A/N: Sup guys, wiErD here. I got another chapter for you guys.

Hope you like it :)

Disclaimer: I don't own FT or HS DxD or its elements. All goes to their respective authors. Support the official releases.


- Devil's Appearance -


Rias and Akeno stood defiantly as they watched the fallen angel flee from the area. They continued to keep their eyes towards her until she was finally out of sight. The barrier around the park soon dispersed as the distorted skies returned to normal and revealed a clear night sky. Because the first one was destroyed, they had to conjure another one to prevent any more witnesses from ever finding out the commotion. A lot of bystanders heard the sound of the battle that took place in this park and it would cause a lot of panic in the local populace if left unchecked.

They have to make sure not to leave a single one out by wiping their memories of today's occurrence. It should be their priority first before it could escalate. This was done in mere seconds as the two summoned their familiars to finish the task. They instructed them of their objective and left the premises to do their job.

While they're at it, they now returned their attention to the two humans who were at their death's door. Though one was able to save himself out of the situation due to unforeseen circumstances that left both of them and Sona speechless as a result. Technically, however, both of them suffered fatal wounds and experienced near-death as a result.

They approached the two dying bodies of the two brothers who were unfortunate to have encountered an unprecedented situation. They didn't expect the situation to blow up so much which ended them witnessing something that was never meant to be witnessed.

Rias, Akeno, and Sona had varying complicated expressions on their faces as they gathered together next to the two. One sustained a wound beyond so severe that normal medications wouldn't be able to save him at this point while the other was simply in deep unconsciousness after his first fight with a supernatural being. The latter revealing something to the three which also left them with more questions than answers. Although right now shouldn't be the perfect time for any questioning.

Their priority is to keep these two alive.

Akeno examined the gaping wound on Issei, momentarily casting a magic circle around it to stop the bleeding. Meanwhile, Sona took over in helping Natsu for any signs of injury or fatal wounds that might endanger his life. She carefully used her sharp eyes and magic to scan his body, placing a magic circle on the ground where he was currently lying down.

While she didn't find any major external injuries, she wanted to make sure to not leave any single thing and searched for any internal injuries as well. Even with all the spectacular feats, he displayed earlier, his body was still human.

There's no telling that an internal injury could suddenly endanger a human life without proper care. After all, humans are physically fragile creatures in the world of the supernatural.

A few moments later, she finished checking. She wiped a small bead of sweat from her forehead as she ceased her magic on the boy. There were no signs of injuries that could endanger his life and his breathing was stabilizing as of now. A small sigh of relief washed over her as she released the magic circle and turned her attention to the crimson-haired girl and her queen.

"It looks like he will live. He suffered only some minor scratches but nothing too serious that would endanger him. The wound on his abdomen healed itself perfectly. " She reported. Rias and Akeno let out brief looks of gasp before nodding unison as they finished on their end as well. "How's the other boy?"

"The ritual worked although I'm surprised." Rias voiced out as she looked at the newly resurrected brown-haired boy in wonder.

"Why is that?" Sona looked at her in confusion.

"This boy took all of my eight pawns. I think that spoke for the Sacred Gear that was inhibiting him." At her friend's words, the short-haired girl could only muster a widened gaze as she heard her statement.

She took a moment to register the information before regaining her usual strict look and nodded in response. "I see. I guess your intuition this time was on the mark, Rias."

The crimson girl merely smiled proudly at her response, lightly puffing her chest out with pride. "Well, it was worth it. His body accepted the evil pieces easily so there should be no problem of consent from him. His desire to live on must've been so strong that it triggered my magic spell. Although it would take a while for him to get used to his new form."

She said as she looked at the sleeping brunet with expectation. "I expect many great things from him."

"Good for you. It looks like things are starting to get better now. However, there's still the threat of the fallen angels." Sona adjusted her glasses as she spoke in a grim tone.

"We can come back to that. I think there is a more pressing matter that we need to address right now, don't you think?" Rias smiled, eyeing over at her childhood friend in anticipation as they now turned their attention towards the unconscious pinkette right in front of them.

There's no mistaking it.

There was a surging power within his body that somehow unleashed itself at the time during the encounter. Not only did they witnessed it firsthand but they also got a taste of the power that emanated from the boy himself. If they didn't manage to set up their barrier over the park on time, the heatwave could've gone much farther and cause unnecessary damage to the surrounding buildings. They saw how the fight went and they couldn't believe their eyes.

The level of power was enough to turn a large area into scorched earth. It was evident by the aftermath of their battle as the park was reduced to nothing but a field of burning trees. It took a considerable amount of magic for them to restore the area to its normal state afterward. If they hadn't been there, the situation might've escalated further and caused a huge uproar around town.

They made the right choice in keeping an eye on the two.

However, the fact remains.

A human with unknown powers managed to drive off a fallen angel on his own without a Sacred Gear. They didn't even know if it was a Sacred Gear or not. Sona and Rias could detect the presence of Sacred Gears through magic and they have confidence in determining them by hindsight. Yet, despite that, they didn't know what happened to the pink-haired boy or what kind of power he just unleashed.

They placed assumptions on the possibility of it being some random ability that he possessed through a bloodline but much of his unknown history was scarce at best. It would be pointless digging up more information at this point. What they did know was that he possessed something similar to a Sacred Gear although, it was unknown to them at the moment.

They could not make conclusions on the spot and were left with speculations. For all they knew, he might be someone from a forgotten clan that once wielded the same power before being wiped out through some unforeseen incident.

If the other devils caught wind of this, they would immediately try to force their way in recruiting him into their peerage without a second thought. After all, power was everything to most of the devils and this boy just set the perfect criteria to their desires that would otherwise lead to a huge mess if they happen to come across this incident. Any form of negotiation from the boy's end would be simply thrown out in the window. That's how power-hungry most of them were.

Haa, and they thought that the devil society had changed over the past century.

"This is a problem." Sona sighed, her face perturbed by the unfolding situation.

Rias could not help but agree with her words. "Indeed."

"What should we do, Buchou, Kaichou?" Akeno looked at the two expectantly.

"For now, we shall proceed as planned with Hyoudou Issei. One step at a time, Akeno."

"As much as we want to know what's going on, we don't have anything to help us at the moment except keep him out in the dark for now." Sona proposed, staring at the resting Natsu.

"That fallen angel might've informed her other accomplices of her discovery at this moment. It's a matter of time before they could strike again. We should keep our guard on him without raising suspicion just in case." Rias followed before turning to Sona. "I suppose you can do that as well, Sona."

The girl nodded in response. "I'll have some of my members from my peerage to keep watch on him of course. If what the reports said true about the fallen angels going around and killing those with potential Sacred Gears, these two would be one of their targets and more often so now that they failed to fulfill that objective. Plus, a student of the academy was involved. There's no way I'm leaving this unattended."

"Well, safeguarding aside, we should also set some barrier into their home for extra measures. Although there's a low chance that they may attack again after this, we shouldn't take our chances." Rias added.

"Or you could just barge in and stay for the night but that would be too imposing, knowing that they weren't even familiar with us in the first place." Sona grimaced, recalling the brief moment she had with the pinkette who didn't recognize her. A slight feeling of discomfort welled inside her thinking about that exchange but she guessed that was expected since the boy was a bit of a blockhead. A part of her put a lot of pride as the student council president so the fact that a single student didn't know her name vexed her for some reason.

"It looks like our familiars are done with their work." Rias said as she looked at her side and spotted her familiar arriving just in time, seemingly finished with their task.

"And what of his memories?" Akeno asked.

"We'll leave it at that. We can always show up if the situation demands it." She assured before changing the topic. "Still, what a surprise. To think that he would follow them all the way here. I thought you were keeping watch, Sona?"

Her eyes darted over to the girl with glasses who only sighed with a rueful look.

"I was, however, he ran off before I could do anything to stop him. I have to admit, he was pretty quick on his feet." She lightly praised, recalling the time where she lost sight of him in just mere moments as she gave chase. She didn't use any magic to boost herself and catch up so she wasn't able to arrive on time to intervene.

By the time she made it, the fight had already started and she couldn't exactly intervene right away since she worried about the non-aggression pact of the three factions. Until they could verify their information on these fallen angels, they were not to attack first unless it was they who initiated it.

She bit her lip in frustration during that time as she knew too well of the repercussions that might come afterward if she decided to help the fight. She was sure Rias and Akeno had thought the same thing which is why they only focused on the other boy at the time of his death to make sure they didn't break any rules of the pact. However, she was there with every bit of power she had to save that single human. It was the circumstances that made it hard for her to come to a decision. She could've entered into the fray under the notion that a fellow student was involved with a fallen angel but that would cause a lot of problems for her house once the negotiations started rolling in.

She was glad that the boy managed to save himself but had his powers never manifested, he would've died a meaningless death. And that's something she just couldn't stand regardless if they're mortal or not.

Her thoughts came to an end as she heard two of her fellow devils discuss their future plans.

"Well, that's one thing to look into. Maybe he could fill the spot as my other knight if he agrees to join." Rias chuckled with a smile written on her face.

"Rias, I think there should be a proper time for this kind of discussion. He just walked out from a fight with no understanding of what brought him into this mess in the first place." She reprimanded.

Her joyful look was coming back again. She inwardly sighed in exasperation as she stared at her who simply giggled at her advice.

"Oh, of course. I was just thinking of the possibilities. Given how his power would scale to ours, I doubt that I would have enough pieces to accommodate him. You, on the other hand..." Her brows twitched to what she was talking about.

"Do not start with me there. As you said, we don't even know what kind of power resides in him. It's better to leave him out in the meantime before you could even make discussions about recruiting him."

"Just saying. Either way, I saw what I needed to see. And that makes me more interested in him." Rias spoke with a smile befitting her nature.

The short-haired girl sighed once again while Akeno smiled between their conversations. It was then she looked at the skies and decided to return. "We should probably continue this some other time. We have other matters to worry about. Watch yourselves out there, you two. Then, good night."

"Good night to you too, Sona." Rias and Akeno watched her disappear as the magic circle appeared on her feet and sent her back home. They glanced back towards Issei and Natsu who had been healed of their injuries thanks to their magic.

"Now then, we should also rest for the night. We'll return them back to their home."

"Sure thing, Buchou."

They opened a large magic circle around them and along with the two males as they disappeared quickly from the sight, leaving nothing of their traces in the process.


...


Dark.

It was dark. I could feel nothing but cold and emptiness around me as I opened my eyes to see where I ended up. An endless plane of darkness welcomed my sights while a bottomless abyss stared from beneath me. I couldn't see anything, even my hands or my whole body for that matter. However, I was here.

Did I die?

Perhaps that would be the case. He did remember being stabbed just like Issei. The painful feeling was gone but I was now stuck here on my own.

Damn it, now I feel so empty having done nothing all my life.

What would their parents feel when they found out that they were killed? Mom would no doubt, break down by losing not just one but two of her children from something that they couldn't even understand. I'm sure they would mourn for them. I'm not sure about the other people at school but I guess Matsuda and Motohama would feel devastated about their deaths.

Reya and Tomoe too.

I didn't even get to say sorry for declining their help the other day.

Akeno.

Well, maybe she would feel shocked too. Despite how short their time together, they did enjoy each other's company.

That Sona girl too.

Man, if I'd listened to her back then, I would not be dead by now. However, there was no way I'm walking away when Issei was in danger. After all, he was my brother, and brothers were supposed to look after each other. Mom and dad used to teach us that ever since we were young.

Shit, now that left a bad taste on my mouth just by thinking that kind of future in my head. Why am I feeling so depressed now?

Then again, what could I do? I died. I mean, I couldn't exactly get out and return from the living. That would be one hell of a story to tell though.

I relaxed my mind. Seemingly calm despite how surreal this was.

This was no different on my dreams but this was surely the end of my life. I think they called it the afterlife or something. I was never quite the religious type so I couldn't really tell.

Still, I'm going to miss them. My life may have been short but I guess this is as far as I can go.

Now... if only Issei could join me to wherever this void would take me.

"Wake up, Natsu. It's not yet your time."

Huh? It's that voice again. So it was not just a hallucination.

"Your battle had just begun."

What battle? What is it saying to me?

"He will come for you. The one who bathes in the blood of our kin."

I-I don't know what you're talking about.

What is it talking about now?

I really hated hearing vague messages. Is this related to that dream he had the other day?

"The path will be treacherous. However, I will be with you along the way."

"Who are you?"

"You of all people would know that answer. Don't worry. In time, you will remember them all."

"Please... at least, give me your name."

And then at that moment, the dark world was suddenly in bright light that swallowed the emptiness of my heart. Instead, a gentle warmth made its way and filled it. I found myself dozing off as my vision slowly faded.


...


The irritating sound of his alarm clock went off in his ears as Natsu lazily got up from the sheets and turned his eyes on the clock with a pissed off look. Just when he was having a good rest, this thing disrupted it yet again. He was suffering a big headache right now and this loud irritating object was the last thing he needed before exploding in anger.

"Why can't you just shut up?!" Cursing the object beside him, he slammed the clock with his fist, easily destroying as it blew into pieces before shifting his head on the other side of the bed and resumed his sleep.

A moment of silence followed soon after that. He then shifted back, facing the broken piece with a tired look.

Another moment of pause ensued and his eyes slowly opened, staring at the pieces on the ground.

And then back to the destroyed clock. Then back to the ground again before returning to the clock once more.

Oh, SHIIII―

As fast as the speed of lightning, his eyes widened like plates as he sprung back to life, noticing moments later of what he had just done with the thing. His face mortified as he looked teary over to the object with fear written on his expression.

Oh, he had done it now.

"Aaaah, crap! Why did I break it?! Mom's gonna kill me!" He shouted in panic. His sleepiness quickly faded away as he scrambled to the floor to pick up the broken pieces. He had to do something. This was the seventh time he broke another clock by accident. He thought he placed it far from his reach so how did he miss putting the thing next to him. Aside from that, he could see some of the little pieces scattered all over the floor.

This is going to be a pain in the ass to clean up.

However, he soon stopped as he halted his train of thought after realizing something more serious than accidentally breaking his clock. His memories immediately came back at that time during his encounter with Raynare. He also remembered the sight of Issei dying in his arms. A quick realization went through him as he looked around and found out that he was in his room.

Wait, since when did he get here?

As far as he could recall, he remembered being at the park where he supposedly tried to avenge his brother. And then, there was that fight with Raynare.

There's no mistaking it. He could remember all of it. The flames surrounding him, the wound on his abdomen healing at a fast rate, and also the voice that called him to use it.

His hand instinctively reaching out to his stomach where the wound was supposed to be. There was no sign of any penetration at all. He was fine and alive. He even tried slapping his cheeks hard to make sure this was not just a dream or some sort.

"Ouch!" He cursed after feeling the full force of his slap.

He couldn't believe it. So he was alive after all.

He turned towards his calendar to see the date today. He still remembered the date when they stumbled into that park. And sure enough, it's already been a day since that incident. However, some questions remained. How did he get here? Did someone find them at the park after the fight? Is Issei―

His mind stopped at the thought of his brother. Adrenaline rushed through his knees as he made a sprint towards the door and opened it. He looked at the hallway, seeing there was no sign of their parents or Issei. He must be in his room right now. He had to make sure. Because one thing is for certain, he did witness Issei dying in front of him.

Realizing that, he made his way in front of his room as he stopped for a moment to collect his breath. He loudly banged the door open to make sure is he was inside although he can't be too sure after all that's happened to them. A feeling of dread washed over him as he tried ascertaining his brother's presence on the other side of the door.

"Issei?! Issei! Are you in there?! Oi, answer me, you idiot?!" He shouted but there was no response.

A few minutes went back and his patience ran out. He had no choice but to kick the door open. With a single kick, he slammed the door open, destroying it from its hinges, unaware of the person inside who jolted awake after the loud crash that followed as he went inside.

"WHAT THE HELL―" Issei sprung back from his bed as he looked towards his door, only to jawdrop in response as his eyes widened at the sight of Natsu barging into his room with his door destroyed.

Meanwhile, a wave sign of relief soon overcame him as he saw the sight of the brunet seemingly fine. His worried state vanished and his face softened after hearing his loud and irritated voice. Well, at least he was energetic as usual. That was enough to put his fears to rest for now.

"Natsu, what are you doing? You just broke my door." He heard him speak as he pointed over to the broken door with a panic-stricken look.

"Ah, I thought you were... uh―" A moment of realization went through him after what he had just done. He tried to explain himself but was cut off as the two heard their mom's voice from below. The sound of the crashing door and his frantic screams must've startled her.

"Natsu-kun! Issei-kun! What was that loud sound just now?! What happened up there?! Hurry up and get ready! You both have school!" Their mother called out as she continued on with her cooking. Her trailing voice was enough to put the two boys' thoughts on hold and looked at each other with one single thought in mind.

"Wanna call for a truce?"

"Yeah. Let's do just that." Issei nodded in affirmation, getting himself ready while trying to wrap his head around the broken door in front of him and simply reached to the bath to refresh himself.


...


A few minutes of eating and hiding the broken door from their parents, Natsu and Issei silently ate their breakfast without much of a word from each other.

Their parents cast their glances towards their two sons in confusion. They usually see them bickering at each other and there hasn't been a day that they would not speak to each other during breakfast even though most of it was just bickering at each other. However, that was a lot better than them not saying a single word. It made their mornings much more uplifting to start the day. The whole morning became awkward for the whole family and it was not too long before the two finished their food and left for the school without saying a word to them.

On the other hand, Natsu and Issei hastily went on their pace towards the school to avoid their parents from questioning them. They silently agreed on ditching from their parents at the moment since they were both recovering from their mysterious episode from yesterday. They haven't said anything to talk about it but it was clear on both their faces that they did experience something odd at that time. Issei walked silently alongside him, who on the other hand, was wondering about the whole thing that happened between them.

He couldn't remember much about what happened after falling unconscious yesterday. He was waiting for someone to start but it seemed like he and Issei had the idea to hold back on who's to speak first.

Their awkward silence was soon broken as Issei decided to break the ice between them.

"Say, Natsu. Did you remember something weird yesterday?" That question made him jolt into attention, finally confirming his memories that happened yesterday. However, the pinkette wanted to make sure if they were on the same page.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I just got this crazy dream about us dying in some park―"

"So you do remember it too?!" He didn't give his brother the time to finish his statement as he looked at him with a serious look in which Issei simply gave a surprised look towards him after being able to relate to the events that transpired yesterday.

"W-Wait a minute. So you really remember it too?! And it wasn't a dream?!" Issei stuttered in response.

"I'm sure that wasn't a dream, Issei. I was there when I saw you die and then..." The two of them stopped walking for a moment as they tried to recollect their memories until Issei widened his eyes in realization after remembering something other than their supposed deaths.

"That's right! I was on a date with Yuuma-chan!" He exclaimed in surprise however, his memories brought back pieces of the next events that turned his expression into a grim look. "She... tried to kill me."

No. That's not it. He was killed by her. There's no denying that.

He could still feel the stinging sensation from his abdomen even though there was no wound. While he was occupied with his phantom wound, his memories came rushing back to him as he looked at the pinkette with a solemn expression.

"You were there when that happened." He muttered with a blank tone.

"Y-Yeah." Natsu stuttered in his voice, recalling the face of his brother who was dying in front of him.

That image surely did him in and would've let his tears come our from his eyes if not for the people passing by so he tried to hide them away for a moment with his arm. He wanted to take a moment to get the feelings out of his system before they could talk.

Issei noticed this and merely stood there with a regretful look. Despite his brother's efforts to hide his tears, he pretended to not notice it and simply waited for him before he could talk again.

Both of them had just gone through a hard time so they needed this moment to recollect their thoughts and hopefully deal with whatever's happening out there.

After a few minutes of silence between them, they were finally ready to talk once again as Natsu regained his expression much to his Issei's relief.

"Hey, Issei."

"Yeah?"

"Do you have any idea what's really happening? That Yuuma-girl from yesterday. What did she want from you?" He asked, failing to recall bits of his memory during his encounter with the girl. Their minds were a bit fuzzy to recall most of them.

"I―I don't know man. I have no idea why she did that. It makes my head hurt just by remembering it. I wonder where Yuuma is right now." Issei held a hand over his head as a small pang hit him trying to remember what he could about the girl.

"That was not her real name though." Natsu clarified, earning a dumbfounded look from the brunet.

"Say what now?"

"Her real name is Raynare. And she said that she was a fallen angel." He finished.

Issei put up a dumbfounded look but slowly, he was able to sink in that thought after remembering the wings that sprouted behind the girl just moments before his death. He would've laughed at the pinkette's ridiculous claims if not for the incident that occurred yesterday between them. And sure enough, hearing that from him did not seem to be as unreal as he thought it would. In fact, he was convinced by his words that he couldn't help but narrow his eyes in agreement. The vivid description of the girl's unholy appearance added to his claim that Yuuma was indeed a supernatural being, or in this case, a fallen angel.

But that can't be real. I mean, angels, fallen angels, and demons do not exist.

The logical side of his brain wanted to think that there must be an explanation behind the incident last night. However, he could not find anything to explain even the feathered wings. They looked too real and convenient for cosplay. He had seen many cosplayers using wings as props but never as natural as Yuuma―err, Raynare, according to his brother.

Shit, even the names were confusing him.

Inner ramblings aside, he looked back at the pinkette, taking in some new information that he got. However, they've been standing at the same place. They should continue this somewhere at school if they had the time.

"Let's just get to school for now. We're sticking like a sore thumb here."

"Y-Yeah. That sounds good." Natsu nodded.

The two resumed on their journey towards the academy with a lot of questions hanging over their heads.

There's really something going on around here and they need to find out what it is. It doesn't happen like this very often to them and it gets even weirder for them as they were seemingly the ones who remember Yuuma or Raynare for that matter.

Not even Matsuda and Motohama could recognize the name and just by the looks on their faces, they felt as if they never heard of it before. They were the only people that they knew of since Issei introduced her to them yesterday. They were hoping that they could at least remember her to prove her existence but it turned out wrong. Only a day had passed and they couldn't even remember anything of sort relating to the girl and seeing them unable to remember anything made them suspect that there is something wrong going on around here. Not even that, Issei couldn't even find her contact number that he exchanged with her at their first meeting. Even pictures that he took with her during their date was never recovered, leaving them nothing but their hazy memories of the past.

The day started to turn to the height of the noon as the two finally gave up on the investigation and tried clearing their heads for a moment. Issei had been uncomfortable for the whole duration of the class and had been intently listening at the lesson to keep him preoccupied together with Natsu, much to the teacher's confusion at the latter's unexpected change.

Both of them needed something to put their minds to work and since they were at school, they only had lectures to keep them preoccupied.

And just like that, it was already lunchtime. Natsu joined his brother as they went out of the classroom to share their thoughts. They bought their food at the cafeteria first before making their way towards the rooftop where none of the students seemed to wander around often. They needed a place where they could talk alone.

It was interesting to note that Issei denied tagging along with his other two accomplices for their routine peeking schedule at the kendo club. Natsu couldn't blame him though. This matter was more serious than wasting his time peeking with them at the moment.

They arrived at the top and made themselves comfortable as they sat across each other and proceeded to eat their snacks.

"Okay. Let's go over about what we know so far." Natsu started in which Issei nodded. "A lot of strange things happened yesterday. First of all, there was Raynare, who I think is a supernatural. Second, she tricked you to go on a date and wanted to kill for some reason."

"Argh, I was hoping you won't remind me that." Issei groaned upon hearing his second sentence. He was prepared to face the reality set upon them but the words still sting just by hearing it.

"Ah, my bad."

"It's fine. Go on. If we're going to find out the bottom of all this, I have to set myself straight." He reassured. He's sure that Natsu didn't mean to bring the topic up but it still hurt his pride as a man.

Man, this day has got to be his worst yet.

They went back to their topic at hand as Natsu continued.

"Now, let's try to recall what we remember yesterday. Well, except our deaths."

"I got nothing." Issei raised his hands with his head shook sideways. "All I can remember was that Raynare transformed in front of me."

He blushed at the thought of recalling vividly the skimpy outfit that she had donned after her transformation. Oh, and didn't he say that he managed to get a glimpse of her tits?

'FUCK! Why can I remember that and not the other important and serious things?! Focus, Issei. Now is not the time for that.' He screamed in thought. He felt ashamed that the first thing that came to his mind was boobs even at a time like this.

The brunet shook off whatever impure thoughts he had just now, noticing the tilted look of confusion drawing from his brother's face as he stopped speaking for a moment during his explanation.

"Anyway, that's all I can remember yesterday." He made a light cough, gesturing his hand next to his mouth. He then looked at the pinkette, awaiting. "How about you?"

"Well, after you died, I tried to kill her but I was also stabbed by her." Natsu sighed, recalling the hopeless situation that he was at that time. He was about to elaborate further when he heard Issei's shocked voice.

"You WHAT?!"

"What? Was there something wrong with I've said?" He was slightly surprised by his sudden outburst.

"Of course, you dunce! Why did you even bother attacking her if you knew you can't win? Isn't that the part where you should be running away and call for help?" Issei raised his voice due to the silliness of his brother's actions.

Natsu felt his brows twitch in annoyance. "Cut me some slack, will ya? It was a spur of a moment. I didn't know what to do and just started moving. Plus, I can't really get out since she set her eyes on me after she stabbed you."

He explained his side which somewhat alleviated the brunet's complaints. "I―I see. Sorry about that."

They sat there in a few moments of awkward silence.

"So what happened next?" Issei continued.

He looked at him before turning back to his direction with a complicated expression. "I don't know. After that, I was already in my bed and you know the rest."

Issei nodded as soon as the pinkette finished his story.

He then stared into open space as his mind went into deep thought as well.

He remembered being in some dark void as soon as his eyes closed. The last thing he recalled before waking up in that place was the scene of his brother beside him, trying to bring him back. At that time, all he ever thought about was how things would go with his parents and Natsu after his death. His family was the only thing that he cared about during those final moments.

He felt like he had come to realize the value of his life towards them when he remembered waking up on his bed and seeing the grief-stricken look of Natsu when he busted the door open to see if he was okay. A wave of emotions ran through him that made him regretful for causing that much worry for the pinkette even though it was the first time he had that kind of expression.

It was sort of a brotherly love they have for each other. Like two pieces making a whole. Their bond was so strong over the years that they just couldn't imagine the greatest moments in their lives without one of them in it.

They may not show it in words but their actions speak for the trust they have for each other.

Issei gripped his fists hard as he swore a promise to himself at that moment.

He will not let himself die in front of him ever again. He doesn't want to see him make that face ever again. He will make sure of that.

With that newfound conviction, he set his eyes to the clear sky with a renewed gaze. His change of expression didn't go unnoticed as Natsu looked at him in bewilderment.

"What's up, Issei?"

"Nothing." He smiled before making a pause. "It looks like we're drawing blanks here. But at least we know what needed to know last night. Should we head back? We have PE class after this, you know."

"Alright."

Without anything new to bring to their conversation, they went back downstairs after finishing their food and returned to their classroom.


...


The noon steadily went by as the whole class of 2B got changed for their PE class. Natsu and Issei quickly changed their clothes with plain white shirts, dark blue shorts, and rubber shoes as they fell in line as instructed by their teacher. The class was instructed to perform track-and-field exercises this time. It was Natsu's favorite subject since it was purely physical and he had been exercising every morning. It was a perfect subject to take his mind off of things.

He was hoping that Issei too, would join him but as he expected, he was already distracted by the girls who were wearing bloomers for the exercise.

Well, not that he wouldn't stop him either way. At least, he could see him acting normal to himself despite all that's happened to them yesterday. After all, they both needed something to occupy themselves before they could return back to their matters.

The class divided themselves into two groups, one for the males while the other for females.

The first exercise was a 50-meter dash. It was a graded exercise so they were instructed to take it seriously. Natsu and Issei lined themselves beside their fellow male students, including Matsuda and Motohama who expressed their distaste at the exercise.

"Argh, I hate running. I'd rather watch the latest episode of Momo-tan~"

"You got that right, brother."

"How about it, Issei-kun? Wanna hang out later at my house? I got some new porno mags to watch." The two looked at the brunet who was simply looking down on his knees with a deep expression. "Hey man, you alright?"

Issei, noticing that he was being called out, turned towards the other two. "Yeah, what is it?"

"You look like you're a little lost in your thoughts lately." Matsuda revealed.

"Yeah. I guess so." He answered them with a passive tone.

"Don't tell me―you got confessed to a girl?!" As usual, their assumptions caused them to look at him with resentful gazes. However, Issei smiled wryly at their words and looked back at his direction.

Funnily enough, that's what happened to him the other day. Although they weren't aware that it was true or not, they were not exactly far from that assumption. I mean, he did get a date with the girl yesterday but the next thing happened and the girl killed both him and Natsu in the process. It was not exactly a memory to poke fun at even though they weren't aware of it so he only managed a derisive look towards them.

Ignoring the two, he looked to the other side where Natsu was lined into. He seemed pumped up in this subject.

Well, he might as well do the same and try to be productive for once in this subject.

The teacher readied his whistle and in just a few seconds, he blew it with all his might as the boys started their run individually. The whole exercise took only a few minutes to finish as they all collected their breaths as the teacher recorded each of their time and announced their scores of the exercise.

Natsu barely did anything on this exercise as he couldn't feel the slightest fatigue or exhaustion coming out of him.

"Alright, line up. I'll announce the top scores of all of you." The teacher looked to the paper he was holding and cast a glance towards the pinkette with a slightly astonished look.

"First place is Hyoudou Natsu with 5.90 seconds. Pretty impressive. You even surpassed the record holder of Kiba Yuuto from 2C by just 5 milliseconds. Next is Hyoudou Issei with 6.10 seconds, not far behind but still, amazing nonetheless. The rest have all 7 seconds in their timers. Keep it up, you two." He praised, earning a few looks from the two with varying shocked faces as a result.

It was probably because the two of them being one of the problem children at the school and that they just performed spectacularly in this exercise.

Even the two were dumbfounded by their new scores. They looked at each other for a moment before smiling at each other in content as they proceeded to the next exercise.

The next hurdle was a 200-meter dash around the field with two laps, totaling to a 400-meter run or a quarter of a mile.

The class went to prepare themselves for the next exercise as the boys were the first to go while the girls stayed to watch until their turn so they had time to observe them from the distance. Some of the boys were taking this opportunity to impress whoever girl they had a crush on and looked pumped up more than ever. The competition was brewing within the group as Natsu and Issei entered the fray in cold sweats. The former appreciating the subtle rivalry from them, noticing a few glances from them as they make their way to their respective lanes.

The rules are the same as the last exercise and scores are graded according to their fastest time.

Issei looked around and even saw some of the boys' gazes piercing into his eyes. He looked over to the pinkette without an ounce of awareness of his surroundings and took it as a challenge from them. Most of them had already treated this exercise as some sort of sports competition, under the notion of beating both him and his brother from the last exercise. He inwardly sighed at the thought.

It's going to be one hell of an exercise.

And what an exercise it was, as the two brothers completely blazed through the field without anyone behind within a few meters close to them to rack up some challenge to the exercise. The course ended with the same result as before with Natsu retaining his position on top as well as him on the second. It was a pretty slow day for the others though as they finished late and completely lost to them.

They regrouped with the others just in front of their teacher who announced the scores. A proud smile dawning over him as he gazed over to the two in satisfaction.

"Amazing work out there, you two! You got a time score of 49.03 and 51.44 respectively. That's close to world-level records, you know that. Tell me, do you two have joined any clubs yet?"

The two looked at each other momentarily and then looked back at him. "No, we haven't."

"Is that so? Well, I recommend you start looking around the sports clubs. Your talents are quite exemplary and they would be glad to have someone like you two."

They only nodded in appreciation. "We'll think about it."

The teacher smiled at them before turning his attention to the others and gave them lectures as well as, setting the two of them as an example to follow. While they're glad to be in the center of attention for once, they couldn't help but sweatdrop at the hostile gazes they were getting from the other boys. As for why is that? Well, they only need to look at the girls in their class who were looking at them in awe along with a newfound respect and flustered looks, even to Issei for that matter who was thought to be the enemy of all women in the school which further added the catalyst for Matsuda and Motohama to resent the brunet more for suddenly becoming popular for a moment.

Not gonna lie though, it was pretty amusing watching various people on their class with their expressions as they go about in their day. They could only laugh at each other, all the while easing the tension that was building around them.

However, they wondered just how they suddenly became athletic today. Particularly Issei, who hadn't exercised his body unlike his brother, noticed the sudden change in his body's strength and stamina. His body was oddly brimming with power.

He'll have to bring this up to him after school.


...


Only a couple more minutes before the end of class. Natsu yawned silently from his chair as he looked in front of his desk wherein the teacher left some sidenotes of their lecture before ending the class early. A few of them decided to talk a bit along with their groups while others who were on cleaning duty started their task as they waited for the bell to dismiss them.

The pinkette gathered all his belongings and placed them in his bag and waited for the bell in his seat. Issei went to talk with Matsuda and Motohama who were still bitter about the whole thing during their PE class. He watched him get into an armlock with Matsuda who complained about his lack of enthusiasm in their conversation earlier. The brunet was unusually indifferent despite his love for breasts just a few days ago. To the point that the two suspected that he was probably diagnosed with some illness that would explain his mood swing, much to the brunet's annoyance.

He thought about coming over to them for a chat until a voice called him from one of the girls who were in cleaning duty.

"Ah, Natsu-san. Can you take these notebooks to the faculty?"

"Sure thing." He grabbed the stacked notes off from her hands and smiled before making his way outside.

He glanced over his shoulder where he spotted Issei looking at him. He gestured his head, signaling his current task which was only answered with a nod from the brunet in response. They agreed to go together after class to further investigate their findings, particularly towards the park where they had been attacked. It was a first step in finding some clues regarding yesterday and the park made sense for them to start their investigation there.

He walked out of the classroom door and turned towards the direction leading to the faculty room. It was only a few meters away from the room so it's not much of a problem for him. However, his thoughts about last night were catching up to him and there's nothing to get himself occupied in the meantime. It was as if he was getting pulled into something he couldn't put his mind into. As the day slowly turned to afternoon, he felt his body grow tense at the slow approach of the darkness from the other side of the horizon.

The bell soon rang across the school grounds as the hallway he was in immediately filled with people.

The stacked notes made it hard for him to see what's in front of him so he relied on his instincts to wade through the departing crowd and finally made it to a corner where fewer people were walking right by.

His journey didn't go uninterrupted when a voice called out in front of him, causing him to lean a bit to the side to get a view who was trying to call out to him.

"Natsu!"

"Yo! Reya." He passed a casual greeting without raising his hands as they were preoccupied at the moment. He watched her approach him with a warm smile and immediately offered help.

"You need any help with that?"

The pinkette didn't need a hesitation from his part and simply smiled wryly. "Yeah, I could use some."

The brunette proceeded to take a significant part of the notebooks which gave room to let him see in front of him. He looked at the beaming girl with a toothy grin. "Thanks."

"No problem~ Where do you want to deliver this?"

"Just at the faculty."

"Oh, okay then. Let's go."

The two resumed their pace towards the boy's direction. It didn't take long as they arrived by at the room and laid the pile just right next to an open table. With a few words from the teacher, they went back towards the direction, leading to their rooms. They took this moment to chat with each other as they walked side by side along the hallway.

"So how're you these days, Reya?"

"A-Ah, me? Well, it's been busy for me. You know, all the work in the student council." She answered timidly.

"Oh yeah. Heard that it's a lot of work. Hope you're getting enough rest." He said worriedly but she only raised her arms beside her with a flustered look.

"N-No, it's fine, Natsu. Thank you for being worried about me."

"Well, I mean you're practically taking care of all of the students here since you're part of the council. That's some big role you have there. I can't imagine being part of it though. Too much paper to look at." He said goofily, earning a giggle from her at the same time.

He didn't want to subject himself looking at written papers. He had enough dealing with it in class.

"Maybe, that's why your grades are so low." She lightly frowned with a tinge of worry.

"Sorry, hehe." He scratched his head sheepishly.

"But just earlier, you were like cool during your class."

"Eh? You were watching?"

Realizing her mistake, Reya immediately blushed as she tried to explain what she said. "I-It's not that I'm stalking you or anything. I-I just happen to see you from afar."

Natsu only tilted his head in confusion. He didn't know but somehow Reya was looking flustered in the middle of their conversation. However, he simply focused on their topic as he spoke in response. "So you really were watching."

"I-In a way..." She whispered, her voice trailing off as she tried to hide her blushing face from him.

"Is that so?" He hummed in thought.

They continued to chat for a while when the pinkette suddenly recalled something from his memory that involves the group that she's currently working.

"Oh, yeah that reminds me. Is there someone name Sauna in your group?"

"Sauna?" Reya looked at him in bewilderment, apparently lost at the name he had brought up. It took her a while to realize the mistake and quickly clarified it. "You mean, Sona-kaichou?"

"Yeah, that one." He beamed upon hearing the familiar name. "Is she your leader or something?"

"I don't know about the leader-thing but if you're talking about her position in the student council, she's our president. She's currently taking care of things related to the school at the moment."

"I see."

He wanted to ask about the girl since she was the last person he got into contact with prior to the incident at the park. Knowing that Reya mentioned her to be somewhere around the campus meant that she wasn't involved or dragged in the incident. A slight wave of relief washed over his expression after hearing it from her. Still, he wanted to ask some questions. It was the only thing that could lead him to what happened last night. She might be even a witness.

His musings were cut short as soon as he noticed a hand in front of his vision. He looked back to his companion who was now pouting at him for some reason.

"W-What is it, Reya?"

"I was wondering why did you ask about Sona-kaichou?"

"Ah, that. The truth is..." He halted his words, momentarily forgetting the fact that only he and Issei shared this information and no one else. He had to think up an excuse on the spot to not let her notice. "Well, I happen to meet her the other day. Said something about my grades or some sort."

He spoke wryly as he said his excuse to the girl who only pondered in thought.

"Is that so? It must be hard on you, Natsu." She smiled.

"Y-Yeah."

"Still, I'm surprised that you knew her. You were almost out of sight every time someone approaches you."

"I usually take a nap at the rooftop when I have some free time. Gotta earn my sleeping time back home, you know. Or else, I'm gonna sleep the entire class if I didn't."

"That's pretty weird to spend your spare time at school. Do you sleep late at home often?" She asked, seemingly curious.

"Yep, I was playing games and watching anime all night." He answered without hesitation which only got the brunette to stop in her tracks as Natsu looked at her in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Muoo... That's not very healthy, Natsu." She was now looking at him with a scolding remark. Her face frowning upon hearing his habits at night.

"What? Staying up late? It's not that bad really."

"Oh, but it is for me." She said.

"Are you my mom or what?" He sweatdropped.

"A-Anyway, you should stop staying up late too often. It's bad for your health, got it?" She reminded. Her face inching too close to his, much to his surprise. He had never been this close to a girl's face aside from Akeno. As a result, he could only look away with a faint blush forming on his cheeks.

"A-Alright, alright. I got it. You're way too close, Reya." He said, much to the girl's embarrassment as she put some distance between them.

Though as they were walking back, another voice called out to them, specifically to Reya as he and the girl looked behind them and saw four figures coming into view. One was a male while the other three were females. Natsu didn't recognize the one male and the other female who wore glasses but he easily identified the other two as Sona and Tomoe as he met them already. The latter waving an arm towards them with an energetic smile. The group was headed to their direction, stopping just a few centimeters beside them as Reya stood to attention in response to her name being called.

"Reya Kusaka." The other bespectacled girl with long black hair spoke out in an assertive tone.

"Y-Yes."

"I see that you're finished with the task but you seem to forget that we have a meeting with the rest of the student body earlier, seeing that you're walking around with someone." She answered, briefly glancing over to him that made him tense for some reason. At the same time, Reya soon remembered what the woman was saying and could only bow down in front of them.

"I-I'm sorry!"

Natsu wanted to say something, seeing how the atmosphere between them became completely awkward and most of all, he didn't like the woman's tone of voice towards Reya. He was about to open his mouth when a hand was raised from Sona, effectively silencing the woman in the process.

"It's fine, Tsubaki. It was only a small detail that didn't need all of us to attend the meeting. I was also at fault for not clarifying the importance of the meeting." She said.

"Y-Yes, of course. Apologies."

"Then, let us go, Reya."

"Yes, Sona-kaichou." She bowed in gratitude as the group moved past them. She looked back at the pinkette and made a short bow while also dawning a warm smile, seeing that the situation was now under control.

Natsu nodded back as he watched her catch up to the group who were waiting for her. It was then he remembered something that he needed to ask of the short-haired bespectacled woman.

As they were about to walk away, he raised his voice.

"Excuse me. I'd like to ask a question from you, Ms. Kaichou."

The group stopped upon his call. Their eyes looking back at him. It was interesting to note that the male in the group had a rather provoking look due to how he addressed the woman in front of him. And he was about to say something when Sona took hold first to answer his question.

"What is it?"

"I want to ask about yesterday. You were there, right? At the game center."

A few faces from the group suddenly changed when he asked that question. He was taken aback at the sudden change of expression. Even Reya and Tomoe whom he thought wasn't capable of making such a face, were frowning at his choice of words for some reason. Sona was the only one who didn't seem to be affected by his question. She always had her strict and calm face and never seemed to be bothered. The others looked at her back, now seemingly agitated as if the next words from her would dictate something on their end.

There was a moment of silence between them until she spoke.

"Yes. And I recall trying to warn you about staying too late around those parts but you ran off without saying a word. I did try to follow you but you were out of sight by that then."

'Oh, good. So she was close by before that thing happened.' He thought.

Perhaps she may have remembered something that others didn't. He hoped that she might've witnessed what happened. Or at least heard something unusual near that area where he was attacked together with Issei.

He gulped nervously as he opened his mouth. "Then, do you happen to hear something unusual in the park? Something not normal?"

"Hear? I'm afraid that I don't follow you, Hyoudou Natsu. What do you mean not normal?" She asked, her tone of voice clearly bewildered. But it was at that moment of exchange that he finally realized it.

Ah, so it's also the same, huh.

He thought she could be of help to the incident but it seemed like she didn't find anything weird during that time. He sighed in defeat as he finally lowered his head. A deep sigh escaped from his lips as he looked back at her with a dismissing look.

"It's nothing. Sorry for asking something weird."

He turned towards the other direction leading back to his classroom. The group's gaze also loosened as soon as he dropped the topic.

It looks like the only thing that can help him and Issei is to go to the source of the site itself. The park where it all began. He was about to leave the area when he heard Sona's voice from behind.

"Though I may have said this before, I advise you to stay away from that area at all cost, Hyoudou Natsu. I do not know what happened last night but you shouldn't stick around at night for too long." She paused before leaving her last warning that caught his attention. "Do not involve yourself any longer. It's for your own safety."

"What do you mean by tha―" He turned his head to look back but they were already gone as they disappeared into a corner, failing to ask what she meant by those words just now. Their footsteps slowly faded away until silence return to the hallway. The pinkette stood silently, facing the direction where he once saw her and her members.

What was that just now?

It almost looked like she knew something. Was she talking about the park or Raynare? He didn't know.

He decided to ignore it in the meantime. He had to meet up with Issei back in the room.

He must be fuming right now since he took his sweet time outside.


...


The sun had already set and the streetlights lit up the streets as the two deviated from their path from their house and went towards the direction leading to the park. Natsu thought about what Sona said to him back at the school. Was it a coincidence? After all, she looked like she knew something that night.

But then again, they were already making their way towards the area so it's a bit late to turn around and go home at this point.

He didn't want to pussy out on this one and neither is Issei, seeing that they're determined to find out what's going on.

They got involved in something big and they know it.

"I forgot to say this back at the PE class but do you think there's something strange in your body for some reason?" His eyes darted back to Issei beside him who suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, don't you feel a little bit strong? I can't put it in words but it's like I feel strong for some reason."

"How so?" He still didn't get it.

"Can't you see? During that class, you and I got top scores, remember? I don't know about you but I'm sure as hell can't make that record. Well, at least until now."

Oh, yeah. He was also baffled by how the brunet managed to compete with him. He first thought he was just trying his best for the first time. Hearing this from him made him think deeply in thought. A sudden realization dawned on him, recalling the same thing happening to him although he had been noticing it a few days before the park incident. His stamina was unusually capable and he could feel his body becoming more durable and powerful for some reason.

"Now that you think about it, I guess you're right. I feel like my body was filling with power like I could lift a truck if I feel like it."

"Right? I'm not confident with my body but I did get a lot stronger after last night."

"This is so weird."

"Ugh, I think I'm starting to regret going on with this plan with all these weird stuff happening around us." Issei frowned.

"Well, it's not like we can't back out on this one. But there's really nothing to help us. Might as well check the place out."

"Yeah. If things go south, we'll run like hell. You okay with that?" The brunet proposed.

"You don't need to remind me that."

It didn't take long for them to reach the park as the place looked deserted as most of the area was shrouded in darkness. A few lamp lights illuminate the place but they pale in comparison to the encroaching darkness around them. The two settled for a moment as they started to look for clues. They walked through familiar landmarks such as the benches and the streets leading to the fountain where it all happened.

Issei, on the other hand, had a rather complicated expression as soon as he noticed something wrong from his body again.

"Hey, Natsu. Don't you think that it's kinda brighter at night?" He tried asking the pinkette but he could only tilt his head and donned a puzzled look.

"What are you saying? It's dark, alright. Can't you see it clearly in your own eyes?" Natsu replied.

Issei was about to ask another question but forced not to since he was telling the truth. His tone of voice indicated that he wasn't lying.

"Is something wrong?" Natsu asked curiously.

"A-Ah. Nothing. Let's uhh―let's keep looking." He dissuaded his worries before resuming again to search the park for answers.

But even after minutes of searching around, they haven't got a lead as they were left empty-handed. Not a single clue that could lead them to the incident.

"Have you found anything?"

"No. There's just nothing." Issei answered with a frown.

"I see. I guess we may never really know of what happened to us last night." Both of them simply sat on the fountain to recollect their thoughts once again. They both stayed silent as the sound of the water gushing out from the top of the fountain reverberated to the quiet park as the night pressed on.

"This is the place where I―no, we last saw her." Issei suddenly spoke.

"Seems like it."

"Damn, I just can't get over about us dying like that without any explanations!" He shouted like he was about to go crazy.

"I guess we may never know."

They both sighed in unison, seeing that they got tired of the search. It was then Natsu turned onto the brunet with a dejected face. "Should we go home? You know, mom is probably waiting for us about breaking that door earlier."

"And whose fault is it?!" He snapped his head towards him in irritation.

An excusable whistle came from him as soon as he said that with an accusing look.

All this pointless search is making them bitter at the end of the day.

But just as they were about to leave the area, a strong aura forced them to freeze on their bodies as they glanced around and saw the sky turning purple as a result.

Wait, this had happened before.

It was just like that time with Raynare.

"!" Without a second to spare, the two immediately tensed as their instincts kicked up as a result. Their expressions turned grim as they recognized this kind of development. This was no doubt just like that last night when they were attacked.

"Natsu. This is―"

"I know. Shit, this is the same as before."

He looked around and through the darkness, his eyes caught something that could be described as a mysterious hatted figure hiding in the shadows.

"Who's there?!" He shouted, causing Issei to look at his direction where he spotted the figure.

The dark figure moved closer into the light, revealing itself as a man in his middle years wearing a trenchcoat and a hat that concealed his face to them for a moment until he revealed himself to them.

"How unfortunate. It might just be my lucky day to meet your kind in such a place." The figure spoke before shifting his hat in a more proper place to show his face to them.

On the other hand, Natsu and Issei couldn't stop the creeping fear inside their bodies as they faced the unfamiliar figure. The former noticing a similar aura as that of Raynare when he first encountered her. The dreaded feeling of hostility and betrayal. At that moment, he could only come up with a single conclusion.

This man is definitely the same as her.

As he was examining the man before him, the figure cast his sinister glance towards them, causing the two of them to leap away in a safe distance as if their bodies reacted to his dark gaze. As soon as they landed, they were shocked to find just how they covered a distance between them and him.

"Do you see that, Natsu?" Issei expressed his shock.

"Y-Yeah. Anyways, that guy." He quickly dismissed their awe and turned their attention back to the man.

"Hoh? You two are quite sharp enough to sense danger. What's more, one of you is still human. I must say that it's really unlucky for you to be mixed up in this, boy." His eyes soon turned over to him with a smirk which only made them raise their guard in defense.

"What's he talking about?" Issei whispered.

"The hell I know! Anyway, we should run away from here. Like right now. That guy smells trouble."

"Oh yeah, we did agree to run away now, did we?" He said dumbly.

"Race you back to the house!"

"Oi!"

And with that, the two turned to the other direction and sprinted as if their lives depended on it. They left the figure behind in a matter of seconds chuckling at their response towards his presence.

But as they sprinted away from the scene, they began to see multiple black feathers falling out from the sky, prompting to look up only to see the same man from before flying above them and eventually landed right in front of them to cut their escape.

"Kuku, I admit that it was logical of you to run away in the face of a fallen angel. However, I can't help but laugh at your pathetic attempts." He laughed with a bit of mockery laced in his voice. "This is why low-level creatures are so troublesome. They run, they hide without accepting the fact that they're never going to survive no matter how fast they can get away from those higher to them." He continued to speak in an arrogant tone.

"I don't know what you're talking about so how about you tell us what's going on or I'll bust your face if I have to." Natsu threatened. He was getting more pissed from the way he was looking at them.

"Oi, Natsu! Quit it! It's not going to work on someone like him!" Issei cautioned him.

"Then what am I suppose to do?!" He retorted and not before long they were interrupted by the man once again who laughed at their antics, especially to him who seemed unaware to who he was talking to. "What's so funny, you creep?!"

"I like your spirit, boy. But unfortunately, you're not the one I'm targeting for though I might need to kill you once I'm done with him. You were not supposed to know about our existence after all."

There it is again. The same words that he heard from Raynare after killing Issei.

Why are they targeting him? What does he want with him?

And what is it that they don't want to know from him?

He didn't know but right now, he knew that he needed to keep Issei away from him. Or the same thing would happen just like last night and he wasn't sure that they're gonna wake up on their beds after this time around.

He stared at the man before them as he slowly lifted his hand and summoned a blade of light, causing their eyes to gape open in disbelief upon recognizing the similar weapon used to kill them by Raynare. The pinkette glanced towards the brunet as soon as he tracked the man's eyes pointing towards him. The man then pointed the blade towards Issei before thrusting it forward without warning.

The blade was too fast for them to track but Natsu managed to react to its speed and quickly moved his feet.

"Issei! Watch out!" He shouted as the reaction was too fast for Issei to process, leaving no other choice but to close his eyes from imminent death.

SHUNK*

...

...

...

SPURT*

A sound of piercing flesh boomed through his ears as Issei felt nothing short of any painful contact through his skin despite the sound. He opened his eyes, curious how the spear of death hadn't claimed, only to witness Natsu stretching his right hand to catch the blade in front of him. However, that wasn't what caught his attention. It was the dripping blood that was gushing out from it as he saw him trying to suppress the pain with all his might just to save him from the attack.

"Hoh, I'm impressed that a human like you would be able to stand after taking the hit. No matter which part of your body gets hit, a mortal cannot survive from a blade of light. If you were a devil, the damage would've inflicted too much for you to handle." The man muttered in amusement.

Issei was simply shocked to find his brother being pierced in the arm as blood smeared onto his clothes while unable to gaze away from the serious wound he got from the man.

"N-Natsu. Y-Your hand?!" He stuttered.

"Kgh―" Natsu gritted his teeth in frustration as the blade disappeared and reappeared back on the man's hand which only served as another shot for him to fire upon them with ease.

Issei tried helping the pinkette who was left standing in shock at the wound as blood continued to drip from his right hand. The hole in his palm was visible through and through, indicating the severity of the wound.

"What the hell are you doing, you bastard?!" Issei glared over to the man. His anger flaring up at the sight of his brother writhing in pain because of him.

"Kuku. It's his fault for interfering. If he hadn't dodged that, I would've killed you by now."

"Why are you trying to kill us?! What did we do to you?!" He demanded though the man could only stifle a laugh at his question before slightly recomposing himself and reply back.

"Why? I guess a low-level devil doesn't know of what's going on. I don't sense any of the presence of your master or comrades. You're not even trying to escape nor using a magic circle. That analysis should lead me to refer you as a stray." He began summoning his weapon once more. It was bigger than last time as Issei felt his entire body telling him to avoid it at all costs. However, his thoughts were focused on trying to understand what he just said to them.

"I don't get what you're trying to say―"

"Say no more. I'll end you and that human boy in an instant. It must be very painful to suffer from something like that, boy? Let me end it for you. Perhaps God would be willing to grant you another life. You were just an unfortunate individual that will be soon expended for the sake of our secrecy." He turned his attention towards the still trembling pinkette who had been shadowing his expression for a while now.

However, at that moment, Natsu slowly began to stand up, surprising Issei who was looking at him in extreme worry because of his wound.

He was seriously mad right now. There was no indication in his expression worrying about his pain on his hand. Instead, there was only anger and it was directed solely towards the man.

"I-It hurts. I-It seriously hurts, alright. And I know for a fact that you're trying to kill us for no reason. However, I just can't simply stand around and do nothing while you're trying to kill my brother, YOU BASTARD!"

In a split-moment, a large explosion of flames erupted from Natsu's body as the man was simply drawn back a few meters away from them in fear of the flames burning him alive.

Issei was left stunned at the sight before him. His brother was seemingly coated in flames but that's not all, the fire seemed to not affect them as their clothes didn't burn away despite him being close to him. If anything, the flames are surrounding him as if protecting him in the process. He could feel the warmth emanating from it despite its intensity at the surrounding ground before them which was scorched in an instant.

What's even more strange is that the wound on his brother's arm was somehow gone and instantly closed itself.

"Wha―What is going on?" His question was answered by the man from the distance. He stammered in dismay as he saw the pinkette had gone into some sort of transformation as flames gathered around him and healed his injuries in an instant. His eyes turned crimson and his pink hair waved around the dance of his flames which burned anything that soon came into contact with it.

"Hmph, don't get full of yourself, human!" The man tried to launching another blade of light towards him.

Issei's face contorted that of disbelief as he shielded his face with his arms from the impending impact but Natsu simply deflected it with a swipe of his bare hands that shocked both him and the man in the process.

"I-Impossible! How did you―"

"You tried to kill my brother, you bastard! I don't know what you want with us but if you so much lay a finger on my family, I'll make sure to burn you until there's nothing left for you to exist!" Shouting in complete anger, Natsu flared his fist in flames as the man was left to stare at him in fear.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" With a brief shout, Issei watched him punched the man through the face hard as he heard a bone-shattering sound echoing upon impact, sending the man crashing to one of the vendors standing at the park.

At first, the brunet thought it was over until he saw the man staggering out of the wreckage before turning over his cheek with his hand which suffered a severe burn from the pinkette's attack. He saw him shoot a hateful gaze towards him afterward.

"A mere human inflicting such an injury this much?! Unforgivable! UNFORGIVABLE!" The man shouted in rage, seemingly unable to accept the fact that he was beaten by his brother.

He suddenly sprouted his black-feathered wings as he floated above them with his hands raised above him. After a few seconds, an enormous version of his blade of light appeared. It was a lot bigger than the things he had before and Issei knew for a fact that he intends to destroy everything around them.

However, his worries turned for the worst as he saw Natsu falling down to the ground, prompting him to go over to him.

"Natsu!" He shouted as he lifted the pinkette who could only sport a sweating expression. The flames around him vanished in an instant.

"C-Can't move. T-Too weak."

It looks like his powerup didn't last that long which left them in an even more dangerous spot as they had nothing to fight against the man.

They might not luckily survive next time despite Natsu protecting him from the black-winged man. Getting out of here is out of the question. It might be too late for them even if they tried.

Issei inwardly cursed to himself of his inability to do something. He was still grabbing the weakened pinkette with his arm slung over his shoulder as they both looked at the man about to throw down his large spear towards them

If only there's someone who would help them out of this situation.

'This is hopeless! Someone! Anyone! Please help us!'

As if to answer his silent prayers, Issei looked with a confounded expression as he saw two silver blurs from both ends of his eyes slipped past him and towards the man in lightning-fast speeds. He didn't know what it was but he saw the man forced to use his two hands and summoned two normal-sized blades of light to deflect the approaching blurs, thus disrupting the massive spear of light from being thrown and vanished immediately.

Two sparks entered his vision followed by a sound of metal clashing against each other as the man was forced back further away. At that moment, he looked around and saw two figures standing before them with weapons at hand.

Wait, what? Weapons?

Both of them wore the same uniform as them which he deduced to be someone from their academy. One is a male which he recognized just by seeing the blonde color of his hair and the cool flair emanating around him. There was only one person at school that could have those characteristics and it's the one person that he had a peeve on. He carried a dark sword in which he could feel a power surging within.

The other one was a reddish-brown haired girl tied into twin-tails that reached only to her shoulders. It was styled in such a wild manner, much similar to Natsu for that matter. However, he was not familiar with her so he didn't know her name right away. She wielded a katana on her hands and her Eastern Japanese stance was in direct contrast to Kiba's Western stance.

Speaking of Natsu, he saw him weakly looking up and somehow recognized the girl in front of them.

"T-Tomoe."

"Hello, Natsu-kun! It's been a while, hehe." The girl looked back at him with an energetic smile.

Oh, it looks like they know each other.

"It looks like you two are in a pinch. We apologize for stepping in late." The male answered with a faint smile, much to Issei's annoyance.

"Kiba Yuuto." He muttered as the pretty boy nodded and then turned his attention back to the man.

As he was distracted by their would-be saviors, he heard the man shout towards them in anger.

"Tch, it's one after another! You will pay for that!"

Though as he was about to do his move, a thunderous roar erupted from above as a large lightning strike shot down above him, forcing him to dodge. But before he could ascertain who made that attack, he was forced yet again to make a dodge as a wave of black red energy and ice approached him from both ends of his vision and slammed together as a result, creating a loud bang that lightly shook the area around them.

"Don't lay a finger on those boys." A voice spoke from behind as Issei glanced from his back and saw three figures stop just near them. Years of hanging out with Matsuda and Motohama as well as the girls' reputation at their school had given him enough information to recognize who they were.

"Rias... senpai, Akeno-senpai, and Sona-kaichou?" Issei spoke of their names as they stared at the man with ominous looks.

He could feel a strong aura emanating on the three as if they were like some characters in a manga fight. In other words, they didn't look normal in his eyes. But then again, nothing was normal around them as far as he's concerned. Everything that's happened so far was abnormal. Even the pretty boy and this Tomoe girl moved pretty fast for a normal human. How the heck were they able to do that?

Seriously, what's going on?!

He can't really tell anymore.

On the other hand, the man was getting frustrated over the sight of new visitors joining the fray.

"Who in the hell are you?!" He demanded an answer as he tried launching a spear of light towards them, only to be deflected once more by another person who came landing right in front of Rias.

It was a girl, slightly shorter than Issei and Natsu with white hair that reached only to her shoulders and appears to be wearing the same uniform as the redhead. Issei immediately realized the girl appearing right in front of them.

"Toujou Koneko?!"

"Hmm, it seemed like the whole pack has arrived. Perhaps I'm mistaken for regarding you two as strays."

"Are you still planning on fighting?" Rias asked him, prompting all of them to stop fighting as the man recomposed himself before recognizing the woman by the color of her crimson hair as it glistened in the moonlight.

"I see. You must be from the Gremory family." He guessed. A smile crept its way on Rias' lips before moving unto a gesture to greet the man.

"I'm Rias Gremory. How are you tonight, Mr. Fallen Angel?"

"Fallen Angel?!" Natsu and Issei spoke in unison, the former mustering enough strength to join the surprise.

"Hoh, how interesting. Who would've thought that this place was under Gremory's observance. It seems like we were mistaken." He replied before looking back to Issei with a curious look. "Is he from your household?"

"Yes. And I will show no mercy to anyone who tried to mess with him."

"And that human over there. Is he part of it too? I must say, I'm impressed to see such a human wielding such power. Who knew that a human would be capable of fighting fallen angels on his own."

"He's quite an oddity, alright. But he is no doubt under the protection of the Gremory household along with my fellow friend here." Rias explained, gesturing over to Sona who simply adjusted her glasses without sparing any kindness towards the fallen angel.

"I see now. Well, I won't apologize for what I did. I mistook them as strays. I suggest keeping your servants on a leash and not let them run free alone in this time of night because the next time I find them again, I won't be so lenient."

"I thank you for the advice but let me give you something in return as well. Should you do something like this again to them, I also won't be so lenient." It was then the two brothers saw the killing intent right in her eyes as the man simply lowered his hat in acceptance of the advice before flying up somewhere before disappearing.

"I'm Dohnaseek. I hope that we never face each other again." As soon as he said that, the barrier began to disappear as the skies returned to normal once again.

Natsu and Issei breathe out a sigh of relief, seeing that they don't have to worry about someone stabbing on the chest again. The battle was now over however, their minds are filling up with questions as of right now as they looked at the group before them in awkward silence. For Issei's part, there's also that thing with Natsu.

"Waaaaa. Glad that's over!" Natsu expressed his relief which was heard by the group but not until he felt his body shut down and fell down to the ground as a result.

"O-Oi, Natsu! You alright?!" Issei tried to help him up but it seemed like he was out cold, probably by the fatigue he suffered after that wild display earlier. It was interesting to note that Tomoe also kneeled across him to check the pinkette's vitals.

"He is fine. It's just fatigue. He'll recover in a few minutes." She said.

"I-Is that so? Oh, thank goodness." Issei puffed out a sigh of relief. Man, his heart seriously wouldn't take it if he kept getting into these kinds of situations.

Now that he was assured of his brother's safety, he then looked at the others, specifically to the three who were watching them for quite some time.

"Uhhh, thanks for saving us." He started, unsure what to say other than being thankful for saving their asses.

"Likewise. I'm sure you have a lot of questions on your mind right now. I suggest a change of location would be a first. And I also think your brother needs some help too." Rias started to which Issei nodded silently in response.

"I guess we should all settle back at the school." Sona suggested.

"Yes, please."


...


A/N: And that's the wrap of the chapter. Hope ya like it!

Of course, there's the question about the END backstory for Natsu. The answer is yes, but it will be in the far future so don't expect it appearing anytime soon. Most of the chapters will be focusing on his dragon side with Igneel such as his powers and race as one of the dragonkind. Yes, he is a bonafide dragon and his history for this story will remain a mystery for now but I'm leaving bits of them as the story progresses.

The prelude of the first arc starts here. And there's gonna be a lot of things needed to tweak to polish the story.

As always, leave a fav or follow if you found the story arousi- err, I mean interesting. Also, leave your opinions in the review and tell me what you think. :)

PM me for any questions and I'll try to answer them as I can.

That's all for now and I'll see you in the next chap.

- wiErD SpeCtrumz blacking out...