AN: Since I seem unable to write anything else, I thought I'd get started on the next chapter of this. Frankly, though, I'm still rather disappointed that I've only gotten 7 reviews for the first chapter of the first KnK crossover ever. For shame, you lot! Anyway...let's hope you'll read this one, at least...

Sam: I'm honored you found my crossover unusual enough for your tastes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD or Kyoukai no Kanata.

"Speech"
Text
Thoughts
Inner Being to Outer Being/[Ddraige/Albion]
Demonic/Draconic
Spell/Technique/[Boosted Gear/Divine Dividing]

Chapter 2- Life 1: Uniform Pink

It did not take too long for Mirai to share her story. She told them about how Ikkaishi fought Youmu in order to protect the unaware humans. Briefly, she mentioned that her own family had been powerful Ikkaishi themselves, but did not go into detail about their fate. She explained that she had been brought to a certain town because of her power, in order to put down a Youmu known as Kyoukai no Kanata, which had taken on the form of a high school boy.

"Hm," mused Rias, "So these Youmu can look like anything?"

"They usually have only one form," the strawberry blonde clarified, "But some are intelligent enough to have a human form. In fact, the Youmu Appraiser at that town was a Youmu herself."

"Youmu Appraiser?" asked Asia.

Mirai gave a start and realized she'd left out a detail. "Ah, killing a Youmu causes them to leave behind a gemstone. A Youmu Appraiser can tell you how much it's worth, and then you can sell it."

Rias looked impressed. "Hoh. What a novel way of earning money! You must have gotten quite a bit, no?"

"Ah…" Mirai ducked her head, blushing slightly, "N-not really. A Youmu's stone goes up in quality the more powerful it is. The quality determines how much it's worth."

Smiling, Akeno raised a hand, as if addressing a teacher. "Isn't it counterproductive to have a Youmu Appraiser be a Youmu themselves?"

Having expected this question at some point, Mirai said, "I can understand why you'd say that. In fact, I thought so when I met Ayaka-san, but she's licensed by the Society of Spirit World Warriors, so it's fine. Besides which, her daughter told me it's like how humans deal in cattle."

Kiba nodded thoughtfully at that. So even among spirits, there are drastic enough differences.

"But as for earning a lot of money," she continued, "Well…" a shifty look came across her face and her hands unconsciously made a strange gesture. Rias recognized it as trying to clean a pair of glasses. Probably a nervous habit that made it very easy to spot a lie, she thought.

"Yes?"

"The first Youmu I ever killed was worth…one thousand yen," admitted Mirai sullenly.

Unwittingly, Issei gave a choked snort at the number. "Something funny, Ise-kun?" asked Rias.

He flinched. "Ah…well, one thousand yen is…" he said carefully.

"…Cheap change," stated Koneko bluntly.

Mirai drooped at that admission. "All that work, for so little," she mumbled, "Stupid Youmu."

"…Why'd you hunt it, then?" the white-haired girl asked.

In response, the Ikkaishi once again gained a shifty look, and her hands went through the motion of cleaning her absent glasses. "N-n-no reason!" she lied, "I mean, it's not l-like it was ha-haunting my apartment or anything!"

Akeno hid her mirthful smile behind a hand, while Rias giggled. "So, a house-pest of a Youmu doesn't earn too much." She frowned. "Then what does?"

The atmosphere suddenly became a little more tense as Mirai's face went blank. "There are too many to tell," she said finally, "Some can be smaller than a cat, but worth ten thousand yen. Others," her eyebrow twitched, "Can be worth about a million, if only because you can't get near it without it exploding in a torrent of…of…" She shuddered and ducked her head. "Uwaah, I can't even think about it! It stinks so much!"

Sympathetically Koneko patted her on the back. "…Happens to everyone," the white-haired girl assured her in her usual monotone.

Everyone shuddered at various memories of contracts or Stray Devils that had involved foul stenches. Even Issei looked a bit green as he remembered his first encounter with the mad Exorcist Freed. Asia was the only one who looked confused. "Um…so, what about that Kyoukai no Kanata? How much is it worth?"

Mirai opened her mouth to answer, but paused. "I don't know," was her answer after a few moments, "I died in battle with it, so I never got to appraise it." In light of the shock this statement caused, no one noticed the slow glasses-cleaning motion her hands were making.

"That's how you died?" asked Kiba, "That's terrible. Does that mean that Kyoukai no Kanata is still out there?"

"Probably." Rather than grimness or anger, the Gremory Knight saw a look of sadness on the pink-haired girl's face.

"Will you want revenge on it?" Rias asked seriously. It wouldn't do to have another revenge-obsessed Peerage member; Kiba was already enough.

But to their surprise Mirai shook her head. "No," she said, "Even if I wanted to, I don't think that's possible at this point."

Taken aback, both asked, "Why not?"

She seemed to shrink on herself and lowered her gaze, the fringe of her hair obscuring her tawny eyes. "I don't know," she said quietly, "But it just feels…different here. Like I'm in another world."

This time, Rias noticed the glasses-cleaning gesture. "Surely there's more to it than just a feeling," she pointed out, "What is it? If it might affect the Peerage, you shouldn't keep it a secret. If you have any thoughts, share them."

Mirai blinked at her, clearly startled. Then she looked back down at her knees. "…Fuyukai desu. When I died against Kyoukai no Kanata," she began, "It wasn't just death. My whole body ceased to exist."

In the shocked silence that followed, even Koneko's eyes widened.

"But wait a sec!" cried Issei, "We found your body! Outside this house, in fact. If you no longer exist, then how are you here?"

The strawberry blonde only shrugged. "There's also the fact that you called yourselves Devils," she continued, looking at Rias, "Where I'm from, devils are just figments of myth and Christian mythology."

"Fair enough," admitted the redhead, smiling easily, "Most humans believe the same. Only a select few are aware of the truth." With a snap, her own bat-like wings flared into visibility. Following her lead, the other members of the Occult Club revealed their devil wings as well, though Issei took a moment and Asia wasn't sure how to do it. "However, as I said before, we are Devils, not Youmu. In fact, by bringing you back to life, you've become a Devil yourself."

Even as Mirai gawped at them, a movement out of the corner of her eye made her look around. She let out a squeak of surprise as she caught sight of a pair of wings growing out of her back. Though she also noted, with some relief, that they didn't seem to have damaged her pajamas.

"So…what does this mean?" she asked tremulously. Once more she remembered the words that had been said before her 'rebirth.'

Rias smile widened. "You've become a member of my Peerage. Until you move up the ranks and become a High-Class Devil, you are my Servant. But most importantly…" she knelt in front of Mirai and placed a hand on her cheek, "You're part of the Gremory family, now. Even if you choose to fight alongside us, I'll definitely protect you, alright? I won't let you die again."

Mirai held her gaze for as long as possible. Ever since the 'disappearance' of the Kuriyama clan, she had never truly had a family. Aside from Yui and Sakura, the Inami family had kept her isolated. She'd never even considered her friends to be true family, despite Hiromi-senpai's insistence that she was an 'imouto in all but blood.' Given his sis-con attitude, it didn't feel like much of a compliment. And yet…

Looking into Rias's eyes, the strawberry blonde could see genuine affection and sincerity. She truly meant what she said, that they would be like family. I want to know what that feels like, thought Mirai suddenly, I want to know how a family acts and loves each other. Her eyes burned and her sight (already fuzzy from nearsightedness) blurred even more. She tried to say 'alright,' but what came out slightly choked was, "Fuyukai desu."

Rias chuckled at the saying, and wiped a tear from her subordinate's face. "Welcome, Mirai-chan. Let's get along from now on, okay?"

Wordlessly, she nodded, blushing.

"Great!" said Rias cheerfully, standing up and walking towards the kitchen, "Akeno, if you could explain the basics to Mirai-chan, I'll go arrange her enrollment at Kuoh."

"Of course, Buchou."

"Eh?" Mirai gave a noise of confusion.

Kiba laughed and said, "Since you're part of the Peerage, you'll need to go to the same school as us. Besides, the school you went to before probably doesn't exist here."

"What year were you in?" called Rias from the kitchen.

Perplexed, Mirai mumbled that she was a first year. Koneko perked up a bit (or as much as could be considered such with her) and said, "…Me too."

"Oh good! We can put you in Koneko-chan's class."

While Mirai sat blankly on the couch, wondering what was happening, Akeno sat next to her, placing a teacup on the table. "Now then," she said, "How much do you know about Christian mythology? More specifically about the afterlife."

"Er…I know that good people go to Heaven when they die, where Angels live, and evil people go to hell, where there are Devils."

Akeno smiled ruefully. "Well, the truth is a little more complicated than that. Devils are not as evil as the Bible makes them out to be."

Behind her, Asia frowned a little at the indirect slight on her beliefs and gently patted a satchel that hung from her hip.

"You see, thousands of years ago, there was a great war fought by three major factions," the buxom Devil went on, "The side of the Angels, who fought in the name of their Christian God, the Devils, who fought under the four Maou: Lucifer, Beelzebub, Leviathan and Asmodeus, and the Fallen Angels who 'betrayed' God and formed their own side, led by their own Governor, the Viceroy Azazel. That war ended after the death of the Maou, but huge losses were suffered by all of the Factions. As such, there was a big ceasefire, and these days we live in relative peace. The Angels have little to do with earth, so for the most part the Devils and Fallen Angels have to share the underworld. We Devils have to gain power by making contracts with humans, while the Fallen Angels try to stop us."

All the while, Mirai nodded slowly, occasionally sipping her tea absently. "How did I get brought back to life?" she asked finally.

Pausing, Akeno considered whether to tell the girl. It was common practice to avoid overloading newly reincarnated devils with information, so they were often taught very slowly. However, given that this person seemed to be taking the whole thing in stride, as well as the fact that she was used to supernatural happenings, the Queen decided to go ahead. "Ah…that's a system that the current Beelzebub came up with. After the Great War, the Devil population was very low, so Ajuka Beelzebub had the idea of reincarnating other beings into new Devils."

"Like me." It wasn't a question.

"Well, yes. It's mostly humans who are turned, but it's possible to use the system on other beings."

"'System?'" Mirai parroted.

Akeno smiled. "Mm. The Evil Piece System."

"Sounds unpleasant," the pink-haired girl commented in a deadpan.

"Fufufu! I suppose it would. Anyway, Evil Pieces take on the form of Chess pieces. You are familiar with what those are, I hope?" she asked teasingly.

Slowly, Mirai nodded. "Yes. One King, one Queen, two Bishops, Knights and Rooks, and eight Pawns," she recited.

"Good," Akeno praised, "Now, each High-Class Devil is considered the King of their Peerage. Thus, Rias-buchou is our King. I'm her Queen." She turned to the other people in the room and indicated each of them. "Koneko-chan is a Rook, Kiba-kun is a Knight, Asia-chan is a Bishop and Ise-kun is a Pawn, though he used up five pieces to reincarnate. There's another member of the Peerage who's the other Bishop, but because of certain circumstances, he won't be joining us for a while."

Now the strawberry blonde girl was starting to sweat a little from the information. Then she blinked and asked, "And what piece am I, Akeno-san?"

Asia spoke up. "Um, you're a Pawn like Ise-san, but you only used two pieces."

Confused about the number, she looked at Akeno.

"Ah, each piece has a certain value. A Knight and Rook are worth three Pawns, a Bishop is worth five and the Queen is worth nine. Normally a single Pawn piece is enough to reincarnate a normal human with no special talent, but Ise-kun has an ability that made him need five." She winked at Mirai. "It seems like you've got something special yourself."

Mirai smiled weakly. She had a suspicion that she knew why she'd taken two pieces. Darkly, she glanced at her right hand, bare of any of its usual gauze and froze as she realized that something was missing. She paled.

Akeno noticed the change in demeanor quickly. "What's wrong, Mirai-chan?"

"M-my…my ring is gone."

"Ring?"

Mirai fidgeted. She wanted to keep a lid on the nature of her powers a little while longer. "It's…very important to me. I must have lost it when I died."

"Oh dear," sighed the older girl sympathetically. Her romantically inclined mind connected the dots incorrectly, causing her to come to the conclusion that the ring had come from a boyfriend. "Well, while finding it is likely impossible, I bet Buchou would get another one for you if you asked."

"Eh?!" The Ikkaishi sputtered, face reddening, "I-I can't do that! That'd be asking too much..."

Kiba chuckled. "Not really. Actually, Buchou's family is known for spoiling their servants quite a lot. Well, not that we're the type to take advantage of that, but still."

"E-even so!" Mirai said abruptly, trying to regroup mentally, "More than a ring, what I really need is-" She broke off, blushing deeper.

Rias, who had apparently finished her phone call, stood in the doorway of the kitchen, looking amused. "What is it you need, Mirai-chan?"

For a few minutes, the pink-haired girl squirmed embarrassedly. Then, quietly she said, "I...I need some glasses, since my eyesight is bad."

"Ah hah!" exclaimed Issei, making them all jump, "I knew your face was missing something! You look like the type of girl who'd look really good in glasses."

For a second, he was replaced in Mirai's mind's eye by a taller, blond young man. She snorted and looked away, muttering, "Fuyukai desu." But a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

This drew a few laughs from the others. They could tell already that they'd be hearing those words from their new member frequently.

[A few days later]

Mirai wasn't quite sure what she was meant to be doing. She was welcomed warmly at the Hyoudou residence (Issei's parents having been hypnotized to forget her death), but still felt somewhat uncomfortable. Even with her brief stint with the Inami family, the young Ikkaishi had been isolated from the rest of the inhabitants. At school, the only people she talked to had been Akihito-senpai, Mitsuki-senpai, Hiromi-senpai, Ai-chan, Sakura and Nino-san. For everyone else, it had been a life of mutual avoidance.

Here, however, everyone seemed to be going out of their way to make her feel included. Issei's parents, despite not knowing anything about Devils or the like, treated her like an extra child. His mother especially was patient with Mirai's nervousness and had offered to teach her how to cook, along with Asia. Having subsisted mostly on cheap ramen and store-bought bento for most of her life, Mirai readily agreed.

Asia herself made the strawberry blonde girl feel slightly uncomfortable. Not that she was unpleasant herself or anything; the blond girl was one of the kindest, most sincere and naive people Mirai had ever met. As an Ikkaishi from a clan that had been exterminated for being too strong, she couldn't really say that she'd picked up the most optimistic personality. With someone as…pure as Asia around, Mirai felt as if she should always watch what she said, lest she soil that innocence.

Still, interacting with her wasn't that bad. The few things Mirai had to say to Asia were listened to with her full attention. Likewise, Mirai tried her best to listen to whatever Asia say.

In one instance, that had been a good thing, as the subject had turned to something called 'Sacred Gears.'

"And what are those?" she asked the blonde.

"Ah," Asia seemed slightly taken aback and rubbed her forehead, "I…haven't had to explain this to someone who didn't know before. I was the newest member in the Peerage before you, but I'll try to explain it…a Sacred Gear is a power given by the Lord." She winced and touched her head. Mirai had quickly learned that Devils were unable to speak about 'holy' subjects such as God without suffering great pain. "A human, or any being with human blood, can be born with one. There…aren't too many of them, but I don't think they're uncommon. Ise-san, Kiba-san and I each have a Sacred Gear, which is why Ise-san took up so many Pawns…I think."

You think? Is that why, or isn't it? Mirai thought. But she held back from voicing the complaint. "What does a Sacred Gear do?" she asked.

Asia brightened a little at the question. "Oh, there are a lot of them! They can do some amazing things if the user is good enough." Her expression fell a little. "…And terrible things, too."

"What's your Sacred Gear?" asked Mirai.

"Ah, I have Twilight Healing. It allows me to heal anyone, regardless of whether they're human, Angel, Fallen Angel or Devil. In the past, everyone treated me and my power as a sacred thing."

Mirai gulped. She wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the girl's past, but asked anyway. "In the…past?"

The blonde smiled, but her green eyes showed a deep sadness. "One day, I healed a man who turned out to be a Devil. When it was discovered that my power could also heal Devils, I was labeled a heretic and cast out."

Mirai wished that she'd gone with her instincts. At the same time, she could definitely sympathize with what Asia was no doubt feeling, or had felt at the time. "I'm sorry," she said. It was a paltry answer, but it was all that needed to be said.

The ex-nun only shook her head and smiled more sincerely. "It's okay, Mirai-san. After all that I became friends with Ise-san and met Buchou-san, and I'm much happier now."

The Ikkaishi suppressed a grimace. While Issei was a somewhat decent person, she found herself quickly put off by his blatantly lustful attitude. Not even Senpai had been that bad, though the two of them would definitely get along given the chance. Fortunately, he didn't seem too interested in her, though he had once told her in no uncertain terms that he thought she was cute. A certain detail in the conversation caught her attention, drawing her back to the present. "Ah, Asia-chan."

"Yes?"

"Why does everyone call Rias-san Club President?"

Asia blinked, then smiled. "Oh, right. Um, the whole Peerage is still underage, so we all go to the same school. Rias-san wanted a reason for us to meet regularly, so she set us up as the Occult Club. She's the Club President, so she always insists that we call her that, even outside of school."

Mirai wrinkled her small nose. "Occult Club? Wouldn't that draw suspicion to you guys being Devils?"

"Ah…" The ex-nun seemed at a loss for how to answer.

"Anyway," the Ikkaishi changed the subject quickly, "What sort of Sacred Gears do Ise-senpai and Kiba-senpai have?"

Sheepishly, Asia shifted uncomfortably. "Erm, well…I-I don't know if I should…it's Ise-san's power, after all."

"What's up?" asked Issei as he walked in, "I heard my name being mentioned."

The timing on that entrance was a bit too good, Mirai thought suspiciously. Outwardly, she only said, "Asia-chan was just telling me about Sacred Gears. I was wondering what you and Kiba-senpai had."

The brown-haired boy seemed slightly taken aback by the question and scratched his head. "Well, if it's just that, then mine is called Boosted Gear. Kiba has something called Sword Birth."

Mirai deadpanned at him. "Both those names sound really half-assed, Senpai."

"O-oi," Issei protested indignantly, only to quietly admit, "Well, you're not wrong…a-anyway! Boosted Gear has the power to double my strength every ten seconds."

"Eh?" she asked, slightly dismayed, "Only ten seconds?"

"What do you mean 'only?' If a battle drags out long enough, even I can get pretty strong, you know!"

"But ten seconds is a long time in a battle, Senpai! While you're waiting to power up, an enemy could get in and take you out!" she countered seriously, "That's a really inefficient power."

"Hoh?" Now Rias had joined the conversation in the living room. "You seem to know quite a lot about combat, Mirai-chan."

Mirai quickly averted her eyes, flushing slightly. "Well, you have to know what you're doing to fight Youmu, you know."

The redhead chuckled, patting the younger girl on the head. "You'll make a fine addition to the Rating Games."

"Rating Games?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Did Akeno not tell you? There are occasions where Devils and their Peerages fight each other."

"Eh?!" Mirai's eyes widened in alarm, "Fight each other? Why?"

Rias shrugged. "Mostly for entertainment. No matter how much the Peerage members hurt each other, it's pretty much impossible to get killed in a Rating Game. The Kings use it as an opportunity to show off the superiority of their Pieces. 'My Knight is fastest,' or 'my Rook is strongest.' That sort of thing."

Surprisingly enough, this explanation did little to reassure Mirai, and it showed on her face.

Perhaps Rias noticed, because she quickly said, "Well, you don't need to worry about it too much, since I'm not legally old enough to start officially enter the Rating Games. Well, we did recently fight one anyway, though the circumstances were a bit…"

She fell quiet, a complicated expression crossing her face. Issei and Asia both wore similar expressions as they clearly remembered the fight against Raiser Phenex.

This time, Mirai refrained from asking what had happened.

"Anyway," the King sighed, "We should probably give you some training anyway, if only to see what level you're at compared to other Devils. It'll probably be after you've started at Kuoh."

"A-ah." Mirai wasn't sure how she felt about starting at a new school. Fortunately it was only summer, as it had been when she'd ceased to exist, so hopefully the amount of time at school she'd missed wouldn't be too bad. From what she'd heard, Kuoh Academy was a pretty good school, formerly only for girls but recently turned co-ed. Well, that was fine. The old school had been co-ed as well.

Rias grinned a little too cheerfully. "So, now all we need is your uniform and glasses, right?"

Mirai gulped at the expression, but nodded. While the redhead could be somewhat intimidating at times, there was no denying that the motherly feeling that she gave off felt especially pleasant. "Right… Although, where am I supposed to go for those?"

"Well, the uniform should be arriving soon enough. As for the glasses, we'll just have to take a trip into town. I'm sure we'll be able to find something!"

"O-okay…"

[A few days later]

Hyoudou Issei was feeling particularly awkward. Sure, he'd walked through town on his own before (even with a girl, sometimes!), but he'd never needed to find a store that sold prescription glasses before. He kept glancing at the instructions he held in his hand, then looking around at the buildings to make sure he was in the right place. Kuriyama Mirai trailed behind him uncertainly; she too was looking around, but the lost expression on her face was for a different reason.

This place must be different from what she's used to, he thought. He wanted to say something to try and calm her, but nothing came to mind. Oddly enough, he couldn't even come up any lustful thoughts for the pink-haired girl. Sure, she was cute—adorable, even—but if that was all it were, he'd be fantasizing about her like Koneko, make no mistake. It was as if there were an aura around her that simply deflected all perverted thoughts. Considering how even the kind and innocent Asia wasn't safe from the Sekiryuutei's teenage mind, this phenomenon stymied Issei.

"You alright, Kuriyama?" he asked, finally.

Mirai jerked at being addressed by name, but dragged her gaze around to fix on him. She was clearly jittery, but made a valiant effort to pretend otherwise. "Ah…yes. I'm alright, Issei-san," she replied easily.

He frowned, but shrugged. "Eh, just call me Ise. Everyone does, and we'll be seeing each other a lot at school anyway."

"Ah, that's right…well, let's get along then, Ise-senpai."

"S-Senpai?" Ise was taken aback at being addressed like that so suddenly, but his face brightened a good deal, "Yeah! Let's! Ah, here it is, good." They had found the glasses store. Quickly, they entered.

To Issei, it didn't seem all that special. The interior was brightly lit, and racks of glasses' frames in various shapes and colors lined the walls. Behind him, however, he heard a soft "Uwah…" from Mirai. "Senpai must have spent a fortune here," she muttered to herself, "How unpleasant."

"Eh?" he asked, "But I've never been here before!"

The small girl looked at him, perplexed, then grimaced. "Ah, not you, Ise-senpai. I meant my Senpai back home."

"What about him?" asked Ise.

Mirai's small nose wrinkled in distaste, though it was still cute, and said, "Senpai had a glasses fetish. One of the first things he ever said to me was a confession about that. 'A girl who looks as good in glasses as you simply should not die!' …Something like that."

"He sounds like a pervert," said Ise, both sagely and hypocritically.

She laughed, though there was a strained undertone to it. "Yes. He certainly is. What do you think, should I go for these?" She picked up a pair of frames and put them on.

"Ooh!" Issei's eyes widened in surprise, "You look really cute with those, Kuriyama!"

The strawberry blonde girl glanced away, pushing her new glasses up by the corner of their yellow frame. "Well, surely not with this color," she said hesitantly, "It's just that I like the shape..." but the reminiscent smile on her face gave away her thoughts.

Issei wasn't sure what she was thinking of, but he had the feeling he shouldn't pry.

They paid for the glasses (Mirai wincing at the amount required) and the prescription for the lenses, then left. They would return the following week to pick them up.

[A few weeks later]

Mirai fidgeted as she stood outside the classroom door, playing with the hem of her new maroon skirt. She still felt that the Kuoh girl's uniform was pretty strange looking, or at least different from her old navy blue uniform. A white shirt, along with a strange black...corset thing that went around her waist and a small black cape. Fortunately, she was still allowed to wear her tights and pink sweater.

From what the Ikkaishi understood, Rias's family had quite a bit of influence with the board of directors at the school, so it was easy enough to have her enrolled with little to no questions asked. The fact that the girl had no actual record prior to coming to Kuoh was of no consequence.

"You can come in!" Mirai jerked as she realized that she'd been lost in thought. Quickly, she smoothed out her skirt, opened the door and entered. The teacher beckoned her forward and presented her to the rest of the class. "Today we will be having a new student. Please, introduce yourself," the teacher instructed her.

Nervously, she clasped her hands in front of her. "My...my name is Kuriyama Mirai," she bowed, "Please take care of me."

There was a brief moment of silence. Then...

"Oooh!" There was an uproar from the boys.

"She's so cute, especially with those glasses!"

"No way! Another loli in our class?!"

"No one can replace Koneko-chan, though…"

Mirai kept her expression the same, but her eyebrow twitched. She caught Koneko's eye, and the white-haired girl shrugged as if to say 'what can you do.' From the look on her face (or what counted as one), it seemed that such behavior was not unusual.

"Fuyukai desu!"

AN: I'll just leave it here for now. This is Chapter 2 of Boundary of Dragon. Hope you enjoy it.

Summary Notes:
1. Slight explanation from Mirai about what Youmu are and what an Ikkaishi does.
2. Ikkaishi make money by killing Youmu and selling the stones/gems left behind.
3. She still doesn't tell them that Akihito had the Kyoukai no Kanata. She still doesn't have a reason to trust them that much.
4. Mirai mentions how she died, but that she's not interested in revenge like Kiba.
5. Evil Piece explanation from Akeno. Just what they are, though, nothing about their abilities yet.
6. Mirai finally notices that her ring is missing. Given the comments about the Gremory Devils spoiling their servants, I don't doubt that Rias would get her a new one, but Mirai's too awkward to ask for it.
7. Bit of a timeskip, showing how Mirai interacts with certain others, mostly Asia.
8. She learns what Sacred Gears are, as well as Asia's backstory.
9. The way I see it, while her past might be a painful one, I believe that Asia is a strong enough person that she doesn't feel too bad about it.
10. Mirai's pessimism causes her to identify and point out the weakness in Issei's Boosted Gear. By the way, keep in mind that unlike most authors, I actually like Issei.
11. Issei gets relegated to taking Mirai glasses shopping. Let's just pretend that they issued a prescription some time before that.
12. And at the end Mirai enters class at Kuoh, which is the same as Koneko's.