Before you get started, this was supposed to be released on Thanksgiving Day, but things came up, and I wasn't able to release it then.
But, regardless of that.
Happy late Thanksgiving, or whatever holiday you celebrate within this time of year. I hope each and every one of you have had a wonderful day, and that you all eat as much turkey as you can.
Unlikely Alliance
"Issei Hyoudou" - Talking
'Issei Hyoudou'- Thought
"Issei Hyoudou" - Communication circle/phone
*Sounds*
[ Issei Hyoudou ] - Heavenly Dragons.
"Issei Hyoudou" - Draconic voice
I sat here in my desk, staring out the window with my phone in hand, being hidden behind the person who sat in front of me. The teacher is droning on about our lessons, stuff that I honestly couldn't be bothered to care for.
The day felt as if it has been progressing much slower compared to the other days, but that's probably because I've had a lot on my mind here recently. With everything going on, it certainly has its side effects.
Rias and Akeno seemed to be acting normal this morning, despite their odd behavior last night. I didn't bother to ask about it, as even if I did, I doubt they would say anything, and it would probably make whatever it is worse. If it's a big problem, then they will probably ask me about it. Otherwise, I don't think there's much of a reason to worry over it.
I turned my gaze back down towards my phone from the window, a small text already written out on Kiba's messages. It was short and straight to the point, reading, "Hey, I know you wanted a little alone time, but I got something important to ask you. Would you mind meeting up today?"
Admittedly, I didn't use my phone very often, as the only people in my contacts were my peerage members, Kuroka, and Azazel. Still, if she called, it was over a communication circle as its sound has better quality than a phone call. Azazel, well, he kind of did his own thing whenever he wants.
'And, sent,' I thought to myself as I pressed the send button on my phone.
[The best thing you can do now is hope he sees it in time, and agrees]
'Yeah, let's keep our finger crossed,' I mentally spoke, pocketing my phone as not to increase the risk of getting caught with it out in school.
Inanis and I both came to the conclusion that it would be most beneficial to tell him around lunchtime. Kiba would probably get involved in some way or another on his own, so this allows up to protect him personally, and hopefully, this will help him settle his revenge at the same time as me.
The only two downsides are relatively minute, one being the small chance that it could get the others involved, but if they don't suspect it already, it should be fine. The other is the idea that he would tell the others on me, but I trust Kiba, he wouldn't do that.
[You know, you could have sent it earlier. You didn't give him much time to respond to you considering this is the last class]
'Yeah, but I wanted to be sure this was the right course. Besides, Kiba usually has his phone on him in case of an emergency,' I responded.
[Does he not use communication circles?]
'I don't ever recall seeing him use one. I'm sure he could if he tried, but I know he has a phone,' I shrugged at his Inanis's question.
[Well, I suppose it doesn't matter so long as he sees the message. So now we just wait for a response] Inanis spoke.
.
.
.
.
Around twenty minutes has passed by now, and the class was coming to its end with only ten minutes before the bell rings to release us to our freedom. Whether that be heading home, going to a club, or really anything else that we choose to do.
As I began to fall asleep from the teachers droning about the notes on the board, my phone vibrated against my leg, a quiet buzz accompanying the vibration. This woke me up, as the likely hood that anyone texting me outside of Kiba to respond is pretty slim.
Once the teacher turned back to the board, I quickly reached in my pocket to pull out the phone, once again using the kid in front of me as a shield to hide the phone from being seen by the teacher. Opening it revealed a message from Kiba, to which I then opened it immediately.
It read, "If your going out of your way to text me, then whatever you have to say must be pretty important. How about we meet by the fountain in the park after school?"
I let out a sigh of relief as I read Kiba's message, as I wasn't sure if Kiba would be acceptive of the idea of our meeting or not. I quickly began typing, writing to send a message back to Kiba.
It read, "Sounds fine to me. I'll tell Rias I won't be able to make it to the club room, so I might be a little later getting there than you,"
Once the message was completed, I hit the send button. It was read pretty much instantly as Kiba never closed out of the conversation. Shortly after being read, the three little dots appeared in the corner of my screen, signaling his response.
With a few moments of waiting, Kiba's message came through merely reading, "Ok, see you there,"
With that taken care of, I pocketed my phone. The last few minutes of the class passed by feeling as if time was slowed dramatically due to the anticipation of the meeting with Kiba.
The bell finally rang as the teacher just finished their lecture. The other students began packing up their items as the teacher erased the chalkboard, turning around once all the chalk was gone.
"All right, I hope you all study hard and have a wonderful day today," The teacher spoke, giving us a slight wave as the students began funneling out of the door to the hall. As usual, Asia, Wyant, and I waited for the students to clear a little bit, so it would be easier for us to get through.
"Issei, what do you think we're doing today?" Asia's sweet voice asked from my side, catching my attention.
"I'm not sure, but I won't be there today anyway," I shrugged to the cute Bishop as she looked up to me.
"You won't? But you're almost there every day, why won't you be there this time?" Asia curiously questioned.
"Kiba and I are going to the arcade. I figured if he wanted some company, it would be more important than the club meeting with the current situation," I spoke, coming up with a fake excuse on the spot.
"Really? Didn't he say yesterday that he wanted more time alone?" Wynter curiously questioned, joining in on our conversation.
"Maybe he just didn't want to be around a large group of people at the time. I can understand that" I shrugged, grumbling the end as I hated crowds of people.
"You want us to just tell Rias you can't make it today then?" Wynter suggested.
"Yeah, then you can head off to meet with Kiba sooner," Asia agreed.
"I appreciate it, but I should tell Rias myself. Maybe she has something important for us today, like contracts, or another stray devil or something," I explained.
"If you say so," Wynter shrugged, dropping the subject entirely.
"Well, let's get a move on, the more time spent here is more time wasted," I spoke, standing from my chair upon seeing that most of the students made their way out of the halls.
The others gathered their things together, proceeding for us all to be the last three leaving the classroom. The empty halls easily transversal compared to it's earlier state.
As we made our way out of the school building and down the path to the old building, a slight tinge nervousness couldn't help to be present within me. There's not a guaranteed way to tell how Kiba will handle the situation presented to him when I bring it up.
Looking up, I could see Rias gazing out of the window from the school building. Her beautiful and long crimson red hair blowing in the breeze, and her smooth white skin glowing from the sunlight. She seemed to be in deep thought, as she didn't seem to notice us until we were practically at the door to the building. We gave a small wave to her, one which she reciprocated back to us as we left her sight, entering the building through the doors.
The sightline to Rias disappeared as we entered the old school building. My curiosity began to arise as to what Rias could be thinking so deeply about, as she hasn't had anything majorly stressful happen since Riser, and Kiba's current situation right now. Maybe it was something to do with last night.
I let out a small sigh, shaking my head slightly as I rid the thoughts that plagued my mind. Now wasn't the time to be concerned with something that may not even be something worth worrying about, as she could be thinking about something entirely idiotic for no reason, I've done that a few times.
Right now, Kiba and Kokabiel come first. My mind should be entirely on them for the moments to come. They are the threats at large at the current moment, so they need the attention, or everyone could get hurt.
We entered the club room to see the other three girls already in there, Rias still looking out the window, Koneko on the couch with sweet candies and Akeno with a little push tray, three cups of tea spread across the top.
"Glad to see you guys arrived, I made some tea for everyone. Sorry if it's a little cold now," Akeno spoke, presenting the tea to us as she pushed the little tray across the wooden floor, stopping next to the entrance of the room and by extension, us.
Wynter and Asia both grabbed a cup for themselves, both of them taking a drink, tasting it for themselves. Needless to say, they both enjoyed the tea quite well. Akeno always has made the best tea. I'm not sure how, but she's just good at it.
"Issei, do you not want any?" Akeno asked, tilting her head curiously as she looked at me.
"Not today, thanks though," I politely replied. Any other day I would have taken it with pleasure, but I don't plan on being here long.
"Are you sick or something? You usually seem to like the tea," Akeno further questions. Her eyes closed in on me as she looked me up and down like a mother concerned for her child's health.
"I'm fine, I just got something to do today, so I don't think I'll be here long. So long as Rias doesn't have any contracts for me or something," I explained. Akeno's eyebrow rose at my words.
"Speaking of which. Hey Rias," I loudly spoke from across the room to get her attention. It seemed to work as she appeared to be startled out of her deep thought by me.
"Huh, oh. What is it, Issei?" Rias asked, leaning back from the window, directing her attention to me.
"I was wondering, do I have any contracts today or anything?" I asked her. She adapted a somewhat curious look at the seemingly random question.
"No, none that I'm aware of right now. Why do you ask?" She asked.
"I wanted to ask because Kiba and I were going to hang out and go to the arcade or something today, so long as you didn't mind me skipping out on the club meeting today," I explained the reasoning behind my odd request.
Rias and the others that didn't already know were surprised to hear what I just said. Akeno and Rias shared a curious glance towards each other, while Koneko didn't show her curiosity openly, her eyes shifted over to me without her moving her head a single inch. Koneko's gaze peering at me from the corner of her eyes as she was now keenly listening.
"You are? Didn't Kiba want to be alone?" Akeno questioned.
"I guess he just didn't want to be in a large group of people right now," I shrugged, acting as if I was just as confused as them while managing to suppress the guilt enough for her to hopefully not notice.
"All your doing is hanging out with him?" Rias probed onward suspiciously, giving me a look of curiosity as she sharpened her eyes at me.
"Yeah, what else would we be doing?" I questioned, continuing to cover my real intentions.
The room went silent. Akeno and Rias were both staring at me, sharing a few glances towards each other as if they were having an unspoken conversation. I could sense the lack of trust from the two from their soul links.
Koneko continued holding her sharp gaze towards me from the corner of her eyes. She must really be concerned for Kiba to be listening this intensely, at least more than she's physically showing.
"I don't know, Issei. I can't exactly predict if you'll have any contracts later today," Rias spoke.
"At least Kiba is actually willing to talk to Issei. Surely he can miss a few contracts to help one of his peerage members," Wynter reasoned backing me up, giving me a sly wink that the others didn't see after she spoke.
The room went silent once again for a few moments, all of us slightly surprised as Wynter never really weighed her input on essential matters such as this. She usually just opting to stay quiet and let us talk it out so she could just follow our orders.
'What the... Does she...' My thoughts were interrupted by Rias as she began to say something.
"... I suppose your right," Rias sighed.
"So... you don't mind?" I questioned her once more.
"It's fine, just be sure to tell me if anything happens, or if he says anything that raises some red flags," She spoke, turning back to the window.
"Uh... thank you, Rias. I'll see you guys here tomorrow," I gratefully thanked her, giving everyone a small wave.
"See you at the house, Issei," Wynter gave me a wave of her own as I left.
"Y-yeah, you two have fun," Asia joined in, reciprocating the wave as well.
Once the door was shut, I hasten my pace to exit the building as quickly as possible, only slowing down again once I was on the path to leave school, as Rias could see me clearly from the window in the ORC room. I didn't want Rias to see me rushing away, she already doesn't seem to trust me right now, not that I blame her for that.
'What the hell was that about,' I thought to myself as I walked down the pathway to the new school building. Wynter never jumps in like that, not to mention that weird wink she gave me.
Thought of every possible reason for her actions went through my head, desperately trying to figure out why she did that. Yet no matter how much I thought, I couldn't shake the thought that she could know more about what's going on than she's letting on.
It's possible she was just trying to help Kiba and I, but she never jumps into situations like that, so why now? Wynter never gets involved with club affairs like this, so there has to be some reason for her to abruptly put her self in the middle of that.
'Too many things are happening at once,' I thought to myself, letting out a long exasperated sigh, continuing my walk with my hands in my pockets.
'First, Kokabiel started making his move again, then Azazel contacted me, Kiba had his little moment, and thanks to my lying Rias and Akeno don't trust me, and now, Wynter has an outburst of odd behavior for god knows why of a reason,' I frustratingly thought to myself, the main gates of the school grounds entering my sight as I got off the path from the old school building.
[Calm yourself, let us focus on the task at hand]
'I know, I know. It's just... starting to get a little stressful. Everyone is starting to act weird, things are happening that weren't planned, and I still have to hope they take all this well when I tell them what was going on,' I mentally responded, stopping right outside the school gateway.
[They all seem to be a reasonable bunch, I'm sure that they will understand if you explain why you're doing this]
'Yeah... yeah, your right. It's just hard not to be worried about it.' I responded.
[It's understandable, a lot is happening right now, Issei. Try to focus though, we don't need this getting any more out of hand than it already has]
'I agree. Meeting with Kiba comes first right now, and judging from where his energy is, it seems like he's already pretty close to the fountain. I suppose we'll have to keep him waiting a bit,' I thought, resuming my walk down the street with my composure regained.
[Why not use your shadow movement to get to him?]
'It's a park, so I bet it'll be decently populated at this time of day,' I mentally responded, stopping by one of the many vending machines that populate Japan. Oddly enough, I don't remember there being so many when I was a kid.
(Well you better get moving then)
I grabbed some water from the vending machine. Shortly after taking a drink, I took off at a quick pace towards the park as to not keep Kiba waiting for me there.
With his phone in hand, Kiba sat on the edge of the fountain, his feet tapping quickly as he looked around him. His eyes were are only meeting those of strangers that were enjoying their time in the park, yet not a single sight of me.
"Where is he? He should have been here before I was with his shadow movement," Kiba spoke to himself as he looked down to the phone, seeing that he has been waiting for around 10 minutes.
Kiba looked up from his phone, his gaze sorting through the groups of people walking through the park. His eyes locked onto me, waving at him as I walked through the groups of families enjoying their time here.
"So, what took you so long," He questioned, a small smile forming on his face as he began walking towards me.
"Sorry, I had to make sure Rias knew I was gonna miss the meeting, and there are too many people here to be using my abilities," I shrugged.
"I didn't think of that, but yeah, there are a lot of people here today," Kiba agreed, looking around at the others, whether they are groups of strangers or just lone people making their way.
"So, what's so important that you needed to talk to me about it?" Kiba asked, returning his attention to me.
I took a quick look around us before I responded, checking that there wasn't anyone in easy hearing distance of us. Thanks to the sound of water from the fountain, as well as some of the talking groups of people, it was safe to assume that it wasn't going to be easy to hear us right now.
"First, I need you to promise you won't tell Rias, or the others about what I'm going to say from here on, ok," I sternly spoke to him.
"What? Why would you want to keep the others out of this?" He questioned, a confused expression dressed him.
"Just promise me," I quickly responded, continuing to carry the same stern tone as before.
The noise that covered us seemed to fade away from our preception as Kiba stood in slight shock from what I just said to him. It was clear to him that this was a severe situation that has just been placed in front of him.
After a few small moments passed, the sudden shock that Kiba displayed seemed to fade, allowing him to recompose himself. He gave a slight nod while wearing a much more serious expression than before.
"Alright, then let's get this going. I know you have some grudges against the holy swords, and I assume you're suppressing your desire to chase them down, correct?" I spoke.
"Y-yeah, but how did you know so easily," Kiba spoke, surprise in his voice.
"Aside from the hatred I felt from your aura, no one gets over something like that in just a few days. It also helps that my more, animalistic instincts, allow me to understand what others feel to a sharper degree," I explained to Kiba.
"So getting that out of the way, I have a proposition that I want you to hear. One that would help us both achieve what we want," I spoke.
Kiba looked at me curiously, his mind trying to wrap around where this conversation was going to lead. That's at least a good sign that I have been able to keep what I'm doing a secret for the most part.
"Alright, I'll listen. What is this proposition," Kiba questioned.
"I had a contract from Azazel, and he asked me personally to hunt down Kokabiel and to capture him. However, I am going to do far more than capture him if I get my way, and you can break the holy swords they've gathered while we're after him. Therefore we can both settle our revenge and neutralize a threat to our master at the same time," I explained.
Kiba was nothing less than absolutely shocked by the revelation of my plans and actions. Mixed emotions ran through him, as the offer to get his revenge rarely comes up, yet the feelings of this revelation of my lies about my goals, it almost surely hurt his trust.
"Do... do you mind if I ask some things before I decide," He slowly spoke after moments of shocked silence.
"Ask away. You deserve to know what you're getting into," I shrugged.
"How long have you been doing things like this behind our backs? How long have you kept us in the dark to all of this?" He questioned. I stuttered slightly at his question, a small wave of guilt about lying to them hit me once again.
"Not... too long. I had it thought that if I got the chance to go after Kokabiel again, I would. I haven't actually done anything since that very night, and I planned to tell all of you after everything was done. When you all were out of harm's way," I responded.
"So, you didn't tell us to keep us safe?" He asked me.
"Yeah, no offense, but none of you stand a chance of beating Kokabiel, so I figured if I did this on my own, then it would prevent you guys from being endangered. I'm... sorry, that I lied. I really did plan on telling you all everything eventually, after everything was over," I sincerely apologized, averting my gaze from his own, looking at the ground to my side.
Kiba stood silent, thinking about everything I just said to him. A few moments of this silence passed before he responded, a small smile forming across his face.
"Yeah, that sounds like you, always looking out for us," Kiba spoke with a slight chuckle.
"...You're not upset that I lied to you all?" I questioned.
"Well... I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me that you didn't tell us, and it would be a bit hypocritical of me to be upset with you for hiding something like this from us," He spoke, giving me a warm smile.
"I understand why you hid this, and I don't blame you for wanting to keep the ones you care about safe, but... I'm glad you told me about this, Issei. I'll join you, and I'll help you with this. However I can, no matter what," Kiba confidently spoke, his warming smile forming to that of a confident smirk as he extended his arm out to me.
"I'm relieved to hear that. I honestly thought it would be harder to convince you. Thank you for understanding, I'm glad to have you fighting beside me," I spoke, letting out a sigh of relief as I shook his hand.
"You said that we're family, and there's nothing I wouldn't do for my family," Kiba spoke.
"Well, since we're doing this, we're going to need a plan before attempting anything. You've been exposed to holy energies, so I was curious if you could track those Church girls. I would do it myself, but I have a hard time pinpointing their location," I questioned.
"Yeah, but what do you want with them?" Kiba questioned, narrowing his eyes slightly.
"Well, I was hoping that we could make a deal with them. They have to be more attuned than us to their own type of auras than we are, and they will need help without their Excalibur destruction," I explained.
"So you want to use them to tack Kokabiel so we can find him, break the swords, and then they can take the fragments back to the church? Do you think they would be very receptive to a devil's help?" Kiba asked.
"They wouldn't have much choice. They couldn't have beaten him with the Excalibur Destruction, none the less without it," I spoke.
"Well, I don't like the idea of meeting with members of the church, but I trust you, so I suppose we should start tracking them down," Kiba sighed.
"Yeah, I feel you there. I don't want to work with that Xenovia girl either, but Kokabiel needs to be stopped," I spoke, clenching my fist at the thought of Kokabiel.
"Any idea where they are right now, Kiba?" I questioned.
"Well, call it good timing, but judging from what I feel their just a decent walk into town from here," Kiba spoke, pointing in the direction that their pungent holy energy emitted.
"Well, in that case, let's go meet with them now and get this over with," I sighed, beginning to walk off in the direction that Kiba pointed.
"Are you sure now's a good time? You did break one of their holy swords yesterday. You sure they won't still be mad?" Kiba questioned.
"Oh, I'm sure that the blue-haired one is absolutely livid, but what is she going to do, attack me in broad daylight in a town filled with people?" I sarcastically spoke.
"Fair point, I guess. Follow me I'll lead us to them," Kiba spoke, rushing to catch up with me. With Kiba now caught up, I let him take the lead as I followed shortly behind him.
We've been searching for around half an hour now, and we're getting close. The streets were somewhat crowded, which only provided more difficulty in our search.
Even I could tell that they were close, as their presence was much stronger than it was before. Even if I couldn't pinpoint their energies, I could listen for the sound of their voice, not that it would be easy within the crowd of talking people.
"You hear anything yet?" Kiba questioned.
"No, not a single thing. What about you, have you seen them anywhere?" I asked.
"No, but their close, I can feel it," Kiba spoke.
Suddenly, a familiar bubbly voice was heard, saying something about the lord, and sheep. I quickly grabbed Kiba's sleeve, preventing him from walking off on our search once again.
"Look at this," I deadpanned, pointing at the two white-robed figures standing next to a sign that read "Help the hand of Love" while a little basket was placed in front of them.
"Are they... begging?" Kiba questioned.
"Yeah... yeah, I think they are," I responded, just as confused as Kiba.
"Well, unless weird looks are a form of payment, then they aren't getting much," Kiba chuckled, causing me to emit a small laugh as well.
Kiba and I began approaching the two girls, and Xenovia noticed us only after a few steps forward. Her face scowled beneath her hood almost instantly upon seeing Kiba and me, and her aura filled with hostility. She faced us immediately, instinctually reaching for her sword, only to be met with nothing.
Irina looked over to see why Xenovia stopped speaking. Her eyes stayed on Kiba and me upon looking over here, not noticing her partner's hostile stance. Her eyebrow raised as she looked at us with an expression filled with curiosity.
"Issei? What are you do-"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Xenovia shouted, cutting Irina off while grabbing the attention of everyone that was walking on the streets around us. While most of the people moved on after glancing, a few decided it would be a good idea to stop and stare at the drama.
Irina stopped in her tracks at hearing the sudden outburst of anger from Xenovia. Kiba and I weren't too surprised, we figured this would happen, but it seems Irina didn't expect this at all, as she appeared almost shaken by her partner's yelling.
"Relax we're just here to-"
"RELAX? You want me to Relax? Last time I saw you two, he ruined our chances to accomplish our goals!" Xenovia shouted, interrupting Kiba as she pointed at me.
"Xenovia, clam down," Irian spoke, walking up next to Xenovia.
"Why should I? That bastard destroyed our-"
"I know what he did, and I don't like it either, but he wouldn't come to us without good reason. So, maybe we should listen to what they have to say," Irian suggested, trying to calm Xenovia.
"You want to listen to THEM?!" Xenovia shouted with anger and disdain in her voice.
"I know, you don't trust them, but I know Issei is a good person. I trust him, so trust me," Irina insisted.
Xenovia's scowl lightened slightly from Irina's words, her gaze shifting between Irina, Kiba, and myself. Her eyes then quickly shifted to the evergrowing population of people that stopped to watch us, and with a few deep breaths, she composed herself.
"...Fine," She begrudgingly spoke, crossing her arms while turning away from us as she suppressed her anger for Irina's sake.
"Thank you, Xenovia," Iriana gratefully spoke, giving Xenovia a warm smile before turning her attention to Kiba and me.
'Did these people ever learn not to stare?' I thought to myself, the feeling of there gazes beginning to annoy me.
"Issei, whats going on? Why are you two here?" she questioned, shaking me from my inner thoughts.
"First, let me ask, have you two eaten anything yet?" I asked, assuming that they didn't, under the observation of what they appeared to be doing was begging.
"Uhh... no. We're kind of short of cash right now," Irina responded.
"If that's the case, why don't we discuss this at a nearby restaurant, all you can eat my treat," I suggested, only for Xenovia to shoot me a sharp glare from over her shoulder.
"What are you trying to do, lizard?" Xenovia sharply questioned.
"You two are probably hungry, and I know it isn't much, but this is the least I could do for you after breaking your stuff. It also doesn't help that your drama has managed to draw some unwanted attention," I explained, my voice switching to an annoyed tone as I mentioned the onlookers.
"Speaking of which... WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ALL LOOKING AT!" I yelled, turning to look at the people who stopped to watch. Thanks to their unknown instinctual fear of me, they all quickly began to scatter away.
[Your awfully irritable today] Inanis mentally spoke.
'I hate crowds,' I mentally grumbled.
"Are you coming or not?" I questioned, turning my attention back to Xenovia and Irina.
"All you can eat free food sounds awesome, I'm down," Irina spoke, practically bouncing over to Kiba and myself.
"You want me to eat with you? HA! As if I'd eat out with deplorable creatures like yourself," Xenovia spoke, her stomach erupting in grumbles of hunger after her statement.
"Come on, Xenovia, I know your hungry, and you said you'd trust me, remember?" Irina spoke.
Xenovia went silent from Irina's words, and stayed silent for a few long moments before finally opening her mouth to speak.
"Tsk, I suppose it would help us regain our strength for the mission," Xenovia grumbled, begrudgingly walking over to us.
"Good, just follow us, and we can talk about this matter at the restaurant," Kiba spoke, leading the way with them in tow behind us.
Xenovia and Irina sat across the table from us, stuffing their faces with almost as much food as I eat. Neither Kiba or I were hungry, so we just simply sat waiting for them to finish their meal so we can discuss the current situation.
"You know, I never thought I'd see a human eat as you do," Kiba sarcastically joked.
I gave a small laugh but not responding with any words. Xenovia and Irina were both in their own world as the devoured the food placed in front of them. I crossed my arms, my foot beginning to tap from impatience of having to wait on them to finish eating.
Finally, after what felt like forever, and a few more plates were cleaned of their food, the two finally stopped ordering.
"Dear God, it must be the end of the world if we are getting saved by devils," Xenovia spoke to herself.
'Fuck you too then,' I thought to myself, suppressing my inner desires to hit her in order to maintain their will to negotiate.
"Are you too ready to talk now?" Kiba questioned.
"Don't get the wrong idea, devil. I'll listen to repay the debt of you feeding us when we needed it, but don't even think we're close to friends," Xenovia spoke, her stubbornness further shortened my patience.
"Come on, Xenovia, no need to be rude right now," Irina spoke.
"Yes, yes, I've heard this before. I couldn't care less how you feel about us, so long as you can listen to reason," I rolled my eyes at her little speech.
"Oh shut it. What do you two want with us?" Xenovia questioned, getting right to the point.
"You two said you came to this country with the intent of reclaiming the Excalibers, right?" I questioned.
"Yep," Irina quickly responded.
"We've already told you this," Xenovia grumbled, clearly wishing to be out of this situation, yet no longer giving off the hostile vibe she had from earlier. Maybe it was because she just ate, or that there isn't a point of batteling us in a family restaurant, and even if they did try, I'd win.
"We want to help by destroying the Excaliburs," I bluntly spoke.
This instantly caught Xenovia's attention, both of them looking at Kiba and me with surprised expressions, as well as sharing glances with each other.
Thinking about it now, if they aren't acceptive of this idea, Kiba and I could get in some deep shit. Excaliburs are supposed to be a pretty big deal to the members of the church, and for devils to request to destroy them could very well be perceived as an insult. I already destroyed one in our spar, which already could have sparked the next great war, none the less destroying three more.
"Why?" Xenovia calmly spoke, much to the surprise of us all. Even Irina seemed to be surprised by the lack of hostility in Xenoiva compared to earlier.
"huh?" Kiba and I both blurted out to our surprise.
"Why do devils like you two want to help the church?" She elaborated on our question.
I shared a quick glance with Kiba before responding, silently getting his opinion on whether we should tell them or not. Kiba gave a small nod before speaking.
"Aside from wanting to protect our peerage members, Issei and I... well, we both have some grudges to settle, Issei with Kokabiel, and myself with the holy swords," Kiba explained.
"So, you're not doing it for your own personal gain or the gain of your peerage?" Xenovia questioned.
"No, we aren't," Kiba responded.
"And how do I know that you aren't lying?"
"You don't... guess you'll just have to trust us," I interjected between the two.
Xenovia went silent, utterly unaware of what to say or do with the situation presented to her. Her expression didn't say much, nothing outside of her being in thought, but I can guarantee that she knows they're screwed without help.
"Why don't we give them a chance?" Irina spoke.
"You sure? Their devils, and devils are self-indulgent by nature. They could be lying to us just to get what they want,"
"Your the one who said we only have around a 30% chance if we used our back up plan, and while we both were willing to risk our lives for this, you always said its better to live longer to continue to fight in God's name. I can't be sure about the other one, but I've known Issei since we were kids, I trust him," Irina confidently spoke.
"... It would be near impossible to retrieve those Excaliburs, especially without my own," Xenovia shot me a harsh glare.
"Exactly, so let's give them a chance," Irina insisted.
"And on the off chance that the higher-ups found out, What then?"
"You said it yourself, Xenovia. Issei is only 1/4th devil, and the church never said we couldn't recruit the aid of another dragon," Irina continued pushing her towards working together.
Xenovia then went silent, her gaze shifting over to me from the corner of her eyes.
"It was odd enough to be partnered with the Red Dragon Emperor, but in my entire time I've spent with Irina, I never thought I would run into the Black Dragon Emperor, none the less a real dragon. From earlier today, and even now, I can feel your draconic presence leaking out from you. It's almost overwhelming," Xenovia spoke, staring at me.
[Put that in a love letter] Inanis mentally spoke.
"Don't get me wrong, I'd gladly send you to oblivion for what you did earlier, but despite my opinion of you, it doesn't seem like I have much of a choice, " Xenovia sighed.
"Glad to see that you realize when you are out of options," I spoke, knowing that they would fail and die without our help.
Truth be told, as annoying and patience thinning as this whole process has been, its a good thing she finally agreed. I wouldn't have stopped my hunt for Kokabiel regardless of what she said, so this just makes things much easier on my part.
I'll have to thank Irina later. Even if she initially had problems working with a devil like me in the beginning, this almost would have had no chance of working if she didn't talk to Xenovia.
"We should share our information, since we're going to be working together and all," Irina suggested, causing Xenovia to sigh.
"The minimum objective we have to achieve is destroying the three Excaliburs or take them back. Seeing that we don't stand a chance at taking back ourselves, we should break them rather than allowing the others to use our own weapons," Xenovia spoke.
"So we'd be breaking three of the swords correct?" I asked.
"Yes, specifically nightmare, rapidly, and transparency. Those are the three that were stolen from us,"
"If Excalibur rapidly is one of your stolen swords, then he must be working with Freed. I ran into Freed a few nights ago, he just killed a church member and was wielding an Excalibur," Kiba spoke up.
"That dick?" I turned to Kiba with an annoyed expression. I was sure I was done with him after our last meeting in the abandoned church.
"Freed Sellzen. Former exorcist of the Vatican, a genius who achieved such a title at the mere age of thirteen. He had a lot of achievements because he kept eliminating Devils and other mythical beasts," Xenovia grimly spoke.
"He overdid it, though, and he even began killing his allies. Freed never had any beliefs for our God, the only thing he had was killing intent towards monsters, and an abnormal obsession for battle. It was only a matter of time before he was charged with heresy," Irina elaborated on Freed's history.
"You're saying he killed one of our followers with a stolen Excalibur," Xenovia questioned, her voice filling with hatred, perhaps even more so than when she was speaking to me earlier.
"Yeah, I was there to see it. He was fast, much faster than I would have ever anticipated," Kiba confirmed what Xenovia spoke.
"...Thank you for letting us know, so in return, I'll give you some information about your revenge mission," Xenovia spoke, gaining both Kiba and my own curiosity and attention.
"Valper Galilei, also known as the Genocide Archbishop, is most likely working with the Fallen Angels," Xenovia spoke.
"And are we suppose to know who that is?" I questioned.
"Valper was the person in charge of the holy sword project, and his actions with the project caused him to be charged with heresy and expelled from the church," Irina explained.
"He always had an odd obsession with the holy swords, so where ever they go, he will most likely follow," Xenovia spoke.
"...So that's the name of the man who... killed us," Kiba lowly spoke, his eyes glimmering with a newfound determination from learning his real target was.
"We appreciate the info, but we should probably start working on a plan of attack," I suggested.
Xenovia pulled out a pen a little note pad, writing something on the paper, which she then ripped out and handed it to me from across the table.
"This is our contact information, if anything goes wrong, call this number," Xenovia spoke.
"All right, well, it's only fair that I give you mine in return," I spoke, grabbing the pen from Xenovia's hand, and writing my phone number in the notebook of hers.
"Good, for now, just meet us at the abandoned church tomorrow night, that's when we strike. I'll repay you for the meal some other time, Black Dragon Emperor," Xenovia spoke, standing from the booth to take her leave.
"Thanks for the food Ise, it was great! Feel free to call me whenever you want," Irina joyfully exclaimed, following her partners leave.
'...Ise?' I thought to myself, confused by the nickname she just gave me.
"Well, that went pretty well, all things considered anyway," Kiba spoke, relaxing as he leaned back in his seat.
"Yeah, I suppose it did. Here, write down their number in your phone while I go pay," I spoke, handing Kiba the paper Xenovia gave me.
"Ok, I'll be waiting for you outside," Kiba said, standing up from his seat and taking his leave.
I walk over to the counter as Kiba left the building, my receipt in hand. It was indeed a hefty price, but instead of using Rias's money, I used what I had instead. It wouldn't have put a dent in the Gremory family's wealth, but it just didn't feel right to use her money without permission.
After paying the price, which took almost all the money I had stored up, I left the store. Kiba was leaning against the wall next to the entrance, waiting for me.
"You still have that paper with Xenovia's number on you?" I questioned.
"No, I ripped it up and threw in that trash can. It's better this way, less likely for the others to find out about it," Kiba spoke, already beating me to what I was planning to do.
"Good,"
"Tell me, do you have a soft spot for that Irina girl?" Kiba questioned.
"What kind of question is that? We were friends from childhood," I quickly responded.
"Even though she's a member of the church?"
"Since when have the rules stopped me? What does it even matter to you?" I questioned.
"Just curious, that's all. You certainly were more tolerant of her than that other one, Xenovia," Kiba stated.
"If we're on the topic of curiosity, do you think destroying those three swords and killing that Valper person will help you get some closure?" I asked.
"Well, it's a little underwhelming to be permitted to destroy the Excaliburs by their wielders, but killing Valper Galilei, that's an entirely different story," Kiba spoke.
"Yeah, I figured you'd like that. He deserves everything coming to him, doing something like that to kids,"
"You going home now, or do you need to kill more time?" Kiba questioned, changing the subject.
"Well, seeing as the suns still out, I'd say I have a few hours to kill," I spoke.
"Well then, in that case, why don't we go to the arcade as you told them. Maybe you can bring them back some stuff you win," Kiba suggested.
"You don't have anything else to do?" I questioned.
"Nah, besides, you seem like you've been a little irritable today, so going to the arcade might be good to relax a little," Kiba suggested.
"I suppose it would, wouldn't it. Let's go then," I agreed.
Kiba and I both set off down the street, walking together to the arcade. Hopefully, they stay open long enough for us to kill all the time I need to waste before returning home.
The sky was dark, and the neighboorhood was quiet, barely any light making its way over the horizon. As I looked at my house, I stopped in place on the sidewalk.
I could see my house sitting within the peaceful neighborhood. Standing here, my mind could help but picture the scene that I saw so long ago. Fire swarming the building, blood staining the concrete walkway and grass, smoke darkening the already dark sky. A shadowy winged figure floating in the sky laughing, as another laid next to the bodies in helpless anger.
I shook my head, removing the dark memories from my mind as I continued my approach towards the house. As I made my way up to the door, the faint sounds of screaming could be heard from the TV in the living room.
I opened the door, looking over to the living room, seeing all the girls watching that show Dragon Ball again, some sitting on the couch and chairs, while others sat on the floor.
As I entered and shut the door, Asia turned to see me taking my shoes off at the door.
"Oh, Issei's back," Asia happily spoke, causing the others to look at me.
"Did you and Kiba have fun?" Wynter questioned.
"Yeah, it was actually pretty fun. I tried to win you stuff, but all I got was this thing," I spoke, pulling a tiny pink stuffed cat out of my pocket. I guess I just got lucky when I won the stuffed animal for Asia.
"Well, why don't you come join us, the episode just got started again," Akeno invited, waving for me to come over, which I gladly accept, plopping myself down between her and Rias.
As I looked at the screen, I could see that the screaming was coming from the main character, who was being crushed by a giant ape in some blue spandex like armor. All while the protagonist's friend and son rushed to help him. There was also this fat guy who was a coward hiding behind the rocks and watching the protagonist get squeezed by the giant monster.
The time began to fly by as we all sat together watching the show, and while it was a pretty good show, I couldn't focus on it. My mind was racing through thoughts and scenarios of what could happen with our alliance with the church to hunt down Kokabiel.
Will they stick to their word, and let us break the swords?
Will they try to stab us in the back? I couldn't see Irina doing something like that, but Xenovia, I wouldn't put it past her.
Maybe Kokabiel will be more prepared than we thought, and we all fail. Whether we fail by getting killed, or he just gets away, who knows. It could go any way.
[You know letting things like this get to you is what he's going to want, right?] Inanis mentally spoke.
'I can't help it,'
[I know, you're stressing out about meeting that murderer, it's a big thing after all. I'm just concerned for you, that's all]
I didn't respond.
Even though the show was only minutes long, it felt as if hours have just gone by, my thoughts running rampant on Kokabiel and every singly bad outcome that could happen. That was until the episode came to an end, and a tap on my shoulder shook me from my thoughts.
"You good, Issei? You zoned out a bit there," Rias asked, looking at me with a concerned expression.
"Yeah, I'm fine, sorry if I worried you there. I'm just tired. " I responded, not really lying, but not telling them the entire truth either, as all the worrying and stress is wearing me out.
"Why don't you go ahead and get some sleep in the bed. Rias and I will be up there in a little bit," Akeno suggested.
"All right, I'm not going to argue against sleeping right now," I spoke, stretching as I stood up.
I slowly and sluggishly walked up the stairs to our room, supporting myself against the wall as I walk as not to fall over like a tired idiot. As I made my way into the room, I flopped onto the bed, flipping over so the girls can take their spots under my wings as they usually do.
"Wynter, why don't you go take your shower first since your usually the fastest," Asia spoke.
"If you're sure, but aren't either of you two going to take a shower?" Wynter asked, looking towards Rias and Akeno.
"We take our showers in the morning before any of you wake up," Akeno explained.
Wynter just shrugged it off, rising off the floor from her sitting criss-cross position, making her way to the bathroom to take her shower. The room was silent as she left, Rias and Akeno not speaking till they knew Wyner entered the bathroom. Once they did, they turned to Asia to speak.
"Hey, this is going to sound weird, but have you noticed Issei and Wynter acting a little off?" Rias asked Asia.
"What do you mean?" She questioned, confused as to why they asked.
"It's complicated, but Issei may be getting into serious trouble, and we're worried about him," Akeno quickly responded.
"Well, he does seem like he's been a little distant lately, b-but other than that he seems normal to me," Asia spoke.
"What about Wynter?" Rias asked.
"No, she seems normal to me,"
"You don't think it was weird how she jumped into peerage affairs all of a sudden?" Rias brought up her more than unusual behavior.
"I suppose, but I figured she was just concerned for our friend, Kiba," Asia responded.
"Maybe, but it's weird for them both to just start acting up like this coincidently," Akeno spoke, mainly to herself.
"Asia, I request that you please don't tell Wynter, nor Issie about what we just asked you, ok," Rias requested of the blond Bishop.
Asia was silent, feelings conflicting inside of her, hesitation, confusion, surprise, worry. Finally, she opened her mouth to respond.
"I- I don't understand why you'd want to keep this from them, but if it were bad, you wouldn't have asked me, and you're his mates, so whatever your doing must be for Issei's well being," Asia spoke, agreeing to keep this to herself.
"We really do mean well, but if Issei finds out... he may become upset," Akeno reassured Asia.
"I-I trust you too, I know Issei would," Asia spoke.
Akeno and Rias both gave Asia a warm smile, her sweet innocence being the ultimate weapon of cuteness, striking at the heart of the onlookers.
"Well, I'm going to head to bed, since we both already took a shower this morning," Rias stated.
"I think I will as well," Akeno spoke, following Rias's lead.
"Get a good night's rest, Asia. Who knows when we'll need our strength again," Rias gave Asia a warm smile as they made their way up the staircase to Issei's room.
Rias and Akeno were walking up the stairs, entering the hallway to Issei's room. As Rias was about to open the door, Akeno stopped her, placing her hand on her shoulder to pull her away from the door.
"What's wrong?" Rias asked, as quietly as possible, hoping to avoid Issei's advanced hearing.
"Just had an idea," Akeno whispered back. Rias gave a curious look to covey her asking, rather than asking herself.
"We should ask Sona if she noticed anything," Akeno spoke.
"Why would she know anything?"
"She's the head of the student council, so surely teachers send her reports on student's behaviors," Akeno reasoned.
"You think teachers may have reported changes in Issei's behavior?" Rias questioned.
"Well, it's possible, so it might be worth a check," Akeno spoke, unsure if her idea would work, but any lead is better than none.
Rias gave a nod in response, agreeing that it's what they should do next. Akeno then let go of Rias's shoulder, letting her return to opening Issei's door.
As I lay here in bed in my dark room, I could hear the faintest of voices coming through the door, nothing I could make out, probably Rias and Akeno try not to wake me up.
The door nob turned, and then light peered in through the widening crack of the door. I knew it was Rias and Akeno just from the scent alone, but I didn't feel like talking to either of them right now, so I acted as if I was passed out.
Without saying a single word, the two girls climbed into their spots that they usually lay in, using my body as a pillow as they cuddled up against me, my wings closed around them. The light sensation of their breath flowing across my chest, their soft hands resting on my body. It was calming.
I could feel it, their emotions, anxiousness, concern, fear, and when they cuddled up against me, it seemed their feelings were calmed as well. I can't say why they feel like this, maybe it was because of my actions recently, I would undoubtedly feel these things if the roles were reversed.
I glanced towards the clock on the wall of my room. Only minutes have passed since they entered my room, and yet it felt as if a lifetime has passed. My eyelids felt as if the weighed hundreds of pounds.
But despite how tired I was, I couldn't fall asleep.
I couldn't help but think back to when we were all watching TV in the living room together. The show captured everyone's attention, even Akeno's. Despite the fact that Kokabiel is in this very town, the very killer of our families.
Could she have just moved on, somehow coming to terms with what has happened?
I couldn't feel any negative emotions from our soul link at the time, but maybe she's just better at suppressing her emotions than I am. I'm generally good at it, but this, well... it's a special case.
Akeno did say something about it bothering her, but she doesn't want to lose what she has now. Maybe it's a combination of both of those things.
Asia always has confused me a bit as well. She has been treated wrongly by so many people for a good portion of her life. Being abandoned at a church by her parents, being excommunicated by the church for reasons she couldn't understand, killed to gain her sacred gear. All that, and she doesn't want revenge, she doesn't want them to suffer.
She just wants people to be happy.
Even still, I can't just move on from this, I can't forgive as Asia can, and as much as I love the things I've been provided with, Kuroka, Akeno, Rias, I just can't let go of what happened.
Kokabiel will die... and it won't be quick.
Thanks for the read every one, remember to leave your comments and opinions, I'd love to hear them.
Thank you for the reads :D