"Why did we go this far to save a powerless Fallen, Issei?"
A single, wishful dream.
"A small act of kindness goes a long way, Rias. Besides, didn't you ask me to defeat Kokabiel for you?"
Staring up at his face and into his brown eyes, noticing his small smile.
"While it is true that I had asked you that, your true intention was to save this Fallen Angel, wasn't it?"
The way he'd occasionally glance down at her to make sure she was alright, to make sure she was comfortably unconscious in his arms.
"Hmm? I don't know what you're talking about. I don't actually care for her; this is an added bonus. I simply want to ensure my own safety in this town."
Selfish words that brought pain to her heart, destroying the gentle and courageous image he had built for himself.
"That's…different from what I'd expected you to say. It's extremely selfish, as well."
How he grimaced in pain at what he had openly said, not meaning to reveal his true feelings to others. How he cast his eyes down to the floor in regret, his face slowly fading away into the present darkness.
Raynare opened her eyes to greet the blinding light of the sun, lying still in an attempt to pull the fading dream to the forefront of her mind, trying to remember its contents in a desperate attempt to recall why it was seemingly important to her. Was it about him, her human lifeline? The teenage boy that came to her rescue despite the overwhelming odds?
Raynare couldn't remember it in the end, no matter how hard she had tried to save the fleeting thought in her mind, and rose an arm to block the sun from her eyes. She groaned and rolled over moments later, expecting her human lifeline to grumble in annoyance with the sudden gain of pressure on his body. The cool, empty space of the bed welcomed Raynare instead, prompting her to crack an eyelid open in an attempt to find him, the one that she knew she had dreamed about. "Issei…?" Raynare muttered, her voice dry and coarse from dehydration. "Where are you?"
The Fallen Angel dropped her legs off of the side of the bed, her feet touching the carpeted floor, as she sat up, rubbing her eyes as she did so. She stared at the wall above Issei's desk as she gathered her thoughts, wondering where Issei was, and sighed, slowly pushing herself to her feet. Raynare wrapped a blanket around her body to protect her modesty, despite the fact that no one was home with her, and stepped towards the desk, a single post-it note stuck to the wood.
"I've gone to school today to negotiate your enrolment with Sona Sitri. I won't take too long and should be back at four. Winky face." Raynare sighed as she scrunched the paper into a ball that she tossed at a small, empty trashcan, clicking her tongue as she missed her target.
She glanced at a nearby digital clock.
"Midday, huh? What the hell am I going to do until Issei comes home?"
"Sirzechs Lucifer of the Gremory bloodline and Azazel of the Grigori…two of the most powerful beings in existence came to personally retrieve me, huh? Are you that scared of me?" Issei inspected his fingernails as he unconsciously mocked the Devil and Fallen Angel, a frown forming on the human's face as he noticed the large gap between the edge of his nail and the end of his finger.
"You're capable of murdering a powerful member of the Phenex clan with one attack as well as the murder of the second strongest Fallen Angel. That's more than enough to warrant our appearance." Issei glanced up at the stoic expressions the two beings wore and sighed.
"Ok, then. You guys clearly seem to be taking this seriously so I won't joke around. What do you make of this, Miss?" Issei stared up at his teacher with an empty expression and waited for her to respond, his head supported by one of his hands. Instead of giving Issei the reply he wanted, his teacher glared at the two men and waved her hand at them as if she was trying to make them leave the room.
"Before we start, are you guys permitted to visit the school right now? I didn't receive a notice from the headmaster." Sirzechs pulled a laminated pass out of a pocket and held it out in front of Issei's teacher, her head nodding once in satisfaction. She stared at Azazel, watching as the Fallen Angel grumbled a few words to himself as he too pulled out a pass that was similar to that of his Devil companion.
"Satisfied?" Azazel asked as he glowered. Issei's teacher nod once more with a wide smile, pushed herself off of the desk she was leaning on and faced the two men, a hand on a hip.
"Now, can you leave my student alone? Even though you're businessmen who have been permitted to wander around the school, I don't want you to interact with this idiot over here while acting as if you have chuunibyou. It'll be a bad influence on him." Issei smirked as Azazel scrunched his face up in distaste, his eyes quickly forming a glare that could bore holes through people if it was deemed possible. Sirzech's merely chuckled in response with a grin.
"Could you please give us a moment with Issei Hyoudou? We need to discuss some…things with him." Issei's teacher rose an eyebrow.
"No, I will not give you a moment to discuss some things with Issei because he did not murder anyone. Seriously, are you guys chuunis or something?" Sirzechs' lips twitched as his grin faltered, his expression appearing to be forced and unnatural as he tried to hide his annoyance. Issei didn't even need to correct his teacher; in his mind, he didn't murder anyone, especially Raiser Phenex, as he was ensuring the safety of his own life and town.
"What will it take to make you leave the room?" Azazel asked with a grumble as he observed the room, his eyes never sitting on an object for more than a second.
"Unfortunately, there is nothing that you can do." Azazel frowned as his brown eyes met the teacher's honey brown.
"Are you sure about that?" In an instant, a small, spear like object had pierced the wall behind the teacher's head, the milky skin of her cheek splitting open as a fine line of blood formed in less than a second. With wide eyes, lips tightly pressed together in a thin line, she turned her head to look at the wall behind her.
There was nothing. No hole in the wall, even though the object audibly hit it, no marks, nothing. Absolutely nothing that would have indicated that she had been attacked, even though she had been physically harmed.
She raised a hand to the cut on her cheek and pressed her fingers against the wound, lowering her hand so she could observe the blood. Her eyes widened. She quickly lifted her head and stared at the two men with confusion plastered all over her face, "What…just happened?"
Azazel crossed his arms as Sirzechs shot the Fallen Angel a disapproving glare. "Will you leave now?"
"No." Azazel sighed and ran a hand through his hair, trying to think of a method that would remove the teacher from the room without using force. A smug grin formed on his face as he shifted his body weight onto a single leg.
"What's your name?"
"Chiharu Yamada."
"How old are you?"
"I am twenty two years old!"
Azazel whistled in surprise as he shoved his hands into his pockets, "That's unusual. You don't really see fully fledged teachers at your age." Chiharu blushed as she rub the back of her neck in embarrassment, a quite chuckle escaping her as she held a hand on her cheek.
"Well, I graduated school earlier than others…" Issei rose an eyebrow as he attentively listened to the conversation. He hadn't realised that his teacher was quite young. In fact, he thought that she had to be in her mid to late twenties, not the beginning of them.
Sirzechs had the same train of thought as he quietly stood next to an Azazel that was offering Chiharu his praise, "Oh, do we have a genius here?" Azazel smirked as Chiharu's blush deepened.
"Hardly…I just studied a lot…" Azazel approached Chiharu and offered her a handkerchief that he pulled from one of his pockets.
"Stop being modest. You must have been a genius to become a teacher at such a young age!" Chiharu gracefully took the handkerchief as a gesture of kindness and pressed it against her cheek, her blood indistinguishable when compared to her flushed cheeks.
"Well, if you say so…hehe…" Issei held back a snort that would have otherwise spoiled the mood and forced himself to his feet, his hand reaching for a bag that sat next to his desk.
"Bribing Chiharu with compliments won't work, Azazel. Believe me when I say that I've tried and still continue to try, especially when it comes to not handing in my homework." Issei slung his bag around his shoulder and stretched his arms out in front of him. A red red magical circle had appeared in front of a hand that Sirzechs' calmly held in front of him.
Azazel ignored Issei and Sirzechs as he clicked his tongue in disappointment, his head turned to the side.
"Unfortunately, Issei, I am not permitted to let you leave by yourself." Issei yawned as he began to approach the door, seemingly ignoring Sirzechs' creased brow and grim frown, his hands shoved into his pockets.
"What are you going to do about it?" Issei held a single eye open as he stopped at the doorway, offering the Devil a smug grin from over his shoulder.
"You leave me no choice." A thick, grey cloud smoke burst into the corridor as an orb of pure malice was shot towards Issei at a subsonic speed that threatened to break the sound barrier, the human hastily creating a magical shield shortly before impact.
The smoke slowly cleared as students and teachers alike filled the corridor as Chiharu stared at Sirzechs' back with her mouth agape in a mixture of shock and awe. Azazel cleared his throat and watched as Sirzechs dropped his hand back to his side, "Now, shall we leave, Azazel?" Sirzechs began to turn around, believing that he had murdered Issei as if he was an ant.
However, Sirzechs discovered Issei sitting at his desk as if nothing had happened, "You…you survived that attack?" Sirzechs words were barely audible over the hubbub of the crowd that slowly filled the corridor.
"Hmm, you look like you've seen a ghost, Sirzechs. Even though Heaven and Hell exist, do you believe in the supernatural?" Chiharu slowly turned her head and rapidly glanced at the dying smoke cloud and an Issei that happily held a shit-eating grin on his face.
"What the hell is happening here?" Chiharu cried out as her awe and shock slowly devolved into confusion. From Issei's perspective, as well as Azazel's and Sirzechs', Chiharu's confusion made sense to them. A few moments ago, she was a normal chemistry teacher that knew nothing about magic or the supernatural. She had been raised on science and the belief that religion was a lie, but when she was confronted by two men who claimed to be highly influential religious figures, she couldn't help but think that they suffered from a severe case of chuunibyou.
However, when confronted with an awe inducing display of what could only be described as magic, she couldn't help but feel confused. She was raised on science, after all, so what was she supposed to believe? In Chiharu's mind, these two men couldn't have possibly been Azazel the Scapegoat and Lucifer because there was no way that they could exist.
"I'll reintroduce myself." Azazel said as he stepped forward, a hand outstretched in front of Chiharu. "I am Azazel the Scapegoat, leader of the Grigori. This idiotic Devil next to me is Sirzechs Lucifer, a Devil that currently holds the title of the strongest Satan – Lucifer." Chiharu slowly grabbed Azazel's hand and stared up at the Fallen Angel with a blank expression.
"You're not kidding, are you?"
Bonus!
I sat in the centre of the front row, staring up at the red velvet curtains. They were slowly pulled apart by some unknown force, revealing a dark abyss that contained nothing. Lights flickered on, lighting up the expansive stage that contained nothing but a single person.
"Wait, where the hell am I?" I chuckled to myself as the person looked around, a hand scratching their head as they fell further into confusion. "This is…a stage?" Their eyes briefly meet with my own and the person frowned. "Who are you and what do you want with me?"
I crossed one leg over the other as I sunk into the back of my extremely comfortable seat, a sigh of pleasure escaping my lips. The person on the stage…they did well to notice me. Normally, the people I control aren't able to see past the invisible barrier I create when I control them!
Indeed, this actor, Issei Hyoudou, has managed to break the fourth wall! It was something I should have expected, though, as I have created him to be an omnipotent being that sees all. I clapped my hands in approval as Issei lazily shoved a hand into the pocket of his pants.
"Me? Well, you should know who I am…" Issei gasped as he fell back a step, a look of pure terror quickly appearing on his face. He raised a shaky finger that was pointed at me and grimaced.
"Y-you…are you the flying spaghetti monster?" I pursed my lips as I furrowed my brow.
"Are you serious? That's, like, a dead joke or whatever the hell it is. You're a couple of years late, buddy." Issei returned to his original posture and cleared his throat.
"I know. I was playing along, though. It was the first thing that came to mind." He stuck his tongue out of his mouth as if he was trying to mock me. I grinned and snapped my fingers, a sheet of paper forming in front of him.
"Anyway, here's the script for the preview! If you please read it, my slave!" Issei glanced down at the title and rose an eyebrow in disinterest.
"Really? This is called 'The Ultimate Preview'." I nod my head once and raised a fist at him.
"You got a problem with it, punk!? I'll kill you!?" Issei sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Fine. I'm only doing this because you can discontinue my story!" Issei shouted as he quickly scanned the sheet of paper, scrunching it up into a ball after a few moments. He tossed it behind him as he frowned, "You're super slow at updating as well, you lazy bastard, so I feel as if you're gonna discontinue it without any warnings…" I feigned ignorance and pretend that I didn't hear the last part, even though that it was a whisper that echoed throughout the empty hall.
What? It's not like I'm going to abandon a story in the middle of it…! Oh…wait…
"Anyway, just read it already! Hurry up!" I demanded as I slammed a fist on the arm rest, flinching as pain shot through my arm like lightning.
"No, I refuse to read it!" Issei crossed his arms and turned his nose up at the thought of reading the preview…the preview I had worked so hard on creating!
"Just read it, dammit!"
"No!"
"I'll do it myself and replace you if you don't do it! And you know what happens when I replace you, right!? You'll disappear…forever!" Issei flinched and awkwardly chuckled by himself as his face paled. That's right! I taught this insolent fool a lesson that he'd never forget for the rest of his life!
Issei cleared his throat.
"Next time on World's End, the author, my dastardly dastard creator frekat, has prepared this! In the next chapter-!"
"STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP! CUT! THAT WAS TERRIBLE! ALSO, YOU'RE SPOILING THE NEXT CHAPTER AND I HAVEN'T EVEN DECIDED ON WHAT I'M GONNA PUT IN IT!"
Issei growled at me and stomped his foot against the floor, creating a hole in the stage.
"You know what, I'm done! I'm never reading the preview again!"
I snapped my fingers and, with a puff of smoke, he disappeared in the most anticlimactic way possible…and he disappeared forever…forever…
Now I'm alone again.
I sigh and slump down in my chair.
I'm all alone again, huh…?
Because I didn't describe Chiharu properly, I'll list her basic information.
Name: Chiharu Yamada
Age: Twenty two
Height: One hundred and seventy-three centimetres
BWH: It's a seeeeeecreeeeet…(shuuuuut uuuuup!)
Clothes (as of this chapters): A pinstripe suit that looks as if it's been designed for men!
Appearance: Milky, smooth skin, short brown hair that ends just above her shoulders while barely hanging above her eyebrows, honey brown eyes and…that's it…pretty ordinary…(think of Kagurazaka Ayame from Eromanga Sensei)
I know, I'm lazy and fairly useless. I kinda want to update faster, but I usually get stuck on what I should write for certain parts of a chapter. Just like with the whole Sirzechs, Azazel, Issei and Chiharu thing! I had no idea how to write a sequence that seemed as if it made sense character wise and whatnot. That's also why parts of this chapter may read a little awkwardly; I got confused with wording and grammar and punctuation and…I'll leave it at that. Also, the preview was a fun little thing I wrote in a couple of minutes.
Also, Chiharu has entered the story due to popular demand! She's no longer 'the chemistry teacher'; she's Chiharu Yamada and you better remember that!
Thanks for reading World's End, everyone.
I know it's kinda hard to stay interested in the story when I don't update as frequently as I used to, but I'm trying my best, dammit!