Hello friends. Not gonna lie to you, this chapter was a biiit difficult to write, but pls lemme kno how it be. Enjoi. Also, this chapter was a bit longer than usual. I'm trying to push for chapters these lengths instead of the usual 5k word chapter.
Lavi awoke to the sun's rays striking his face. His eyelid struggled to open, and when it finally did, he was met with the familiar sight of a white ceiling, the rotary blades of his ceiling fan spinning calmly.
"Why do I feel like deja vu…?" he muttered to himself as he continued to stare upwards, unmoving from his current spot. He closed his visible eye, and he remembered the previous night, eliciting a frustrated sigh from the red headed teen.
"Jeeze, I did it again."
"Ara ara, someone's awake already?" a rather sultry voice spoke from beside him. Chills ran up and down his spine, as his head jerked his head to his right, his lone green eye coming face to face with Akeno, who was watching him intently, as if she was studying him.
"Wh-whoa!" Lavi shouted, as he jumped from his bed and onto the ground, his sheets falling to the floor in the process and revealing a rather naked Akeno Himejima. She propped her body up onto her elbow, and she smiled. Her hair cascaded beautifully down her body like a black waterfall, and her well endowed breasts were visible for Lavi to see. They were pink too. Like Rias's.
"Ara ara, so excited to see me, are you? Ufufu…" she brought her hand up to her mouth and giggled, her violet eyes ripe with mirth.
"A-Akeno! What the hell are you…?" Lavi looked down once again, as he, once again, felt a draft along his lower half. He too was naked.
"Seriously?! Again?!" He shouted, seemingly rocking the whole unit in his panic. His eyes darted around his room and found clothes scattered along the floor. He quickly picked up some sweatpants and put it on, averting his gaze with incredible difficulty to avoid allowing his eyes to roam the beauty before him.
She looked at him and tilted her head alluringly, "Again?"
But before Lavi could respond, his door burst open, revealing an incredibly irate Bookman.
"WILL YOU SHUT UP YOU DAMN BRAT?!"
The two stared at each other, as if the situation was still loading into their minds.
…
…
…
Well, at least the deja vu broke.
"What the hell is this?!" Bookman yelled, pointing a finger at two naked and nearly naked teens in front of him.
"I-It's not what it looks like gramps!" Lavi stuttered, as he held his hands up, backing away slowly in fear.
Wham!
"Agh!" he crumpled onto his knees and he clutched his head, "What the hell, you old coot?!"
"Don't call me gramps!"
"There's something else going on here, and that's what you're focused on?!"
Akeno could only hold in her amusement for so long while watching the two bicker back and forth. She didn't know that the enigmatic new teacher was like this. Hell, she didn't even know that Lavi lived with him.
Her amusement finally spilled out of her containment when she finally released a giggle that rapidly turned into a vivacious laugh. It immediately caught the attention of the elder and the teen. "Ara ara, so lively, I don't think I've ever seen this side of you yet."
Bookman's eyes widened at the naked girl in the room before immediately turning to Lavi. A dangerous aura leaked from him, as he menacingly walked towards the taller teen.
"You have five seconds to explain before I shove my needles down your windpipe, brat."
"I was going to get to that!" Lavi started. "What happened was—"
"That we're finally dating, and he and I love each other very much, isn't that right? Ufufu…" Akeno finished. Lavi's jaw dropped as he comprehended her response and he shot her a betrayed look. She enjoyed watching him squirm in this situation.
"Youuuuuu! Brat!"
Bam!
"Ow! Stop hitting me!" Lavi replied, just barely recovering from his first hit. Now he had another welt.
"I taught you to not get attached to anyone! it's bad enough that you became friends with those perverts, but to actually get a girlfriend?!" Bookman was livid. Not once had he ever been this furious at his apprentice, but to get a girlfriend just like that? That was a grave mistake for an exorcist. His black beady sockets stared intimidatingly down at the poor teen on the ground.
Akeno watched the scene unfold with increased concern. Maybe she'd gone too far? She had meant for it to only be a joke, but she didn't know that the elderly man would react like this.
"It's not like that, and I'm not attached to anyone!" she heard Lavi say. "Don't be so worried, old man!"
Bookman closed his eyes, releasing a frustrating sigh, as he attempted to calm himself down. Silently, he stood there unmoving, before turning to walk away.
At the door frame, he suddenly stopped before speaking.
"I will brew some tea. Offer one to our…guest."
With that, he continued walking away, his form disappearing from view of the two teens in the room.
Lavi sighed. This was exactly what he was afraid of. He picked himself up from the ground and rubbed his head, finally feeling the second welt disappear. He walked to his closet and rummaged through it, finally pulling out a white shirt.
With the shirt in hand, he walked over to his bed, and offered the still naked girl the shirt. Akeno only looked at him guiltily, though before she could say anything, he spoke.
"Don't worry about it," he said tiredly, "I know you were just joking, but please try to refrain from joking around about us being close. The old man's just trying to look out for me, and I guess by extension, you guys too."
Akeno frowned as she hesitatingly accepted the shirt. What did he mean when he said that he was looking out for the both of them? She slipped it on and found it to be a little bit too large for her, as it draped all the way down to her thighs.
The bagginess concealed her curves, but Lavi thought she looked really homey in it.
'Like a stay in girlfriend…' Lavi thought, though he quickly shook his head to cleanse himself of those betraying thoughts. Unfortunately, it didn't cleanse his face of his ever-present blush.
"Ara ara, see something you like?" Akeno smirked. "Your girlfriend thinks that this shirt is too big on her. Maybe she should bring her closet here so that she has something to wear?"
Lavi's eyebrows raised in response, before replying, "Did you not pay attention to those devastating blows he just delivered to my head? What are you trying to do to me, woman? You're dressed! Go to the kitchen!"
Lavi only received a smile from the beautiful girl, as she slid from the bed and rose to her feet. Even with the baggy shirt, her breasts still jiggled from her movement.
"I'll see you in the kitchen, my dear," she teased before heading out of the room.
Lavi shook his head, and followed after her, thinking that just the sweatpants would suffice.
The sound of dishes clinking resonated through the hall as he walked towards the small kitchen, stopping at the corner and leaning on the wall. He saw Akeno sitting idly at the table, studying the short Bookman as he reached for cups and saucers in the top pantry for tea. His question mark style hair swayed and almost collided with the hanging pots and pans as he struggled.
Lavi looked on with forlorn amusement. The scene almost looked...normal. Normal, in the sense of not having to deal with any of his current burdens. A life without having to deal with akuma or devils or fallen angels...this scene fit perfectly. It was a rest stop in the ongoing road of danger and tragedy.
He looked at Akeno in his overly large shirt. She was sitting on one leg and allowed the other to dangle aimlessly off the chair, swinging her foot. She leaned her cheek onto her palm, which was propped over the table, and she watched Bookman struggle with amusement.
His gaze shifted to Bookman, who was finally pouring the steaming green liquid into three red cups. Lavi thought that he looked like an actual grandpa here, servicing his hospitality to the stay over girlfriend.
"I know that look you have, boy," Bookman said without turning to see him, bringing Lavi out of his daydream.
Akeno, upon hearing Bookman's starement, turned to look at the boy leaning against the wall. She saw, for a split second before it disappeared, a longingness in his eyes. She wondered why he had that look.
"Sorry, sorry, I couldn't help it," Lavi replied, chuckling as he pushed himself off of the wall, and he walked to the table to sit with Akeno.
"Sit here, boyfriend~," she teased, as she scooted halfway over her chair, and she patted the remaining space. Lavi looked at her with an exasperated look and he looked at the spot on her chair.
He thought about it for a split second, wondering what it would be like to feel her radial heat against his side. Unfortunately though, Bookman made the choice for him.
"Absolutely not!" he said, placing two cups opposite to the raven haired beauty, "Girlfriend or not, you will have a respectable amount of distance so that I and the Lord Almighty above will not be uncomfortable!"
Akeno cringed at the mention of one of his holy monikers, a bludgeoning headache filling her head. Lavi only showed a slight twitch to his visible eye, and she was curious as to why the effect wasn't as bad for either of them.
"Panda, be mindful of your guests!" he, admonished the panda-reminiscent man, suddenly finding himself rubbing his head, as a fist found its way to the top of his noggin.
"I'm not a panda, you buffoon! And if you're going to tell me what to do, you oughta share the same amount of pain that she's through!" Bookman yelled, his fist completing the motion of pounding his apprentice on the head. Though he quickly contorted to that of concern once he looked at the grimacing Akeno, who was still feeling the after effects of muttering his name.
"My apologies, young one, sometimes I forget that...we are privy to the pain of muttering that one's name."
"It's quite okay, though I wonder why the effects didn't seem as strong for you…?" she asked, the pain finally subsiding. She was finally able to focus on the fresh tea in front of her.
Lavi sighed as he took his assigned seat, across from Akeno and beside Bookman, who also took a seat at the table. "Uhh…consider it years and years of training."
The Nadeshiko looked at him curiously, before closing them and nodding, seemingly accepting his answer. He sighed again, before focusing his attention on the hot cup in front of him.
'You got a bit careless there, old man,' Lavi thought, peering at the elder beside him before allowing the hot liquid to enter his throat. Bookman seemed to acknowledge Lavi's mental note with an imperceivable nod, and he too took a sip of his tea.
The three sighed in contentment as the tea relaxed their bodies. All three of them knew that today was going to be hectic.
Issei was in pure bliss. Koneko, the school's cute mascot, came up to HIM! TO HIM! Of all people! Oh how he reveled in the murderous glares and disgusted looks of his classmates, which became even more amplified when she said in her cute monotonous voice, "The President wanted me to come get you."
Who was the President? Hell if he knew. He just knew he was gonna be staring at cute Koneko's tight little butt the whole way there. And then he was gonna rub it in Matsuda and Motohama's face. Payback for seemingly forgetting who Yuuma was, and making him seem like he belonged in a mental asylum with the only way out being death.
As the two walked through the halls, Issei strategically placed himself a few steps behind Koneko, and as his inner scheming continued, his face oscillated between looks of debauchery and mischievousness.
Throughout the walk, the two continued to receive stares from many of the students who were lounging around. Much like the intense contempt he felt as he left the classroom with Koneko, he kept his ears wide open as he heard the disgruntled comments about the pair.
"Seriously?! Our cute mascot is walking with HIM?!"
"What did he do to her that's making her act like this?!"
"Our sweet Koneko! We'll save you!"
...This, unfortunate to Issei, did not last long.
"This reminds me of yesterday, when Rias was walking with Lavi…"
"Hey, I heard that he came to school with Akeno today…"
"No way! Is he two timing Rias?"
"But I also heard that he met up with the two of 'em this morning too, and they did some things…"
Issei's head hung down in depression as the gossip switched. Tears comically flowed down his eyes, as he gripped his fist.
'Damn you Lavi! How could you have bested me like this?! With Rias AND Akeno, no doubt!' he silently moped.
"Issei. We're here," Koneko softly spoke, and she broke the perverted teen out of his moping. Issei looked up, and realized that they were face to face with the building where he was able to get a glimpse of beautiful red hair.
"This is…" Issei began, but Koneko wasted no time nor attention to what he was going to say. She opened the door and stepped inside, with Issei following right behind her.
Upon entering the main chambers, Koneko quickly took her spot on the couch and began munching on a snack that seemed like it was waiting for her, and he looked around with fascination. Not once in his life had he thought that he was going to see the interior of this building. He thought that the overall furniture choice was weird, as it screamed foreign more than anything, but it added to the antiquity...he supposed. He realized that the sound of water running permeated the air, though he also chalked that up to the...antiquity of the building.
"Ara, hello there."
How could he have not noticed before?! There, in all of her beauty and regality, stood Akeno!
'Damn! I really gotta polish my skills,' Issei thought, as he eyed her lecherously. Though fortunately, he still remembered his manners. "H-Hello there."
She looked at him and merely gave him a small smile, which caused Issei's heart to jump to his throat.
After recomposing himself, he realized that behind her was…
'A-A shower?!' Issei looked at the white curtain that made Akeno's backdrop. A silhouette made an imprint of a body on the white curtains, which Akeno blocked. He realized then, that Akeno was holding a folded white towel along her arms. Despite his limited vision, he could see the curvature of accentuated features.
Issei was on cloud nine at the moment. He was this close to a showering girl! A naked girl! The only curiosity he had left was...who could it be?
After the water stopped running, Akeno discreetly slipped the towel into the shower, which the figure took gratefully. Issei inwardly pouted and not being given even a sliver of a chance to peep.
When he saw the figure wrap the towel around her body, he saw the light creamy skin of fingers protruding on the edge of the curtain, seemingly ready to pull it back. Issei watched with bated focus, ready to soak in the sexy image of whomever it was that was showering.
"Ahhhhh….that was a good shower."
Issei blinked at the figure behind Akeno. Eh…? Did the figure just...sound like a dude?
Akeno stifled a giggle, keeping her regal composure to block the image from Issei.
"Oh! Is our guest here? Issei, is that you?"
With each syllable pronounced, Issei's excitement fled from his eyes, and he fell to his knees.
"Wh-why do my ears deceive me? The figure looked so good, but the voice just kills it…," Issei muttered to the ground.
"I'm hurt that you think so lowly of my voice," the figure seemingly spoke, though the voice now originated from behind him. Akeno, who could no longer hold it in, let out a soft giggle.
"Eh…?" he turned his head and looked up, coming face to face with the one and only…
"Lavi?!"
"C'mon, lecher, you didn't even recognize my voice?"
"N-no, I was too busy trying to see whomever's luscious body wrapped in a towel."
"Too late," Lavi said, as he grasped Issei's head, and quickly forced it back up to look towards Akeno's direction.
Instead of seeing one of the magnificent beauties of Kuoh, he was gifted with the sight of two.
"Wh-what?!" Issei looked at Akeno and Rias in shock, "You were the one behind the shower curtains, Rias?! How did you change so fast?!"
"You sound disappointed, Issei," Rias mentioned in amusement. She admitted, listening to Lavi impersonate her when she was going to get out was funny. Hence, when she heard him, she decided to prolong her stay in the shower for as long as possible. It was hard to keep her voice from leaving her mouth in the form of giggling or laughing.
"I am! How did you put on your clothes?!"
Rias blinked and further adding to her amusement, she said, "By using my hands."
By then, the missing member to Rias's peerage entered the common room, looking amused at Issei's dejected form. What did he stumble into?
Though he had no prior knowledge as to what recently occurred, Kiba knew Issei's reputation as a pervert. And judging by the equally amused looks of Rias and Akeno, he deduced that they must've been teasing the poor guy. Whom he almost sorry for. He wasn't the type into romance per se, but even he knew to call beauties when he saw them, and Rias and Akeno were, without an objective doubt, beautiful.
Rias, acknowledging Kiba's presence, recomposed herself into proud elegance and authority, and she cleared her throat.
"Right, now that everyone is here, we can begin," she said, pointing at Issei, "you, like everyone else in this room, are a devil."
Issei shook himself of his dejection, and instead replaced it with a look of confusion. Pointing to himself, he asked dumbly, "Me?"
"That's what the Tomato King said," Lavi replied.
Rias looked at Lavi, with an eye twitching. He was ruining her chance at looking cool, damn it! In front of her new peerage member, at that!
"Ara ara, Tomato King? What a fitting name you gave her, boyfriend," Akeno smirked.
Rias frowned at Akeno's allusion.
'Just what happened this morning after she healed him?' she wondered.
Everyone else looked at Akeno in shock, save for one Issei Hyuudo, who looked at Lavi in admiration and jealousy.
"Hey! I told you to drop that, you damn sadist!" Lavi shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at Akeno.
"How could you accuse me of such a thing?" Akeno asked, feigning a hurt look on her face, as she held her hands to her chest.
"I saw those looks you made while the old panda was beating me! You can't hide it from me!"
Before Akeno could respond, Rias shook off her thoughts and quickly intervened, feeling as if the topic was derailing. "Okay! Back to the topic at hand."
She rubbed her temple, before speaking, "Like I said, everyone in this room, including you, are all devils."
"Oh! That's right, you said that! We're...devils…," Issei trailed off, as a depressive cloud loomed over him.
"Uh...what's...what's wrong?" Rias asked, awkwardness and concern mixing into her tone.
"Nothing, I'm just…" he sighed depressively, "now that I'm a devil...I can't live my dream of obtaining a harem!"
Issei started bawling, hitting his fists against the hardwood floor, as he sniffed loudly. Everyone looked on in horror, as the disgusting sound of mucus being sucked back into his nose reached their ears.
"H-Hey! Hey now!" Lavi was the first to break out of the trance of horror and disgust, "Lemme tell you something."
He grabbed Issei's shoulders and dragged his body out of the room, merely looking at Rias and giving her a wink (blink?).
Rias only blinked in response. She still couldn't tell whether he was winking or blinking. Damn eyepatch. Still, she wondered what the devil was going to tell the newly minted devil. She hoped it wouldn't be anything too weird, though the idea of being a devil did seem...disheartening to say the least.
She sighed, wondering what kind of person she'd just enlisted into her peerage. Well, she did know. She just had yet to fully comprehend his...passions.
Minutes rolled by in silence, and the two had yet to return, making everyone wonder what it was that Lavi was telling him.
"Should we check up on them?" Kiba offered, breaking the silence.
"No need," Koneko replied.
True enough, the rumbling sound of stampeding grew louder until it was at the door to the common room. Within seconds, dust kicked up and filled the airspace of the common room, as Issei ran up to Rias with an excited look.
"My dreams of obtaining a harem can come true if I become a devil?!"
She looked at him in confusion. So that's what Lavi was talking to him about?
"Yeah, uh, something…like that? If you get promoted into a high class devil, you can get your own peerage, and you could do whatever you want with your pieces," she clarified, careful to step around the word as much as possible. It most definitely was not an impossibility, but at the same time…
'Why can't he be normal?' she whined in her head. She really wanted to pummel the devil for releasing that sort of information to him.
She blinked. Wait just a second, where was…?
Another rumbling sound could be heard, and much like Issei's rumbling, the sound grew as it came closer to the door.
Immediately, Lavi ran into the room, and shut the door as fast as possible, blocking the door as he tried to catch his breath. "I might've gone a bit far with that one joke."
Everyone looked at him curiously. What joke?
With a yelp, Lavi found himself sailing across the room as the door burst open, revealing, to the familiarity of the others, the new teacher.
His eyes, decorated in black patches, twitched furiously, as he held out his arm from shoving the door open.
"You damn brat! You told that pervert I had a harem?!"
"Really?" was what everyone's face said as they looked at the boy on the ground, who scrambled to get up.
"N-now now, gramps…" he said shakily as the tiny old man menacingly walked towards Lavi, hoping that the tiny old man would have mercy towards him in front of a group of people.
Wham!
"Don't call me gramps!" he shouted, as Lavi got onto his knees, clutching his head in pain.
"Owowowow! Are you trying to give me a concussion?!" Tears comedically welled up in his eyes as he rubbed the growing welt.
"And you!" Bookman turned to the brunette, who was shaking in fear towards the old man now that his eyes were on him. Issei's eyes switched rapidly between the big welt on Lavi's head and the encroaching tiny old man in horror.
Wham!
"Aghhhhhhh! What the hell?!" Issei mimicked Lavi's actions upon being hit. He packed a punch!
"That's for being a pervert!"
Bookman looked at the two devils sternly, arms crossed.
"Ara ara, hello again, grandpa," Akeno said, her face blushing a slight red, as she watched him inflict pain upon the two.
Wham!
"Owie…," cried Akeno, who clutched her head in pain as well. Watching Lavi and Issei was absolutely satisfying and hilarious to the sadistic hybrid, but to actually be on the receiving end of that...
Everyone looked at the old man in shock. Lavi, they understood; he provoked the man. Issei, they also understood; he was a pervert, and it was in their trope for them to get beaten up like that. Plus, being a pervert, he wasn't gonna get knocked down like that. The real surprise was Akeno. Who would've thought someone was going to lay retribution on her?
"Um…," Rias shook herself of her shock, "hello...mister...teacher...professor…I'd appreciate it if you didn't rough up my servants."
It was weird. Still, after all of this time, she had no idea what to refer to the teacher as. After all, this was the man who, after perusing the syllabus, quickly continued what they were learning. He never told them his name, and he still never bothered to learn anyone's name.
Bookman's attention turned to Rias, before sporting a small smile. "Ah, hello Miss Gremory, a pleasure. Your brother says hello."
She looked at him with wide eyes. He knew her brother? And he looked like he was really familiar with Lavi. In fact, Lavi wrote that Bookman was going to be upset with him that one time. Wait, did that mean that Lavi knew her brother too? So that meant...
"Mister...Bookman…?" she hazard a guess at his name, to which Bookman squinted his eyes. Maybe she was wrong.
"That's me. You may just call me Bookman," he said, nodding his head once.
Kiba looked at him and spoke, "You're that teacher whose name nobody knows."
Bookman only nodded once, "Now you lot know my name. My reasons why, however, I will not divulge. I will also appreciate it if you did not refer to me by name in public."
Rias nodded her head in understanding, though she really was curious to know why, but that could wait. There were other matters to tend to. For example…
"So, once again, back to what we were talking about," Rias started, her attention returning to her new pawn, "Issei, to prove that we're all devils..."
As if they had rehearsed, wings sprouted out of everyone's back in sync, the sound of wings unfurling amplified as their wings stretched out.
Issei looked at everyone with wonder. "Wow…"
"You have wings too," Lavi spoke, as he twirled his finger, motioning for Lavi to turn around.
At his command, Issei did so, and he too spotted the black appendages that seemingly grew out of thin air.
"Woah!" he said with eyes wide, "Can I fly with these?!"
"Sure can!" Lavi grinned, and gave him a thumbs up, receiving a big grin in return.
Bookman said nothing, but his eyes narrowed slightly at the two disapprovingly.
Nobody caught this but Akeno, who was already privy to Bookman being disapproving towards the teen being close to anyone. With that, a frown pulled through as she looked at the older man.
"What's wrong?" Rias whispered, and Akeno turned her head to address her king, who was looking at her in concern.
"I'll tell you later, when our guests leave," she whispered back, and the two returned to watching the group interact.
"Right…" Rias muttered, as she returned her focus to her new pawn. She watched as Issei and Lavi played around with Issei's wings.
"I wonder how far back these can bend."
"Let's find out," Lavi replied mischievously, as he started bending the wings back with much force.
"Oh, that's not so baaAAAAD! OH SHIT THAT HURTS!"
Why? Why would anyone wonder that?
Rias chuckled at the situation. Issei was like a cute little toddler who discovered candy for the first time.
"Brat," Bookman said with a sudden seriousness that caused Lavi to immediately stop fooling around. He stared at the panda eyed man in curiosity. "There's something we need to take care of."
Lavi hummed in response, and looked at him contemplatively. "Sure. Well Rias, Akeno, club, Bookman and I are outtie."
Receiving a goodbye from the group (and a nod from Koneko), the two exorcists, side by side, walked off. Once they exited the building, Bookman spoke.
"On the way here, I noticed people following me."
"Yeah, back when...err...Rias spent the night, we were being followed too."
"What?! Rias spent the night too?!" Bookman shouted at the revelation. He was gone for a couple of days and Lavi brings home, not one, but two girls?! Maybe those perverts were a bad influence.
"Why do you always focus on the other details?!" Lavi asked, releasing an exasperated sigh. "Point is, we were being trailed too. We got trailed by this...girl, who was with this older man in a suit."
"Mm. Those are the two," Bookman confirmed.
"Could they be akuma?" Lavi asked thoughtfully, as he brought a hand to his chin.
"Possibly. Or fallen angels. We don't know if they're trailing us because we're exorcists, or if they're also trailing the group of devils as well."
Lavi stopped in his tracks, as he turned around, ready to run back to the group. "Then we gotta go back and—"
Before he could take off, Bookman snagged the back of his collar.
"Geh!" Lavi choked, as he started his run, swinging around the knuckles that held him in place and he fell to the ground instead.
"Absolutely not. We will determine who or what it is, and take action then. If they're akuma, then we don't want them getting involved."
"G-got it…" Lavi replied weakly, rubbing his throat.
Lavi scanned the environment from the ground. If he thought about it, today was actually a nice day. The trees swayed in the wind softly, and the leaves rustled rhythmically and hypnotically. The sun's rays softly beat against Lavi's skin, and the sky was a clear beautiful day. The only problem, however…
'It's quiet...too quiet,' Lavi thought. The streets were barren, and they have been for a while. Strange, given that school had just gotten out. Even though they'd been in the old building for a bit, time wouldn't have passed by enough for all of the students to retire for the day.
A familiar glimpse of blonde in the shadows, however, alarmed him. He turned his neck, and sure enough, within the shadows of a nearby building, there stood the pair that they were talking about just moments before. "Speak of the devil, and they shall arrive…"
The two suspects looked the exact same as last time. The same dress, the same suit. Their eyes, once again, were hidden well.
"Those don't look like fallen angels," Lavi stated, as he stood up from the ground. "We've run into a few before, and they act like normal civilians."
"Yes, their behavior is most definitely off. If they're akuma, we may be in trouble. Our Innocence is not with us," Bookman replied, eyeing the pair of stalkers.
"I have a knife, saturated in holy water," Lavi offered, hoping that would make some difference. Though Lavi was worried. Exorcists being caught without their Innocence. Thinking about it now, Lavi thought it was such a bad idea to not have their Innocence on them, regardless of whether or not holy power can be sensed. If those two really were akuma and they transformed, they would be defenseless. And they wouldn't be able to protect any other civilian within the area.
'Komui should've thought about this better…' Lavi couldn't help but think.
"No, that wouldn't work. There wouldn't be enough holy energy to break through the dark matter bonds. It would, at best, piss them off. We'll have to get to the unit as fast as possible, and then dispatch them."
"Right, let's go."
And with that, the two broke into a run, speeding hastily down the sidewalk. Eventually, they finally came into contact with some of the populace of Kuoh, avoiding incoming civilians, who looked at the two weirdly before continuing down their route, and other objects that obstructed their path.
Lavi continuously glanced back, trying to look for the two. Shockingly, each time he looked back, they were always in distance. Sometimes closer, sometimes further, but they were always enclosed within the shadows.
"We're here," Bookman said, as they stopped in front of the five story apartment.
Their unit was on the second floor.
"Hope our Landlord's alright with a broken window," Lavi said, as he glanced backwards. They didn't have an option.
Their pursuers stood stoically in the middle of the road facing them. Once again, it seemed as if the general populace of Kuoh disappeared, and the world returned to an eerie silence as the two pursuers stared off with the exorcists.
Their eyes were finally visible. Their orbs were lifeless and dull, as if a void had sucked in their soul.
"Who are you?" Bookman called out to them.
"Exorcists." The girl said monotonously, pointing at them. The two tensed in response.
"Fuck it," Lavi said, as he reached within his blazer and pulled a knife. It was a simple knife, that Lavi purchased from a vendor a while back. The blade was serrated and had a black grip. It felt nice in Lavi's hand, but it was no hammer.
Lavi twirled the blade with ease in his palm, and held it in reverse grip as he entered a forward stance. "Gramps, go grab your Innocence, I'll hold 'em off."
"You sure you can hold 'em off?" Bookman's eyebrow raised, as he crouched.
"You doubting me, old man?" Lavi shot back.
Bookman shook his head, ignoring the boy's retort. "Let's get this over with as quickly as possible."
And with that, he leaped to the second floor window, breaking the glass of Lavi's bedroom as he rolled in. Glass crunched as Bookman rose, and he walked deeper into their unit, in search of his Innocence.
Outside, the three continued to stare off, waiting for each other to make a move.
Eventually, the girl took a step forward, and pointed at the lone exorcist.
"Go," she uttered, and the taller man ran forward, his arms trailing behind him, as if he didn't know how to use them.
At the incoming threat, Lavi stood his ground, gripping his knife tightly as he anticipated the incoming attack.
Once Lavi was in arm's length, the man reared his body and swung his arms at Lavi.
Easily, Lavi ducked and he jabbed at the man's exposed stomach with the hilt of his blade. He didn't want to hurt the man until he was sure that this was an akuma he was dealing with.
The man staggered backwards, though exuded no hint of pain. Without waiting for a chance to let the man recover, Lavi quickly slashed with his blade, and the serrated edge grazed the man's sleeve, ripping through the cloth and scratching his skin.
The man, once again showed no pain at being nicked by the blade, though steam rose from the wound.
"Akuma..." Lavi muttered, and the man grew a maniacal grin. His body began contorting and dilating disgustingly, as if he was being stretched through different dimensions before depressing in on itself. Smoke billowed from his body, which soon blanketed the area.
Lavi coughed, as he covered his nose with the nook of his arm and held his breath, Immediately running out of the proximity of the smoke. His vision blurred slightly, as he scanned the smokescreen.
'Shit, I lost visual…' he thought as he released his breath and breathed in fresh air.
Suddenly, the familiar balloon form of an akuma rose from the smoke, its horrifying face fixed into the aghast look of a soul trapped.
"A level one. And since that other one gave it orders, it must be a higher order akuma," Lavi muttered at the sight of it.
Regardless of it being a level one, Lavi didn't like his chances. Here was an akuma in the air, and all he had was a 1,500 yen knife. And that wasn't taking the other one into account either. Two level ones he could handle, but a level one and a level two would be more difficult. He'd have to hold out until Bookman came back.
Click-click.
The many barrels protruding from the akuma's body bent unnaturally as it targeted Lavi. And without a moment's notice, a barrage of bullets rained down on the boy.
In response, Lavi quickly backpedaled away from the affected area, and he watched as the grounds he previously occupied became riddled with gigantic bullet holes.
The gusts from the bullets impacting the ground cleared the smoke, and the area became relatively clear again, revealing empty space. The little girl the akuma was with was nowhere in sight.
"Tcheh," Lavi spat, "guess you're stuck here with me."
And in one fluid motion, Lavi leaped and flipped in the air as he heard the sound of the cannons rechambering its internal bullets. Lavi's eye narrowed as he made eye contact with the akuma, and bullets trailed from underneath him as the akuma tried to hit its mark.
Lavi switched his gaze to the building in midair, watching the bullets decimate the first and second floor. He winced slightly. He hoped that nobody was home. This fight went against his morals in dragging in innocents. But there wasn't anything he could do about it. No Innocence, no choice. They were the ones who confronted them.
Lavi landed atop the bloated figure, and without wasting a moment he stabbed the saturated blade into the top of the akuma's skull, and he withdrew it quickly.
The akuma shook a little bit, but showed no signs of any real damage being done. Though once again, steam rose from the wound his blade inflicted. Even in the heat of the moment, he took in every single detail that he could. Twice now, akuma reacted negatively to even a small bit of holy power.
"There's not much I can do," Lavi said, breaking out of his split second information filing. He was, without a doubt, helpless and useless. His blade did nothing in the heat of combat, but he couldn't just leave with this threat roaming about.
He eyed his window, or rather, what was his window. A gigantic hole replaced the wall where his window used to be. Rubble scattered onto the floor and bed, as he saw the inside of his room, eyeing his closet. That was his target now.
He sprung from the akuma, aiming for the gigantic hole in his room. As he kicked off, the akuma toppled slightly from the result of being used as the akuma's jump pad.
The sound of the barrels rechambering again resounded, and following shortly after came another barrage of bullets.
Upon hitting the floor of his bedroom, he quickly rolled behind one of his bookshelves, as bullets tore through the inside of his room. The remains of papers, books, and his pillows sprinkled the air, and a look of horror flickered in Lavi's face as he peeked from his hiding spot.
'My books!' Lavi cried internally, as a distant crashing from deeper in their unit resounded to Lavi's room.
He immediately paid no mind to it, as he dashed to his closet, and quickly tore through his many clothes and other writing paraphernalia, trying to find his weapon as quickly as possible.
He was in a bad position. Where his closet was left him directly open, and in plain view of the next attack of the akuma.
He rummaged through his closet, until he finally came
upon a rectangular black box. Power emanated through it, as if it wanted to escape its confinement.
"Sorry for neglecting you, buddy," he muttered to himself, as he lifted the lid and a surge of familiar power flooded the room. There the hammer lay, in a bed of a velvety maroon cushion, begging to be used.
And as Lavi tenderly gripped the hammer's handle, warmth and ecstasy sparked in his fingertips, which quickly traveled to the rest of his body.
He lifted the hammer and turned around to greet akuma that floated in midair that finally began to unload its ammunition.
"Innocence activate! Big hammer, little hammer! Grow, grow, grow!" he shouted with a smile gracing his lips, and the hammer elongated rapidly, shooting towards the akuma and deflecting the many bullets that sped towards Lavi.
The akuma stood no chance, as the pointed spearhead that sit at the top of the hammer penetrated the center of the akuma with ease. The akuma deflated into the strike and a small explosion rocked the side of the building.
Lavi watched as the smoke cleared, leaving a clear empty sky that showed the scenery that the akuma was obstructing in the distance. He sighed in slight relaxation, allowing the hammer to return to its normal size, as fighting deeper in the complex resounded through the walls.
"No rest for the wicked," Lavi said, as he immediately ran through his door to find Bookman. The sound of fighting grew louder, as he made his way to the living room.
Once he reached the living room, he saw Bookman weaving around a tall bipedal humanoid that resembled a doll, with dangerous long claws protruding from its arms. Its only identifiable mark of it being the little girl from before was the golden locks that adorned the top of its head.
"Brat!" Bookman called out, weaving through the akuma's dangerous swipes. "It's a level two!"
"I can see that! Big hammer, little hammer! Grow, grow, grow!" Lavi chanted, and once again, the hammer elongated, its pointed head shooting off into the direction of the akuma.
Despite the rapidly approaching hammer, the akuma easily stepped backwards, and the hammer struck the wall, leaving a hole. It returned to its minimized state once it completed the attack.
Bookman fell in place beside Lavi, his scroll housing his innocence rested outstretched around his neck, and the three entered a wary stare off, waiting for each other's next move.
Lavi looked around their ruined apartment. Destruction left its mark from wall to wall, and needles were scattered all over the ground. The remains of a once tidy living room.
"I think the landlord's gonna hate us," Lavi quipped.
"You joke in front of me?," a raspy voice spoke, emanating from the demon in front. "You're going to regret not taking me seriously."
And with that, it lunged at the two, claws outstretched. Bookman immediately stepped forth, and swung his scroll. Compass of Spells! Northern Crime!"
A glow emanated from the scroll, and what soon followed was a flurry of needles that sped towards the incoming akuma.
The akuma quickly changed its trajectory, leaping up into the air to avoid the needles, and its feet planted itself onto the ceiling before launching itself again at the two exorcists.
"You're going to have to do better than that, old man!" It taunted.
But before the claws could get to Lavi, he raised his hammer and elongated it, and the two clashed, entering a struggling lock for power. Slowly, the akuma began to overpower Lavi, nearly breaking his stance and Lavi could've sworn it grinned, flashing its jagged teeth in the process.
Realizing that he was buckling, he shifted his foot and successfully knocked the akuma off balance, and in a fluid motion, the hammer shrunk and he swung at the staggering akuma.
The akuma, however, quickly regained balance and leaped up once again, to avoid another incoming attack from the exorcists.
Now at the apex of its jump, Lavi shouted, "Now, gramps!"
"Compass of Spells! Northern Crime!"
The akuma's blank eyes widened, realizing its mistake as it watched a barrage of bright white needles shoot towards it.
"No!" it shouted, as a burst of needles impaled the akuma, and much like the level one, it imploded in on itself, bursting into an explosion of smoke that caused rubble to fall from the ceiling.
The two panted at the 'light' action they received. Both exorcists looked at each other. They'd been slacking, they realized. They needed to step it up.
"You don't suppose Miranda could use her Innocence to fix all of this, right?" Lavi asked.
"If you want her energy to be drained from keeping up her Innocence, then yes. Yes she can," Bookman replied, before bring back up the new priority at hand.
"Brat, we need to check up on any civilians in the building."
Lavi nodded in agreement, looking up at the new hole in the ceiling. "I'm on it gramps."
Rias slumped over her desk in an unceremonious fashion, and she sighed. Today had been a hectic day, but at least, it was finally all over.
Now all who remained in the previously lively clubroom was Rias and her Queen, who took her usual position to Rias's right, standing elegantly as always.
She didn't realize how...eccentric her new pawn would be. She knew of his lecherous tendencies, yes, but it was so cumbersome when she had tried to explain the need-to-knows as a new devil more than once because his eyes kept obviously (and unashamedly, might she add) trailing downwards.
She could only hazard a guess at what filled his mind afterwards.
And then her thoughts traveled to the two new devils of the area: Lavi and Bookman.
Bookman knew her brother, she knew that much. Did that mean that Lavi knew her brother too? Why were they here? Did her brother send them?
"Huhhhhhhh…," she groaned into her desk, and a hand patted her back, consoling her.
"Everything'll be okay, Rias," Akeno hushed, as she rubbed her back.
Her head jolted up, remembering about Akeno's frown from earlier. "Oh, Akeno, what was it that you were going to tell me earlier?"
Akeno hummed, taking her hand off of her friend's back.
"Bookman seems rather...disapproving of Lavi's relationships," she said hesitantly. She didn't know how to properly word it.
Rias raised her eyebrow, looking at her. "What do you mean?"
"This morning, after I healed Lavi…," Rias perked a bit at where this was going, and Akeno continued, "he walked in on us, and jokingly, I told him that Lavi and I were dating."
Rias couldn't help but let out a laugh. Oh she wondered how the older man would react. Usually, she would observe the man teach with distance and coldness, so thoughts filled her head, ranging from the old man being a bumbling mess to him hitting Lavi.
"He got...upset to put it lightly," Akeno frowned, "And Lavi said that he was just watching out for...him and for me."
At that, Rias joined Akeno in frowning.
"So Lavi interacting with us...was disapproving to him?"
"I suppose so," Akeno nodded. "Though he isn't as bad as he tries to make himself to be. We drank tea together, and he seemed much more amicable. Interestingly, he did utter...his name."
She finished her impromptu report with a grimace, her nose scrunching as she remembered the pain of Bookman uttering the holy name.
"He did?"
"Mmm. Lavi clarified saying that they were used to it because they...trained to resist it."
That was news to Rias. She hadn't heard of any devil subjecting themselves to that excruciating pain to grow a...tolerance for it. More questions filled her mind in regards to the two.
Why would they need to do that? Did they come across a lot of fallen angels or angels?
Now she was curious. Lavi and Bookman fighting? Lavi, the historian, who enjoyed writing and reading...fighting? A silly image conjured into her mind, imagining Lavi whacking a fallen angel on the head with one of his larger books at the bottom of his bookshelves. Granted, when they saved Issei from a fallen angel attack, he seemed eager to rush into the fray.
Then, an image of Bookman appeared, with his strange gravity-defying hairdo, in a robe, smacking his enemies on top of their heads. A small, humorous grin grew on her face. She still couldn't believe that Bookman struck Akeno on top of her head. She didn't think anyone would ever do that.
Quickly, she shook her head of the humorous thoughts, and Akeno tilted her head, gazing at her curiously.
And then, like a tidal wave, they felt it. A surge of holy power that made the hairs on their skin stand on its ends. And just as fast as it arrived, it disappeared.
Akeno and Rias looked at each other in alarm.
"What was that?" Rias asked, the tension in her muscles leaving.
"I'm not sure," Akeno responded, and the two headed towards the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever it was that released such...power.
"A fallen angel attack?" Rias asked, as she scanned the orange dusk sky. It would have been foolish for the fallen angels to have launched an attack so close to the night, when they were at their most active.
"I don't see anything," Akeno shook her head.
And then, they saw a glimpse of smoke rising over the distance, deep within the confines of Kuoh.
Without warning, the two unfurled her wings, and they looked at each other, nodding, as if coordinating their next move without speaking.
Akeno raised her hand and a crimson seal surrounded the area that they stood on, as an illuminating light brightened the nearly dark clubroom.
"No one should be able to see us," Akeno said, as the light died down.
With that, they took to the skies, riding the winds quickly, to the source of the smoke.
Clouds spread like a sea, as they flew and as they got closer to the smoke, the sky became an ombre of black, grey, and orange.
From the air, they assessed the situation. A gigantic hole showcased what remained of Lavi's bedroom, followed by, what seemed to be, smaller, cannon sized holes that riddled up and down the building.
On the ground, she saw the familiar question mark-esque hair of Bookman, and the upright auburn hair of Lavi. She also saw something that made her blood run cold, as chills ran up and down her spine.
There, on the ground, talking to Lavi and Bookman, was none other than her brother.
It seemed they were having a serious conversation, from what she could tell of their facial expressions.
Lavi's brow was furrowed into a deep frown, as they exchanged words.
But the sound of wings beating near the ground as they landed brought them out of their conversation and brought their attention to the Gremory heir and her queen.
"Big brother!" She exclaimed as she and Akeno walked up to the group.
"My cute baby sister, helllooooooo!" Sirzechs greeted back, breaking the group as he ran to hug his sister.
Immediately, she ducked under the hug, and looked towards the exorcists.
"Bookman, Lavi, is everything okay? What happened?" She asked, concern filling her face as she and Akeno walked up towards the two.
Behind them, Sirzechs sat on his knees, facing away, but the sounds of sobbing was audible to all.
"Rias! Akeno!" And like that, Lavi's frown quickly switched into a carefree expression as he greeted the two.
"Ara ara, hello there, boyfriend~" Akeno waved, as she smiled at the two, which earned an eye twitch from both Rias and Bookman. She turned to him, and bowed politely, "Hello again, thank you for the tea."
"Ms. Gremory and her Queen. Hello," Bookman said, his face still holding its serious look from the conversation.
Ignoring Akeno's quip, which resulted in a pout from said girl, he responded, "We're fine, we're fine. Just...got into a bit of a tussle is all."
"A...tussle," Rias asked, and she peered behind him, eyeing the obvious damage done to the building.
"Yeah, a tussle. Right gramps?"
Whack.
"Gah! Damn it! That shit hurts!" Lavi exclaimed, as he soothed his aching head.
"Stop calling me gramps, you damn brat!" Bookman yelled, his fist outstretched.
Akeno and Rias watched the two interact in amusement, the previous topic easily being diverted as the two exchanged retorts.
"Oh that's right, Bookman, Lavi!" Sirzechs called out, looking as if he'd finally recovered from his mini-depression episode, and everyone's attention switched to the authoritative figure. His legs trembled ever so slightly.
…
…
Well, not really recovered.
"I shall be parting ways now, but before I do...," Sirzechs said, walking up to the two exorcists, and handing them a tag. It was a small, crimson tag, bordered with multiple runes that seemed to converge into a design at the center.
Rias caught a glimpse of the object her older brother handed the two, and she wondered what it was that he personally had to give to the two.
'Then again, why was he here?' she questioned, as she looked at her brother. He would rarely deliver something himself, when he has a whole peerage that could do it for him.
"This is…" Lavi said, inspecting the tag. His fingers trailed the very familiar design of the Black Order, before slipping it into his pocket. He had an audience now, so he'd just have to slap it onto his hammer later.
"Mmm. Ajuka Beelzebub designed it, along with...what was his name...Reever, I think."
Rias and Akeno piqued interest at the unknown name. Who was it that would work with one of the greatest inventors of all time?
As far as Rias knew, the famous devil was rather fickle about who he would work with in regards to a project.
Meanwhile, Lavi's head shot up, and looked Sirzechs straight in the eye. "Reever designed this?! Along with Maou Beelzebub too?! Woaaaaah, Sirzechs, you gotta get me a—"
Whack!
"Augghhhhh! Gramps, why?!"
Whack!
"I told you to mind your manners! And stop calling me gramps!"
"Ahah...it's no worries Bookman," Sirzechs said, attempting to quell the tiny fury. "I'm sure the young boy would be ecstatic to meet the mastermind behind the Evil Piece system."
"Hell yeah!" Lavi agreed. "His incorporation of the Evil Piece system to reincarnate other species into devils to help rebuild the devil society is really interesting! Definitely worth its spot it one of the greatest engineerical masterpieces or history!"
Sirzechs chuckled. "Maybe I can sneak you an autograph or something the next time I see you. I need to tend to some work back home. As for your own...home...I'll have it rebuilt by next morning, while you're in school."
Sirzechs walked away from the group, an intricate pentagram forming onto the ground. Lavi recognized the same pentagram from the clubroom and from when Rias appeared.
"Bye Rias! Akeno! Bookman! Lavi!" He waved at the group, as the pentagram began to glow.
"Oh, and Lavi!" Sirzechs called out, drawing the boy's attention. "You never got me my reports on my cute little sister!"
Rias's glare towards Lavi would have been a tad more menacing, if it weren't for the fact that she was sporting a blush redder than her hair.
"Wh-wha-wha?! Big brother! Lavi!" She sputtered, her gaze oscillating between the two, and Lavi swore he saw steam coming out from her ears.
"U-uh...Well you see, all of my reports and my books got destroyed...so...I don't think you'll be able to...get one…" Lavi stuttered, and with that, Sirzechs disappeared in a flash of light.
Staring at the empty space that Sirzechs once occupied, he sighed and a tired sadness filled his eye.
"My books…gone," Lavi said depressedly.
"That's okay Lavi, your girlfriend can buy you new ones. You just have to be willing to...pay me back, ufufu…" Akeno said, stepping beside the boy, as she consoled him by rubbing his back.
"Nooooooo! You don't understand! I didn't just have books! I had original documents! Reports! I'm pretty sure I had the original thesis of Feynman too!"
She took her hand off of his back and looked at him with a frown. Replacing original documents was something that she nor Rias could do.
Rias's eye involuntarily twitched as she watched the exchange.
"I know. It truly is unfortunate," Bookman agreed. Original reports were a precious treasure. Perhaps it was foolish of them to be carrying some of them without taking extra caution.
Lavi sighed heavily. "I'll go pick out whatever it is that survived."
And he leaped up into the second floor, entering his room via the gigantic hole in his wall.
Debris crackled under his feet, as he stepped through his room. His desk, which was once tidy, lay collapsed over its broken legs. The ink in his vial spilled over, spattered onto the floor like blood, staining papers, books, and whatever else the liquid came into contact with.
Gingerly, he picked up his damaged feathered quill, which was once a clean and pristine white.
Lavi cherished these things. Some were as old as time. Others, gifts from people he had never seen again.
"Are you okay?" a voice spoke from behind him, and he peered over his shoulder.
Rias stood at the entrance of the hole, wings disappearing like magic behind her back.
"I'm fine. Just…" he gestured to the mess before him, "these things hold a lot of sentimental value."
He began going through the pile of papers that remained intact.
"Quotes, stories, studies...history. Burned away like that. Some of these were never published," he said.
He wrote down a lot of his adventures. A lot of his findings. His own mark as a historian, down the drain.
"This one here..." Lavi picked up a mangled worn out blue book, and he continued with a nostalgic fondness, "It's a collection of stories of the locals in Sicily."
Rias walked up to him and bent over him, studying the book in Lavi's hands.
'Unforgotten in Sicily' the title said in faded gold letters. It seemed like he had this book for a while. She honed in on the author of the book.
"You wrote this book…?" She asked in timid amazement.
"Yeah. We went to Sicily maybe...six or seven years back. I was still really young back then. I don't really remember what for, but we visited nearly every city on that island. I think I was still training to become a historian then. Bookman made me interact with the locals, telling me that the stories of everyday people should never be forgotten. After all, the present that they live in is the history of their land. They would be the only ones who experience Sicily and Italy in that time period. So...I went and interacted with the locals," Lavi explained, opening the ruined book, and he began to tell stories of the people there.
Rias listened with rapt attention, as he described the multitude of stories that were bound between leather.
The way that he intimately described each and every person and their story made it seem like he was their friend. Like he knew the person inside and out. Like he had been there every second of their lives.
Inwardly, she swooned when he told stories about love. One in particular of a young boy meeting a young noble girl and seeing her for who she was instead of for what she was. It was something that she longed for, after all.
And inwardly, she saddened when he talked about some of the lives some people led. A homeless man who had everything taken from him, trying to regain his future, but was stuck in limbo of trying to survive and falling into nasty habits.
"I'm a historian. It's my duty to record the stories around me. Who knows, Rias?" He said, closing his book as he looked up at her, his lone eye gazing into her eyes with warmth. She gazed back at him in curiosity.
"One day, I might be recording your story too." He smiled. His eye closed, which served to enhance the fullness of his smile.
She stepped back, blushing heavily. "Wh-wh-uh...thanks…?"
He shook his head, shaking his head to clear his thoughts, seemingly unaware about the redhead's predicament, and continued to gather what little bits of things he could recover.
"All done here, brat?" Came Bookman's voice, which seemed to snap her out of her flushedness.
She turned to look towards the man, who stood waiting by the gaping hole, accompanied by her Queen.
Lavi hummed in affirmation, and he reached into his pack, pulling out a clear vial and a small metal silver object.
Rias and Akeno watched curiously as he dumped the contents of the vial over the pile of ruined papers and books, Rias noticing (or maybe imagining) the blue book getting a healthy dosage of the liquid.
Their looks converted into horror, as he flicked open the silver container, revealing a tiny flame that illuminated the now dark room.
The flame cast a shadow, which emphasized the sombreness of his eyes, and he apathetically dropped the tiny flame on top of the mountain of papers and books. In an instant, the flame grew as it engulfed the mountain.
Rias couldn't help but ask, "Lavi, why?"
He only shook his head in response. He hated when he had to deliver the killing blow. But secrets must stay secrets. "Now I am."
"Lavi. Are you okay? I can record—"
"No need, gramps. I've already recorded everything," he turned to look at him, and he pressed his fingers against the side of his head twice, a cheeky smile gracing his face, as if the last few moments left him unbothered.
"...Everything?" Akeno asked, a mischievous smile donning her features.
"Yup, everything," he reiterated.
"Even that one thing with Rias?"
Lavi liked where this was going. A moment of reprieve, to ease the atmosphere.
Rias started sputtering, trying to recall everything that happened today in detail.
Lavi returned Akeno's grin with one of his own, "Oh, especially that one thing with Rias."
Nearby, they heard the soft sound of a poof.
When they turned to look towards the sound, they saw Rias, with steam escaping her ears, donning a deep red blush.
"Something the matter, Rias? Ufufufu…" Akeno asked, giggling into her hand, while Lavi struggled to hold in his laughter.
Rias, realizing that she was being played, immediately recomposed herself, as she coughed into her fist. "No, nothing at all."
Bookman shook his head at their antics, a small smile adorning his face. Maybe just this once. Even he knew that Lavi needed a break. And as much as he would try to enforce the idea that he shouldn't get too attached to anything, try as he might, he was still a...devil being with emotions. And even happy moments can help push through this war that they were in the middle of. Though he wouldn't admit that.
His pride as a Bookman was on the line, damn it!
"Woah gramps! Are you smiling?!"
Aaaand…
Wham.
"Aaagh! Damn it, you damn panda!"
Bookman suddenly launched into the air and delivered a flurry of kicks to Lavi's side, each being emphasized by his words.
"Stop! Calling! Me! A! Damn! Panda!"
On the ground, Lavi laid crumpled, twitching slightly every now and then.
Rias and Akeno, for all it was worth, let out a laugh. Everyone needed a bit of humor today.
A bright screen illuminated the dark room. Numbers remained constant on a map that showed the entire world. Except for a relatively large number, which pinpointed to Japan, dropped.
"Oh…?" A figure sat, huddled in front of the screen, a hand guiding the mouse over to Japan. He double clicked, and the numbers changed.
+30 it read in blue.
He double clicked it again, and -2 in red replaced the text.
"Interesting," it said, studying the number.
"What seems to be the problem?" A rough jovial voice asked from behind. The figure swiveled around, facing a rotund man, with impish features. His glasses gleamed against the light from the screen.
"Japan has dropped by two akuma," the figure stated, swiveling back around to face the screen. "I don't recall there being any exorcists in Japan."
The man from behind smiled.
"No worries," he replied sinisterly. "Two is small in the gigantic sea of akuma we've acquired. In fact, I'll have one to offset the two right now. And I think this one will be greater than those two combined. Besides, what was it? A level one? Two?"
"One level one, and one level two," the figure responded, zooming into Japan. The gigantic number split into smaller sums, each pinpointing a different location in Japan.
Kuoh, Japan read zero. Double clicking that number, it changed into the red -2.
"Ehhh…? I see. Well, you keep doing your thing. I have a deal with a devil to make," the man said, turning around and humming an eerie tune. One that was engraved into a dead general's mind before he died.
So this is the end of this chapter. I think I'm kind of concerned with Lavi's interactions between Rias and Akeno. Especially Rias. So pls lemme know what's good, and what wasn't and I will dead ass come back to this chapter and revise it (again). There's still a lot of things I'm improving on, so if you could tell me, I'd be glad to improve upon it in the future. Thanks for reading this chapter. Review if ya want or sum'. See y'all in another four years.