"So, I heard you're a part of the Occult Research Club now. Check." Kurin moved his pawn to block the queen's attack.

"Yeah. Been a bit of a while now since that day. Sorry that I forgot to tell you that, Sona-chan." She moved her knight in position. Kurin positioned his rook in response.

"Ne, I only wished that you told me in person instead."

"I know, and I apologize for not telling you sooner."

Student Council President (and High-Class Devil) Sona Shitori, real name Sona Sitri, was not one to be put off-guard when playing chess. But against her close friend Kurin, it always felt like as though it was a war. Both have played against each other so much and so well that they've seen the other's strategies, and almost every time, they've found a way to counter and retaliate. The few times they didn't was when one of them had brief mental lapses, and as a result fell prey to the other's strategy.

Her next move was now a risky one. Her queen is in danger of capture by the rook that Kurin just placed. Capture it or escape from it, she would leave her king open to another check in his next move, and she had no support to protect it, as her bishops were out of position. Both her rooks were gone. Kurin still had five pawns, and one of each special piece, save for his queen, which was captured in a clever play by the Sitri heiress earlier. She meanwhile had her queen, both bishops, one knight, and four pawns, one of which was teetering dangerously close to promotion.

Her mind set, she put his king back in check by capturing the pawn blocking his king with her queen.

"Check, Kurin-kun." She said.

Now it was Kurin who was stumped, but he quickly reacted and moved away his king. Sona lowered her queen to capture.

"Checkmate."

"Wrong move, Sona-chan." Kurin moved his bishop to capture her queen.

Sona gasped. "No..." She said, downcast, not realizing the other pieces on the board. She took a long look at the field and examined her thoughts.

'How could I have not noticed the bishop? I should've used my knight to capture it first...no, I still have my other pieces, but, it all looks so dire for me-'

"I surrender." He said all of a sudden, surprising the council president and causing her to look at him.

"W-what?" She stammered. "What are you talking about? You had me there! You took my queen!"

"True, but your pawn would then move to promote it back to queen in your next move. Plus, your knight is in perfect position to trap me behind my pawns. While you made a mistake by being over-aggressive with your queen, you were still able to provide support for future moves. Not to mention, with your queen gone, my rook has become useless at this point, as it will take me at least two moves to get to where I want it to be. By the look on your face, pretty much what I said is true, and you would've thought of those in the heat of our battle." He explained, and he was right. She never would've, what with her queen in danger and all, with several of her other pieces taken. She won, but she didn't know how close she was and how far ahead she really was, and it took her chess rival for her to see that.

"That's seventy-three to seventy-one now." He said, clearing away the board. "You're really catching up now. That's seven wins in a row for you against me."

'That may be the case, but all of them ended the same way like this game. After a big play that seems to have signaled the endgame for me, you surrender. And you've been able to think of strategies I never would've thought. Are you...are you really that much better against me?' She thought as she watched him set the field back up again.

Her eyes flared, and she felt a bit mad. "Mou! Will you ever let me win for once?! And I mean by you not surrendering?"

"Well, how about another game, then? I'm not gonna say surrender this time." He offered.

She shrugged after a few moments of staring. "Do you promise?"

He laughed at that. "Come on, Sona-chan! Do you think me of all people would break a promise?" He advanced his knight. "Your move, Sona-chan."

"Check..." She moved her pawn to finally trap his king. She looked at the board in surprise.

"...mate. You win, Sona." He smiled at her victory, in which she finally achieved on her own after quite some time. She smiled back and adjusted her glasses.

"It as a good game. Thank you." She said.

"Good game, indeed. Seventy-three to seventy-two. And it's no problem."

The young woman felt her heart skip a beat. She was close. Close to determining if he really as the person meant for her. That, and she felt so much relief and joy on winning without him surrendering like that, but she knew it'll take a while before either of them would submit to the other as the better player.

It made both of them remember the first time they met. Rias introduced him to her as her childhood friend. Almost immediately he felt that he didn't like her too much due to her coldness (at least at first) and her arrogance when she challenged him to play chess sometime later that day. She wondered what was it about him that made Rias gain an interest in him, and she'd gauge that through a game of chess. One she thought she'd win easily.

Kurin won their game after a total of twenty-five moves. Needless to say, Sona could not accept the loss easily. No way could she accept that someone like him beat her. So she challenged him again.

This time, she won, but only after a total of seventy-eight moves. That day was the beginning of how their chess rivalry and her interest in him began as well. It was a fond memory both loved.

Before either could speak up, they noticed Rias enter their room.

"Am I interrupting something?"She asked. Both shook their heads. "Are you sure? It seems as though you were both staring at each other for sometime now." She said and smiled teasingly.

Both were silent, eyes wide, blushing as they looked back at each other. "Uhhhhhhh, ummmm...did we really..." Kurin said.

"I think we have..." Sona replied.

Rias chuckled. "Anyways, you have a contract up, Kurin-kun. Would you want to use the circle to get there faster?"

Kurin shook his head. "No, maybe not this time. I'm gonna go walk there, kinda to clear my head." He accepted the contract paper from the club president and left the room. Once he was gone, the redhead turned to her childhood friend.

"So...you too?" She asked.

"What are you talking about?" Sona responded.

"You know what I mean."


[Yo, kid, I got a question.] The gruff voice of the embodiment of Undying Remorse called out.

'Hit me, Sel.' Kurin responded.

[If the Gear allowed it, would you be willing to be a part of Rias's peerage?]

The boy was silent. He was resigned to the fact that he will never be a devil because the Sacred Gear wouldn't allow it, and he knew that it was never going to change. Still, he thought it would be cool to be one, but he preferred to be human. And of course he would've loved to be a part of her peerage.

'To be part of her peerage, yeah, I would be. To be a devil, maybe not so much.' Kurin gave his answer.

[I see. Interesting.]

As Kurin walked inside the house where his contractor was, he immediately had an ominous feeling that something wasn't right. The door was left wide open. There were signs of struggle. He could smell blood.

'Do you sense it too?' He asked in his mind.

[Yeah. Tread carefully, kid. Who knows what's happened and what's lurking here.] Sellorion advised.

Walking into the main room, the smell of blood was even stronger to him now. He turned to the side and saw a corpse with its body nailed to the wall in a crucifix.

'An inverse crucifix? And on the floor...it's the flier.' He went and picked up the flier. It was smeared in blood. He crumpled it. 'Damn it...someone killed him before I even left.'

"Well well, it looks like my intended victim has arrived!" Kurin heard a cheery voice behind him. He turned to see an individual wearing a predominantly white outfit, with a black undershirt, and a cross.

'That's priest garb. No, wait, it's exorcist garb. Why the hell would an exorcist kill a-oh, right. But this one's off.'

Then the most unbelievable thing (at the moment) happened. The exorcist...began to sing. He was singing how he was going to kill him while laughing as he did. Kurin shuddered in his mind, as did Sellorion.

He stopped and leaned closer to Kurin's face. "I'm Father Freed Sellzen, little devil. And it's my job to destroy evil beings such as you. Oh, but don't mistake it for belief in God. I simply just want to kill, kill, kill! Now, you're probably wondering why I killed this so-called 'innocent' person as you believed him to be. He's taken up your help multiple times, so to me, that means he's nothing but shit. So I killed him! It was fun hearing his screams as he called for help, specifically you guys. Now, shitty devil, how should I kill-" He was cut off when the boy suddenly struck with a headbutt.

"Are you finished?" Kurin asked. He got shot in the eye for his statement. He fell to the ground.

"You really are trash. I saved them from being corrupted even more, you know! Now you had to die so quickly due to your insolence." Freed said, walking over to the boy's unmoving body. He crouched down, grinning madly. "I actually didn't think killing a devil would be this easy-!"

To his surprise, he found himself being choked by the (supposed) devil he (supposedly) killed. He was then pushed off of him forcefully, causing him to collide with the wall.

"First, that did shit to me." Kurin said, standing up, bullet dissolving, due to the fact that it was a light-based bullet. Since it only worked on devils, it didn't do him any damage at all. "Second, I'm gonna make you pay for needlessly killing a human." He approached the exorcist, who was pinned to the wall. He reared back his fist, aiming at his face. "Third...I'm human, damn it!" His punch was blocked by his gun, and Freed then swung with his sword. Kurin jumped back.

"You...you're actually a human? Well, that makes it even worse, then! Now I'm really gonna kill ya!"

'This dude is outright insane. Not the kind of person to keep alive for longer.' He thought.

Freed swung again, but Asia appeared and put herself in front of him, slashing through her clothing as a result. Kurin widened his eyes in shock, while Freed recoiled his blade to avoid cutting her in two.

'What the?! Asia?! What the hell is she doing here?!'

"The fuck?! You could've been cut in half! Are you finished with the trap, Asia?" Freed said.

"Stop this! You're not going to hurt Kurin-san anymore!"

"Wait, you know this dumb fool?" He asked and then grinned. "This is a stunning turn of events, now eh? I thought romance between a devil and a nun is taboo in this world."

"Kurin-san...is a devil?" Asia asked in surprise.

"Ah, no, he's not. However, he's a servant of the devils, but that's worse for me!" He said.

Asia then noticed the corpse and covered her mouth, aghast at the display. She shrieked in terror.

"Don't tell me this is the first time you've seen a corpse. But anyways, this is the fate that will befall all those who are entranced by devils. They're an unneeded presence in our world. They'll be sent to hell like the manner I've done to this unfortunate soul."

"No...there's no way..." Asia mumbled.

"Don't you get it? It's people like that person you just protected that need to die. Otherwise...we would never be able to fulfill our mission. Now, be a good nun and go back to position to deploy the trap...please."

Asia, however, did not follow the exorcist's words, placing herself in front of Kurin to protect him.

"Asia..." Kurin said.

"You're kidding me." Freed said, scratching his head with his gun. "Do you actually have an idea what you're DOING RIGHT NOW?! This is tantamount to being a traitor!"

"I understand what you're saying, Father Freed. But please let him go!" She defiantly said. "He may be a servant of the devils, and he was entranced by them...that's no reason to go and kill the devils and the humans who ask for them!"

Freed was stumped. He absolutely did not expect this defiance from the nun. 'Goddamn this human.' He grew angry and grabbed Asia by her collar. "Did you learn anything from your stupid church, you shitty nun?! ALL DEVILS ARE SHIT!"

"NO! There's still good in them!" Asia argued, tears welling up.

'Asia...she still believes in the good of everyone...' Kurin thought.

"NO, THERE'S NOT YOU STUPID IDIOT!" He yelled in her face.

"Still...he may be human, and he's serving them, Kurin-san is still a good person! He's the same person I've met that day! And killing is an unforgivable sin! Lord...the Lord doesn't allow this to happen-"

She got slapped upside with Freed's gun, sending her to the floor. "ASIA!" Kurin yelled out.

Freed grabbed her from her back and planted the gun on her chest, his eyes locked onto the human student. "While I'm specifically told not to kill you, you insolent girl...that doesn't mean I can't do anything else to you like, say...something similar to rape now, hm?" He said, as Asia panted from the force of the strike.

All of a sudden, Freed was blown back by Kurin, who kicked him at his head.

"That's enough. I'm not going to let you hurt Asia-chan." He said, his body now glowing blue. He turned his head towards the girl.

"Asia-chan...I appreciate you trying to protect me, so thank you." He said, smiling. He turned back to Freed, eyes hardened. "But now it's my turn to protect you."

"Ah, looks like you have a death wish, then. LET ME FULFILL IT FOR YOU!" He took out a glowing sword, ready for a vicious fight. He leaped towards his opponent and swung forward.

Kurin smirked. "You have no idea." He then conjured a pair of cyan-colored spiked gauntlets, resisting Freed's strike. Kurin swung under and punched him across his torso, sending him through the room again.

Before either could attack again, though, a magic pentagram appeared on the floor, glowing red.

'So it seems that they're here.'

"What the hell?!" Freed could only say in surprise, having never seen a magic pentagram before.

On the pentagram, three individuals appeared.

"Yumi, Akeno, Koneko." Kurin remarked.

"We're here to help, Kurin-kun." Yumi said.

"I thought it'd be a bad situation for you, considering you are up against an exorcist, but it seems you're holding yourself pretty nicely." Akeno said.

Koneko said nothing, blankly staring at him.

"Leave everything to us." Akeno said. "I wonder how we should deal with him..."

Freed wasted no time. "I'll cut all of you to bits!" His attack was met with Yumi's sword.

"Hmph, with the way you swing that sword so carelessly, it's a wonder you're still an exorcist." The swordsmistress noted.

"Does it look like I give a shit? As long as I get to kill, that's great!" Both recoiled, but Yumi recovered faster and swung, and Freed dodged back.

"Then I give my apologies. I will not let you kill Kurin-kun here."

"HAHA! Oh this is hilarious! Relationship stuff and shit?! No wonder!"

"There's no denying it. You are a stray exorcist."

"HAHAHAHA! SO WHAT?! As long as I kill all of you, I'll be fine, and my bloodlust is sated! I'm under the Fallen Angel's protection anyway!"

"Not in here you would be." Kurin jumped from behind Yumi and punched Freed in the face, dropping his swords.

'Fucking...human! Three times! I'll make him die the slowest.' Freed thought as he was sent back crashing to the wall. Again.

"He's one of those kinds." Akeno noted.

"Kind of exorcist?" Kurin asked, to which she nodded.

"Stray exorcists are excommunicated due to the excitement and joy they get out of hunting and executing devils. And it seems this exorcist is the most dangerous one we've encountered so far." She explained.

"HAHAHAHA! You're only getting that now?! No use wasting my time to reason with these shits. I'm gonna kill all of you and be off my merry way!"

"Even devils have rules, you know."

Freed shrugged. "That doesn't excuse you trash." Then he grinned like a madman.

"If that's the case, then maybe I should turn you to nothing." Rias entered the fray, and Freed looked at the redhead confused.

"Another one? You all seem to be just popping up one at a time. So, can you all get in line so that I can finish my job now?" Freed received a punch to the face for that. "I'll let that one slide." He said.

Rias walked over to Kurin. "Kurin-kun, I am so sorry. I didn't think an exorcist would turn up in the house of the summoner of the contract. Are you hurt?" Rias said.

"Well, other than the fact that I got shot in the eye..." That stirred gasps from almost everyone. "I'm alright. I got back at him anyway." Rias nodded and turned to the insane exorcist.

"I cannot allow you to get away harming my...friend." Rias said, almost saying that Kurin was her 'underling' and remembering that he wasn't, biting back that word.

"And what are you gonna do about it, lowly devil?" Freed mockingly asked. For that, Rias blasted the wall that was mere millimeters away from his head.

"Oh. So that's how." He looked stunned. He turned behind him to see the extent of the damage.

"What the hell?! Couldn't you have just shot him in the legs or something?!" Kurin said to Rias.

"I can't. It might be a problem for us in the future if I crippled him now. We need to know more." She explained.

"Rias! There seems to be a group of Fallen Angels coming his way! We can't stay here for long!" Akeno said. Freed's joy only furthered that statement's truth.

"Get the teleportation circle ready!" Rias instructed.

"Yes!" The three girls said.

"If that's the case, then we need to take Asia with us!" Kurin said, rushing over to the nun.

"I'm sorry, Kurin, but my pentagram only works on my underling devils. And that includes you, but I had to make changes for that to happen." Rias said.

"Can you make a similar case for her now?!" He asked, desperate. "I refuse to leave her here!"

"Kurin-san...it's okay." Asia said.

"No, it's absolutely not." He rebutted.

"I'll be alright." She said.

"Kurin, they don't have any reason for them to kill her. They need her alive for something. They have a plan, and it would be a waste for them to kill her so soon." Rias said. "Right now, we have to retreat. Even with your powers."

"Buchou, the teleportation circle is done! We can leave!" Akeno said, the pentagram glowing.

"I will not let that happen!" Freed said, only for a couch to be thrown towards him courtesy of Koneko.

"Promise me, Asia-chan. Promise me that we will see each other again." Kurin said, taking her hand and placing it over his heart.

"I...I promise." She said.

Kurin smiled and hugged her. "I'll be back. More than you know it." He released her and turned to the others. "Let's go!" They all headed for the circle. Kurin looked at Asia, and she smiled back at him. Seconds later, they all disappeared.

The Fallen Angels arrived a few minutes later.

Dohnaseek, the Fallen wearing a suit and fedora, surveyed the area. "It seems there was a fight here." He noticed Freed unconscious underneath the couch and Asia, panting heavily. Raynare, Mittelt, and Kalawarner, her close friends, quickly went over to her.

"Asia-san! Are you okay?" Raynare asked.

"I'm...I'm okay. It's only some bruises, that's all." She said.

"Hmmm, somehow things went out of hand because someone interfered, and the trap wasn't even used. We'll need to move even faster now, lest the devils find out what we're doing." Dohnaseek said. He turned to the three. "Move out, and wake up that exorcist. His job is not yet finished."


The club all appeared from the pentagram...though not where Akeno had intended for them to go to. Instead of their main club room, they all landed in Kurin's house.

"Wha...where are we?" Akeno asked. "This isn't the place where I wanted us to go..."

"That's because this is my house. I left the flier you guys gave me weeks ago here, and it must've reacted to it." Kurin said, surprising everyone.

"This is your house? But...why does it feel so...empty? It's like you're the only one who lives here." Rias said.

"That's because I am the only one who lives here."

"Where are your parents, then?" Koneko asked.

"Ah, good question." He said, walking past them and lying down on the bed.

"They're dead."

That drew wide eyes and looks of surprise. Just when they think they know him, they find more questions about him than ever before with new information coming to light. First with the Sacred Gear, and now something as personal as this. Kurin just kept surprising them, and sometimes not in the good way, but not through any fault of his own. He was simply dealt with the hands given to him. They all realized that there was more to him than they realized.

Rias walked closer to him, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"If you're gonna say what I think you're gonna say, there's no need. It's been about twelve years since I lost them. I've gotten over it a long time ago as well." He said, turning away from them. "If you guys want to crash for the night here, then be my guest. It's a long night."

None of them knew what to say after that. All the girls looked at each other and nodded to themselves. Koneko and Yumi went to see the whole house, while Rias and Akeno stayed with Kurin in his room.

Not too long after, a certain Fallen arrived. But the silence was enough for her to discern what happened. She knew days ago what they had just known now.

[It's gonna be alright, kid. You guys will save Asia. I just know it.] Sellorion said.

'They're planning something. Or at least, their leader is. It's clear that Raynare's heart isn't in it. If we don't find out why in the next few days, I will seriously begin to worry. Not like I haven't already.' Kurin thought. He then felt her presence.

"Ray-chan?" He said, turning back towards her.

"I'm here, Kurin-kun. I'm here." She said, embracing him.

"You weren't hurt, were you?"

"No, luckily I wasn't. We just moved away to another location. We have one day to three days before Asia dies."

"Is she alright?"

"Don't worry. She's safe for now. But if you guys don't act...she will not have long...and war may break out if they succeed."

Rias and Akeno looked at each other. "We'll think about it." Rias said.

"While you two decide...regardless of your decision, I will go on and save her myself." Kurin said.

"You can't!" Rias and Raynare said.

"Why the fuck not?!" He said, turning to Rias first. "I'm not a devil." He turned to Raynare. "And certainly you haven't told your superior that I'm alive, since you 'killed' me. I have the element of surprise, and I'm expendable."

He got slapped by his girlfriend and close friend.

"Don't ever say that you're expendable!" They both said.

"Except I am! I can die and be resurrected over and over again! I'm human! They don't expect much from humans! They don't know the extent of my powers! And you guys don't know it either! I'm human, yeah, but don't fucking underestimate me as if I'm so fragile!" He said. He gasped and covered his mouth. He had never been this angry before. He narrowed his eyes.

"I need to go outside and clear my head. Again. This has been a long night indeed." He opened the window and jumped out. The two tried to chase after him but were stopped by Akeno.

"Leave him be. He needs this." She explained.


He didn't appear back in the house the next day. He was instead venting it in the park all through the night. And he still was doing so as the sun came up.

[Kid, stop. You're gonna burn out if you keep doing this.] Sellorion said.

'No. Not at least until I've vented out all of my anger. They make assumptions like that as if I'm not strong enough? Bullshit! They don't know about me, or the extent of what I can do.' He said.

[You're not helping their case either by not even showing them what you can do. As much as even I don't like what they've said, they're right. If you keep thinking that you're expendable because you can return to life numerous times, that's not being expendable. That's being wasteful.]

'Not that it matters.'

[But it does! You've become so resigned to dying a lot of times and coming back to life that you can't even take care of yourself! You know, maybe that's part of why they died! And that's why you never got over it!]

'SHUT UP!' He kicked the metal support of the park's monkey bars so hard that it made a dent. 'Damn it...do you really want to go to that conversation again?'

[Truthfully, no. But listen to yourself. Do you really think you're expendable by dying and coming back? And in this case, coming to save Asia by yourself?]

'I...no.' He collapsed to the ground, feeling exhaustion. 'I want to save Asia. If I have to do it alone...I'm gonna die again if I do. I'm going to need their help. But what if Rias refuses to?'

[That's not what she's going to do.]

'How do you know?'

[Trust me on this. She'll make the right decision. Oh, I think someone's coming. It's Asia!]

'Asia's here?'

"Kurin-san?" The nun called out, looking down at his face.

"Asia...oh!" He stood up. "What happened after we left? Are you alright?"

"Yes, don't worry. Lady Raynare and the Fallen Angels arrived a bit after. We moved to another location...but I don't know where." She said.

"I see. Well...how do I explain this...I don't feel alright." He said.

"What do you mean?"

"I...kinda got angry. Unnecessarily so. But you're here, so it's all good. Why don't we hang out for the day? Are you alright with that?"

Asia beamed. "Sure! Maybe it'll help take off that anger you have."

"Let's hope."

"Um, Kurin-san, how do you eat this?" She held out a burger in front of him.

"Here, you just hold it in your hands and take a bite. That's how you eat a hamburger." He showed her how, and she followed. After biting a piece, she let out a hum of joy.

"Ooooohh, it's so tasty!" She said. Kurin laughed.

"Glad you liked it."

They ate their lunch after. Asia saw a gaming place and was curious, so she motioned Kurin to look. "Ah, let's go to that place!"

"Of course." As they walked there, Kurin placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Have you been sheltered your entire life, Asia-chan?" He asked.

Asia walked in silence, seemingly ignoring his question. "...It's a long story, Kurin-san. I want to enjoy this day for now. I will answer that question later, so wait for just a little longer."

"Ah, I understand. So, is there anything you want here?"

"Oh thank you so much, Kurin! I'll treasure this toy as a remembrance of today!" Asia said, hugging the new toy she was given by him. It took him a few tries, but he managed to get the toy she wanted.

"It's no problem." He said, smiling.

"Oh, what's that?" She asked, pointing to a photo booth, to which he explained. He encouraged her to go and take pictures of the two of them. She happily agreed, and soon enough they left the arcade with pictures, stopping back at the park to rest.

"You looked really cute in these pics." He said. She blushed red.

"Mouuuuu, this is so embarrassing~" She said, covering her face. Kurin laughed.

"Awww, you really are cute, you know." He patted her head. Surprisingly enough, she leaned to him, clearly liking the gesture.

"What made you so angry earlier today?" She asked.

"Agh, don't worry. It's just a falling out. I just wanted to vent my anger somewhere else. I didn't want them to see me like this. I don't become so angry all of a sudden. I never became so angry before. But...they haven't seen me, you know? What I can do, that is. I get that they're worried, but they have to trust me a little more." He explained.

"It's okay. We all get those feelings of anger sometimes. I'm lucky that the Lord guides me to release that anger peacefully. What about you?"

"I...don't follow."

"What do you mean?" Understandably, she didn't understand the meaning of his words at first.

"You'll understand soon enough. Now, what's your story?"

What followed was a sad narration of her life. She was abandoned by her parents at a young age, leaving her in the care of the orphanage of the church she was taught in. She discovered her powers when she was eight. When the church found out, they deemed it as a miracle, and she was revered as a saint. Soon after, people sought Asia and the church's aid, and she happily obliged. However, with the adoration and (in a sense) local fame came loneliness, and she never found a true genuine person who was willing to be her friend for who she really was.

Then it all went downhill one day when she used her powers to heal a devil on the verge of death by the hands of an exorcist. Instead of being grateful and just escaping, the devil killed the exorcist and ran. Upon finding out, the same people who once revered her now berated and insulted her, branding her as a heretic. This led to her expulsion. Shortly thereafter, a Fallen Angel came and took her under her wing.


"Hey, are you alright?" Raynare asked the despairing nun. All she could hear are cries. Taking pity on her, she took her and flew away, heading back to their base in the area.

"What the hell is this, Raynare? You know we can't take humans in our care." Kalawarner said.

"I know, but I couldn't just leave her there. Where the hell is Dohnaseek? He should've been back by now." The ravenette Fallen inquired.

"Apologies for my lateness. But I have new orders from higher-ups. The girl that I saw you take? It seems she's now integral to the mission." The male Fallen said, arriving and storing his wings.

The two Fallen women turned to each other in worry.


"I...just wanted friends. I wanted a normal life. To go do things that friends do. Go shopping, have fun in parks, those kinds of stuff." She ended her narration, wiping the tears that leaked out.

Kurin helped wipe those tears away. "Asia-chan...you already have a friend. Isn't what we did friendship enough? And...if you've already met Raynare, then I'm pretty sure she would love to be your friend as well."

"You think so?" She said, showing a hopeful smile.

"Apologies, but that could not be possible." A new voice was heard, and both turned to see the sharply dressed Fallen Angel. Both recognized who he was.

"Dohnaseek-sama..." Asia said.

His stony eyes looked at the two. "This isn't personal. I'm only doing this to fulfill the mission. If there was any other way, I would've taken it. But I have no choice." Dohnaseek said.

"That still doesn't excuse you from what you're going to do." He said. He jumped towards him, curved blades in hand. "I'll stop you!"

The Fallen simply flew away to avoid the attack and reacted with shooting Kurin with a light spear. "You...you're the one Raynare said she 'killed'. But she lied." He struck him again with a light spear, impaling him through the chest. "I'll do what she was supposed to do. But she will have to face the consequences for purposely lying on her report."

"Kurin-san!" Asia said, rushing over to him. "Hold on!" Quickly using her powers, she healed him of his wounds.

"The power of Twilight Healing...it's no wonder why we need it. I see why now." He said. "Asia-san...you have to leave this boy behind, or else I will kill him."

"NOT A CHANCE!" Kurin said, only to be shot with another spear.

"Kurin-san, stop! Okay, I'll go!" Asia said.

"Wha—Asia-chan, no!" He said, crawling despite the wounds. She turned back to him and smiled.

"I had fun today. I will cherish this day forever with you...Kurin-kun. Thank you for fulfilling my wishes...to have a friend and to do things friends do." She said.

"Asia, stop! Please!" He said.

The Fallen held Asia once in range. "I didn't think you'd comply so easily. But in any case...it will be over soon enough, once the ritual is over." He closed his eyes. "If only there was some other way...but I must do what my leader desires."

"Damn it! I'm gonna get you back, Asia! Know that!" Kurin said.

"Goodbye, Kurin-kun." She said, wiping the tears on her face.

Kurin's vision began to darken. The last thing he saw was Dohnaseek and Asia flying away.

"Asia..." He croaked, before suddenly feeling pain shoot through his chest again. He realized that another light spear stabbed through his heart. Asia was too far away to notice, but it was obvious.

Kurin's dead.


AN: I didn't expect a lot of reviews and a lot of people liking this story (and I don't get much from some of my other stories), but I'm grateful for them. I appreciate each one given. Probably starting next chapter, I'm gonna start replying to all of the reviews made when this chapter is released. Still, here are some:

I've changed the summary so that it's grammatically correct, as one reviewer pointed out, thank you very much for that. Kurin's gonna stay human for the entire story. I'll find my ways in some problems it'll come up with him not becoming a Devil, don't worry. It's probably 85% sure, but I don't think I'm gonna write any lemons in this story. Also, I'm gonna put up this story in Archive of Our Own soon.

So, death number two. Will we expect Kurin to die many times over the course of this story? I can't say for sure.

Updated (confirmed) list, in no order:

Raynare, Rias, Akeno, Sona, Koneko, Kuroka, Serafall, Yumi, Kalawarner, Xenovia, Tsubaki, Asia, Grayfia, Ravel, Seekvaira

So, as you can see, I've added Grayfia to the list. I think it'll be fun to write her character interacting with Kurin. I'm still unsure if Kurin should have a peerage, so please, if you want him to have one or not, let me know in the reviews below along with your thoughts on the chapter.

Next chapter's gonna be the end of this arc, and Kurin's fight! I'll see you all next update!