as bad publicity since they can't cater to their needs and have to get it done by some other devil household instead.
While it's not something major, Sona told me that for devils to gain influence and whatnot, having many contracts is necessary.
Luckily there weren't any issues so the matter was handled quickly.
They eventually processed all the other papers finishing their work and started having a more casual chat.
Somehow during which, one thing led to another and I was currently playing chess and winning against Gremory-senpai. "I must say, you were holding out on me Sona with how good Emiya-kun is at chess."
She might have said that, but it didn't really feel like a compliment, considering she was all but glaring at the chessboard with the way I positioned my pieces. My eyes drifted towards Sona as she enjoyed her tea looking slightly amused as she watched us play. "Don't think I'm anything special, I still haven't won a single game against her to date."
"You and everyone else that plays against her," Gremory-senpai playfully scoffed.
"Come now Rias, I am not unbeatable, I simply win more games than I lose."
"Tell that to Serafall-sama." I could tell that the blue-eyed devil was barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "Her sister always tries to make Sona appear on her show, but only if she can beat her at chess. It would be adorable if not for how she makes Serafall-sama a teary mess at the end of each game."
I could only blink at what I just heard and then stare back baffled at Sona. Not sure what was surprising me more, the fact that Sona's sister starred in a tv show or that somehow she left her elder sister in a teary mess by beating her at chess.
"No, don't give me that look. You don't know her the way I do." Sona remarked in mild annoyance, her ears glowing red from embarrassment.
"Then I won't comment on it," I muttered in defeat, not wanting to dig any deeper lest I somehow put my foot in my mouth by saying something unnecessary.
"Good."
If anything this little interaction between us seemed to have amused Himejima-senpai. "Oh my, keeping such a tight leash on the poor boy isn't too good Sona."
"A leash would probably be a good thing in his case," Sona remarked dryly, glaring once more at me. "Shirou does have a tendency to act before he thinks."
"... Strangely I don't take offense to that," I admitted with a sigh, looking back at things there were definitely a few moments where I could have prevented terrible things from happening if I only managed to keep my feelings in check.
I was about to move my Rook but stopped when I heard a phone ring, looking at my side it turned out it was the one Sona used. "Yes?"
The conversation didn't last long, minute tops, and when Sona closed her phone. An annoyed look was plastered on her face.
"What happened?" I asked, hoping it wasn't something serious.
"Nothing big, just Hyoudou-kun's two friends are in need of detention, again." The tone in her voice made me shudder, no more words were needed, those two screwed up again and they were in need of one of Sona's punishments. "There's not much else to do today so you can finish your game and hang around here if you want, Shirou. Have a good day Rias, Akeno-san."
"Uh, okay." I nodded a bit in surprise and watched as she left.
A heavy silence was left in the room after Sona left, Gremory-senpai wasn't making a move and instead was staring at me with a serious expression. "Be honest with me, tell me she doesn't need to get laid?"
"E-Eh?" Out of everything she could have asked that was the last thing I expected to hear from her today.
In spite of my reaction, she didn't seem bothered and went on. "Sona, she's always so serious. I keep worrying that she will scare off that one guy she'll fall for one day… if that ever happens, that is."
The chuckles that came out of my mouth were certainly strained, something which seemed to amuse Himejima-senpai from her seat, but fortunately, the logical part of my mind managed to figure out something. "... Well, if you want my input on this, after the Zepar incident I believe Sona will lay low when it comes to relationships for a while. I doubt her family will try to set her up with someone new either."
There was a grim nod from both girls, understanding where I was coming from. After the fiasco involving Sona's former fiancee, no one could really blame her if she didn't want to hear of romantic relationships for a while. Sure, the two of them were never officially a couple nor did they share any tender moments together, but after the mayhem that we got dragged into because of him, Sona most likely wants to stay single for the time being.
Strangely or not, Gremory-senpai seemed to be unresponsive, her fingers tracing along with her Bishop piece, yet she did not move it, her blue eyes staring absently at it. "Lucky her…"
"Pardon?"
There was a pause and her eyes blinked a couple of times, her demeanor instantly shifting back to a more energetic, yet awkward expression.
"I meant, how lucky she was to go through that whole ordeal unscathed." The crimson-haired devil explained herself, but I could tell there was a certain hint of nervousness in her tone as she went on. "She or any of her peerage could have ended up badly hurt or even worse after all that happened. I'm relieved it was all handled with everyone safe in the end."
Somehow those words didn't give me any sort of reassurance.
If anything they stirred something in me, my hands balling into fists, threatening to crush the chest piece that I was currently holding. "Yeah… good thing we all overcame it…"
"Emiya-kun?" Rias-senpai asked, staring at me in surprise.
I blinked a few times, realizing that I've been unresponsive for a while. With a small sigh, I waved a hand in apology. "Sorry, got lost in thought for a bit."
Himejima-senpai's expression grew curious as she crossed her legs and leaned back on the velvet couch. "Now that I think about it, Sona-san doesn't seem to talk that much about you Emiya-kun."
That remark was rather confusing. "Was she supposed to?"
It was Gremory heiress that explained. "Not exactly, but when we chat we often bring up our peerages, what some of our members have done, how they are, and so on. However Sona rarely talks about you, and if I ever ask her, she brushes it off quickly or changes the subject."
"Does she now?"
She nodded and pushed a strand of her crimson hair to the side. "I can't help but wonder if there is some friction between you and Sona?"
When she put it like that… I think she might be right.
Looking back, perhaps it started after the Zepar incident when we found out I was still human. Sona was without a doubt shaken by this news, perhaps even more than I was.
We may have agreed to keep the secret of my humanity from the public eye, but things don't feel the same way as they used to.
Maybe that was the reason why she avoids talking to Gremory-senpai about me, out of fear she may accidentally let out any information that may make her suspect there is something strange going on with me.
With a small cough, I tried to give an alternative explanation to the two girls in front of me. "Can't really say for sure. I guess I tend to be a bit reckless during times of combat and end up getting myself hurt. I might be making her worry too much."
The red-haired King seemed to ponder on my words for a bit but eventually gave a firm nod. "That could be it, when I asked her about the incidents that your group had been in recently she did seem rather troubled when talking about them."
"Hard to say… Sona doesn't really talk about her own issues that much. It's difficult to notice at times if she's really fine."
"Not all people ask for help when they need it sadly," The Gremory Queen remarked, though strangely her eyes were directed at her King as she spoke. "Though perhaps you are the opposite Emiya-kun, I do notice that you often help out people around the school in times of need."
There was a small twitch on her friend's face, but she maintained her composure. "You know Emiya-kun, one would often assume you have some hidden motive for helping people the way you do at times?"
"Does it really look that way to others?" I asked in confusion. I mean it's not wrong to help others after all.
An amused smile was present once more on the black-haired Queen's face. "Well, most of the boys at our school assume it's actually a secret tactic to impress the female students."
My brow couldn't help but twitch at that. "Since when does helping out people equal pick-up tactics?"
"You would be surprised how much a boy would go out of his way to get the attention of a girl they fancy." the Gremory heiress added with a chuckle.
Soft laughter followed from the Gremory Queen, her violet orbs directed at her King with a playful light in them. "Why yes, I do recall that time Rias here accidentally broke her pencil during class and asked if someone could lend her one. Suddenly most of the boys in our class were all over her desk, arguing who would give her their pencil."
"I don't recall that," Rias claimed though a faint blush seemed to be visible on her cheeks.
"Oh, I'm sure you don't." The other woman's smile grew wider. "We could ask Sona for a third opinion."
"No, that won't be necessary." Gremory-senpai flipped her hair to the side, a mild glare directed at her friend together with a playful smirk. "Besides, you aren't any different Akeno. I distinctly recall you were in charge of delivering flyers to advertise our club for last year's school festival. It was such an interesting sight to see you act like the stacks were too heavy and you were just a weak delicate maiden, tricking ten or so boys to deliver those for you."
If that comment was supposed to upset the black-haired girl, she certainly didn't show any signs of it. "Guilty as charged."
Strangely or not, I couldn't help but snark at this. "Why do I feel like the discussion took a wrong turn here?"
The two girls paused and looked awkwardly at each other, most likely realizing that they were bickering in front of me yet again.
"Oh, yes, apologies," Gremory-senpai said with a cough. "Back to the initial subject Emiya-kun. Do you truly just help people out without any interest the way we hear?"
"I just like helping people." My eyes drifting back to the chessboard, at the many pawn pieces on it. "Is it really that weird?"
"Frankly, by devil standards, it is." the red-haired girl admits in mild bewilderment. "We are creatures of desire, after all, even charity is usually fueled by something more than simply helping those in need. It may not necessarily be a selfish reason, but there's usually an ulterior motive."
"Actually, when you think about it, even by human standards it's quite unusual to see one such as yourself."
That last remark from Himejima-senpai really rubbed me the wrong way. "It's not like I never turn down someone, I can't really help someone out with something if I am unable to do it, me going in randomly may make things worse. However, if it's something I can actually help with, I see no reason why not to help them."
My answer didn't seem to satisfy the girls, if anything the ORC president seemed even more skeptical. "If it's so simple to help others, what about asking for help yourself?"
"Well, if it's something I really can't solve by my own hands, I guess I may look for someone to help me," I stated.
"But you wouldn't do it unless you were certain you can't solve it by yourself?"
"... I guess." The words came out as a slow mutter, not really recalling the last time I went out of my way to get someone to help me with something. Still, that was beside the point, there was something else bothering me right now. "Do you need help with something Gremory-senpai?"
There was a visible twitch from her hand, but she tried to maintain her smile and confident facade. "Oh, whatever gave you that impression?"
"Well, as Himejima-senpai said, some people have a hard time asking for help. There are times when people beat around the bush when they want to ask me for a favor. I guess I can just tell by now."
This wouldn't be the first time, not by a long shot.
It happened to me before, people approaching me politely and with a warm presence, talking to me a little, getting on my good side before suddenly asking for my help with something.
After a while, I started noticing certain signs and could sort of feel when someone wanted to ask for my help.
The same as in this case here.
I can tell she wants help with something but she finds it difficult to say. Whether it's because the request may be a bit too demanding or she is simply feeling awkward asking me is something that I have yet to determine.
"There are some things one might prefer not involving others unless absolutely necessary." She whispered slowly, her fingers paling as they pressed hard against the table but gave me a weak smile. "However, the feeling is appreciated."
Once more, I could tell something was off here. The fact that she seemed so conflicted in asking for my help made me realize this might not be something so simple, like repairing their air conditioner or helping clean their clubhouse.
This was something much more meaningful.
"Well, if you do need help, I can always at least hear you out?"
My words, while they were meant to be reassuring, apparently had the opposite effect. Her lips tightened and her breathing became much deeper, inner turmoil most likely stirring violently within her.
"... What if it's something… that can hurt you in the end?" She finally spoke, gone was all the smile and confidence, what I was seeing was a woman in distress. "What if by helping that person, it may cause you trouble later on?"
"Then I'll just deal with it," I replied almost instantly, though my tone held a certain amount of weight behind it. These aren't just words I was blurting out randomly, they were ones that I intended to hold onto. "I have to take responsibility for the choices I make."
My eyes shifted at the chessboard once more, at the pieces that would be cornered and taken out if I didn't make the right move. "There were times when I got in trouble for standing up for people getting bullied. Later on, I would become their target of revenge, delinquents trying to hurt me and make me pay for ruining their fun income."
That was sugar-coating it.
There were times when protecting someone came to bite me in the ass. I could handle myself without a problem when it came to one on one fights or even two on one, but when they ganged up on me the stakes tended to change.
Sometimes I could manage to hold my own even against multiple people, but not always. On those days, I would come back home all bloody, beaten, and bruised.
And then there was that time I never made it back home at all.
There wasn't even a fight that took place.
Someone smacked me over the head with a blunt object and knocked me out cold and apparently continued to whale on me afterward. When I woke up I was in the hospital with a concussion, deep bruises all over my body, and multiple bone fissures in many locations.
I never really found out who was behind it. Truth be told by that time, I had already pissed off a lot of thugs so finding the specific culprit was difficult.
Did I regret what happened?
No.
If it meant that I prevented this from happening to someone else I accepted it and came to terms with it.
Would I have chosen differently if given a chance to redo it?
No.
It was something I had to accept that could happen to me when I decided to stand up and protect others.
…
Though, if there is one thing I regretted from all of that, it was that a while after I woke up in the hospital the staff had notified my family about what happened to me.
When I saw the looks of pain and concern present on my family's faces as they rushed to see if I was okay and reactions over the state I was in.
At that time I realized that the pain I felt from what happened to me was nothing compared to the pain my family must have felt when they saw me like that.
To top it all off, in all my almighty ignorance, I've been repeating the very same mistake over the past months.
My eyes narrowed dangerously as I picked my piece and moved it, placing the Gremory devil in check. "Nowadays I have to fight against beings of the supernatural world. Who knows how those fights may affect me later on, but I must be prepared for whatever may happen."
Fear of fighting or getting hurt is not something that weighs me down.
"So I do understand that my actions may come back to bite me later on."
When it comes down to it I will fight, and I will return home in one piece, no matter what.
As I lifted my hand and signaled that it was her turn to move I received no reaction, the red-haired devil simply stared at me with a desperate hopeful expression on her face.
She blinked once, then twice, biting her lower lip as she tried to speak. "Then would you-"
"Rias."
The voice of her Queen's voice was like a whip that hit her across the face, waking her up from whatever stupor she was in. At first, it looked like she was disappointed but then she slowly put on a small, yet wistful smile. "... Never mind."
My lips turned into a flat line, there was so much going on here that I wasn't aware of. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, just… tired."
That at the very least wasn't a lie. All the energy she previously had vanished, in fact, she looked like she barely had enough left to talk.
"Can we put this match on hold?" She whispered as she leaned her head against her hand. "I need to sort out through some things."
Truth be told, I didn't want to leave things the way they were.
There was more going on here, but without knowing what exactly I couldn't just rush in without first understanding what was at the core problem here.
"Okay," I muttered under my breath and stood up, before I started walking away I turned back to her once more. "But if you really have a problem I could-"
I didn't manage to finish that sentence, the words from my mouth coming to a halt when I felt a strong grip around my shoulder. Himejima-senpai was once more smiling at me, but this time it was a much gentler kinder one compared to the ones she had earlier. "Emiya-kun, while your willingness to help is appreciated, I think this is enough for today."
Her words really didn't help me.
I threw one last glance at her King who was now leaving. There was something to the way she walked like there was a great weight on her shoulders.
I wanted to help… but how could I do it when clearly they were avoiding getting me involved. "... Very well. Guess I'll see you guys some other time."
Leaving this room felt so difficult at the time.
The rest of the day had gone by eerily silent, nothing major happening which in hindsight was a good thing yet I couldn't help but feel a weird foreboding feeling.
It was annoying at times, my concentration faltering when I needed it the most.
That made my present magecraft lesson with Sella a bit difficult.
"No good." Sella shook her head and sighed, handing me a new pebble. "Try again, but try to keep the lines steady and straight."
Not bothering to reply I simply nodded, closing my eyes with the intent to clear my mind first and foremost.
As my eyes opened I shifted my attention to the pebble in my hand.
This must have been my fifth attempt tonight, the others ending up in failures.
"Remember to visualize the person in your mind as you engrave the rune," Sella explained in a calm and almost clinical way. Following her advice, I pictured Sella in my mind and slowly focused my prana at the very tips of my fingers, slowly tracing on the surface of the pebble, fluorescent light following the paths that I made. There was a momentary hesitation on my part as the light began to flicker on and off, threatening to dissipate. "Focus Shirou, don't just briefly picture a face, overview everything you know about the person, their physique, their scent, the sound of their voice, and personality traits that you know of."
I narrowed my eyes and tightened my fingers, not allowing a single chance of a misstep, the light on the pebble's surface recovering and maintaining itself. "Good, keep channeling your magical energy into it, allow the rune to enact the spell that you desire."
With a final push, I carved the rune and enveloped the pebble in my fist, the light from it shining through the cracks of my fist.
"Can you feel it?" Sella asked as I continued to focus.
"Yeah." I allowed myself a smile to crack on my face as I felt the energy pulsing in my hand. "It's trying to reach you."
Sella reciprocated the smile, a look of pride present on her. With a nod, she gestured to my fist. "Release it."
I did as she said and opened my hand, the pebble levitating from it, and immediately rushed towards Sella.
I failed to realize what might have happened when I did that. The pebble didn't just make its way to Sella, it hit her in the shin of her leg. The maid instantly winced upon getting hit. "Ouch!"
Panic immediately took over me. "O-Oh, sorry Sella, I didn't mean to do that!"
"It's alright." Much to my surprise, Sella did not react violently at this, even more, shocking she was laughing it off. "For a basic rune of tracking this a most pleasing result."
She picked up the pebble and ran her own fingers over the rune I made, easily canceling it out and returning it back to its original state. "Making it stop right in front of the tracked target would require additional rune inscriptions to add further suborders besides the main one."
"I see…" While that was interesting on its own, I was still a bit baffled by how calm Sella was. "Well, I guess this is a start."
"Quite, it may have taken you several attempts, but you finally managed to utilize a basic runecraft spell."
That was an understatement, my first attempts at runecraft were pretty bad if not outright terrible. But at least it was still something I could make progress in and learn.
It was great that I managed to find a book on runes among those tomes that I found in Paris, finally giving me some proper materials to work with.
After getting over the theory behind runes with Sella we finally started experimenting with the runes themselves.
Due to the nature of runes, it was best to start with ones that were not battle-oriented, limiting the potential danger of what may happen should I screw it up.
We may be in the backyard shed, but we wouldn't want me to accidentally put the house on fire.
That being said, we chose to practice a tracking spell by invoking it with the Berkano rune and it was a good call as my first attempts didn't go too well.
Just like when Reinforcing an object, when you inscribe a rune you are channeling your own magical energy inside of the object. Perhaps it was out of habit from Reinforcing, but I ended up injecting far too much energy in the pebbles when I inscribed the rune on them.
Needless to say, I broke a few pebbles before I finally caught onto the correct amount of energy I needed to channel. Each attempt required quite a bit of time and concentration on my part, so as I currently am I'm not able to use it in mid-combat.
I require a lot of practice before that can happen.
"One down, many more to go," I muttered a bit dejectedly.
There were many runes that I still had yet to go over, and I haven't even started combining them together for different effects.
Sella didn't seem to like my attitude on this. "Don't be like that, even a single rune-based spell is valuable."
I shook my head, yet couldn't help but let out a small tired sigh. "I'm not complaining about that, just that it took me a while to make even a single one work."
That remark made the petite maid roll her eyes. "Well, if runecraft were so easy everyone would do it."
"I guess." I half chuckled and picked the pebble, looking at it in contemplation. "Still can't really figure out what's the logic behind this spell."
"In what regard?"
"How it can track someone for the most part. I know I need to visualize the person and all, but it sure is weird how the rune is able to enact the spell like that."
There was a nod from Sella and she went silent for a few moments, clearly analyzing this. "Do it again, however, try to picture someone that is outside of the city."
I did as she instructed, the first person that came to mind being my dad. The rune did glow in the realization of the spell, but unlike the previous instance with Sella, it was now sitting in the palm of my hand unresponsive. "... It's not working."
"I figured as much," Sella remarked and leaned with her shoulder against the nearby wall. "My guess is that there is a limit to the range. Perhaps a more complex rune formula could function for a larger area but would require an active source to keep itself locked on. Maybe some biological samples or traces of one's energy signature."
It was certainly interesting to look at Sella as she went on, the petite maid was pretty much in her own little world as she continued muttering theories to herself behind the nature of the spell.
The look she had on her face when she finally broke out of her musings was an adorable one if I had to say it.
"Sorry, I was getting sidetracked." She coughed dryly into her fist, her cheeks lightly flushed. "In any case, while it may be simple and limited with its range, the rune of tracking is still quite versatile when searching for someone or for a lost object."
"Speaking of which." She picked up a pebble and inscribed the rune on it, opening the door to the shed she let rush outside, much to my confusion it stuck itself on the house wall and it made its way up, stopping itself on the wall that belonged to the maid's room. I didn't know what this was all about but Sella had a very irritated expression present. "... And Liz told me she didn't know what happened to my pudding."
It didn't take long for me to figure out that Liz stole Sella's dessert again and acted like she had no idea where it went. I couldn't keep myself from commenting on it. "Not like you don't know how Liz is when it comes to sweets."
Sella's glare was quickly redirected at me, but she seemed more curious than anything. "You know Shirou, I don't know when it happened, but this snarky nature of yours sure is weird to see at times."
"Is it now?" I asked, not realizing my tone. Was I really that snarky?
"Forget it, it's probably just puberty." The maid shook her head in dismissal "In any case, I think that's enough practicing for tonight. Now tell me, have you had any progress with the other forms of magecraft I taught you?"
Her question made me feel a tad uncomfortable.
Something which didn't go unnoticed by Sella as she narrowed her eyes at me.
A sigh left her lips. "Okay, where are you struggling?"
"At memory manipulation and healing magecraft mostly," I admitted with a frown.
Out of all the different fields of magecraft that Sella started lecturing me on, those two seemed the most useful ones to get a good handle on.
For one thing, keeping the secrecy of the supernatural was crucial and while it did feel wrong for me to tamper with someone else's memories, it was a necessary skill to have. One that I need to learn and be able to handle on my own without having to rely on Sona or the others for help every single time.
The healing magecraft was self-explanatory. Having the means to heal others was something priceless but far easier said than done. While I have heard it said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I now realize the journey towards that destination is far more difficult than I ever imagined.
"I should have seen this coming. While I could chew you for not properly studying the notes I gave you, studying and practicing are entirely different matters altogether." Sella closed her eyes and sighed. "For those fields of magecraft, you need an actual person to practice on to make any real progress. That's something we need to look into."
It wasn't like Sella didn't propose I practice on her before, but I couldn't risk it.
While memory manipulation isn't an overly advanced form of magecraft, it was still dangerous if used incorrectly. One misstep and I could end up accidentally jumbling up Sella's memories or leave her with a case of amnesia.
Healing magecraft also had similar problems because I needed her to be injured in order to heal her in the first place, and I couldn't honestly accept the idea of her harming herself just for me to be able to practice it.
"I guess that's true," I muttered a bit unsettled. "I've been using healing magecraft on myself here and there but I can't really say I can do all that much besides numbing my pain and closing small cuts."
I leaned back and stared at all the junk scattered in the shed. Particularly at the misshapen pieces of metal. "At least I have an easier time with the other branches you showed me."
There was a nod on Sella's part, noticing what I was looking at. "Yes, it does seem that you have a certain amount of affinity for alchemy and transmutation. At least when they involve metallic components."
She picked an old frying pan I experimented with previously and shuddered at it. Not hard to imagine why considering that right now it hardly resembled a kitchen utensil and looked more akin to some instrument of torture.
After altering the bottom and reshaping it, there were now dozens of sharp spikes present on the bottom of the pan.
With a loud clunk, Sella put the spiky pan down and looked at me curiously.
"What about Transfer of Consciousness?"
"It's something I'm still trying to get my head around," I admitted with a strained smile. "I've been buying some live fish and using it on them, but I can't really maintain it for long, also the whole thing feels like my mind is being overloaded."
It was quite a surreal experience.
One moment I'm seeing everything from my own body, the next moment I was seeing it through the eyes of the fish.
Or at least that is what was supposed to happen.
When I used this spell on the fish I started panicking thinking that I'm drowning unable to breathe. I couldn't even struggle properly as I had no limbs on my body to move. All I could do was helplessly flounder around until I snapped out of it.
"Adaptation shock," Sella stated casually, not a single doubt in her voice. "It's a standard occurrence. Your mind is used to how it perceives the world with a human body, then you suddenly experience the world through the body of a fish, it's foreign and unusual for what your mind is used to."
"Even experienced mages don't utilize this sort of spell for long periods of time, as it can affect their perception once they lift it." She further elaborated, pausing for a few moments. "I recall there was once a case of a magus that had utilized the spell on a dog for a few days and when he was finally back to normal his mind became so used to a dog's body that he kept on walking all on fours even as a human."
A shudder went down my back, imagining what could happen if I were to get used to a fish's perception. "Now I'm scared I might start sleeping in water."
Sella didn't seem bothered by what I said. "One, you'd drown. Second, this sort of occurrence only happens if one leaves their consciousness inside a foreign creature for an extensive period of time. As long as you keep it nice and short it will be fine."
With a nod, she crossed her arms and gestured to my head. "My advice, for now, is try to contemplate and understand what creature you will utilize the spell on, have a general idea about how you will experience the world through them so that your mind isn't overwhelmed by the sudden change."
I pondered about it for a few moments. "So basically, think like a dog if I'm using it on one?"
By the disgruntled look she had on her face, it was obvious my analogy most likely sounded really dumb to her but in the end, she nodded in agreement. "More or less."
"Noted," I said.
"It's a bit late, so I say we should call it a night," Sella suggested after a bit, her strict professor-like persona softening ever so slightly. "I'll prepare you some more study materials and pointers on how to improve on what we discussed tonight."
"I would appreciate that." My eyes scanned the room, at the junk that I used scattered around. "Guess I'll clean up a bit first before hitting the sack."
Before I could even reach for anything, I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. "Just go to bed Shirou, I'll handle it."
"It's not a problem, I can-"
"Shirou, I am the family maid, not you. Cleaning is one of my duties." She stated with a gentle but serious tone, as always when it came to her job, Sella wasn't joking around. "Besides, you look like you need some sleep."
"I can't really change your mind on this now can I?"
"Can you convince Liz to stop being so lazy?"
"Fine." I choose not to comment on the smug expression that Sella had, letting her enjoy winning this argument. "Goodnight Sella."
"Goodnight."
Once I was outside I took a moment and stared at the moon, glowing mysteriously in the dark night sky.
Personally, I would have liked it if I could just stay and gaze at the sky longer, but it was rather late as it is and tomorrow was a school day.
When I got back in the house I made sure not to make too much noise since the others might be asleep already. Passing by the living room I saw that aunt Maiya was still around watching some movie with a drink in her hand.
There was a tilt of her head, most likely noticing my presence. I gave her a wave goodnight as I passed by without further interrupting her.
As I was making my way up the stairs a loud sound caught my attention, there was some kind of noise coming from the second floor. I moved carefully as I walked closer, strangely it seemed to originate from the bathroom.
I slowly leaned against the corner and took a cautious peek, only for my eyes to widen at what I saw.
My mother was leaning against the bathroom door, breathing haggardly like she just returned from a long marathon, her skin was damp with sweat while her trembling hands were trying to support her against the wall.
I didn't waste any time.
"Iri?"
My voice in spite of being calm startled, my mother. She instantly pushed off herself from the wall, straightening herself up and putting on her usual beaming smile.
"O-Oh, hey there Shirou." She spoke completely unfazed as if her previous gasping state never happened. "Are your lessons going well?"
"I guess." The words came out as weak and soft, unsure of how I should respond after what I just saw. In the end, I decided not to beat around the bush. "You look kind of off. Are you feeling okay?"
"Oh, I must be a bit tired that's all." she laughed off my question as if it was nothing, but her legs were still shaking and looked like they would give out on her at any second. "Had a few things to sort through today, they must have taken a toll on me."
This was more than just mere exhaustion.
"Iri, you're shivering," I said in a panic, my hand reaching out to help support her. "You must be sick or something. Come on let's get you to bed."
My fingers never got to reach her as she recoiled back, a look of horror present on her face. "Don't touch me!"
Whatever thoughts I may have had quickly came to a halt. The way my mother snapped at me completely stunned me.
This must've been the first time I have seen her like this… it was so foreign… so terrifying to look at. As if my heart was being crushed as if it were in a vice.
Barely formed words managed to leave my mouth as desperation filled me. "Mom…?"
There was a moment of gut-wrenching silence, in spite of her previous reaction, an easy-going smile formed on her clearly troubled face. "S-Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you Shirou, if I am sick I don't want you to catch it as well that's all."
… That was a lie.
I may not be the best person out there at reading people, but I knew this was a lie.
Something was very wrong with my mother and she wasn't telling me, no, she was trying to avoid involving me in whatever this was.
I tried to call her out on this but stopped right before I opened my mouth. The strong grip that I felt on my shoulder caused me to pause.
"Go to your room Shirou, I'll take it from here."
My eyes blinked in mild confusion at the woman behind me. "Aunt Maiya?"
She didn't waste any more time on me and made her way to my mother's side, supporting her with her shoulder. "I know you're worried but your mother will be fine, I'll take care of her and by tomorrow she will be good as new."
She may have said that, and while I do trust her, I didn't like the fact that she wasn't explaining to me what was going on.
It was strange really, I could sort of tell by the intimidating glare that she was giving me that I should drop it and let her handle it, but I wanted some answers, answers that I knew neither of them was going to give me.
I knew I wouldn't get any, but that didn't mean I would just drop it. "If that's the case let me help."
The brows on Aunt Maiya's face narrowed further, clearly not enjoying that I was not backing down. However, the one that responded was Iri. "It's okay Shirou, I'll be fine, just go to sleep and everything will be fine."
My jaw clenched tight, her forcing a smile like this in spite of being clearly in pain. It made my stomach churn, not by the act itself, but by the fact that I could not help her at all.
All I could do was back down.
"... Okay."
My words left a sour taste in my mouth, yet it seemed to put the two women in front of me at ease.
I honestly couldn't say anything else and just walked away, letting them be.
When I stepped inside of my room I leaned against my door, slowly sliding down to the floor, unable to let what I just saw be.
Little by little I tried to figure something out, which got the attention of someone else.
I lifted my head and looked at Archer staring at me, his arms crossed against his chest.
"Not trusting your mother?" His remark was strangely neutral, none of his usual mocking tone present. "That's not very nice of you."
That made me click my tongue in annoyance. "It's not that I don't trust her, but I feel like she is hiding something from me again."
Just like how Iri and the others kept me in the dark about the supernatural being real.
I didn't hold it against them for doing it, seeing that they did so to protect me from getting involved, but a part of me often felt frustrated because of it, that maybe, just maybe things could have been different if they would've told me earlier. That maybe I could've been stronger and more capable to protect the people in front of me if I only knew.
It may be because of that that the idea of them keeping me ignorant frustrated me to no end.
"So what are you gonna do about it?" The bowman tilted his head in mild curiosity, narrowing his steel-colored eyes. "Even if you were to go back and confront her, I doubt she will give you answers."
He didn't have to tell me that, I already was aware of it. "I might have to find out some stuff on my own."
"Yeah sure, go eavesdrop on them." He said while rolling his eyes, looking down at me like he was looking at a child throwing a tantrum. "I'm certain with your skills you can move around without getting noticed by a high-end homunculus and a highly trained hitwoman."
When he put it like that, I didn't really have a solution. "Thanks for the vote of confidence there."
"Don't give me that look, I'm just being realistic, you will need to think this one more thoroughly if you really want to make it work."
After scoffing at me he faded away in molts of blue light, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
I spent the next minute in silence, staring aimlessly at the room, my eyes locking onto Fou who was looking back at me in confusion.
An idea soon began to brew in my head. "So I'll need a different approach, eh?"
I got up from the floor and walked to my familiar, gently picking him up and staring into his amethyst-colored eyes.
"Can't believe what I'm about to do," I muttered under my breath before giving the small squirrel-like creature a firm stare. "Fou, would you mind helping me out with something?"
The said familiar tilted its head in confusion. "Fou?"
There was no use to beating around the bush, nor did I have any time to waste. "I want to use a spell on you, I never really used it on a magical creature so I don't know if it will work or how it will react, but if there's any backlash it should be on my part not yours."
"Fou…"
Judging by his weak voice, the small critter was having doubts about what I was planning.
"Please, I need to check something and I need your help in this."
There were a few moments of silence before Fou gave a small nod. "... Fou."
A small smile formed on my lips, but it didn't last long, it was too early to celebrate. The hard part was about to follow.
I took a seat on the edge of my bed and placed Fou on my lap, gently wrapping my hands around his head, neon lights appeared on my hands as I turned on my circuits and focused, recalling the advice that Sella gave me earlier.
"Okay, here goes."
My circuits heated as I cast the spell, my vision going blurry until everything turned dark.
A heartbeat echoed in my chest.
Then two.
Once the third one echoed, colors started returning to my sight.
There was a small purr-like sound from Fou, and then he blinked.
I was staring at myself.
It was quite disturbing to look at yourself like this, especially with the empty dazed expression I was sporting.
Well, it seemed that the Transfer of Consciousness spell worked better than I imagined and now I was seeing everything through Fou's body.
"Well, this is strange." I tried to speak, but my real body did not respond, my voice was curiously echoing within Fou's mind. I took a moment to take in how the world around me felt. "Sella was right, my perception really is getting affected by the creature I am using."
"It feels weird feeling fur all over me," I remarked in mild awe. "The ears and the tail feel even stranger."
"Fou! Kyuu!".
Perhaps it was the connection we had, but I sensed Fou took offense to my thoughts.
"Sorry about that Fou." I mentally apologized but quickly focused back on the matter at hand. "Fou I want you to go outside and climb up to my mother's window. Can you do that?"
"Fou!" the familiar barked in acknowledgment and jumped off my lap, dashing towards my open window. With an agile jump, Fou started scaling the wall outside all the way to the roof. Before I knew it he made his way right above Iri's room.
While the balcony was in plain sight, the distance between it and the roof was noticeable and I wasn't sure Fou could jump down to it.
The white critter took a moment and looked around, his eyes locking onto the gutter pipe that was close to the balcony. Without me suggesting it, Fou jumped onto it and let himself slide down along it, sinking his claws to halt his path when he was level with the balcony.
With a strong kick of his small paws, Fou pushed himself towards it, doing a backflip in the air and landing elegantly on all fours.
I had to take a moment and do a double-take at this.
Since I got him, there were moments where I considered what exactly it was that made Fou, well, a magical creature since he never really showed anything to suggest that like some interesting powers.
Guess I need to pay more attention to him in the future.
There was a momentary smugness that I could feel from Fou from our connection, but it was short-lived as the small fella proceeded to slowly walk to the balcony entrance.
"Sweet, the window is open, maybe we can hear what they are saying."
Fou carefully sneaked around and peaked his head inside, giving me a full view of the room. I could see my mom sitting on the bed while aunt Maiya was sitting next to her on the edge. Fou's ears perked up to better listen in. "Are you feeling better?"
Her tone was unusual, while there was clear concern present in it for my mom, but there was also pity present in it as well. Perhaps that was why Iri looked so sheepish.
"A little bit."
Aunt Maiya gave a small nod but it was followed by a pause between them, most likely feeling awkward by whatever was going on.
"You sure scared Shirou off that's for sure." The hitwoman remarked with a short bitter laugh. "Kid looked like you just slapped him across the face. Then again considering how much you showered him with affection as he grew up, hearing you snap at him like that was probably quite startling for him."
… Sadly, I couldn't really deny that.
Considering how affectionate Iri had been all my life, her acting like that to me really wasn't something that I was prepared for.
However if that situation had affected me like this, it was also something that bothered Iri by the look of utter shame she now had. "I didn't mean to raise my voice at him, but I couldn't let him touch me while I'm like this."
"Right, you're pretty unstable now, no telling how you would react if he were to touch you." Aunt Maiya sighed tiredly. "On the plus side, your shouting got my attention so I rushed from the living room, the moment I saw you I knew what was going on."
"Sorry about that Maiya."
Black eyes narrowed sharply at Iri. "You're starving yourself again."
I paused at what she just said.
Iri was starving herself?
There's no way that could be true. She was always eating with everyone at the table and had quite a healthy appetite, heck she often asked for seconds.
"I can't help it," Iri muttered weakly, hugging her knees to her chest. "We both know that I don't enjoy doing it, regardless of how much I need it."
There was no change in my aunt's glare. "I am well aware, but when your health is at risk you should put your personal feelings aside."
"And what?" Iri's jaw tightened as her eyes narrowed in frustration. "Do it to the first person that I run into, and not care about the consequences?"
"I didn't say that." The black-haired woman shook her head, clearly growing tired of this discussion. "It's difficult to get it taken care of while Kiritsugu is away, but you should try to rely on me and the maids when you're like this."
"Would you do that if you were in my shoes?" asked Iri.
"Personally, I would just hunt someone in the middle of the night, get my fill, erase their memories, and be on my way. It would certainly spare me ending up like this and having to rely on friends or family members to help me out," She replied without a hint of remorse, not bothered by the things she said.
Her response looked like it didn't rub well with my mother.
"I'm not like you Maiya." She replied weakly, crashing into her pillow, staring aimlessly at the ceiling. "That may be the easy answer, but it's not one that I approve of."
"Suit yourself." Aunt Maiya scoffed in annoyance. There was a brief moment of heavy silence before she tugged on my mother's shoulders and pulled her up to her level. Once they were close she unbuttoned the first buttons of her shirt, revealing her collarbone. "That being said, let's get this over with."
A deep sigh escaped my mother's lips as she looked at her."... Sorry about this."
"You always are," she remarked dryly, pulling my mom close to her, resting her head on her shoulder.
They just sat like that for a few seconds, a shudder running through Aunt Maiya's body as Iri's head slowly made its way towards her's.
Red eyes closed as she wrapped her hands around her neck, pulling her closer.
My mind seemed to temporary crash as I witnessed what followed.
Gahhhhhh!
I choked on air as my mental link with Fou broke, my perception returning back to my original body.
There was a moment of temporary confusion from the sudden interruption. Once my senses were back to normal I just stared at my room.
Order soon returned to my mind and I recalled what I just witnessed.
I crashed down on my bed, my eyes refusing to blink. A moment later I picked up my pillow, looking at it for a few seconds.
Without anything else, I could think of I pushed it down on my face till I was completely smothered.
Then I proceeded to scream my lungs out in it and thrash about on my bed.
"Well... that was unexpected."
It was three minutes later that Archer decided to chime in. Once more deciding to butt in at the worst moment.
This was probably one of the worst moments of them all. "Shut up, I need to get the image out of my head!"
In spite of me snapping and throwing a pillow in his direction, the bowman remained unperturbed. "God, you need to calm down. It was just your mom and aunt making out, it's not that bad."
"It's all kinds of bad!" I barked back in sheer frustration.
That wasn't just them kissing like 'a small peck on their lips'!
No!
It was full-blown french kissing with their tongues dueling for dominance! I could literally see them lock lips and suck each other's tongues like there was no tomorrow.
Bleach! I need reinforced bleach to pour in my eyes and burn that image out of my head!
I froze momentarily as a thought just dawned on me.
Forget about what I saw, and focus on why it even happened!
I have no freaking idea what I just saw means!
Are my mom and aunt Maiya secretly lesbians?!
Hold up!
Does this mean mom is cheating on dad!?
What the actual fuck is going on?!
I took another pillow and started screaming again. At this point I didn't care if I looked like an utter idiot by doing this, I needed an outlet of some kind.
"Fine, fine. I'll let you simmer in your own misery. It's funnier like this anyway."
I ignored the red-clothed asshole and tried to clear my mind.
A few minutes later I felt a small weight pressing on my lap, then something small tapping on me which was likely Fou.
"Fou?" I heard as he moved up my back and started rubbing my head.
It must have been a good ten minutes before I finally took off the pillow and looked at the small familiar. "I don't know what's going on Fou, but something is definitely not right here!"
"Fou?"
The cute furry animal merely tilted his head sideways in response to my declaration, proceeded to pat me a bit more, before finally heading back to his bed. I couldn't help but wonder if that was the little guy's attempt at placating me.
An hour and one cold shower later I was lying back on my bed and still staring at the ceiling. Albeit still stressed by what I recently saw but now a bit calmer.
Looking over my previous actions. As much as I hate to admit it, perhaps I was overreacting a bit as Archer said. Still, while it may have been a waste of time and energy on my part, I believe I have the right to get worked up over it.
I'm pretty sure anyone would freak out if they saw their mom making out with one of her oldest female friends. Especially when you think about what this may mean for our family.
All sorts of questions kept flooding through my mind in response to this.
For how long has this been going on?
Is dad aware of it?
How will Iylla and Miyu react?
…
… Should I do something about it?
Gah!
I swear I would rather deal with some sort of supernatural bullshit right now than have to endure this mental torture.
"Fou! Fou!"
I lifted myself and looked curiously at Fou, the little fella was clawing at the door. "Something the matter Fou?"
When I got up to check the door someone began knocking on it. I opened it and it was Sella.
"Shirou?"
"What is it, Sella?"
She seemed a bit skittish as if she didn't know what to say to me. "You have a visitor."
"A visitor? At this time?" I blinked a few times, wondering who it could be looking for me "Who is it?"
"Someone new I would say," Sella replied somewhat stiffly
That really got me curious and I went to check who it was, whoever it was, and whatever they wanted, I didn't care, I could use a distraction right now.
When I opened the front door I was taken aback by the person who was behind it. Her crimson hair and blue eyes were a dead giveaway. "Gremory-senpai?"
"Good evening Emiya-kun, I hope I'm not intruding." The female devil greeted me with a smile, pausing a moment as she took a good look at me. "Are you okay, you look rather pale?"
"Uh, no, I'm fine, just currently processing some stuff," I explained rather quickly, not wanting to recall the kissing session I saw. "Do you want to come in?"
"That would be nice." She nodded and followed me inside the house, but stopped midway and let out a breath of ease. "Finally."
That got my attention. "What do you mean by finally?"
My upperclassman rubbed her shoulder and laughed awkwardly while looking a bit bashful. "Truth be told, I've been trying to teleport in for a while now, but the barrier around the house wouldn't let me."
"Oh." I nodded, now that she mentioned it Sella did tell me that she's been improving it so we won't have another breech like last time with Neculai. At least it shows that it's working since even a high-class devil couldn't get in. "Did something happen that you came all the way here to see me?"
"You could say that." She took a look around the house and fidgeted around like she wasn't comfortable here. "Do you think we can talk somewhere private?"
I wasn't sure why she asked for that since most of my family were already asleep, but if she wanted some more privacy I had no reason to refuse. "Uh, sure. Is my room okay?"
"Perfect." her smile may have been bright and cheerful, but I could see her eyes were heavy with emotion.
As we made our way up to my room, I couldn't help but wonder what this visit was all about.
It couldn't be something small since she came here personally at this late hour. Heck, she was still in her school uniform, so whatever this was about most likely it was something that was really eating at her since she didn't even bother changing her clothes.
The door clicked as I closed it behind us, Gremory-senpai scanning my room with a curious look present on her face. "... This is different."
"What is?" I asked, wondering what she could mean.
"Your room," she remarked casually. "It's not quite how I imagined it."
I raised an eyebrow at that remark. "What were you expecting?"
"I don't know, posters with girls on the walls, maybe some porn hid rather poorly under the bed." The devil listed off a bit sheepishly.
My eye twitched quite strongly in response to that. Just what did this woman think of me? Not that I had anything really against those things but did I give off such an impression? Admittedly, I couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed. "... Really?"
"Well, truth be told I haven't really visited that many boys' rooms here in the human world. My only comparison is Issei's room." Stated the Gremory heiress a bit sheepishly.
Suddenly everything made sense, and at the same time, I kind of took offense to that. After all, not all guys are the same.
"I live with four women in this house," I remarked in a deadpan tone. "Even if I would hypothetically have any of that stuff around, I'd probably hide it somewhere out of sight."
Honestly, I could only imagine the chaos that would result should my family ever find a stash of porn in my room. Harakiri may very well turn out to be a preferable option in comparison to the number of talks and months of teasing I'm likely to go through.
"Right… well, on the plus side, this place is spotless. " She trailed off and continued to examine my room, stopping in front of my bookshelf, her fingers tracing along the spine of a book. "Didn't expect to see so many cookbooks though?"
"I like to cook," I remarked simply and she looked at me with a small smile. She started exploring the room once more, her eyes freezing on a particular item in my room, this time a poster next to my bed, shock was much more noticeable this time on her face. "... You're a Bleach fan?"
The tone in her voice was something else, it was almost like she couldn't believe that she was even asking that. "Yeah, is that a problem?"
"No offense, but you don't seem like the type of person that watches anime in general."
"Well, truth be told, I don't," I admitted sheepishly. "My sister and Leysritt, one of our maids, would sometimes drag me to watch anime with them. After watching this one, it just sort of grew on me."
This was one of the only anime that clicked with me, the rest they showed me, not so much. Like that Bobobo...something or the soda cans who turned into girls. There were some really weird plots to the stuff that they watched that's for sure.
Though ever since I got involved in the supernatural I hardly had time to watch anything with them nowadays… and now that I think about it, I hardly spent much time with them in general lately.
"It's a good anime." The devil nodded rather excitedly. "While it has its flaws, it's one of my favorites.
"Same." I half chuckled, recalling the times I would watch it with the others. "Leysritt said I reminded her of the main character."
"In what way?" asked Rias curiously.
"Not sure honestly," I replied.
"Maybe it's the hair." The crimson-haired beauty said playfully after looking me over.
I almost snorted at that. "Last time I checked my hair was red, not orange."
That made her laugh a bit. "It's not that far off."
"Perhaps," I said in amusement while picking up two pillows and putting them on the floor, gesturing to her to take a seat. She replied in kind, sitting in front of me in a seiza position. "So what is it that you wanted to talk about?"
My question seemed to earn a reaction from the devil, her blue eyes downcast, avoiding to look at mine, a flat and somewhat sad expression forming on her beautiful face. "Emiya-kun, do you recall what we talked about today, the part about how you won't deny a person a helping hand?"
I wasn't sure why that was relevant, but I nodded nonetheless. "Mostly, why?"
Her fingers tightening around her knees, the color draining from them as she went on. "Were you truly serious when you said that you would help someone, even if it may hurt you later on?"
"I don't see why we are having this talk again, but if you want confirmation, I'll say it again, if I can help someone I will do it."
"... I see." She gave a small nod, yet that didn't seem to brighten her mood at all. "If that is truly the case, Will you then listen to my request?"
"Sure."
"Very well." She paused and took a deep breath, the act somehow making her chest bounce. "Can't believe I'm about to say this."
Once she exhaled she looked at me with a strong determination in her eyes. "Will you please take my virginity?"
… What?
I just stared at her, my face most likely completely frozen.
"... Could you please repeat that?"
"Will you please take my virginity?" She repeated once again, though this time her cheeks were quite red, the embarrassment of what she said probably kicking in.
Seconds ticked by as I waited for the world to correct itself or start making sense. But seeing as nothing changed, and realizing once again that Rias Gremory was in my room truly sitting across from me. I could only come to one conclusion.
"Okay… so I did hear that right," I grumbled weakly.
It was my turn to take a deep breath, my expression unchanged as I gave her my reply.
"Okay."
"I know this may sound like a strange request, but would please consider-" She paused midway, blinking a few times while staring at me like I just grew a second head. "Wait, did you just say 'okay'?!"
"I did." I nodded sagely, my expression neutral, a perfect example of a poker face, despite the inner turmoil that I was currently feeling and my heart threatening to jump out my chest. In fact, I wasn't sure how I was able to keep myself so composed.
The way I reacted towards this clearly took the older girl by surprise. "A-Are you joking by any chance?"
I rubbed the back of my head trying desperately to stay calm, and avoid looking her in the eyes as I felt my cheeks heat up. "Honestly I have no idea what I am even supposed to say when asked something like that. Unless this is some kind of prank, which... I'm actually hoping it is. Is it?"
After a few seconds of collecting herself, The beautiful devil started speaking again. "N-No, I was very serious with the request."
I tried to somehow resist the urge, but I just couldn't, so I facepalmed. At this point I just wanted someone to knock me out and have the day end. "That... just makes it worse you know."
"Look, it's not easy for me to ask this in the first place." She muttered under her breath, clearly struggling not to stutter.
"I can tell." I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose. "So why are you doing this in the first place since I doubt you would just go to ask a guy you barely know to take your virginity?"
"... I find myself in a very complicated situation, one that I can get out of in very few ways."
No matter how she put it, the amount of absurdity from this situation I was feeling was giving me a headache. "And one of them is losing your virginity?"
"Yes," Rias stated succinctly, her blue eyes peering into my mind.
As much as I wanted to be of help, I was lacking some crucial details to understand what I was getting myself into. "Care to give me some context here?"
"It's complicated and I'm running out of time." She bit her lip in frustration, her nails digging into her knees. "... Look, I know it's unreasonable, especially when I hear the rumors about you and Shinra-san, but would you please consider it?" She raised her voice at me and almost stuttered a few times, the blush on her face growing more to resemble her hair.
The fact that she looked so deadly serious about it only made it hammer in that, yes, this was really happening right now. "You have no idea how utterly ridiculous this conversation is."
Honestly, it was quite a surreal experience.
While I have seen her on numerous occasions and interacted with her a few times, it was only now that I was really looking at her. Like when you look at a painting but only notice all of the details when you observe it closely.
It was that kind of a sensation I was currently feeling regarding the girl in front of me.
She is an absolutely stunning woman.
No, that was putting it lightly. In the looks department alone she is the kind of woman that could make a man's heart skip a beat and inflame their desire with only a look. Crimson hair that dazzles the surroundings, eyes the color of turquoise, and a figure that puts gravure idols to shame.
In fact, she may just be one of the most beautiful women I've ever met.
One that just asked me to take her virginity.
My mind was really having a hard time processing what was going on while certain parts of me were on the verge of reacting.
I swear, this situation just seems like it was taken straight out of a light novel. No doubt filled with plenty of fanservice, multiple girls, and possessing ecchi hijinks to spare.
In the end, I let out a breath of surrender.
I may be about to make one of the biggest mistakes of my life but...
"You know… I may not be like most guys out there, but I do have the same basic urges. If we were to go anywhere with this, I'm not sure if I can stop." I explained bashfully, trying my best not to bite my tongue. "...Are you sure this is what you want?"
She didn't respond verbally, only nodding her head firmly. It felt like my body was on fire when I saw her response.
At this point, there wasn't any turning back.
"... Don't expect much from me, I'm a virgin as well," I stated almost robotically, feeling quite inadequate at the moment. As the very real prospect of having sex appeared before me.
She nodded sheepishly, her flawless white skin matching the color of her hair. "I'm s-sure we can figure something out."
She suddenly stood up and stared at me with a determined look, taking a few deep breaths as she reached down.
A croak-like sound escaped my throat when I saw this girl reach under her skirt and pull down her panties.
She still had her skirt on, so it prevented me from seeing anything, yet the sight of her black lacy thong hitting the floor made me swallow a dry lump.
Before I could say anything she began unbuttoning her shirt and taking off her bra.
The luscious mounds hidden behind her clothes bounced strongly forth as she freed them. Making me question if that was normal or if hers were somehow special. My rationality almost collapsed as I observed the breasts in front of me. The destructive impact of the sight left me mentally reeling, my God they were huge.
The blush on her face grew ever fiercer as she noticed my gaze, her eyes shifting to the side in embarrassment. "P-P-Please, don't stare so much."
I just gave a weak nod, somewhat reluctantly pulling my eyes away, trying my best to keep control of myself.
While I was clearly the one feeling the most damage from this conversation, it seemed like the beautiful devil in front of me wasn't unaffected either, she also was showing signs of being flustered by the whole situation.
Was it weird that I saw this whole thing as so ridiculous that I kept on going along with it?
Slowly she walked in right in front of me, her bare chest mere inches away from my face. She pressed her tender hand on my chest and pushed me backward on my bed. Her breasts lightly shaking with every movement. I could feel the softness of her skin press against me.
Before I knew it she was saddled on top of me, the heat from her body seeping through my clothes. Her hands were on my chest once more, using it for support, crimson hair cascading down on my face, brushing against it, my mind felt like it was intoxicated and melting from the sweetness of her scent.
The two of us stood as such for a while, each staring into the other's eyes, both of us breathing heavily in nervousness at what was to come.
Her fingers tightened around my shirt, a conflicted look present in the red-haired devil's face. "A-Aren't you going to do anything?"
I opened my mouth to answer but held myself back, shaking my head sternly. "...Y-You go first."
She bit her lower lip, looking somewhat annoyed that I did not take the initiative, but did not seem to comment upon it. Instead, she moved her next to me and slowly leaned closer to me, her hot breath becoming noticeable as her mouth approached mine.
Our noses brushed against each other, and her advance came to a halt, stopping just as our lips were a mere breath away from the other.
She stood still motionless like that, her blue orbs shaking as if in pain, her body slightly trembling.
"I, I, I…" She kept muttering, grinding her teeth in sheer frustration. There was a moment of silence and she pulled her head back, her body falling lifelessly on the other side of the bed.
"... I can't do it."
There was a brief spike of demonic energy as she punched the nearby pillow, the power ripping it to shreds, sending its fillings all over the room. "Dammit, all!"
"Just look at me!" She shrieked in sheer frustration, crawling to a corner. "I'm so desperate that I'm willing to degrade myself like this and make such an unreasonable request to you but when it comes down to it I can't even do it!"
She pulled her legs close to her chest as if to hide from the world, hugging her arms tightly around herself. "I feel so dirty!"
I laid there silently the same way she left me. With a grunt, I lifted myself up and stared at the female devil in distress. There was something hot dripping on my lips, I reached with my hand and noticed it was blood.
It appears that as much as I tried to control myself, I still got a bit too excited by all of this. I quickly took a tissue from the nearby desk and got rid of the incriminating proof. I didn't want to cause the girl before me any more pain. The important thing here was her not me.
With a sigh I rubbed the side of my shoulder and picked up the blanket, placing it slowly around the forlorn girl.
"... You asked me to sleep with you, but maybe it's better than I don't," I said gently, breaking her out of her stupor. "I'm pretty sure that would count as me molesting you if deep down you don't want this."
"You don't understand!" She snapped at me, looking like she was one step away from ripping apart another of my pillows in a fit of anger or breaking down to cry. "I want to do it!"
"Want or need?" I asked, looking into her eyes. My tone filled with compassion as I spoke.
That question took the winds out of her, making her shrink underneath the blanket. I continued on, trying to comfort the poor girl in front of me the best I could.
"The way I see it you're forcing yourself here," I explained calmly, shifting a bit to the side, then helping her wrap the blanket properly around her. "I don't care how much you tell me that this is something you need to do, it's obvious that you are not comfortable with this and I saw firsthand what can happen when one tries to force themselves upon others."
The memory of how Tsubaki almost got raped flashed through my mind and the trauma it led to.
Perhaps I was being too paranoid here and the comparison didn't stand in the current situation, but I felt that if I were to go all the way with Gremory-senpai, it would hurt her in the end. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I was the cause of it.
"As attractive as you are, this is wrong." I tried to reassure her a little, not letting her get the wrong idea. "No matter how incredibly tempted I am, if I know this may harm you more than help, then I'm sorry I can't do it."
At that admission, the crimson-haired beauty simply stared at me as if struck. The beginning of tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she continued to look at me and listen to what I had to say.
I ran a hand through my hair, messing with it in an attempt to calm my nerves. Trying my best to push on and get through this. "You will need to find some other way I can help, one that won't hurt you in the end."
With those words, it seemed like something snapped with the beautiful woman in front of me as she leaned in and hugged me. Gentle sobs soon followed, and I awkwardly hugged back, stroking the back of her head as kindly as I could while doing the best to ignore how her body pressed against mine.
"Ohhhhh, so that's what's going on." Archer decided to chime in at practically the worst possible moment. "I was wondering what was going on with you being so receptive about sleeping with her. You noticed she was having second doubts about all of this and were betting on her getting cold feet when it came down to it. Surprisingly smart on your part, was half expecting you to throw a panicked fit as she tried to have her way with you or give in to temptation."
"Zip it. I have other shit to deal with."
Some time had passed and the devil began to calm down, though still continued to seek comfort from my embrace. I was glad that things seemed to have worked out, or at least I thought so before my nose twitched and a surge of magical energy invaded the room. Apparently, the day was not over for me yet as a silver magic circle began manifesting on the floor, one that was demonic in origin judging by the scent the energy gave off, but possessing a sigil I did not recognize.
"I suppose, it was only a matter of time before she found me," Gremory-senpai said in a wry tone.
Before I could question the girl beside me, a woman manifested from the circle.
Out of all things that could have appeared from it, a maid was not what I was expecting.
She was a beautiful woman who had hair and eyes that were like polished silver, while the dress she wore was a French maid outfit with long sleeves and a white maid headband over her head. There was an air of authority around her, in spite of her being dressed like someone who serves others.
However, that wasn't what bothered me.
It was the power I could sense from her.
To say that I was scared would have been an understatement.
I was utterly terrified.
I felt like she could squash me like a bug the moment I did anything to annoy her.
Once the lights of the circle faded, her eyes landed on us taking note of the position we were in. Which now that I thought about it, probably looked pretty damning.
"Truly to think that you would stoop so low Rias-sama, doing-" she paused the moment her grey orbs focused on me. Her expression was quite difficult to decipher. She may have had a stern visage present but it felt like after taking a good look at me she was struggling to suppress a groan. "All of the men Rias-sama… Of all the men you could've chosen… it had to be him!"
In spite of her presence terrifying me, I could not help but blink a couple of times at that.
"I'm confused… do you two know each other?" The devil beside me asked in clear bewilderment.
"I think I'd remember meeting a maid with such a ridiculous amount of power before."
Said maid did not seem to give our conversation much importance. But instead tried to push past it. "We can talk about that later Rias-sama, we need to get out of here immediately."
"Grayfia, is everything alright, you look... panicked?"
I wasn't looking directly at Gremory-senpai, but by her tone, she was clearly just as confused as I was by whatever was going on here.
"That isn't important we need to leave before she finds us." The silver-haired devil pressed.
For some reason I had a pit forming in the bottom of my stomach.
A foreboding yet somehow familiar feeling swirled deep inside me that continued to grow with every second.
"Who?" The Gremory heiress grew all the more confused.
"Rias-sama stop wasting time and-"
The maid never got to finish her sentence as the door suddenly slammed open, coming forth a very excited Iri stepped inside. "Shirou is it true, you have a girl over?!"
A heavy silence loomed over us as my mom caught sight of what was going on in my room. Her red eyes instantly lit up as they landed upon the mysterious maid.
There was a slight twitch on the older devil's face, as she muttered silently under her breath. "Dammit."
The many possible ways that Iri could react quickly played out in my mind, yet the way she acted was something that would never have occurred to me in a million years.
She tackled the maid and hugged her.
"Grayfia-chan!" my mother exclaimed, overjoyed. "It's been so long~."
The devil looked like she was struggling not to scream as my mother proceeded to rub her face against her own. The now trapped woman tried to break free of Iri's embrace but to no avail. Eventually, the maid seemed to have given up her resistance, resigned to her fate. "... Irisviel."
It was quite a curious feeling.
Mere seconds ago I was internally panicking trying to deal with the situation at hand, and yet here comes my mother along with her antics and it felt like everything I was worrying about became utterly pointless. Apparently, even the insanely powerful devil that randomly showed up in my room was powerless before my mother and could only submit before her madness.
Truly, I have no freaking idea what's going on anymore.
My mom, still excited, pulled her face away and smiled at the maid. "Why didn't you tell me you were visiting, I would have prepared something nice. "
"... It was an unexpected situation." She muttered weakly, clearly not feeling comfortable with how my mom was cuddling with her. "I was tracking down Rias-sama and was not aware she was at your house."
"Oh?" Iri blinked a few times, her gaze shifting at me and my guest, a big teasing grin spreading across her face. "Ohhhh?"
It was at that moment snapping back to the present and without the impending fear of death looming over me, I seemed to realize one small crucial detail.
"Shirou you sly boy, you should've told me the two of you were this close."
I was still sitting next to a very naked Gremory-senpai on my bed with only a blanket covering her.
My body recoiled back as if it got hit by a bullet, crashing down on the floor. Without a moment to spare I picked myself back up, my face most likely a similar shade to the hair of the devil I was holding a moment ago. "It's not what you think!"
"Really now?" The tone my mother had was promising lots of excruciating merciless teasing from her. "I find you in your room next to a lovely naked girl, what else could it be?"
…
It was quite sad that when she put it like that, I had no good counter to give her no matter how I thought about it.
"Okay, it looks like what you're thinking, but it isn't!" I pleaded desperately.
My salvation however came from the person I was least expecting.
"It really isn't." The maid remarked dryly, taking advantage of my mother's momentary distraction to slip out of her hug. Then taking a moment to fix the wrinkles left by Iri on her uniform. "When I teleported in they seemed like they were talking for the most part. Perhaps it may have escalated into something else had I not appeared. But it looks like nothing happened surprisingly."
"Ah shucks, so close." Iri deflated instantly as she learned of this, like a kid who was told there was no Christmas this year. "Well, since we're all here why don't we all go in the living room and talk properly."
The maid seemed to ponder on the invitation for a bit. It quite honestly looked like she was struggling to give an answer.
However, a sigh of defeat was soon heard.
"You know what, if we're doing this, I might as well do it in a way I can handle it." She started snapping her fingers, her body flashed in demonic energy, when it faded her attire was now changed. Instead of a maid uniform, she now sported a black shirt with golden caramel accents at the edges. Around her neck and shoulders was a long, cyan scarf that reached her hips which were now covered in a pair of tight blue jeans. Her eyes were also different, they were no longer silver, for some reason they turned red. Yet the biggest change seemed to be air around her, it was much more welcoming than the previous one, she even was smiling now. "Now that's better."
Perhaps I was looking too much into this, but the way her very presence seemed to change seemed a bit weird to me.
"Yay!" My mom clapped her hands excitedly upon seeing her like this. "Casual Grayfia!"
My now absolutely beaming mother shifted her red eyes to me. "Shirou, be a dear and change then come downstairs with us, I just have to introduce you two."
At this point, there wasn't much I could do besides laugh nervously and nod my head in agreement. "H-Hehe, sure, be right there."
"You should also come down Rias, we have much to discuss." The now 'casual Grayfia' remarked to the younger devil, a concerned yet mischievous smile was present.
"R-Right." The young heiress appeared equally as perturbed about what was going on as I was.
The two older women then left the room, leaving the two of us gawking at the door.
A minute or two of utter silence must have passed before Gremory-senpai spoke again. "Emiya-kun…?"
I replied mechanically. "Yes?"
"Just what is your mother?" she questioned in pure utter bewilderment. "She made Grayfia take off her maid uniform. She NEVER does that outside of her days off, not even Sirzechs Lucifer himself was able to convince her to do that, and he is her King."
And apparently, I just got visited by one of the strongest devils currently in existence… who is also now downstairs chatting with my mom like old friends.
I swear this day is just one big giant clusterfuck.
"... I wish I could give you an answer, but I'm just as confused as you are."
"... I see."
A sigh escaped my lips and I made sure to stare in any other direction but the one she was in and tried to muster a playful tone to lighten the mood. "Now, would you be so kind to put some clothes on, you are incredibly distracting."
It was quite vexing how she didn't seem to be bothered by her nudity in front of everyone that was in the room a minute ago.
… Or maybe Sona was spot on about her being an exhibitionist.
It was a couple of minutes later before she tapped me on the shoulder and made me look her way, now fully clothed.
Never have I've been so glad to see our rather flashy school uniform. My reaction didn't seem to go unnoticed by the red-haired devil. Her eyes twinkled in mirth as she proceeded playfully to tease me. "Now, why is it you look more relieved that this didn't go any further than I do Emiya-kun."
I could only wryly laugh at that before commenting. "... Give me a break Gremory-senpai, you honestly don't know how hard that was for me. It felt like my chest was going to explode you know. I wonder if this is what they meant by the phrase heart-stopping beauty."
The female devil seemed to freeze for a moment before turning crimson, eyes going wide and left momentarily speechless at my words. Eventually, she turned her head away from me and pouted. Her eyes half-closed and her expression unsure how to react though I thought I saw a smile creep up at the corners of her mouth.
"Sheesh, I heard you can be blunt, but you're really something aren't you," Gremory-senpai said her tone was a mixture of amusement and exasperation. Still, she looked more at ease and lively than before. "I guess I'll go downstairs and see what's going on here."
With that, the most popular girl in school left my room and I breathed a quick sigh of relief, happy I managed to muddle my way through that whole ordeal. However as I was about to get up, she peaked her head through the door back at me impishly. "Oh, one last thing Emiya-kun."
"What is it?" I asked, wondering if she forgot something.
A devilish smile was soon plastered over her face, tired yet her half-lidded eyes were filled with amusement. "I really was quite hard on you wasn't I, I'm really sorry about that, but seeing you like this makes me regret the way things ended a bit. I feel like I could have had some real fun."
I blinked confused by what she was talking about and noticed the spot she was looking at. The moment I saw it my face felt like it just exploded with heat and I quickly put a pillow over my lap. "See you downstairs Emiya-kun."
As I was finally alone I banged my head against the wall.
Great… just fucking great… another hard problem to deal with.
Omake: The paw-man
Illyasviel von Einzbern had suddenly woken up from her sleep.
The middle schooler had felt… something.
A disturbance of some kind.
She got up from her bed and put on her slippers. There was something going on and she had to find out what it was.
Listening closely, she thought there might be some noises coming from her Onii-chan's room.
It could just be him working out again, like those other times she peake- coincidentally happened to find the door cracked open and by chance saw what he was doing!
Nothing wrong or immoral there!
No need for any of those FBI alarms she keeps seeing on the internet!
Back to the matter at hand, it could just be her imagination and nothing is wrong.
… But then again, something could also be going on at this very moment.
For a while, it felt like her Onii-chan has been rather secretive.
All she needed to do was take a quick glance to get rid of her doubts.
Just as she was about to go and peep she felt something soft and fluffy rub against her leg.
Illya was startled at first but she soon was at ease when realizing it was just Fou.
She quite adored the little animal that her Onii-chan brought home, and wanted nothing but to cuddle against it all day long.
However, now was not the time.
She gave him a small pat atop his head. "Sorry Fou-kun, I need to go check something."
"Fou…?" The small critter started rubbing himself against Illya's legs like an affectionate kitten, a shiver went down the red-eyed girl's spine, eliciting some long heavy breaths from the middle schooler.
"F-F-Fou-kun, I… I w-want to pet you too, but now is not the time!" Illya exclaimed, her control towards the small white creature slipping.
Fou lifted his head and gave the girl a long sorrowful look, his big amethyst-colored eyes tearing up, a pitiful yet pleading sound escaping from his tiny mouth. "Kyuu…"
At that moment a switch flipped in Illya, she instantly picked up Fou and jumped with him back on her bed proceeding to cuddle the living days out of him, unable to resist the puppy dog eyes she was exposed to.
"Okay, but only for a bit!" Illya squealed in delight, rubbing her face against his incredibly soft fur.
Fou could only sigh inwardly and endure it for now.
The things he did for his new owner.
He better score tonight, cuz he for sure won't trick his sister like this a second time.
Author notes:
Well, it's been a while since the last update, man this sucks.
Unfortunately, changes had to be taken in my life. That being said in late December I moved with work to the UK, yep, you heard me right, I'm in Britain now.
My cousin helped me get a job here and I took it as things were barely working back home. I mean seriously, I was barely afloat most of the time, plus the stress was often getting to me.
Here on the other hand I feel more at ease. I'm earning more than twice what I was earning back home (don't think my current job is an amazingly paid job, just that my old one was shit, but honestly salaries back home are shit).
While there's less stress involved, it's more taxing physically so on my off days I can hardly get myself in the mood to write.
In any case, moving here wasn't exactly easy, but not as difficult as I imagined. I've been here for about 4 months, but I don't feel homesick like most people here complain.
It was kinda lonely in February when I turned 26 and didn't really have who to celebrate with, but I got over it.
Now onto the chapter itself.
It seems that there are many things that Shirou's family is keeping from him.
And apparently Fou is the MVP in this chapter, though some can argue that Iri was the one who took that spot.
Oh, Iri, Iri, you naughty girl, just what is going on with you, but more importantly what's the deal with you and Maiya.
Perhaps it may have been a bit over-exaggerated with the way Shirou reacted to this, but I think it's my opinion that him not freaking out would have been weirder.
So it seems that Grayfia Lucifuge, the invincible super maid, had found her equal.
The woman whose maid armor couldn't be stripped even by the super devil Sirzechs Lucifer himself is unable to resist Iri's antics and has to cast it aside in order to put up a fight.
Now about Rias, welp, she tried to have Shirou help her out, but she will very shortly deal with the consequences of attempting this. Both comedic and serious ones.
In FGO news, the roster had grown a bit over the past months with Consort Yu, Stheno, Scathach (GSSR), Jalter, Illya, Chloe, Murasaki, Gawain, Lan Ling, Parvati, Bradamante, and Achilles.
Special thanks to my p(a)treons: Eric, CJ, Blacklight007, Zelretch, EgomaniacalHero, PostScriptum, Maxime Chouinard-Hould, GameCrusher55, Pietya, Derek, Steel35, Roflarius and Lastmanstanding.
Your support is greatly appreciated.
Don't forget to review... no seriously review; I could use some constructive criticism.
