Important note: If the new and upcoming KH game, Melody of Memory, reveals some important stuff that is part of the KH lore, please understand I am not changing anything in this story to fit them. If we ever find out the identity of the Master of Masters in that game, I'm not changing what I have unless it's the same. I already came up with my own identity for the MoM here, and I don't have plans on changing it. Please understand that this is a fanfic, and I can manipulate certain unrevealed bits of the KH lore to suit this story. That is all.

Discord link: [discord . gg / 4y5QVPj]

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Highschool DxD, or any of its characters...

Over the course of a few days, Yuuto's demeanor had changed completely towards everyone he came across with at school, even to his own friends of the Occult Research Club. Hell, he would rather avoid contact from the people who would approach him for something and be alone. It seemed like that incident he had with the psycho priest the other night created a deeper well of hatred inside him, even though Roxas told him not to let all of this get into his head.

Hell, it led to the point where the young man wasn't performing well in his devil duties. He failed to accomplish three consecutive contracts and didn't do much against another stray devil that they fought recently. Sora ended up saving his life when he was almost about to get killed, and led to him getting scolded big-time by Rias, but the guy didn't even look like he was listening the entire time. He just accepted his mistake and promised to do better next time, but nobody could tell if he was being genuine with his words.

Until it reached today, when Rias finally had enough of her servant's strange attitude. Honestly, it took a strong slap to the cheek to finally make him pay attention as he stood before his leader who was positioned behind her desk.

"What is wrong with you, Yuuto? You've been acting strange lately," Rias asked with suspicion lingering in her tone. She had an idea why he was acting like this, but hoped it was not the case. "Not only did you fail several contracts with your summoners, you nearly got yourself killed as well during our last mission in taking down that stray. If there is something bothering you, then you might as well share it with the club."

"Sorry, Buchou." Kiba spoke with a forced smile on his face, hiding the disdain he felt inside. "I'm… not really feeling well recently. I think I'm going to be taking a break from club activities for a little while. I'll be heading home early, please forgive me for inconveniences I caused." Rias' serious frown turned into a look of worry as she watched the blonde teen walk away without another word, with the others looking on quietly.

Sora Ishida didn't know anything about leaving a friend alone in a time of need, and not once did he willingly kept himself within distance of another person having issues, because that's just what he is. Kiba is likely going through something, and he should lend him a hand. Truthfully, he was already trying to figure how to handle Aqua's situation (Roxas told him about her during lunch period) but that can wait since he knew she was in safe hands with Rias' brother. Kiba though, he was having issues for some reason…

"Kiba! Wait!" He called out as his friend walked out of the door, not stopping in his tracks. In response, Sora stood up from the couch and quickly followed Kiba out of the building, where he caught up to him just before he could get away. "Kiba, what's going on with you? You're acting really strange."

"It's none of your business, Sora." The knight said in a harsh tone, finally stopping in his tracks but refusing to turn around and face the keybearer.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora frowned in confusion, wondering what has gotten into his friend that made him like this. He outstretched his arms as if he was trying to prove a point. "Kiba, if there's something bothering you, then you can tell me about it. We're friends, right?"

"Friends…?" Kiba said in a sarcastic tone, before turning around to face the spiky brunette but his gaze remained glued to the ground. "Sora, I recently remembered something important."

Sora raised an eyebrow. Perhaps this was the reason why he was acting so strange lately. "And what's that?"

"My reason for living. I'm ashamed of myself that I only remembered it a few days ago. It has been so long that I almost forgot about the one thing that's made me who I am today."

"Your reason for living… you mean Rias?" he asked, becoming more confused than ever.

"No…" Yuuto raised his head, his eyes brimming with rage and hatred. Sora actually took a step back out of nervousness, as he has never seen Yuuto act like this. "It's for revenge. I live only for the destruction of the holy sword Excalibur. I swore to myself and for the sake of dead comrades, that it would be destroyed. That is why I live, Sora."

He didn't say anything more as he stormed off, and Sora could only watch without being able to do anything about it. He had no idea what Yuuto was trying to say, but there might be someone who does.

"Ddraig… do you know anything about that 'holy sword Excalibur' that Kiba was talking about? Something tells me this isn't good…" Sora asked the entity that resided in him. After being aware of his real nature as the Red Dragon Emperor, he immediately took various opportunities to speak with Ddraig again to try and figure out how this all came to be. Sadly, he wasn't able to come up with a solid hypothesis but ended up befriending the Welsh Dragon in the process.

[I'm afraid I don't, Partner. The only thing I remember from this world was the moment when I was created as a Longinus. After that, I chose as you as my host and remained asleep until then.] Ddraig answered in his mind, causing Sora to frown. This was also the only clue he had gotten so far while trying to solve this mystery, and it was the fact that he was Ddraig's first host, making him the only known Red Dragon Emperor in recorded history. It kind of made sense, since the Boosted Gear was a lost Longinus of this world.

"Then I'll have to ask Rias about this before Kiba does anything crazy," Sora spoke in a more serious tone before rushing back inside.

(Play - "Kairi")

(Abandoned Church)

Kairi sat on one of the long benches facing the altar, with her gaze darting towards the broken statue of Jesus and her thoughts being completely focused on Sora. She clasped her hands together, having no idea if this will work, but Gabriel speaking highly of this action was enough for her.

"Lord, I don't know if my words can reach you right now, but I pray that I'll be able to see Sora again. This is selfish of me, but I can't help it. It's like I need him in my life, and I don't want to lose hin."

Kairi had no idea about the concept of a higher being when she ended up in this world, since she grew up believing that there is only light and dark among everything. Believing in a being called 'God' was something that intrigued during her short but meaningful time in Heaven, and Gabriel was there to satisfy her curiosity by answering all of the questions she had regarding their beliefs.

And now, since she was in a world inhabited by many supernatural creatures, maybe it would be fitting that she does the same thing that Gabriel and the angels do…

"Sora has always been there for me, and I want to do the same for him. He sacrificed so much for my sake and others', but all of that won't mean anything if he's not there with us. If you're there, please guide me in the right path so I can see him again…"

Of course, she wanted to see the others again, but the void that was still present in her heart could only be filled by that person and maybe once she sees him again, they can look for Aqua, Roxas, and Xion together.

"Kairi," a familiar voice caught the girl's attention, stopping her train of thoughts. She turned her head to see Griselda walking towards her with a smile on her face. "Did I just see you praying over here?"

The girl blushed at being caught in the act, mainly because she had never done something like this before. Despite that, she took a deep breath and stated her resolve. "I guess… uhm, Miss Gabriel told me that if I'm feeling down… I can always talk to God about my troubles…" she confessed.

"That is quite true. The Lord will always listen to whatever you want to say," Griselda then flashed her a knowing smirk. "...even if you're not from this world."

A few days ago, Kairi was nervous about telling Griselda, Irina, and Xenovia about her true nature that she prepared herself to be called a liar for deceiving them, but received no such thing in the end. In fact, all it did was spark an interest in both Irina and Xenovia about the concept of other universes and made them eager to know what could be found in her worldline. They actually spent the whole night reading through the journal in Kairi's Gummiphone to satisfy their thirst for knowledge, especially in Xenovia's case due to her being a sheltered girl of the church. This made the redhead chuckle, and found it adorable at how Xenovia was like an innocent child when it came to new things like this.

Irina was flabbergasted at the fact that Kairi was both a pure light and a keyblade wielder at the same time, going as far as to say that the young girl would make the perfect exorcist if she was from this world. She even likened her to a few saints who were also known as brave warriors when they were still alive, including Joan of Arc and St. George. Those compliments took Kairi off guard and tried to deny them as politely as she could, but Xenovia and Griselda agreed with Irina's words and caused the redhead to be embarrassed.

For Griselda, she immediately understood why Gabriel developed an attachment to the girl. Kairi was a girl with a pure heart and was basically invulnerable to any form of darkness that would try and consume her and because of that, she ended up liking her a lot more now. She'd fit perfectly with the angels of Heaven if she was turned into one. Oh, and speaking of angels, she also understood why Gabriel didn't tell her this when her King introduced Kairi to her. This information must be limited to the four Seraphs to prevent an uproar in Heaven that would involve turning Kairi into one of them, which could potentially spread across the whole supernatural world in the process.

However, now that she was well-informed about this, she had to tell Gabriel about her circumstances for knowing the truth about Kairi and swear that she would keep the girl's secret. She made Irina and Xenovia do the same thing, and they had no problem with keeping their lips shut about this. It was also because of this that she finally allowed Kairi to help them in their mission, and finding her friends would now be one of their objectives after coming to the conclusion that they won't be able to handle this on their own. Griselda was also planning to ask the devils for help, but she didn't tell the three teenagers about that. They'll find out once they have that meeting with them, if the one in charge of this town would allow them.

"R-Really…?" Kairi asked, becoming more intrigued. The angels' beliefs about God was one of the first things that truly caught her attention about this world. It was a very big change from the shooting stars that she used to believe in. "Even if I'm not from around here, he'll listen to what I say?"

Griselda nodded as she sat beside the girl. "The Lord sees us all equally, because that's how he created us. Even if you're from another world, you're no different than me, the people of the chuch, those who are confined to wheelchairs, suffer serious illnesses, and even those who lose their way. He'll listen to your prayer, for that is the only way where you can talk to him."

"Then… that gives me hope that I'll be able to see Sora again," Kairi smiled at the woman before turning to the statue of Jesus and bowing her head in respect. She was eternally grateful to the people she had met so far in this world, which included Gabriel, Michael, and now Griselda. Because of them, she was feeling better than ever and was more or less, becoming very close to finding Sora.

"Do you mind if I ask you something, Kairi? You seem particularly attached to this 'Sora' whom you keep mentioning…" Griselda asked, smirking a bit when Kairi's cheeks started to turn red. "What is your relationship with him? I'm getting the feeling that there is a deep connection between the two of you. I am not sure what it is, but it's definitely not just plain friendship. Do you have feelings for Sora?"

It took Kairi a few seconds to answer, taking a deep breath to regain her composure and even fidgeting her fingers shyly. At this point, she could openly admit her true feelings for that lazy bum after the talk she had with Gabriel, but it didn't make it any less embarrassing. Once she finds him, she already made a mental note to come clean and tell him about her feelings. They've been separated more times than Kairi cared to count that she needed to let Sora know before it could be too late.

"I do," she admitted with a red face that matched that of her hair. However, she felt a lot calmer upon remembering all the memories she had with Sora. "We've been through a lot ever since we were kids, and… he's the one person I can never take off my mind no matter what."

"I can only imagine what you felt when he disappeared," Griselda stated as she offered the girl a look of sympathy. After she learned about what happened to the boy, there was no wonder Kairi immediately climbed aboard a crazy plan to reach him, which involved exiling herself from her own universe. Honestly, she was proud of the girl and if she could, she'd take him under her wing since she was capable of holding her own in a battle. With some training, Kairi would be a force to be reckoned with. "You should be proud of yourself, Kairi. Not everyone would be willing to do what you did for the one you love, and that is a testament to the pureness of your heart and soul."

Those words only made the girl blush deeper, but quickly understood the meaning behind her words and took it as motivation. "Thank you, Miss Griselda. If Sora is willing to risk his life to save me, then I'll also do the same for him. Doing anything less than that would be an insult to Sora." She looked at her hand before closing it into a fist. Kairi remembered the brief moment when they shared a paopu fruit together, and it made her smile. "When I see him again, I'll tell him everything and make him see what I feel for him."

"You make it sound like he's dense," Griselda joked.

"In a way, he is." Kairi giggled, remembering the innocent smile that she always saw from him. "He's always so embarrassed when it comes to things about love and stuff like that, but I think the same applies for me. I've only started admitting it to myself when I was with Miss Gabriel back in Heaven, I guess that's another thing that I should thank her for."

The exorcist began to chuckle lightly, being able to perfectly picture that scene in her mind. "That's surprising to hear, considering Gabriel-sama can be a bit of an airhead most of the time. I bet she didn't even know that she just tricked you into revealing your true feelings."

"I've noticed it ever since Sir Michael told me about her habit of unintentionally skipping important meetings. But in the end, it worked out well for me because now I know what I'm going to do when I see Sora again." Kairi began to chuckle as well, before she remembered two other individuals who were supposed to be with them at this moment. "Oh Miss Griselda, where is Irina and Xenovia? Aren't they supposed to be taking a break from searching for clues for the Excalibur pieces?"

"You're right, since I managed to contact one of the devils of the town and asked for an appointment with the one in charge of this place, we are only supposed to stay here and wait for an answer from them." Griselda clarified, before she shook her head in disappointment. "But those two… they wanted to get something to eat while we're waiting so they went out to buy some food. They left before I could tell them that it was a bad idea."

Kairi smiled nervously, while feeling her stomach grumble a bit. It's been a while since she had a proper meal, and she didn't want to see Sora again on an empty stomach. "I can't exactly blame them, I'm feeling hungry as well…"

"Same here," Griselda sighed. "I'm just worried that those two will attract unwanted attention from other people because of their clothing…"

"I… I have faith that they won't. They'll be careful and there's nothing to worry about," Kairi tried her best to retain her smile, even though she perfectly understood why Griselda was worried. Yeah, the white cloaks that they wore over their exorcist outfits were definitely the type to attract attention…

(Stop playing - "Kairi")

After Kiba left the clubroom, Sora had made his way back inside to try and ask Rias for answers on his friend's strange demeanor. Fortunately for him, the Gremory girl was already planning on explaining that she knew to the rest of her peerage and he simply sat down on one of the couches to listen attentively. What he would hear next from her mouth was something that would leave him both intrigued and angry at the same time.

Just after dealing with Riser, they were now faced with another problem. Such is the life of a keyblade wielder, isn't it?

"Holy Sword Project?" Sora asked curiously.

"That's right," Rias only nodded in response.

As soon as Roxas got back to the apartment he shared with Xion, Tomoe, and Reya, he sent a message to Sona about what happened with Kiba and that white-haired exorcist who was supposed to be Freed Sellzen. Like the strict leader that she was, Sona gave him a good scolding through the phone for getting himself in danger, but Roxas didn't think too much of it. He did the right thing, and he wouldn't regret it.

On the brighter side of things, Sona did applaud him for stepping in when Kiba wasn't in the right state of mind, leading to Roxas teasing the girl about pretending to be mad only to tell him what she truly had in mind afterwards. This caused Sona to literally hang up on him, which made the spiky blonde Nobody think he made her angry for real, and Xion smacked him on the back of his head for it before demanding that he apologize on the next call.

In truth, Sona hung up because she was embarrassed that Roxas implied that she was basically a tsundere [and she honestly was] and couldn't keep her stoic demeanor after that. It took her a few minutes to regain her composure bedore calling Roxas again, and was surprised that her pawn was apologizing to her for that unnecessary teasing. Well, it was thanks to that, she went back to her cold nature and warned Roxas not to do it again while they were in the midst of a serious discussion.

After Roxas told her everything about the little incident with Yuuto and the crazy exorcist, Sona relayed the same message to Rias and because of that, she kept a close watch on her knight and hoped that what she had in mind wasn't true. However, there was no chance of that happening after all the signs that Yuuto was exhibiting.

"It was a secret project of the church in which they gathered orphans to be trained into exorcists that can wield holy swords. Yuuto was one of those orphans." Rias continued, clasping her hands together and sighing deeply into them.

"The church had something like that…?" Asia asked in genuine confusion. "But this is the first time I've heard of it."

"I'm not surprised you don't know about it. It was a top-secret project that not even many people of the church knew about. It would've affected the whole supernatural community on a grand scale if word of it got out. If anyone else knew about it, rivals and enemies of the church would have tried to steal the research for themselves, or destroy the project completely."

"So that means, Yuuto-san was raised as an exorcist for the church?" Asia became surprised to hear that the blonde knight who was loyal to Rias was once a person who dedicated himself to eliminating devils.

"Yes. Holy swords are the antithesis of demonic swords like the ones that Yuuto's Sword Birth creates. They're effective against devils and other dark creatures. A single touch from it can burn us and if we were to be cut down by one, then it would kill us permanently. The Holy Sword Project, however, focused on one holy sword in particular: Excalibur. During the Great War, the sword broke into seven pieces. Through the use of magic and alchemy, the pieces were turned into a new set of swords, each one carrying a different attribute. Each sword was supposed to be given to those orphans involved in the project."

"Huh? Wait a minute, wouldn't it be better to just put them all back together again?" Sora asked, completely puzzled with this. It kind of reminded him of the pieces that the X-Blade was consisted of which was seven shards of light and thirteen made of pure darkness. "And how did the sword get broken in the first place?"

Rias shook her head. "No one knows how Excalibur was broken. Members of the church claimed that it was the work of devils, but there are also those who argue that Nimue, the one who gave King Arthur the sword, cursed the weapon when the church refused to return it. When that happened, Excalibur shattered into several pieces so that the church will never be able to use it properly. However, even with that mishap, the members of the church felt that wielding multiple pieces of Excalibur would make them stronger."

"Okay, but… why does Kiba hate the sword so much?" Sora asked, scratching the back of his head in confusion. From the looks on Akeno and Koneko's faces, they were already aware of this and simply chose to remain quiet. "Is it because he's a devil now and the church is our enemy?"

"It's because the Holy Sword Project ended in failure," Rias said gravely.

That made Sora stop as he looked at the redhead with a serious frown. "What? Failure?"

"Everyone who received artificial treatment couldn't adapt to Excalibur. None of the orphans involved reached the requirement and in the end, the project was shut down."

"Then that means, the orphans were sent off to another church?" asked Asia.

Rias closed her eyes and shook her head again. "The orphans were all deemed as 'defects' and they were… disposed of."

Sora's eyes widened in shock, while Asia covered her mouth in horror. By this point, the keyblade wielder could understand what Rias meant with her words without needing to explain it further, because he was aware that this world was vastly different from his home. While his universe had keyblade wars, this world had bloodshed.

If he had to be honest, a keyblade war was safer.

"Wait a minute… if this happened years ago, wouldn't that mean that they were all just young kids when it took place?" he asked, slowly trying to comprehend what he heard and prevent himself from throwing up his lunch. His eyes were already stained with the sight of murder during his brief encounter with Freed, but to hear that children were slaughtered in cold blood… it was somehow worse.

"But… that goes against the teachings of the church," Asia murmured as he held her head down with tears falling from her eyes.

"The members of the church call us devils evil, but I think the bad intentions of people, whether they're a human, angel, fallen angel, or devil… is the greatest evil in the world." Rias continued, taking a deep breath while crossing her arms. "It was thanks to the sacrifices of his brothers and sisters that Yuuto escaped from death. However, he still ended up badly wounded from the incident. I saw him dying in a snowfield during one of my trips in Europe, and I thought I should reincarnate him as a devil to give him a second chance. He didn't accept it at first since he was raised in a church facility, but he eventually grew past that and became my first Knight. I honestly thought he had already let go of his past, but I guess there are some things you just can't let go of."

A brief moment of silence took over the room afterwards, with nobody bothering to speak anymore after what was discussed. Asia felt terribly sad for Yuuto that she began to cry on Sora's chest, and the boy could only rub her back to calm her down. Rias simply looked away, wondering what to do about this issue when her knight wasn't even responding properly to her anymore.

However, among the devils in the room, Sora had a gut feeling that there was more to this and he had to make sure that he knows everything before figuring out a way to help Kiba. He couldn't just think of an idea without being aware of everything about this matter, right?

"Is that all we need to know, Rias?" he voiced out, mustering the courage to break the silence.

His question made the crimson-haired girl widen her eyes in realization, remembering another detail that Sona informed her about. It was something that the Sitri heiress told her to relay to her pawn no matter what. "Actually, there's one more thing I forgot to say and I think you might know something about this, Sora."

This got the spiky brunette to stiffen for a second, before adopting a more serious look. "What is it?"

"A few nights ago, Yuuto was attacked by a priest. That priest just happens to be Freed Sellzen, the one whom we fought against when we were trying to rescue Asia from the fallen angels. He had an Excalibur with him, which I believe is the reason why Yuuto is in this state." Rias explained in an equally serious tone, and her words immediately caused anger to build up in Sora.

"F-Father Freed is back…?" Asia whispered in fear, being reminded of how that man brutally murdered another human without any remorse. Akeno and Koneko listened attentively to this matter, hearing that one of their comrades was attacked by an enemy whom they already faced.

He clenched his fist and narrowed his eyes. He had not forgotten about that time in the house of his summoner, and just because of that, he had no intention of showing mercy to a crazy man. "So he's back… I can teach him a proper lesson then."

"Sora, listen." Rias called out her pawn's attention, quickly taking notice of the expression on his face. "That priest who attacked Yuuto, based from the appearance alone, there is no doubt that it is Freed Sellzen. However, his demeanor and actions were somehow confusing even for Yuuto while he was succumbing to his anger."

"What does that mean?" Sora frowned.

"That night, while Yuuto was battling against that priest, your friend Roxas saw them by complete chance while he was running an errand." This made the brunette's eyes widen slightly in surprise. Roxas never told him about this, so it was likely he informed Sona-kaichou before she said the same thing to Rias. "He made Yuuto stand back and fought that exorcist himself, easily coming out on top in the end. However, even Roxas himself was confused with the enemy because you told him about Freed Sellzen."

That was true, he gave his Nobody and Xion a brief summary of events that happened to him before they also ended up landing here. Sora nodded, confirming the last part of her statement before he spoke. "Confused how? Is there something wrong?" he asked, stretching his arm out.

"According to Roxas, this 'Freed' didn't seem like he was insane at all, and he wasn't being vulgar one bit." Rias explained, which was enough for the rest of her peerage to look surprised. She couldn't blame them, she had the same reaction as them when she found out. "Also, Roxas noticed that he now harbors hatred towards the church for some reason."

Sora blinked a few times. For someone who was well-known as a kind boy, he didn't really believe that Freed was capable of changing. "Huh? T-That's impossible, that guy is supposed to be crazy. I normally think that everybody can change, but that priest is on another level. He doesn't care about the church nor its teachings, and he loves to curse a lot."

"I understand your confusion, Sora. However, those were Roxas' exact words and I am only relaying the same to you." Rias continued, which caused the keybearer to look down in confusion until his leader began to speak again. "There's one more thing you need to know from that encounter, and that is the time when Freed met his defeat at the hands of Roxas. He is still alive and will likely come back for us soon, but the way he disappeared from out of sight was puzzling."

"How did he escape?" Sora was already thinking of what he would do when he meets that man again, and this time he wouldn't hesitate. He'll do what he needs to do and stop that priest for good.

"Unlike the previous time, that priest didn't use a smoke bomb to cover his tracks. But rather, he stepped through a dark corridor and disappeared completely. Do you have any idea what this means, Sora?"

The boy widened his eyes slowly, things starting to fully register in his mind. From a confused expression, he now had a fierce glare on his face. "Dark corridor… no doubt about it, it must be that Organization member! The crazy priest is working with the Organization now! That only gives me more reason to deal with him when I see him again…"

Rias frowned slightly, realizing that her initial thoughts on this were actually right. "I'm not surprised that you came to that conclusion, but… what about Freed Sellzen's strange new demeanor? Do you think that Organization member might have something to do with it?"

"Seems like it," Sora nodded. "The Organization is always out to try to get people to work with them, but they don't know that they're only being used until the end. I wonder what that Organization member told a crazy guy like Freed that would make him agree to whatever he's planning."

"I see… this can't be good then." Rias nodded slowly in understanding before she let out a deep sigh. She looked at the other members of her peerage. "Perhaps it's for the best that none of us don't perform any devil work until this matter is resolved. There's no guarantee that any of us are safe while Yuuto is the only one in danger. For all we know, all of us could be potential targets. I will try and talk some sense into Yuuto and work with Sona to fix this, while all of you will stay indoors after going home from school. Is that understood?"

All of her servants nodded in response, especially Sora. If that Organization member now had an ally in Freed, then that only meant he was planning something and is currently out seeking for those who would help him achieve it. Sora had no idea what could that person be planning, but he could already tell it involved him and his friends in some way, and there was nothing he could do right now but to be prepared.

"There's no way I'm going to let him spread darkness over this world," he thought.

Since Rias was cancelling all of their devil duties temporarily, Sora had nothing important to do in the clubroom and asked his leader if he could take a little walk around town because he was bored. The redhead was a bit hesitant because the moment she tells her servants to be more careful, Sora just decides to be reckless and asks her if he could roam around for a bit.

If only she could accuse him of being an idiot at a time like this, but that would never happen.

In the end, she made him promise to not engage in combat should he encounter Freed or that Organization member, and that he report back to her instead. The boy had no problem with that, since he knew that he couldn't just fight the enemy without knowing more about them first.

With his arms posed behind his head, Sora kept on walking along the sidewalk of the street in peace until he heard a certain voice in his mind.

[I'm surprised you're not already trying to figure out the identity of that Organization XIII member, Partner. After looking through your memories which concerns that group, I was expecting you'll deal with this matter as quickly as possible.]

"I'll deal with him when I see him. Right now, I really just want to take a walk." Sora shrugged, not feeling as serious as he was earlier. It turns out that the issue with Aqua not wanting to see him affected him more than he had thought. Sure, he was glad that Aqua was safe and away from harm, but it made him wonder why she didn't even bother to see him when she literally had the chance to after the Rating Game.

[You're taking this more personally than I thought, Partner. Didn't your Nobody already explain to you why that girl didn't want to meet you yet?]

This made Sora's eyes widen as he stopped walking for a moment, confused with how Ddraig was able to read what was on his mind. "Wha… how did you…?"

[If I can see your memories, then I can also see what's on your mind. Do you really think you're all alone in here?] The dragon deadpanned, wondering how Sora couldn't understand such an obvious thing.

"Oh… yeah sorry about that, I kinda forgot." Sora grinned sheepishly as he continued walking, before his mind drifted back to the topic about Aqua. He just couldn't understand why she didn't want to see him, if she was the one who came up with this plan to rescue him. "About Aqua, I don't know… did I do something that made her upset that she didn't want to see me?"

[Your Nobody already told you that she is working with the other Maou of the Underworld to unravel the mystery of how you, a person from another universe, was able to acquire a Longinus. Quite frankly, I also want an answer to that question as soon as possible.] Ddraig was also confused with how this all came to be; as soon as he was created by the Biblical God, he remained dormant until he found a suitable host in Sora, before falling asleep yet again and rendering him unable to speak with his host for many years until now. He was unaware of his host living in a completely different worldline until he woke up.

It was all that he knew.

"I know, I know…" Sora took a deep breath and pursed his lips together. "But something tells me that there's more to that. We could've said 'hi' to each other for a quick moment and then she could leave after that. If she really wanted to work with Rias' brother and the other Maou to figure all of this out, then I wouldn't stop her. In fact, I'll be glad that she's willing to help."

[Then perhaps, she has a personal reason for choosing not to see you, Partner. Considering your normal demeanor towards your friends, she must be aware of that before making her decision. You'll choose to support that Aqua girl despite whatever decision she makes.]

"Personal reason… like what? Do I look different, or something? I don't think my appearance changed ever since I got here… well, maybe except the time when I used that new keyblade I got during the Rating Game. Man, that was confusing." He mused, remembering the brief appearance he took on during his fight against Riser. He was still clueless on how that happened. "My hair suddenly turned blonde and I was without a shirt! Hey Ddraig, do you know what happened that time? You're the one who told me to use those Phoenix Tears that Ravel-chan gave to me."

If his voice was any indication, then it the dragon was sweat-dropping at the moment. [I don't think her reason involves anything regarding your appearance, Partner. I believe it has something more to do with your current state, as a devil.] Ddraig explained, making Sora blink and began to think about what the dragon said. [As for your other question, I will explain it at the right time.]

That immediately cut off Sora in his moment of focus, which made him groan and pout at being denied of his wish. "Aw, c'mon… why not now? I have all the time in the world to listen since I don't have anything to do. Plus, once I understand things a lot better, it'll help me big time when I fight that crazy priest again."

[Hahahaha, I've been asleep for more than a decade, Partner. During that time, you grew up into this strong lad and I wasn't there to witness it. That's unfair for my part, because I'm supposed to be your partner in everything. I want to see more from you before I tell you the secret to my abilities.]

Sora raised an eyebrow. "But you said you already saw all of my memories, right? You basically know all the things I've went through while growing up, if that's the case."

[Seeing your memories and witnessing your development first-hand are two different things, Partner. Besides, you're nearly there. After dealing with those fallen angels and that Phenex in a Rating Game, I've begun to understand that I made the right decision in choosing you as my host. Don't worry, I will tell you about it eventually.]

"Fine," Sora sighed in defeat but retained the pout he had. "I guess that's fair, but it doesn't mean I'm happy about it."

The spiky brunette continued on walking until he came across something that made him stop and raise an eyebrow.

Outside of the burger joint where he usually stops by for a quick snack, he saw two teenage girls wearing white cloaks looking intensely through the glass wall of the place. One had blue hair with a green fringe on the side while the other one had long chestnut-colored hair tied into twin-tails. From the sad looks on their faces, there was no doubt that they wanted to eat there. Sora was about to continue walking since he saw this as a normal scenario, until he saw the blue-haired girl clutching her stomach out of hunger. It was likely that the other girl also felt the same way since he could've sworn he saw her drooling.

Well, now Sora had encountered two girls who were feeling hungry. They must not have any money with them right now, which was why the only thing they could do was stare at the place from outside.

What does he do in this situation? Help them, of course!

Putting on his usual smile, he quickly walked over to the two of them. "Hey, are you two feeling hungry?" he asked, getting the girls' attention as they turned towards him. "Sorry, I was just passing by and I saw the both of you staring at this place. I guess you don't have any money with you to buy something?"

"Y-Yes, uhm…" The twin-tailed girl responded, looking bashful all of a sudden. How could she not, when a cute handsome boy had correctly guessed what she and her partner came here for? Argh, it didn't help that his smile looked so innocent! "The money we have here with us can't be used in Japan, and we've been looking for something to eat since this morning."

The blue-haired girl, however, put on a serious frown as she leaned closer towards the boy. "Who are you? Have you been spying on us this whole time? I will not tolerate such actions in the name of the Lord…" she said, making Sora take a step back due to how serious she sounded.

"Xenovia, don't scare him like that!" The twin-tailed girl exclaimed, gently pushing her partner away from the brunette. "He was just asking if we were hungry, he couldn't have been spying on us!"

"Irina, don't look at things using only your eyes. For all we know, he could be working with the enemy! He saw what we were doing!" The girl named Xenovia said with narrowed eyes, while her friend only shook her head in disappointment. Xenovia just had to jump to conclusions most of the time…

The keybearer sighed in relief. He really needed to figure out what to do when he was in the presence of an angry girl. "N-No, I was just walking around here when I saw you two, honest." Sora spoke up as soon as he figured it was safe, before taking notice of the words from the chestnut-haired girl, Irina. "So you two are feeling really hungry and you don't have any money, huh? Well, I can't let that happen." He shrugged before flashing his grin. "Let's eat together, it'll be my treat!"

That caught the two girls off guard as they looked at him in surprise. Did he say what they thought he just said? Was he serious about it? They remained speechless for a few moments before Irina laughed nervously, while waving her hand before her.

"T-There's no need for you to do that…! W-W-We can just find another place that can accept the money we have!" she said, unable to take in the fact that there was a boy who was willing to buy them some food.

"Don't worry, it's not a problem! I have some money with me, and I'd feel really bad if I let you the two of you go without even filling your stomachs." Sora explained, remembering the last contract he had.

He got so lucky with that one.

It basically involved cleaning up the mansion of a rich couple and upon completing it, he received a large wad of yen bills as payment. He actually tried to ask if there was another way he could be rewarded since he was overwhelmed with the amount of money, but the couple insisted that he take it. Eventually, he gave up and ended up being teased by the whole club for it. He even tried to give it to Rias for safekeeping, but the girl declined that it was up to him on how to spend his hard-earned money.

Well, now seemed like a good time to spend some.

"Come on, let's get inside. I'm feeling a bit hungry as well from all the walking I've been doing…" he continued, as Xenovia took a step closer towards him. Sora raised his hands before him, thinking she was somehow angry with him again but from the blank look on her face, she wasn't.

The girl then bowed her head. "Forgive me for wrongly suspecting you," she said in a remorseful tone that surprised both Sora and Irina. "We humbly accept your act of kindness, and may the Lord bless you for having such a pure heart."

"I-It's okay," Sora winced at the mention of that forbidden word, but he hid it perfectly from them.

Xenovia stood upright and flashed him a smile of gratitude, which nearly took Irina off her feet. There were only a few times in which she saw her friend smile, and those were in front of people whom she knew! She would treat any stranger that she meets with the same kind of hostility towards her enemies, which honestly got her in trouble more times than Irina cared to count. But to see Xenovia smiling at someone she didn't even know… there must be something about this boy that made her friend at ease! No, something more than that… there's something about this boy that Xenovia couldn't resist!

Shaking her head to recompose herself, she turned towards Sora with a cheerful smile on her face. "W-Well, if you insist, then we'll gladly accept your offer! My name is Irina Shidou, it's nice to meet you!" she stuck out her hand for a handshake, which Sora took happily.

"Xenovia." The bluenette did the same, and the boy accepted the handshake eagerly.

"My name's Sora, it's nice to meet you two!" he exclaimed, closing his eyes and grinning widely while being completely unaware of the looks of disbelief that formed on the girls' faces.

And there we go. Kiba's past is revealed, and it's obvious that Sora didn't like any bit of it. Now that he knows Freed is working with that Organization member, he has more reason to bring him down and he wouldn't hesitate this time. Sora now knows that Aqua doesn't want to see him yet, which is confusing the hell out of him. Other than that, we see Ddraig talking with Sora multiple times this chapter. We also find out that our favorite keybearer is actually the first and only host of the Boosted Gear since it's creation… wonder what that means?

On the other side of things, we see Kairi actually praying to God… hmm, is this a foreshadowing of what's to come? We'll find out. You heard her, she's going to confess her feelings when she meets him again, no matter what. Damn, I love writing Sora x Kairi so much. Lastly, Sora meets Irina and Xenovia and basically asked the two out to eat with him hahahahaha. His kindness immediately wins them over, as it should be. With the two girls now being aware of Kairi's past, it's no wonder they were shocked. What happens next? Next chapter should be interesting, because we're getting closer to the long-awaited reunion more than ever!

Goodbye… and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture*

-Lance