One month after the rating game
"Raynare, wake up…"
"Ughn, no~. I'm sleep. You sleep. We sleep."
A mostly-unconscious Raynare threw her arms around Issei and pulled him in closer, refusing his attempts to get her out of their bed. He sighed in defeat as she squashed against him, not leaving an inch of wiggle room.
For at least a week now, she'd been a pain to wake up, and while it normally wouldn't have been an issue, he was finally cleared to go back to school (despite being completely healed for some time now, much to his disdain) which meant she would accompany him...normally.
"Raynare, I gotta go. Please come with me?"
"No, stay~."
"I gotta- Raynare, hey, come on…!" Issei was forced to laugh uncontrollably as Raynare began to relentlessly tickle him in an attempt to stop him from trying to get her out of bed. Unfortunately for her, his thrashing only served to wake her up even more, and she became more and more aware of what was going on. That, of course, did not stop her from tickling him.
"Why go to school anyway? Who needs that? I'm four thousand years old with no diploma, and I'm great. Stay here with your pregnant fiancé." Now mostly lucid, she finally let up, allowing him to weasel out of her arms and off the bed. The poor boy stood with his hands on his knees and breathed heavily, still laughing against his will every once in a while.
"I can't. If I don't graduate and get into a good college, I won't get a good degree, and then I can't support-"
"Shut up~. It's too early for big words. Let me make it simple, darling~..." Raynare pulled herself out of the bed, and Issei averted his eyes. Whatever position she'd slept in, it had left her silken black pajamas in a state of disarray, allowing him a bird's eye view of her bust. She walked over to her lover, giving him an enticing look as she continued talking.
"You are, without a doubt, the best person I can think of. At least top five. That might just be because I don't like anybody else, but still. A degree will fall in your lap as soon as you put your mind to it, and you could get a job anywhere if you wanted to. Not to mention, you're already filthy rich. You can afford to sleep in." Raynare cupped Issei's face in her hands, forcing him to look at her in the eyes.
"That's not how it works…" He murmured, trying and totally failing to resist her charm.
"It works how I say it works." Raynare grabbed Issei and fell backwards, taking them both back onto the bed. She pulled him close, and he lost all will to resist. "Plus, I'm pretty sure you could just ask Azazel for a job whenever."
"I guess you're not wrong. Fine, we can stay for a few more minutes."
Raynare's plumage erupted skyward from her back, and she shrouded them both in her faintly glowing silver wings. Discarded feathers fell lazily to the black silk bed below, making look somewhat like a small tornado had swept a wave of unfortunate pigeons through the room.
"Who would've thought some bad-to-the-bone fallen angel assassin would love to cuddle so much?" Issei asked, giving her some rare snark as he settled into his position as the little spoon.
"Who would've thought a shy dork would knock up a much older woman before he even finished high school?" Raynare answered with a sly grin. Issei's blush turned atomic, and he realized just how outplayed he was in the sarcasm department. She had millennia of experience on him.
"Not just some older woman, though. It was the shy dork's fiancé. He loves her very much." Issei said quietly, taking Raynare's left hand that had been draped across his chest.
"Well, she kinda likes him too. And, she would prefer if the dork didn't refer to her as an older woman from here on- hey, what are you- oh my God, Issei?!"
Raynare couldn't even almost contain herself as she realized what Issei had just done. While she'd been talking and not paying attention, he'd taken her hand and put something on it.
Now that she had the presence of mind to look closely, she saw that her beloved fiancé had slipped a gorgeous silver engagement band onto her ring finger. It was the finest silver money could buy, molded in the shape of two overlapping angel wings and dotted with shining, brilliantly cut black diamonds. She was utterly speechless, and shot off the bed. Issei followed her up, and she looked at him with a cacophony of emotions and unspoken questions.
"Raynare, I know I already asked a while back, but-" Issei began kneeling, but was interrupted...
"Yes you dumbass, yes!" ...as Raynare tackled him right back onto the bed.
Several hours later
They'd arrived late, but at Issei's insisting, Raynare had finally accompanied him to school. Really, she had no reason to be there, as relations had successfully been built with the devils, as per Azazel's request, and a four-thousand year old angel obviously wasn't worried about finishing High School. But, Issei was going to go every single day, and that meant, no matter how boring, tedious, repetitive, or downright useless she found it, she'd follow. And it definitely wasn't because of all the other pretty girls that went to Kuoh, not at all.
Not at all.
Issei sat in his desk, unable to pay attention while Raynare hummed blissfully in the seat behind him. She'd been understandably overjoyed about her new ring, and couldn't help but show it off to all the girls nearby her in their class.
"Oh my gosh, Hyoudou gave you that?!" One of them had squealed.
"Yup, he got it made special." Raynare had replied, waggling her adorned finger and smugly soaking up the gleeful attention of the girls.
Issei was the object of a much different type of attention, and he wasn't too pleased with it; the boys in the class had all decided he was apparently the scum of the Earth. Sighing, he resigned himself to a day full of jealous stares. It wasn't like they could do anything to him anyway; the only one at Kuoh who could match him at this point was Raynare, who'd more than likely castrate anyone who tried to hurt him.
As the clock finally drew down and a bell signaled the end of the school day, Issei inwardly groaned in relief. He'd been completely unable to focus with all the thoughts about marriage and children and everything else dancing around in his head, and he was more than ready to just be with Raynare again. Unfortunately, they had another stop to make before the two of them went home.
They paired up and left the classroom, heading to the ORC headquarters to visit with Rias' peerage for the first time since before the rating game. They'd spoken to single members here and there, but not together and not to the whole peerage, so Issei had elected to drop by and see how things were. Not to mention, word on the air was that Rias was still miffed by he and Raynare's failure to participate as agreed, and he wanted to try and smooth things over.
The couple left the main school, and were crossing the large courtyard to the ORC building when Raynare spotted two people in front of them, heading the same direction, but dressed in strange clothes.
"Hey, Issei, do you see those two?"
"...Yeah, I do. What in the world are they wearing?" They both had on white cloaks with large blue stripes running vertically down the length of the fabric. Not a single detail of their actual appearances could be discerned because of the encompassing robes, but one of them had a large object wrapped in white cloth mounted on their back.
"The robes of the church. They're exorcists. As in, the ones that hunt devils. Definitely rookies, they're wearing the most beginner church gear you can even get. One of them totally has a holy sword, though."
"Oh."
"Sucks for them, I guess." Raynare turned away, changing course away from the ORC. Issei's hand on her arm stopped her, and she unceremoniously groaned in annoyance.
"We should probably help, though, right?" Issei asked, looking towards the old school building. The exorcists were rapidly approaching the devils' headquarters, with the first of them having just reached the door.
"Can we help? Yes. Should we? Probably. Are we gonna? I hope not…"
Issei glanced at Raynare with a reprimanding expression, then started walking to the ORC. She huffed in resignation, then begrudgingly picked up the pace behind him. Before they could even get going, Issei caught a glimpse of a figure quite some distance away, catching his attention.
"Hey, Raynare, is that…?"
"Matsuda, have you heard from Kiba-"
Rias was interrupted mid-sentence as the door slammed open, falling off the hinges and startling everyone. The entire ORC was up in a flash, with everyone present ready for a fight.
The person who'd so violently ruined the door walked in behind it. It was someone in white exorcist robes, and as they pulled their hood back, it was revealed to be a girl with blue hair and hazel eyes.
"Who are you?!" Rias yelled urgently, a ball of Destruction crackling in each of her hands. Matsuda was on her right, black sword ready, and Akeno and Asia stood behind her.
"Calm down, we're here to talk." Behind the bluette, another cloaked figure walked in.
"People who are here to talk normally don't break down the door." Rias said warily, eyes darting between the two figures, trying to discern whether or not they were a threat. The sunburn-esqe radiation of Holy power was thick on the air, and Rias was almost positive they carried a Holy Sword, or more than one even. Even the mere action of exorcists stepping foot in Kuoh with such weapons could be considered an act of war, so why had they come? If the ORC was killed, it would surely plunge the factions into another bloodbath; her brother would-
"This isn't a normal circumstance. We've come to ask you to stay out of our business."
The first girl, who looked to be the leader of the two, spoke in a very no-nonsense manner, cutting right to the point and standing firm.
This, naturally, aggravated the devils, as she'd blown open the door in a very yes-nonsense manner.
"Am I the only one who sees the flaw in that reasoning...?" Akeno muttered, wondering why they'd come far and away into the heart of Kuoh's devils for the sole purpose of telling them to piss off. Seems like it would've been easier to just keep it covert.
"Normally people introduce themselves before demanding something of another, too. Or are you exorcists too good for doors and names? You'll be replacing that, by the way."
"I'm Xenovia Quarta, and this is Irina Shidou. I'd say it's nice to meet you, but lying is a vice."
"You're definitely honest, at least. Alright, fine. Let's talk. I'd prefer if you'd do something about those Holy Swords, but I'm guessing that's not an option."
"You guessed right."
Rias clicked her teeth, astounded at just how rude one girl, from the Church of all places, could be. "Akeno, get us some tea, would you? Seems I've got some negotiations to handle." Rias sat back down at her desk as Akeno excused herself to make the tea. Matsuda and Asia stepped behind Rias, and the two exorcists took seats at the couches.
Kiba, strangely enough, was noticeably absent, as was the subject of discussion prior to the exorcists' interruption. Nobody had heard from him for several days, and all attempts to contact him failed. All Rias knew is that he wasn't dead, as his Evil Piece would've returned to her.
"So what is it you want from us?" Rias asked, putting on her best diplomatic smile.
"Several Holy Swords have been stolen from the Church and are presently in Kuoh. We need you to stay out of the way while we track them down."
"If something of that caliber is happening in Kuoh, it's my jurisdiction. This town is my territory, and by extension Devil territory. You have no authority here. Not only that, how do you know I don't have the swords? Perhaps you just walked into a trap." Akeno returned, placing several cups of tea down for the exorcists and Rias.
"We...didn't actually steal anything, right?" Matsuda whispered to Akeno as she returned to behind Rias.
"No, silly. She's just trying to get more information. Rias is a very skilled negotiator." Matsuda nodded at her words, impressed. That had gone completely over his head.
Xenovia was far less impressed; she reached to the hilt of her sword in the blink of an eye, but Irina stopped her, placing a steady hand on her arm.
"We're well aware you aren't in possession of the swords, Miss Rias. We don't mean to antagonize you; all we're asking is permission to move freely in Kuoh." Irina explained. Her calm demeanor was a far cry from Xenovia's brash, stony one, and much more pleasant at that.
"I'm going to need a little more to go off of than that. As I'm sure you've noticed, we're a bit short-handed at the moment, and all our efforts are currently concentrated into finding our friend. I don't need two exorcists running around on top of that."
"No, I'd say you've got more than enough hands." Issei and Raynare stepped through where the door used to be, someone slung in a soldier's carry between them, very obviously wounded.
It was Kiba. His uniform was tattered and blood-spattered, and he had two long gashes running down either side of his face. Not only that, but he bore several more cuts and slashes of various degrees, seemingly attacked by someone far superior with a sword than him.
Rias and the rest of the ORC were immediately at his side, helping lay the boy onto the empty couch. "Heal him!"
"Right!" At Rias' command, Asia began healing his various slashes and bruises.
"Where was he?" Rias asked, looking up at Issei from her place by the Knight's side.
"Not sure. We found him outside, crawling this way. Matsuda mentioned the other day that nobody had seen him in a while, so when we saw him hurt we just brought him here." Issei leaned on the back of the couch, peering at the two odd people on the opposite couch.
"...Thank you."
"Don't sweat it. He'd have made it by himself anyway, I'm sure. Who're they?"
Rias sighed, standing back up and readdressing her company. "Church exorcists. I suppose this is your town as much as it is mine, Red Dragon. Stay and listen." She sat back down at her desk, ready to continue, but Irina's interest had been peaked.
"Issei, you're the Red Dragon?!" Irina was up in a flash, stars in her eyes as she got uncomfortably close to Issei. Raynare's painted-black wing was between them in a flash, and she swept the over-excited girl away from him.
"I'm sorry, have we met?" The boy asked, confused. Nobody had introduced him, so how did this girl know his name?
"You don't remember me? No, I guess it has been a while...nevermind. We'll talk after this, okay?" Irina said with a cheerful smile, winking at him.
Raynare practically snarled at her, and the smile faded. She pulled Issei in with her extended wing, drawing him close to her and protectively shrouding him with her plumage. The look on the Angel's face was a completely nonverbal way of saying "try it and you're dead, bitch" and Irina was suddenly just a bit worried about what kind of company Issei'd been keeping.
"Is that the one you were talking about?" Xenovia whispered to Irina as she sat back down.
"Yeah, that's him. To think he'd be the Red Dragon Emperor…"
"Kiba's healed, but he's still unconscious." Asia said worriedly, reminding everyone there was still a wounded teenager in the room.
"He'll be alright with some rest. Thank you, Asia."
"Asia? Asia Argento, the witch? I'd heard she'd come here, but to think she'd go so far as to become a devil? Disgusting."
"Excuse me?" Rias asked, protective.
Asia looked down, tears forming at the sides of her eyes.
"Do you still believe in God, Asia?" Xenovia asked.
"Y-yes. I do." The poor girl mumbled.
"A devil that believes in God? Really?" Irina wondered aloud, surprised such a thing could exist.
"I could tell. I can smell the faith on people, if that makes any sense. I can just tell. Asia, I'm sure the Lord will forgive you for becoming a devil if you let me kill you."
"Oh, hell no-" Matsuda started to react, but was interrupted.
"Uh, what? That's bullshit." Raynare said, drawing everyone's attention. "There's no way to save a devil, and not to mention; even if you could do it with everyone here, do you really think you could get away with killing a little girl? Devil or not, that would definitely not fly. We haven't been cool with human sacrifice for, like, three thousand years. Get real, dumbass."
"We? Who are you, anyway?" Xenovia asked, annoyed at having been brushed off.
Raynare didn't say anything, she just squinted her eyes in an 'are you stupid' expression and shook her still-present wing, pointing at the appendage like she was explaining something to a child.
"If we could get back on track…" Rias asked, mildly annoyed. She'd been nursing a headache even before the exorcists had showed up, and now it was running wild.
"You all know what we want." Xenovia said shortly, leaving no room for argument. She sat back down next to Irina, as ready as everyone else for this to be over.
"Well, I don't…" Issei muttered. He'd came in late, so obviously he wouldn't know what had been going on.
"I see no good reason to let you run wild in my city, looking for these swords you failed to protect."
"But-!"
"But, I'll allow it...on one condition. You allow my peerage and I, as well as the Red Dragon Emperor, to assist you, in whatever methods we deem necessary."
"Absolutely n-!"
"Deal." Irina's hand was covering Xenovia's mouth within milliseconds, not wanting to squander the opportunity to get some help with the mission. After all, their primary objective was to retrieve the swords; not to retrieve the swords alone.
"Glad we could reach an agreement. Now, if you wouldn't mind, I've got a servant to take care of. Off you go; I'll be in touch." Rias said, smiling sweetly as she kicked them out of the room.
The ORC watched them get up and leave, and Raynare glared murderously at Irina as she fled the room behind Xenovia.
"They didn't fix the door." Matsuda remarked, leering at the cracked piece of wood.
"Uh, quick question. Who were they, what'd they want, and what exactly is the Red Dragon helping with?" Issei asked a flurry of questions, dumbfounded.
"Exorcists, us to leave them alone, and not leaving them alone. And, in that order." Rias answered, smiling. Technically, she answered all his questions, just not in a way that gave any information at all.
"That didn't help at all."
"Yeah, I know. Just messing with you. Pull up a chair."
"That's it? All they wanted is for you guys to leave them alone? Why'd they even come here, then? They literally left with the exact opposite of what they wanted, it would've been better if they just kept it quiet and didn't tell us anything." Issei exclaimed, after listening to Rias' actual explanation.
"I know, right?" Akeno exclaimed, happy someone else got it.
"Well, regardless, I'm not going to let them run around unsupervised. I doubt the two of them could do anything by themselves, but if someone bad really does have stolen Holy Swords hidden in this town, it's our job to stop them, and if it takes us cooperating with the exorcists, then so be it." Rias said resolutely.
"Yeah, that's fair, but why did you offer me? I never even achieved balance breaker."
"And whose fault is that?" Rias asked tersely, still mildly annoyed by his refusal to activate the power. He'd lost the chance after nearly dying, as his recovery had greatly hindered his strength and lowered him past the threshold for Balance Breaking, and now it was anyone's guess when or if he'd be able to again.
"Well, I mean, we could go down the line on this one. Yours, for making me fight Matsuda. That's a fair answer."
"It wasn't Matsuda who stabbed you in the gut, was it?" Rias asked. As soon as the words left her mouth, she regret them; she knew Raynare still harbored an insane amount of guilt over the whole incident, and she hadn't meant to reopen old wounds like that.
Raynare looked down at the ground, and Issei glared harshly at Rias.
Without warning, Matsuda thumped Rias on the back of the head with his middle finger, breaking the tension. "It's not like I wasn't trying. But~, anyway, back to the point- why did you offer Issei's help?"
Rias inwardly sighed in relief, glad her Pawn had saved her from what she'd said. "Just in case, mostly; if we need help with anything, the way I see it, Issei and Raynare still owe us. Since they couldn't participate in the game, they'll have to repay their debt in another way. Sound fair?"
"I guess so, yeah." Issei said, seeing the truth in her words. Raynare clicked her tongue. She knew Rias was right, but she didn't like the thought of being in debt to devils.
"Basically, my peerage and I will just go out with these exorcists once or twice, and if something crazy happens, we'll give you a call. 'Kay?" Rias asked, smiling genuinely this time.
Issei nodded in acceptance. "Guess that's all, then. I'll, uh, leave you to Kiba, then. Good luck with...all that."
The peerage waved goodbye as Issei and Raynare left.
Raynare and Issei began walking home, but on the way, Issei asked to make a detour.
Raynare was confused, but of course she agreed.
She didn't know where they were going, but he seemed to know exactly where he was.
It was much longer than their normal route, but soon Issei brought her to where he wanted to go.
It was the top of an unassuming bridge, over a normal road. Forest surrounded the road on both sides, and traffic lazily passed under the bridge every once in a while.
Issei stopped when he was at the center of the bridge, then faced the edge, looking out over the road.
They'd taken a long time to get here, and the Sun was slowly sinking below the horizon, casting a majestic orange glow over everything in sight.
"Hey, can I borrow your ring for a second?"
"Um, sure, but what for…?"
Issei didn't say a word as Raynare slipped off the gorgeous ring and handed it to him. He took it, carefully, and looked down at it with a soft smile.
"Raynare, do you remember where we are?"
"Do I remember…? Not really, why?"
"Ha, give it a second." Looking up from the ring, Issei cast his eyes out over the horizon. It was truly beautiful this time of day. "Last time we were both here, I...I wanted to end it all. Nothing seemed right. Nothing made me happy, and I couldn't see an end. When you came up to me, I thought you were lying. I thought you were just another dull patch in a sea of grey. 'No way can life actually be giving me an up,' I thought. 'No way can I have something good.'"
"That's really what I thought. And then you asked me out, and I turned you down. I went home that night, and I didn't even cry. I cried so much before that I didn't have any tears left. I was just...numb. But then, you saved me from Matsuda the very next day, and you were with me in the hospital the day after that, and the day after that you were with me at...that place, where you told me you loved me after two days. Two days. Ha, who says love at first sight doesn't exist?"
"I'll be honest, at first, I didn't know how to react. For a while, I didn't believe you. I was afraid to take the plunge, to attach myself to yet another person who'd run off without a goodbye. I went along with it, though. I didn't have anyone else, and you seemed so...strong. Never afraid for a minute of anything, totally unflinching. Even willing to kill your own friend to be with me. I've never had anything like that, not since my parents died. Never had anyone like that. Over time, you convinced me. Within a few days after meeting you, I was totally in love, head over heels. And I was terrified."
"It was...weird. How someone I'd known for so little time had so much influence over my life. I'd kill for you, I'd gladly die for you...and it felt great. All the little things started meaning so much more. Normal breakfast? Oh, I can't wait to share it with Raynare. Sleep? Oh, I can't wait to be beside Raynare. Even just the damn walk to school, you made it great. You made me happy again. Terrified or not, I was happy."
"And now, a kid. Ha, a kid. It's almost laughable how silly the situation is. Never thought I'd ever help make something so beautiful. I mean, how could I…? Something so ugly, making something so...immaculate. It's almost too amazing for words, but now I'm even more scared. Scared for the future, scared for the past. Scared for myself, and for you, and for the kid. But you know what?"
"I'm happy. And even if I spend the rest of my life being scared, I'd like nothing more than to face it with you, head-on. I love you, more than anything I ever have."
"Raynare, will you marry me?"
Issei turned around and dropped to one knee, raising the ring up for her to see. His eyes glistened with tears, but his smile was radiant and pure.
The question rang in Raynare's ears. Was this actually happening? He was really in love? This had to be a dream, right? There's no way in hell a boy this precious would ever want to be with a Fallen Angel like her.
But, she didn't have to pinch herself. She wasn't dreaming. She knew he wanted to be with her. She knew he was in love, and she knew he'd take her no matter what she was, Fallen Angel or not, and she wanted nothing more than to be with him one hundred percent of the way because she loved him even more than that.
Raynare dropped to her knees in front of him, so they were on the same level. Her perfect smile was as bright and shining as the Sun, and her happiness was evident in the glittering tears falling from her violet eyes.
She took the ring in her palm and pulled Issei into the tightest hug he'd ever had.
"Issei, you idiot...I'll say yes no matter how many times you ask."
He pulled away, smiling as she slipped the ring back onto its proper place around her finger.
"I wanted to do it right, this time."
Raynare laughed, throwing her arms around his neck. "You did. You always do. I love you, Issei Hyoudou, so no more being sad. I'd never forgive you if you did something crazy like jumping off a bridge."
Issei laughed, genuine and true. "With you, I'll never have to. I'll never be sad again."
"We've got Nightmare, Rapidly, and Transparent. Take your pick, and get me the rest."
"Well, I used Rapidly to slice up the devil-boy a bit, and that was fun, but~..."
Freed Sellzen picked up the wicked black blade, Excalibur Nightmare, and twirled it in his fingers.
"...I'm gonna try something with a little more bite." Freed sheathed the sword at his hip.
"With Nightmare, you can create completely realistic illusions that wrench people's darkest fears out of their subconscious. If used properly, you could even make someone kill the ones they love the most, and they'd never even know it until it's far too late. Truly, a terrible fate." Valper Galilei explained.
"Oh, believe me, doc…"
Freed looked down at his bare left shoulder, where an arm used to be. Where the Angel bitch had gouged it off.
"...I know."
Okay, so, story time. A year ago, on Aprill 10th, a boy in his senior year of Highschool had a dream. It was about a generally ignored character from a lame anime. In the dream, she had this great backstory, and a wonderful development into a real angel, instead of the villain fodder she was in canon. Kind of a weird dream, I know, but a day later, the boy posted the first part of His Angel. The first few chapters were nothing special, because the boy was new to writing, but he kept at it. He kept writing, and kept improving, and kept loving the idea.
A year, 1,000 followers, and 100,000 words later, here we are. I'm just about finishing my first year of college, and I could not be happier about the development of this story and myself. I've changed in so many ways it's insane, and no small part thanks to you guys. I don't wanna give another
long-winded speech and waste your time, so I'll finish up with this; thanks. Thanks to everyone who's been with me since the start, and thanks to everyone who's jumped in along the way. Here's hoping we keep getting better.
Anyway, that's it. As always, review if you liked it, PM me if you have a question, all that stuff. I've been wildly busy for a while now, so if you sent me a PM and I never responded, please send it again. I try to get back to everybody, but as I learned yesterday, my phone apparently doesn't show me all my emails sometimes and I totally missed someone's PM. Whoops.
Also, go check out my newest story "Horns" if you can. I'm trying a crazy new writing style to see if I can make a decent DxD horror story, but it's wildly under-viewed and I'd appreciate some feedback.
(NOTE THIS STORY IS NOT OVER. Apparently I confused some people. This is not a finale, I'm just sappy like that.)
See you next mission!*
*Metroid Reference, because Metroid is literally the best series of all time