The Battle Never Ends

by Arthain

The Tyrant had surpassed death once before. This time wouldn't have been any different save for the determination of one young man and his desire to protect all that he cared for. But what should have been the end instead became a new beginning. A beginning somewhere else. A beginning where Night Raid was still needed.

3. Confrontations of the Frigid Kind

Author's Note: I want to wish everyone a happy New Year! 2017, here we come!

Chapter 2: Confrontations of the Frigid Kind

The home was as nondescript as they came. A chest high grey stone wall topped surrounded a small, two story home with a slopped, tile roof. The rooms on the upper floor had doors leading out onto small wooden balconies that overlooked a well-kept yard. There wasn't much of anything to really identify it from any other home in the area.

Well, at least if one were to discount the splashes of blood smearing the insides of the windows.

Tatsumi didn't even bother with the gate to the yard, instead vaulting over the wall and rushing to the front door. It was unlocked as he feared. He ripped it open and rushed inside, coming upon a terrible scene, one he had seen three times already that day. His nose in disgust as the stench of death assaulted his senses, a sickening melody of blood, rotting flesh, and pain.

The first corpses were found in the common room, an older male most likely the father, who had at some point been dangling from the ceiling by hooks before he'd been torn in half by brute force. The upper half of the body was propped up on the blood soaked couch, facing across the room and coffee table towards an older woman. His eyes were pulled wide open by fish hooks, forced to watch against his will what had happened to the woman. Her fate was arguably worse. Her chest had been ripped open and most of her organs were placed almost artistically upon the coffee table in the center of the room.

((This is disgusting)) Bennia muttered as she tossed angry glares about the room.

"I think this goes a bit beyond that," Tatsumi said. It hadn't been any better than the previous three homes they'd visited.

((Devils don't normally go this far.))

Tatsumi didn't believe that, a month hasn't gone by where they weren't cleaning up a mess from this Devil or that Fallen Angel. It lit an anger burning just beneath the surface, a steady heat that pushed him ever onwards. If he ever needed justification that what he did was right this room, and the dozens of others he'd been forced to walk through before, was it.

"Devils are pure evil. They'll do whatever they damn well please even if it means torturing humans for fun." Tatsumi said. They weren't even sure it was a devil, but it had all the hallmarks of one. "Is it still here?"

Even as Tatsumi asked that there was a loud thump upstairs. Good. It was about time they finally caught up with the sadistic monster. What should have started out as a standard request for Night Raid's services had quickly turned out to be anything but. A potential client had called and mentioned there was a serial murderer in the neighbourhood. The police were apparently already on it but the client didn't trust them. It had sounded like just any old murder that happens all the time and Tatsumi had been about to tell the client to let the police do their job until she screamed in terror.

The sounds that had come across that phone had been the stuff of nightmares, and the voice definitely not human.

Tatsumi and Bennia had rushed to her house as quickly as they could, but by the time they'd gotten there it was too late. The entire family had been slaughtered in much the same manner that they were looking at now. Using Bennia and her ability to sense the dead and dying, they'd tracked the individual to another two families but had always arrived just too late.

This time though, whoever they were, they were still here. At this point it didn't matter what they were. Human, Devil, Fallen Angel, whatever. They were a monster that needed to be put down and Tatsumi wasn't going to trust the 'police' to handle it. Night Raid's Justice was a bit more final. There was no redemption allowed in it.

Tatsumi rushed upstairs as quickly as he could while not making a sound. He didn't want the monster to make a break for it. On the second floor he could more clearly make out what was happening. Whoever it was, was still here having their 'fun.' Barely audible moans and grunts of pain came from further down. He tip toed to down the hallway, following the noises he was hearing.

As he reached the door something strange happened. Music started to fill the air, or rather the sound of a flute. It was a strange flute though, almost as if the walls of it vibrated with the air instead of the holes themselves producing the sound.

Tatsumi didn't even want to know what this monster was doing with a flute. He gestured Bennia to be ready as he held his own hand out to the side. Murasame materialized in his grasp with a flash of black lightning. A wicked looking scythe appeared in Bennia's.

Tatsumi held up three fingers. Two. One. He slammed his shoulder against the door and rushed inside. His eyes immediately focused upon a horrifying scene. A young girl, no older than ten, was tied to a chair in front of a desk used for school work. A thick, blood soaked gag had been stuffed in her mouth and pulled tight around the back of her head. Her little face scarred by agony and fear as she stared down at her own intestines stapled to the top of her desk. Tiny little holes had been drilled into it and the one responsible, a tall man with black devil wings sprouting from his back, had his lips and fingers upon the little girl's intestines, covering the holes strategically as if… playing a flute.

What had to be the girl's older sister was hanging from the ceiling with tears streaming down her face as she was forced to watch her sister be tortured in front of her eyes. She wasn't gagged like her sister, but Tatsumi could see that her tongue had been ripped out to prevent her from screaming.

Tatsumi blitzed across the room towards the male devil, ignoring the other two devils who were sharpening implements of torture off to the side. Murasame cut through the air, narrowly missing the devil who leapt back from the little girl just in time.

"Who are you?" The devil screamed at him.

He ignored the devil. Creatures like him weren't worth answering. "Bennia, deal with the other two," Tatsumi said as he focused on the main culprit.

((Gladly))

"How dare a lowly human interrupt my entertainment!"

"Entertain this," Tatsumi muttered as he closed the gap with the devil in an instant.

Murasame cut through the air straight for the devil's heart. It never reached. The devil responded exactly as Tatsumi expected. Demonic energy raced up his arms and encased his hands in a protective red glow. He knocked the blade to the side with his forearm and then caught it with his free hand.

"Is that it?"

Tatsumi just chuckled grimly as he threw a pair of vials of sulfuric acid into the devil's face. By catching his blade the way he had, it created a blind spot where Tatsumi had been able to grab the vials from inside his coat without being noticed. A devil's skin was naturally too tough for the acid to work on it, but their eyes were a completely different story.

The devil screamed in pain as the vials shattered, spraying acid directly into his vulnerable red eyes.

"Gah! My eyes!" The devil cried as he grabbed at them with his fingers, futilely trying to rub the acid out of his melting eyeballs.

Tatsumi didn't wait for him to recover. He pulled out a length of wire made out of a special white gold from beneath his coat. It had been a gift from Sensei for his last birthday and Tatsumi had soon found out was especially effective against devils. Darting around behind his opponent he wrapped the wire around the devil's wings and arms with practiced ease. The devil screamed again as his flesh and wings stated to burn and bubble where it touched the wire. With a strong yank he ripped the devil's hands from his face and tied them behind his back, painfully intertwined with his wings.

"A holy weapon? Why do you have a holy weapon?"

Tatsumi ignored him as he pulled on the white-gold wire. The devil screamed again as his arms were wrenched from their sockets with a sickening pop. This one wasn't a threat any longer. Glancing across the room he saw Bennia finishing up the third devil, that one female. She let out a short scream as Bennia's scythe cleaved through her without inflicting any visible wounds. Then she dropped, dead, her soul cleaved in half.

Grim Reapers didn't leave behind and visible signs of injury. In a sense it made them the perfect assassin.

((Tatsumi, I'm done here!)) Bennia said as she threw a look his way. ((You beat me! No fair!))

"Maybe next time," Tatsumi said, shaking his head at how upset Bennia was. He gestured to the older girl. "Can you get her down? Then take her to a different room."

((Can do!))

The little girl was scared witless as her bindings were undone by seemingly nothing at all. She thrashed and struggled as Bennia hoisted her onto her invisible shoulders and carried her out the door. Tatsumi winced, in hindsight it probably wasn't the best idea to have, to that girl at least, an invisible person take her somewhere.

Too late to do anything about that though. Tatsumi quickly the devil he'd tied up from the same hooks in the ceiling that the little girl had been hanging from.

"Now it's just you and me," Tatsumi said grimly.

"When I get free I'm going to tear out your intestines and feed them to you just like I did with that bitch downstairs!"

A cold rage consumed Tatsumi and leaked out in the room about him. "No, you won't," Tatsumi said in a voice as cold as death. He hammered his fist into the devil's stomach, blasting the body back and knocking the breath out of the devil. "All you get to choose is just how painful your death will be." He waited for the body to swing back before he hammered his fist into the stomach again. This time he felt something crack beneath his fist.

Devils were naturally tough but Tatsumi hadn't honed his body to its limits and pushed it beyond for nothing. Tatsumi grabbed the devil by the hair and jerked his head down. "What do you know about Gregorious Abaddon?" Tatsumi demanded, his voice cold and dead.

"Why would I tell you anything?"

Tatsumi slammed his hand into the devil again, only this time with his fingers leading the way. The devil let out a howl of pain as Tatsumi's fingers tore through the devil's flesh, seeking the soft squishy bits inside. "Because if you don't, I'll be the one to feed your intestines to you!" Tatsumi growled as his hands closed around a length of wet, stringy flesh.

"You… wouldn't," the devil coughed out painfully.

Tatsumi ripped his hand out, pulling with it most of the devil's intestines. "Mmm, don't they smell tasty?" he asked, holding a length of the devil's intestines up for him to smell, he probably couldn't see much with his eyeballs melted. For the first time real fear flittered across the devil's face. "I'm sure you've dined on plenty of intestines, aren't you curious as to what your own taste like?"

A pair of arms wrapped themselves around him and pulled him back. ((Tatsumi! Stop! Please!))

"No! He might know something!" Tatsumi shouted as he struggled against Bennia.

((Maybe he does! Maybe he doesn't! But don't become like them just to satisfy your revenge!)) Bennia begged him.

Tatsumi growled under his breath and struggled against his emotions. The heat, the rage, the anger. The devils needed to pay, they all needed to die. Suffer as he had, suffer as his sister had. How could either of them rest easy knowing that those monsters were out there torturing humanity for their own sick pleasures?!

But Bennia was right. He couldn't become like them. He was better than them. Letting them drag him down to their level would mean they'd have won, even if he did manage to genocide their entire race.

With a howl of frustration Tatsumi slammed the intestines on the floor and whipped Murasame around, beheading the devil in a single swing.

"Damn it!" Tatsumi spat out as he stomped over to the window. He rested his forehead the frosted window, staring out into the city beyond and the people he protected. "Damn it… where the hell is that bastard hiding?"

((Probably in the underworld)) Bennia said sadly. ((Devils only come to the human world temporarily. If they stay for long, it's… generally for a more benign purpose.))

"So we just have to get lucky," Tatsumi spat out. Gregorious Abaddon lived in the underworld and there was no way for him to reach it. He just had to hope and pray that someday he'd surface again, and that Tatsumi would be aware of it and have the ability to intercept him before he went back down again. Such a slim possibility but he had no other options at the moment.

The only way he knew how to get to the underworld was to ally with the very people he wanted to exterminate. He'd infiltrated the enemy lair for Night Raid before in the old world, but it was a little different this time. He had been infiltrating his own kind then, it had been perfectly natural for him to just waltz around without a concern. That wouldn't be the case this time. There were too many differences, both with his situation, and theirs.

A whimper drew his attention to the side. That little girl tied to the chair at the desk was still alive, struggling weakly against the ropes that bound her to the chair. Tatsumi suddenly felt disgusted at himself. He'd gotten so caught up in his revenge he'd let the little girl suffer. Bennia was wrong. He had already sunk down to their level.

There was only one thing he could do for her now.

He firmed his resolve as he walked up to the little girl. She stared up at him with pain filled eyes, pleading for him to help her, to stop the pain. "This is all I can do for you." He slid Murasame into her heart, killing her instantly. His own heart writhed in pain, almost as if he was taking her suffering into him. "I hate this sometimes." Night Raid wasn't a glorious occupation. It was brutal and dirty, one that forced Tatsumi to make terrible choices. Choices like killing little children just to end their pain. It felt like a piece of him died inside each time he had to do something like this.

((It's for the best)) Bennia whispered as she pulled the little girl's soul out. ((She wouldn't have survived long enough for help to come and even if she did…)) Bennia gave the perforated intestines and the blood stained room a sad look. ((What sort of life would she have lived?))

"Not a long one," Tatsumi murmured. The trauma, the scars, the memories. It'd drive her to suicide sooner rather than later, and that's even if the complications caused by an infected and perforated intestinal track didn't kill her first. The other child may not be much better off… if only there was some way to remove her memories.

But there wasn't. That was just wishful thinking. And now he had one more burden to carry on his shoulders.

"Bennia, call the police and let's go. I need some fresh air."

~o~

Tatsumi let out a sigh as he kicked a pebble down the side walk. He had cleaned himself up in a nearby river, washing what he could off his hands and face. It felt a little better, but not much. He couldn't get what he saw out of his head. That little girl's eyes pleading for him to end the pain and the older sister, watching on helpless and unable to do anything.

Death wasn't what the little girl wanted. She wanted to live, but free of pain. That wasn't something Tatsumi could give. All he could deal was death and so he had killed the little girl. The older one would be fine physically, but mentally? Tatsumi doubted she'd ever recover. She'd be traumatized by all this for the rest of her life, especially considering the gruesome way her entire family had been murdered.

Tatsumi had left around the time the police arrived. They would have asked him questions he wasn't willing to answer. He'd seen them question the older sister from afar. She did what she could to reply with gestures and writing. Hopefully it wouldn't expose Tatsumi. It was a risk he took every time; hopefully if he was exposed they wouldn't pursue it too far. It also wasn't like he'd done anything bad. He'd basically saved her from a torturous death but the police often times cared more about the word of the law than the spirit of the law.

Bennia was off taking the souls of the dead to where they belonged so at least there was that.

"Ugh," Tatsumi grumbled as he kicked another stone. He threw those thoughts from his mind. He didn't want to be reminded of them right now. It was time to move on, remember the past but never let it chain you.

He also had another important issue he needed to find a solution to. What he had initially hoped would have been a quick, early morning mission, ended taking until mid-afternoon. He'd missed an entire day of school and the club activities afterwards.

Souna was going to be livid. He had seen how she'd treated others that had skipped class and he wasn't looking forward to it. Considering how she had all but perched on his shoulder since enrolling, she probably already had her student council members out looking for him. There was no way he was going to show up back at school without some sort of peace offering, along with the perfect explanation as to why he missed a day of school.

That's why Tatsumi was currently wandering downtown passing store after store. There had to be something here that Souna would like. A serious, down-to-earth girl like that wouldn't want something like flowers or chocolates or even money. She'd want something practical.

Rounding the street corner Tatsumi was brought to a halt by a sea of bodies. They were crouched, hands filled with cameras that were flashing almost continuously. It created a sea of light so bright it caused Tatsumi to shy away at first, causing him to miss the object of their attention at first. When he could see again he found that everyone had formed a half circle around what could only be a magical girl.

Tatsumi later wouldn't be shy to admit that his jaw dropped when he saw a twin-tailed girl with black hair and purple eyes twirling around in place. Her bright pink and white magical girl outfit flittered back and forth, the ultra-short skirt whipping up with each spin, flashing her pure white panties to the world. She spun a long steel rod, pink of course, topped with a yellow star with ease, as if she had done this a thousand times before.

No, Tatsumi corrected himself. That was no girl, but a woman. Even if the face was childlike, the breasts were simply too well defined and then there was this aura she exuded. She put on a good act, but Tatsumi could tell she dressed and acted that way because she wanted to, not because she actually was childish.

Then she spun in place. "Mil-mil-mil-mil, Spiral!" the magical girl shouted excitedly as she twirled her wand and brandished it like a weapon. Sparkles literally shot out from her body as she finished her spin. Sparkles!

"I'm not seeing this," Tatsumi whispered to himself as he turned his back to the gathering and quickly walked in the opposite direction. A few steps later and he was running, bolting across the street without waiting for the cross walk symbol to indicate he was allowed to. He just knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he did not want to get involved with whatever the hell was going on back there. Once he was across the street he felt better. "I should be safe here."

He stopped and looked up and noticed the name of the shop: When Worlds Collide. Strange name, but inside it was filled with games, cards, figures, console games and more. There were also rows upon rows of manga and anime. Taking the content in mind, it made sense. It was a collision of fictional worlds. He was about to dismiss it entirely when he noticed something in the window. It was part of the section dedicated to table top games.

A chess board and a nice one at that. A handcrafted bocote and curly maple board with a highly stylized frame. It was expensive, but money wasn't something Tatsumi was hurting for. Tatsumi had only been in the Student Council room a few times but he had made note of the chess board there. It was a well-made one, but showing its age. There had been countless nick marks across its surface from continual use. While it was still serviceable, Souna would probably appreciate a nice replacement.

It might not be the perfect gift, but Tatsumi doubted he'd find anything better in the time he had left today. Upsetting Souna was one thing. Missing Sensei's training was something completely different. With his mind made up Tatsumi went inside and a few minutes later walked out with a chess board for Souna.

"NOOOOO!" A wail kicked up across the street. Tatsumi looked up quickly, searching for the problem, only to see the magical girl across the street charging towards him with a look of sheer panic on her face. Alarm bells started ringing in Tatsumi's head and he instinctively cradled the chess board to his chest. Just in time as she latched onto the exposed edge. "I had my eye on that!"

"Well I bought it and you didn't." He had the money for it, sure, but he wasn't rich enough to just toss that amount around with nothing to show for it.

"Well I saw it first so it's mine! I was going to buy it for So-tan!" the magical girl whined as she jerked on the board this way and that. Tatsumi had to dig his feet into the ground just to keep standing, this girl was unbelievably strong!

"Well maybe you should have come here and bought it instead of spending all that time twirling in front of fifty drooling perverts as they snapped shots of your panties!" Tatsumi retorted. He wasn't letting go of his only lifeline.

"But a Magical Girl has to always be there to please her fans!"

"Well please me and go away," Tatsumi said as he tried to back away from her. "Without this Souna is going to tear a strip off my hide." She probably would anyways, but it may be less painful with the board.

The magical girl suddenly stopped trying to jerk the board from his grasp. "So-tan? You know my So-tan?"

Tatsumi stared at the magical girl in front of him, confused, "well, yes. Souna is the President of the Student Council, I go to Kuoh Academy."

The magical girl gasped and laughed happily, "you're one of So-tan's friends!"

Friends? He wasn't so sure about that, more like good acquaintances, but if it got her to let go of the board, sure, why not? "Exactly! That's it exactly." The magical girl seemed to beam happily. "You know what, how about we make this a gift from both of us to her?"

"That sounds like a great idea…" she tilted her head as she trailed off, waiting for a name.

"Ah, Tatsumi, Nakimori Tatsumi," Tatsumi said. "And you are?"

"Oh! So you're the Tatsumi-chan So-tan always talks about!" Wait, what? He'd only been at school for two weeks and she was already talking about him? Was that a good thing or a bad thing? With his luck it was going to be troublesome regardless. "I'm So-tan's older sister, Serafall! But you can just call me Levia-tan!" Nope, he wasn't calling her that at all. Serafall it was. "But this isn't good. You can't just say it's a gift from me if I don't do anything!"

"Well, maybe you can get Kojima Shinya to sign it?" Tatsumi offered randomly, naming off a famous Japanese chess player.

"That's a great idea Tatsumi-chan! Just wait here I'll be right back!" With strength far in excess of anything Tatsumi thought was possible to pack into such a small body, Serafall ripped the chess board from his hands and then bolted down the street, heading in a seemingly random direction.

"Wait… that's… does she even know where he lives?" What the hell kind of crazy situation did he just find himself in? Was Souna's sister as crazy as she was serious? "How is she even going to convince him to sign it?" His shoulders drooped as he sighed. "I hope she doesn't just run off with it."

Well, he had a little time. He could wait about a half hour and still be able to make it to Sensei's lesson on time. He'd give Serafall that much to come back and then he'd call it a lost cause. For some reason he just had this feeling is was probably better to cut losses than to continue fighting if things went south from here. In the meantime Tatsumi made himself comfortable leaning back against the wall of the shop.

It was about twenty minutes later when Tatsumi felt the ground rumble and a buzzing sound filled the air. He looked up, thinking Serafall was coming back only to realize it was coming from above.

Acting on instinct alone Tatsumi dove forward, narrowly missing a bolt of explosive black energy. The front of the shop detonated, sending bits of flaming board games and figurines soaring across the sidewalk and street.

Tatsumi quickly jumped to his feet and looked up into the air. Hovering above the street with a pair of black wings sprouting from her back was a devil with long black hair. "A devil." He should have known.

"You murdered my brother and now I'm going to kill you!" She snarled as she raised her hands above her head. Black lightning arched between the two, growing stronger and thicker with each jump. Tatsumi cursed and quickly looked for a place to hide where he wouldn't get any bystanders involved. Preferably a place that would force her to land so he could actually deal with her.

Bennia was his solution to airborne devils, but she wasn't here. That was an oversight he needed to look into fixing in the very near future.

"Die!" she screamed in rage and threw the bolt of black lightning at him. Tatsumi cursed and braced himself, there wasn't any place to hide or run!

It never hit.

"What are you trying to do to Tatsumi-chan?" Lowering his arms he stared at Serafall as she stood between him and the devil in the air. The black lightning was held causally in her hands like it was little more than a play thing. With a casual flick of her wrist, Serafall disintegrated the black lightning.

"Why are you helping him!?" the devil raged angrily. There were tears in her eyes as she glared at Tatsumi. He found it hard to care. "He murdered my brother, Cordain Shax! Tore his entrails out and beheaded him!"

"Tatsumi-chan would never do that!" Serafall protested.

He laid a hand on Serafall's shoulder. "No, I did," Tatsumi said as he stepped around in front of Serafall. "This… doesn't concern you. I don't want to involve you in personal business." This was his burden to bear. No one else had to carry it.

"What? You killed her brother?" she asked in disbelief.

"Murdered him in cold blood!" the devil in the sky raged.

Tatsumi went cold, hard. He could feel the heat leaving his body as he glared up at the flying devil. "Right, I suppose that's true considering you're all cold blooded." Tatsumi held his hand out to the side and summoned Murasame to his side. He didn't want to do this in front of Serafall, but if a devil was challenging him he wasn't going to back down. And considering how enraged she was, Tatsumi doubted she'd let him run. "Did you admire his handy work before you came after me?"

"Tatsumi-chan… what's going on?" Serafall asked, backing away, aghast. He idly noticed that the chess board in her hand actually was signed by Kojima Shinya. "Why did you kill him?"

Tatsumi let out a bitter laugh. "I killed him because I was ridding the world of something far worse than a murderer." He pointed Murasame up at the flying devil. "Her brother, has butchered no less than four families today. In the home that I found him he had hung the father from the ceiling by his feet and forced him to watch as he ripped his wife's organs from her body and placed them nice and neatly on the coffee table. Then he ripped the husband in half and left him to bleed out while staring at his dead wife." A twisted smile came to Tatsumi's face. He couldn't stop it, didn't even want to. It felt sooo good to finally talk about it. He wanted to let the entire world know how evil devils were.

"So what if he did?!" The flying devil shouted at Tatsumi, "you're all just human! There are billions of you! Who cares if a few hundred of you disappear?!"

"That's not true!" Serafall shout up at the devil. Suddenly she wasn't staring at him accusingly. "All humans are precious!"

"They are, but devils don't care," Tatsumi said, his voice hollow and dead. Serafall shot him a shocked, even hurt look. "Do you know what her brother did after that? They had two children you know, little girls not even in their teens yet." Tatsumi had no idea what he looked like as Serafall stared at him, her eyes filled with horror. It felt like he was balancing on a razor's edge where a single breeze would be all it takes to send him tumbling into the dark pit below. "He tied the older sister up and hung her from the ceiling, forced her to watch as he cut open her little sister. Powerless to do anything as he ripped out length after length of intestines, nailed them to the desk, and turned them into a flute for him to play on while she writhed in agony." Serafall went rigid with shock. Her eyes begging him to tell her it was all a lie. "It's all true; the little sister was alive through the entire ordeal. Can you imagine what it would be like to be a big sister, helpless as your little sister is tortured before your very eyes for no greater reason that because someone wanted 'entertainment'?"

The earth rumbled angrily as a powerful gust of wind suddenly sent Tatsumi skidding back several steps, followed by another, and another. He dismissed Murasame and quickly grabbed onto a nearby lamppost to prevent himself from flying off. The source of the wind and shaking earth was Serafall. Waves of pure power undulated across her form, whipping her magical girl clothes about and flashing her panties to the world, not that anyone at that particular moment in time would have been courageous enough to look.

The look on Serafall's face could freeze hell itself. That wide eyed, intense look that promised nothing but everlasting anguish to those it gazed upon, and right then her gaze was upon the devil floating above them.

Said devil looked as if she was about to piss herself. "Sera—"

"Who gave you permission to call me by name!?" Serafall roared in a voice like a raging avalanche. "There is nothing more precious in the all the worlds than a little sister!" She raised her hand towards the flying devil. An enormous white-blue multi-layered magical grid erupted around Serafall, and the street, and part of the sky. "As a Magical Girl with a little sister of her own I bring you… DEATH!" From that magical grid a torrent of ice erupted forth. It crackled across the sky, freezing the very air in its passage. The devil barely had time to scream before she was frozen solid. The ice continued up into the air where it erupted and spread out, freezing the atmosphere and creating an enormous dome in the sky that easily encompassed half of Japan.

Serafall snapped her fingers and the entire thing shattered into tiny infinitesimal pieces that drifted down to earth like snowflakes. The devil that had been caught inside it likewise was reduced to pieces too small to even see.

Tatsumi swallowed hard as he stared at the pure raw power still rippling from Souna's older sister. This was more than a little terrifying. Like on the level of his Sensei, type terrifying. If Souna had even a fraction of her big sister's power, buying the chess board for her was definitely a very good idea. He did not want to be on the opposite end of someone that could throw around that much power without effort. The problem was… how was he going to calm her down now that she was all riled up?

Without any options that seemed likely to work, Tatsumi decided to take a risk. With the wind picking up strength he was going to get blown off the lamppost pretty soon anyways. Tatsumi took a deep breath so he could be heard over the howling wind. "There is one thing more precious than a little sister."

"What?!" Serafall rounded on him angrily, her eyes blazing with raw power.

"A big sister," Tatsumi shouted, thinking of Mira.

She froze, her mouth wide to shoot him down. Then she laughed, the power disappearing as if it had never existed. Tatsumi was able to get his feet under him again when the wind disappeared. Serafall did a little twirl and winked at him, a wide smile on her lips. "Well, I wouldn't say they're better but it's a close second for sure!" The smile disappeared and she grew serious. "What… happened to the little sister?"

Those pleading eyes flashed across his mind once more, begging for help, to live and be saved. He had saved her with death. Tatsumi clenched his fists and looked away from Serafall. He didn't want her to see. "Dead… I… she was dying." He choked. Damn it why was his voice cracking? "She was… losing blood at an incredible rate. There's no way help could have gotten to her in time." He lifted his hand, the one that had held Murasame as he killed that little girl. It was shaking uncontrollably. "I put her out of her misery. Ended her pain. It was all I could do." Why was everything so blurry? It was making it hard to see! Damn it, his stupid eyes needed to be checked!

Serafall gently wrapped her hands around his until the shaking stopped. "Tatsumi… I'm sorry."

He collapsed to his knees, tears clouding his vision as a host of emotions crashed down upon him. "Damn it, god damn it… why do I have to kill little girls? She begged me to help her… and I killed her." His voice quivered and broke with each word. "What sort of fucked up world is this? Why am I forced to do these things?"

Tatsumi wanted to kill devils and fallen angels. Smite all the evils of the world that plagued Humanity and used it for their own selfish purposes.

He didn't want to kill little girls…

"Tatsumi…" Her voice was full of compassion and sorrow. She too had seen her share of suffering. He was pulled into her chest and held there as she gently rubbed his back. "There are problems, yes, but I hope that someday we can work them all out. That someday in the near future, we can all stand side by side and laugh and smile together. A world where big sisters can watch their little sisters grow up, get married, and live long, happy lives."

"Hope isn't enough…" Tatsumi cried. "Hope didn't save that little girl. Hope didn't save my big sister. Hope… won't save me."

"I know." She held him tightly. "I know. Someday soon it will be more than hope. But this is… this is all I can do for you right now."

Tatsumi wept as she clung to Serafall, releasing all the pent up stress and emotion. The entire day had just been too much. Family after family, slaughtered without care, without reason, culminating with his own action, the killing of a little girl barely more than a child. He didn't care who saw him cry like a baby. For this one moment, and for the next few moments, he just didn't care about anything.

And for those few, long moments, Serafall simply held and comforted him.

x~X~x

Tatsumi dropped heavily into his chair with a sigh. The day was as nice as it could be. Clear blue skies, a bright sun and a warm breeze. It almost felt like it was mocking Tatsumi. The world still moves on, no matter how shitty your life is. Tatsumi turned away from the window and stared up at the ceiling. It was actually nice to be back to school. Yesterday was one day he wished he could forget.

"Yo, Tatsumi, where were you yesterday?" Ieyasu asked as he got seated next to him. His friend had his homeroom changed suddenly last week and Tatsumi found him at a desk next to him. Souna was most certainly responsible for that. "Were you sick or something?"

"I had… business in town." Tatsumi said carefully. "It couldn't really be avoided."

"You sure you weren't sick man? You sound like death right now."

Tatsumi let out a bitter laugh. "Sort of feel like death too." He sat up and slapped his face twice. He needed to focus, get back into school. He didn't want to be worrying his friends. "I'll be fine. I just need to get over some things."

"Well, I hope you have a proper note," Ieyasu said, laughing. "Souna was most put out by your absence yesterday. She'll probably be calling you to the—"

DING DONG!

"Can Nakimori Tatsumi please present himself at the Student Council room. I repeat, can Nakimori Tatsumi please present himself at the Student Council room."

That was Souna, calling for him through the PA system. She did not sound pleased. Tatsumi shot his friend a harsh look, wondering if he was somehow prophetic. Ieyasu was looking elsewhere, whistling innocently. Bastard.

With a groan Tatsumi pulled himself to his feet and grabbed his duffel bag. "Well, I might as well get this over with."

"You have my condolences, Tatsumi," Ieyasu said solemnly, "I'll be sure to bury your remains out back."

"She's not going to kill me," Tatsumi said and then he remembered her tone of voice. "I hope."

Accepting the well wishes and prayers of his fellow classmates, Tatsumi made his way from the room and through the school to the Student Council room. He had expected Souna to confront him, but not quite so soon. He really hoped the gift would soften her a little. If it didn't, Serafall had provided a little extra insurance in the way of embarrassing baby pictures.

Taking a deep breath Tatsumi knocked on the door.

"You may come in, Tatsumi," Souna's muffled voice came through the door. Tatsumi winced. It was definitely laced with dissatisfaction.

The Student Council Room was large with several windows looking out into the front yard of the school. There were two rows of tables with chairs on one side facing the opposite. At the head of the room was a single, large desk with a number of documents on it. In the far corner was a small table with two chairs and a worn chess board.

Entering the Student Council room Tatsumi found only Souna and the vice-president, Tsubaki, inside. The rest of the student council were probably at class right now. Souna was by her large desk with her back to him while Tsubaki simply stared at him.

"You called for me?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes, I did, how observant. Do you know why?" Souna asked.

"I have some guesses, but I don't want to get in trouble for things you might not know about," Tatsumi said, trying to be glib.

"I see, so there are other things that I should be concerned about." Tatsumi winced, that wasn't quite how he intended her to take that. She turned around, her face impassive as she leveled a stern look on him. "But let's start with the obvious. You were not here yesterday. I called your parents and they said you were not sick. I truly hope you have a… suitable explanation for your absence."

"I had business in town yesterday," Tatsumi said. Dead faces and tortured bodies flashed across his eyes. It was hard to keep a smile on his lips. "I had hoped to be done before school started, but unexpected circumstances caused it to run late. It wasn't something I could put off for another day."

Souna wasn't in her chair anymore. She was slowly making her way over to his side with a frown on her lips. She grabbed his chin and pulled his face close so that their eyes were only inches apart. Tatsumi found himself on the receiving end of the most piercing look ever. "Tatsumi… what happened?" Souna asked. Her voice was softer for some reason.

He closed his eyes and tried to chuckle. It came out a miserable, pitiful thing.

"Complications."

"Open your eyes." He did as she requested. She continued searching his for several minutes before she finally let him go with a disgruntled noise. "You're not going to tell me what happened yesterday, are you?" She asked as she started back for her desk.

"You're better off not knowing," Tatsumi said. It was the truth. She really was. Souna was still innocent, pure. It was best that the darker side of the world wasn't revealed to her yet, or ever for that matter. "But I do have something for you."

"Oh?" She turned around, curious.

"I noticed that the chess board you have here is rather worn out so I picked something up for you while I was in town," Tatsumi said as he rummaged around in his duffel bag. Finding the chess board he offered it to her. "I know it won't absolve me of skipping, but consider it part of my apology for yesterday."

She took the board from him almost reverently. "Why thank you, Tatsumi. I had just mentioned to my onee-sama that I was looking for a new one. I'll have to tell her you got one for me." She turned the board over several times before nodding with approval. "It's a very good board and…" her eyes were drawn to the signature on the side. "You even got his signature?" She turned a bewildered look on him. "How?"

"I actually met your sister in town yesterday," Tatsumi explained, "I bought the board, she got it signed. It's from both of us, to you."

"Really?" Souna asked, sounding overjoyed. Her eyes went wide and an embarrassed flush came to her cheeks. She coughed and cleared her throat roughly, reasserting the calm, stern visage back upon her face. "I appreciate both your gestures. I'm amazed though that you managed to survive my onee-sama unscathed."

"Hehe… unscathed…" Tatsumi murmured, remembering the encounter.

"I stand corrected," Souna said, tucking the board under one arm as she adjusted her glasses. "You have my condolences as well. I know how… difficult my onee-sama can be sometimes, and I suppose that explains the shaking and the snow yesterday." She frowned. "But don't think this gets you off the hook."

"I didn't think it would," Tatsumi assured her.

"Good, then I'll expect you here during lunch," Souna said, sounding rather pleased with herself.

"What?"

"For your punishment of course," Souna said quickly. She rubbed the top of the chess board. "And it is only right that such a gift is properly utilized. We can do both at lunch. I expect to see you here then."

Tatsumi sighed, so much for a peaceful lunch. Right, he didn't get peaceful. "As you wish, Shitori-senpai."

She pushed her glasses up again. "Just Souna, Tatsumi, and you had best remember that unless you wish for additional punishment."

x~X~x

"Man, I still can't believe how lucky you got with the President," Ieyasu said in wonderment. The last bell of the day had rung and the two of them were on their way to the Kendo Club for activities. It was one of the few days they shared. "You two shacking up or something?"

"Wha?" Tatsumi stared at Ieyasu absolutely bewildered. "How in the world did you come to that conclusion? What part of obliterating me in game after game of chess would make you think we sleep together?" It had been nearly a week of that so far and there Souna didn't show any signs of letting him go. Tatsumi honestly believed she intended to keep him there every lunch for the rest of her senior year.

And possibly even after she graduated.

"Well, just saying man," Ieyasu said, shrugging. The two stepped outside and started across the yard towards the club house. "Most people would end up siting seiza style in the Student Council room the entire day and then be forced to take makeup lessons afterwards. You're just forced to play a few games of chess during lunch. That's favoritism if I've ever seen it."

"You're dreaming," Tatsumi said, dismissing his words with a wave of his hand. "Everyone has a different definition of hell. For me it's getting my ass handed to me over and over without being able to do anything in response. She just probably knows that. Besides, seiza isn't a problem for me, or you either. It's how we have to sit during competitions."

"I still think its favoritism. You haven't seen the way her eyes trail after you whenever your back is turned."

Tatsumi had noticed that actually. Even if he didn't see it, he could feel her eyes on him. That was a little unnerving but still no proof of favoritism. He was hiding a lot of secrets and a girl like Souna probably knew that. He was like a puzzle to her, something to figure out. He was exactly the sort of individual she would be interested in, but not in a romantic manner. Probably. Hopefully.

She was shortish and did have a small chest just like Mine and Bennia…

"No, I refuse to accept it!"

"Whatever, man." Ieyasu turned away from him and frowned. "Hey, isn't that Issei and his friends?"

Tatsumi looked up and saw that Ieyasu was right. Issei and his two friends, commonly referred to as the Perverted Trio, were attempting to peek into the girls' change room of the Kendo Club. This was the second time Tatsumi had caught them trying to do this. He had shooed them away the first time with a warning. There wouldn't be another.

"It's our duty to protect our kohai and senpai, is it not?" Tatsumi asked his friend.

"They'd probably be appreciative of our efforts, too," Ieyasu added.

"They might," Tatsumi agreed. The two shared grins and quietly snuck up behind the three. They were so focused on peeking into the women's change room they never noticed them. Tatsumi sucked in a deep breath. "Excuse me Issei, Matsuda, Motohama, but I believe the girls are trying to change!" Tatsumi said in a voice loud enough it was probably heard inside the main school building. It easily made its way into the girl's change room.

There was a bunch of shrieking and thumping coming from the change room. The girls, now aware of the trio, were in motion.

"What are you doing, you idiot!?" Matsuda hissed at him. "You've given us away!"

"Of course we're giving you away," Ieyasu added, his voice also unnecessarily loud. "We're here to stop you from peeking in on our kohai and senpai!"

"Guys, we need to go!" Motohama hissed, "the girls are coming!"

"I warned you last time," Tatsumi said quietly, then louder, "I'm not letting you get away!"

"Dash!" Issei shouted and tried to run. All three of them did. He and Ieyasu however were much quicker. It was child's play to keep the three of them pinned to the wall.

And then it was too late.

"Tatsumi, Ieyasu, thank you." Tatsumi glanced over his shoulder to see a wall of girls glaring past them at the three perverted fools cowering at the base of the wall.

"Just doing our duty," Tatsumi said, smiling.

"It's nothing. A man needs to earn that sight. Stealing it just cheapens it," Ieyasu added. "Besides, Sayo would kill me if I tried looking at another girl."

The girls gave them both smiles, "you two go on ahead. We'll take care of things from here." Fists cracked, shinai were raised, and shoe laces tightened. "We'll make sure they don't try this ever again."

"You're not really going to leave us here, are you?" Issei asked, his face filled with fear and horror at the impending doom coming his way.

"Actually, yes," Tatsumi said. "Bye." He gave Issei and his friends a small wave before he and Ieyasu stepped out of the circle of girls and headed for the club entrance. Behind them howls of pain and screams of terror picked up as the girls delivered righteous feminine fury upon the three hapless perverts.

"I feel good," Ieyasu said, grinning. "You know, that feeling you get when you do your one good deed for the day?"

"It's certainly nice to see someone else suffer for a change," Tatsumi agreed, laughing. As they reached the door Tatsumi noticed that it was unusually busy. "What's going on?"

"You don't remember?" Ieyasu asked. He gave his friend a confused look. "Seriously? You challenged Kiba to a kendo match. Today's the day."

"Oh." Tatsumi had completely forgotten. Things had just been so distracting of late that he'd had his thoughts consumed with other things. It had been scheduled for last week but Tatsumi had missed it. Stopping Cordain Shax's murder spree had taken priority. Souna had covered for him for some reason, citing he was sick, and had it moved to a week later. "Huh, this might be fun." A friendly spar with someone would be a nice change.

"Just don't lose," Ieyasu said. "It'd look really bad if you did."

"You never know what might happen," Tatsumi said. He honestly didn't know much about what Kiba could do, whereas Tatsumi's skill was all on tape and recorded. In terms of preparation, Kiba definitely had the upper hand. It really boiled down to just how good Kiba was at handling a shinai. "But I'm certainly not going to just hand him the victory. If I see an opening, I'm taking it."

"That's good to hear."

It wasn't Ieyasu that said that, but Souna as she approached the two of them from the school building. Vice President, Tsubaki, ever present at her side, was with her as well. Tatsumi's eyes involuntarily dipped to her chest for the briefest of moments before he quickly returned them to her eyes.

Tatsumi cleared his throat. "Not that I mind you watching, Souna, but I have to ask, why?" he said a little too quickly, hoping she hadn't noticed his gaze or distract her if she had. "Bludgeoning me into being a member is one thing, you have something to gain. Watching a friendly spar is different."

"Friendly? Kiba-san has been rather focused on defeating you these past few weeks," Souna said, adjusting her glasses, "he doesn't see it as just a friendly spar."

"There's no real blades and no one has a chance of dying," Tatsumi said dryly, "by my definition, that makes it a friendly spar."

"Be that as it may, there is a reason," Souna said as she walked past him. Tatsumi and Ieyasu shared looks and followed her into the Kendo club. The place was absolutely packed. Girls lined the walls three deep, and there were even a few guys as well. The Kendo Club had front row seats of course, it was their club and their Tatsumi participating. There were a few gaps in the first row due to a dozen or so members being out back beating the crap out of Issei and his friends. The rest of the girls in the dojo were just Kiba's fan girls, Tatsumi recognized some of them. Tatsumi hoped that no one would be too upset by the result. There could be a large scale brawl on their hands if someone took too much offense to the loss of their favorite. "And that reason is this. Good afternoon, Rias."

His attention was drawn to a beautiful girl with pearly skin and deep blue eyes wearing the typical female Kuoh Academy uniform. Her most striking feature was her long, crimson hair so vivid it was almost supernatural. It cascaded down an incredibly buxom figure including what had to be probably the largest pair of breasts at Kuoh Academy. At least the largest if one were to exclude the woman standing next to her. With long black hair, striking violet eyes and a figure that could, and often did, reduce men into drooling husks of flesh, she stood out almost as much as the first girl.

Tatsumi was aware of the two of them, it was impossible to be at Kuoh Academy for any length of time and not be, but he had yet to actually meet the two of them in person. Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima, the two most popular girls at Kuoh Academy and Tatsumi wasn't entirely convinced it was due to their personality. The boys all desired them and the girls all wished to be them. They were beautiful, that was certain, but so was Esdeath and she was the last person Tatsumi desired to be with. Tatsumi learned long ago that a pretty face and a nice body meant little. The personality had to be there first.

In that regard he preferred girls like Bennia or Souna. They wouldn't be winning any beauty pageants, but they didn't need to. Their true value lay within their personalities and their minds.

"Hello Souna, it's good to see you," Rias said as she gave Souna a smile. "Come to watch Kiba win?"

"That's still to be seen, Rias," Souna said. She grabbed Tatsumi by the arm and pulled him up to her side almost possessively. "There is great potential within Tatsumi, far more than you seem to think. I have all the confidence in the world that he will defeat Kiba-san."

Well if that didn't put a lot of pressure on him, not much else would. He glanced over at Ieyasu who simply winked. A sweat drop rolled down the back of Tatsumi's head. He hadn't put much stock into Ieyasu's comments earlier about favoritism, but perhaps he should. Souna wasn't known to be a very clingy person.

"Kiba has watched all the videos and spent the past three weeks practicing with his every spare moment," Rias continued as she gave Tatsumi an appraising look. There wasn't any hostility in that gaze, just curiosity and a hint of interest. "I can't imagine him losing, not when he has… other advantages."

Souna bit out a short laugh. "Trust me, Tatsumi is quick enough on his feet. He doesn't need that advantage to win this battle." She must be referring to the dozen or so times he had turned tail and ran when he'd seen her coming. "And you honestly think three weeks can even remotely compare to the years of practice and competition Tatsumi has been a part of? Well, I suppose you'll just have to see firsthand how much more valuable hard work is over raw talent."

"I get the feeling I'm missing half the conversation," Tatsumi said, looking back and forth between the two popular women. There was tension between the two, but no real sparks. It was a strange feeling.

"Ara, it's always like this," Akeno said, laughing behind her hand, "Souna and Rias are good friends, but also rivals." She tilted her head to the side while staring at Tatsumi with lidded eyes, "although I couldn't really care which of you two win. Watching two boys whack each other with sticks is victory enough for me."

Rias' eye twitched a little but she smiled on anyways. She threw a glance to the main arena before turning that smile on Tatsumi. "Kiba is ready now. You should go change unless you wish to fall ill again like last time."

Tatsumi went cold inside. "Yes, like last time." Rias looked surprised but his sudden change of demeanor. "For Kiba's sake, you had best hope there isn't a repeat of last time."

He pulled his arm out of Souna's grip and headed for the men's change room, leaving them all behind. He could hear Souna berating Rias for her careless words and the other saying she didn't know something had happened.

Tatsumi took a deep, calming breath and modulated his emotions. There wasn't any reason to be upset with Rias. She couldn't have known what happened last week. Even Souna didn't know, but she was observant enough to realize it had left a scar on him. It had all been friendly pre-match banter between friends. The sort of which wouldn't have been too out of place back at Night Raid in the old world.

He entered the change room and slapped his face twice. "Get with it Tatsumi, this is a new world. There may be devils about, but those girls are just innocent high schoolers. No need to get serious with them." Or Kiba for that matter. They'd gotten off on the wrong foot due to the insult, but it was just that, a harmless insult. While Tatsumi was going to do his best to utterly destroy Kiba, there wasn't any reason to hold any animosity. Tatsumi almost felt sorry for the boy in a way. He really had no idea who he was about to face.

He wasn't Tatsumi the former All-Japan Middle School Kendo Champion anymore. That boy had died with his sister. He was Tatsumi of Night Raid and he wasn't going to play with Kiba. He'd test him just long enough to get a feel for where his real skill was along with the source of his confidence, and then he'd crush him.

He quickly got changed and threw on his bogu. Picking up the familiar shinai that had carried him through that Middle School Championship, he left the change room. The din in the hall quieted down as he made his appearance and the girls parted way, giving him a wide path to the floor. When Tatsumi made his way to the starting point, the kaishi-sen, he found Kiba waiting for him at the other.

"I'm glad you didn't decide to run again," Kiba said as he stood at the ready.

"Why would I run?" Tatsumi asked as he did a respectful bow that Kiba mimicked. He held his shinai out and Kiba did the same, the two of them crossing at the tips. At least he was following proper etiquette. That was a point of the boy. "You'll be a good warm up for the rest of the practice." The two of them settled down into a sonkyo, and then quickly stood signalling the start of the match.

Kiba immediately went on the offensive, darting forward with a quick step his shinai shooting in at a blistering rate. Tatusmi scanned Kiba's form, taking in all the tiny minute shifts in posture and form, before quickly parrying the strike and taking a quick step back out of reach. Kiba didn't let up. He came back around, faster than before, the shinai coming down upon Tatsumi's shoulder. Again Tatsumi parried and slipped out of range.

They clashed over and over again, strike, parry, block, lock, and then separation followed by a repeat of the same. Kiba was constantly on the offensive, striking at Tatsumi from every angle he could. Tatsumi stayed on the defensive, collecting all the information he could about Kiba and his abilities. That sort of information was useful, friend or foe. After two minutes of exchange filled with countless attacks, the two finally parted a significant distance.

"Is this all you have?" Kiba taunted good-naturedly. It seemed he wasn't as upset as he had been three weeks ago either. "Or am I just too good for you to be able to mount an attack?"

"No, it's not that at all," Tatsumi said, "I've just been analyzing your ability to get a gauge for where you stood." He grinned at the pretty boy through the facemask. "I'm both impressed in that you seem to have more skill with the shinai than I had thought, but at the same time, I'm not all that impressed by what I've seen in general. Ieyasu could probably best you." He saw Kiba scowl at him. "Kendo is not the sport for you. In fact, if I'm not mistaken you're much more used to a straight flat blade about the length of a shortsword. Two of them in fact. You do well to disguise it but little telltale hints of it are there in the way you move, how you position your feet, twist your body as you go for a strike and, most telling of all, how your left hand at seemingly random intervals almost leaves the hilt of your shinai as if it wishes to strike from a different direction."

His eyes went wide and he heard Rias gasp from the sidelines. He didn't even need to look to know there was a rather satisfied smile on Souna's lips. She'd enjoy that complete deconstruction of Kiba's fighting style after only two minutes of exchange.

The smile came back to Kiba's lips and his eyes filled with excitement. "It seems I may have underestimated you. Still, even if you have figured out my style doesn't mean you can exploit it! I'm just too fast for you."

"Five seconds," Tatsumi said.

"What?"

He had seen enough, it was time to end this. This time it was Tatsumi that shot forward. To his credit Kiba did react instantly, rushing to meet Tatsumi with his shinai upraised to knock his away. It simply wasn't enough. Nearly a decade of Kendo built upon a foundation of skills, techniques, and abilities of two worlds gave Tatsumi all the advantage he needed. At the exact moment the tips of their shinai crossed Tatsumi turned his in to Kiba's, scrapping the tip of his along the edge of Kiba's. Tatsumi twisted his body to the side, sliding his feet across the polished wooden floor instead of the usual steps. With strength far exceeding anything he'd shown so far he threw Kiba's shinai wide to the side, leaving him completely exposed. At that moment Tatsumi hopped and spun, twisting around Kiba faster than the boy could follow, smacking his shinai across the back of Kiba's head and scored a MEN.

"Point for Tatsumi!"

Kiba whirled around, looking shocked and surprised by at how thoroughly he had been overwhelmed. Tatsumi didn't give him time to recover and charged in once more. Kiba's attempt to stop Tatsumi was even weaker this time. He didn't even need to knock the shinai away. His strike was simply that much quicker and before Kiba could even bring the shinai down on Tatsumi, his own had found Kiba's neck for a TSUKI.

"Point and Match for Tatsumi!"

"As I said, five seconds." He gave Kiba a small smile as he made his way back to his starting point. Kiba did the same as well, a look of utter bewilderment on his face. "In a real fight, Kiba, you can't let surprise cause you to stumble or hesitate. You can be surprised afterwards." In a real battle, surprise killed. While this wasn't a real battle, Tatsumi wanted Kiba to realize that fact. "It's also not good to underestimate someone, no matter how rusty or weak they may appear. Sometimes the most dangerous enemies are those that look the weakest."

The two assumed the sonkyo position, before standing and bowing to each other. "I shall remember that Tatsumi. You are much more than you appear as well." Kiba said. "It seems I'm forced to eat my words."

"You've eaten my shinai twice, that's good enough for me," Tatsumi said as he extended his hand in friendship. "You are not without skill. With some real dedication and work you could probably win a few championships yourself."

Kiba smiled as he grabbed his hand and shook it firmly. Tatsumi was quite certain that at least half the dojo squealed at that very moment and the air was filled with thoughts of boy-on-boy action. "Thanks for the words of encouragement, but Rias is my master. I'm part of the Occult Research Club and don't really have time to pick up Kendo alongside my other duties to Buchou. I've already inconvenienced her enough as it is preparing for this match."

"I see, well, if other duties prevent you from taking it up, that's fine," Tatsumi said, smiling. "We all have obligations we can't avoid. Just don't insult my friends or Kendo in the future."

"I won't," Kiba assured him, "if anything I now have a newfound respect for the sport. Take care Tatsumi."

"You too, Kiba."

He watched Kiba for a few seconds as the blonde haired boy made his way over to Rias before turning his back to them. He kept his ears peeled though, straining to pick up the conversation.

"I'm sorry I failed, Buchou," Kiba said.

"It's alright, it was a fine fight. I enjoyed watching it. You handled yourself very well. You were just against a very good opponent." Rias said forgivingly. There was a pause "Are you sure he's not already your knight?" Tatsumi heard her ask.

"No, no he's not," Souna replied, sounding mighty pleased about herself. "Keep chasing after that other boy. I'll keep my gaze on what's in front of me." There was a pause. "I saw him first."

What was that all about? He wasn't able to dwell on it any longer as Ieyasu and the other club members swarmed him. He was bombarded from all directions by questions, vocal admiration, and requests for him to give them some tips.

"Looks like you're more popular than ever with the girls," Ieyasu said, as he tried as best he could to hold back the tide of girl's trying to overwhelm Tatsumi.

"It seems that way."

"But you know, watching you kick Kiba's ass was awesome," Ieyasu said with a wide grin on his mouth. His eye sparkled with amusement. "Then I realized that I have a long way to go if I'm ever to catch up with you."

"At least I don't participate in tournaments anymore," Tatsumi offered. No matter what Souna wanted, he would no longer do that. She could force him to attend club activities as the President of the Student Council, she couldn't force him to attend tournaments and that was one line Tatsumi was drawing in the sand.

"Thank God for small favors," Ieyasu said, laughing.

~o~

A pair of groans rose up from the park bench where Tatsumi and Ieyasu slouched tiredly. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the wind was breezing, and he had several hours where he didn't need to be anywhere at all. It felt good to just sit here and go meh for a bit. Tatsumi didn't have practice with his sensei tonight, it was one of the three days he was encouraged to spend with his friends. Ieyasu, too, had called in sick with his Kendo sensei.

They'd planned on going to the arcade again, but right now neither of them were much in the mood to do anything.

"Why do you two look as if you've just run a marathon?" Sayo asked as she handed the two of them a cool drink from the nearby vending machine. She opened her own drink and sat between the two of them.

"I had my match with Kiba today," Tatsumi said, groaning tiredly again. He pressed the back of his hand against his eyes and grumbled a bit.

"I wish I could have seen that," Sayo said, sounding disappointed. "The Archery club had a special instructor come for today and we all had to be there for it. I heard you won."

"Won and lost." Tatsumi said. "I beat Kiba, that's for sure. But those girls… they just wouldn't leave me alone afterwards. I couldn't get any practicing done."

"I hate you Tatsumi, right now, we're not friends," Ieyasu muttered painfully.

Sayo playfully smacked Ieyasu across the back of the head. "Don't say that!"

"He threw me to those she-wolves!"

Tatsumi let out a tired laugh, "serves you right for laughing at me."

Sayo gave him a disapproving look. "What did you do, Tatsumi?"

"Oh, not much, just told them Ieyasu probably could have beaten Kiba as well." Tatsumi tilted his head and gave his friend a vicious grin. "Misery loves company, Ieyasu."

"Hate!" He snapped back at him. "He's their idol! They ate up his words like they were taken straight from the Bible! I got swarmed over by half the Kendo club!" He let out a whimper. "Oh the nightmare! I don't want to be popular!"

"Partially your fault there! You saved some of those girls from being peeked on my Issei and his friends. I'm sure their desire to spend time with you wasn't all because of my words."

Sayo shook her head back and forth as she let out an exasperated sigh. "You two…" Her head tilted curiously to the side as she stared at something in the distance. "Is that Issei?"

Tatsumi followed her gaze and his jaw all but dropped at the strange sight before him. Issei was actually walking hand-in-hand with a girl! And a beautiful dark-haired one at that! Tatsumi hadn't even known the guy had a girlfriend, let alone someone like that. Did he have something over her? A host of erotic photos as blackmail? No, he wasn't Matsuda so probably not that…

"Since when did Issei get a girlfriend?" Ieyasu asked, sounding just as bewildered as Tatsumi felt. "I don't even have a girlfriend yet! This has got to be wrong on every level that counts!"

"I'm a girl!" Sayo snapped as she smacked him for that comment. "But it is strange. Maybe Issei did something to her? I've heard stories about him and his friends." She shuddered in revulsion leaving no doubt in Tatsumi's mind just what sort of stories she was referring to.

"Maybe it's legitimate?" Tatsumi offered. Someone had to offer up a different point of view, even if no one there actually believed it. From the looks Sayo and Ieyasu gave him, they felt as he did. "Just had to offer that point up."

"I'm worried about that girl, let's go watch," Sayo said as she jumped to her feet, "I want to be there to stop Issei if he tries anything perverted!"

Ieyasu threw him a look and got up as well. "Might as well. I'm honestly curious as to what sort of girl can actually stand Issei's perversion."

"This is bound to be troublesome, but you're right." He also didn't have anything better to do. "But let's do it my way. If it's legitimate and we're seen, that would make us look bad."

"Fine, fine," Sayo said, "just hurry up before they get out of sight."

It was more difficult than Tatsumi thought it would be. Sayo and Ieyasu were not two individuals that had any inclining of what it meant to be stealthy. Then there was the whole issue that the park itself didn't provide any great amount of cover for any extended period of time. Thankfully the two they were tailing seemed to be so absorbed in one another that they never noticed the painful blunders that Ieyasu and Sayo made.

Eventually Issei and his girlfriend stopped by a fountain near the middle of the park. Tatsumi was able to guide his friends unseen to a waist high hedge within earshot that they could crouch behind. The leaves were dense enough to cover them, but sparse enough to still allow them to peek through. Tatsumi settled himself between his two friends and the three of them listened in on the conversation.

"I had lots of fun today," the dark-haired girl said as she skipped towards the fountain. She twirled around and gave Issei a bright smile. That didn't look like someone that was being forced onto a date. He could feel Sayo and Ieyasu shifting uncomfortably on either side. They were probably thinking the same. "Hey Issei-kun… to celebrate our first date, will you do me a favor?"

"Wh-What is this favor?" Issei asked, looking very much like a teenage boy on his very first honest to goodness date. This was starting to make Tatsumi feel uncomfortable.

The girl's face suddenly shifted, becoming cruel and merciless. The alarm bells in Tatsumi's mind started ringing out of control. "Could you die for me?"

Would he die for her or could he die for her? She had said that too quietly for Tatsumi to make it out clearly and his friends were no different. The three of them shared confused looks at the sudden change in demeanor. Suddenly it didn't look like a nice, peaceful ending to a lovely date.

"A-Ah, I'm sorry, Yuuma-chan, but do you think you could repeat that? I think there might be something wrong with my ears…"

The girl, Yuuma, slowly approached Issei until she was close enough to whisper into his ears. None of them heard what she said, but the fear in Issei's eyes was enough. Before Tatsumi could even think of intervening Yuuma jumped back and transformed. Her clothes ripped apart, shearing from her body, revealing her naked form to the world, before black thread started to wrap itself around her, changing her clothes from what once was a nice blouse and miniskirt to an incredibly skimpy, skin-tight dominatrix latex outfit that put most bathing suits to shame.

Tatsumi only half noticed the nudity, his eyes locked instantly upon the pair of black wings sprouting from her back.

A Fallen Angel.

Shit! Tatsumi cursed silently. A fallen angel, here, now? He didn't have any of his tools and Bennia was at home. What's more there was Ieyasu and Sayo to think about. If he stood up, they would be exposed and targeted. Fallen Angels were not opposed to using hostages to get their way. He did the only thing he could. He clamped his hands over Sayo and Ieyasu's mouths and whispered so only they could hear. "Stay quiet. If she hears us she'll kill us."

Sayo and Ieyasu shot him confused and fearful looks but kept quiet. To two perfectly normal and innocent high schoolers, this was going to become the stuff of nightmares.

"Although our time together was short, I did have fun," the fallen angel said as she stared down upon the fearful Issei. She actually sounded genuine to Tatsumi, which was a first. Fallen angels normally didn't care about humans at all. She brought her wrist up and gazed adoringly at the pink cloth wristlet. It looked completely out of place against the black, latex dominatrix outfit she wore. "And this thing you bought for me – I'll treasure it forever. So…" She held her hand out and an ominous red light began to radiate from her palm. A jagged spear made out of pure, red light formed before her.

"Yuuma-chan!" Issei reached out for the fallen angel.

"I need you to die." Yuuma said as she hurled the spear at Issei. It flashed across the distance in the blink of an eye and tore through Issei's stomach with ease, ripping out the other side and embedding itself into the stone pavement behind. It flashed twice before it dissipated, leave Issei kneeling there with a gaping bloody hole in his chest large than a fist.

"I'm sorry," Yuuma said, "Ever since we got intelligence that you were a danger to us I was instructed to destroy you as soon as possible. If you wish to blame someone, blame God for putting that Sacred Gear in you."

Issei collapsed backwards with a wet thump. His friends were in utter shock and tears were streaming down Sayo's cheeks. No matter how much of a pervert Issei may have been, he didn't deserve that.

"Thank you for the memories, I'll always cherish them," Yuuma said before she took off into the sky and disappeared over the tree top.

"What the hell was that!?" Ieyasu hissed at Tatsumi in a barely audible whisper, fear of that fallen angel coming back kept him quiet. His hands and legs trembled uncontrollably even as anger flared in his eyes.

"No… Issei… why? Wasn't this supposed to just be a date?" Sayo whispered as she stared through the bush at the dying boy.

They were understandably shocked and horrified by what they'd just seen. Neither of them may have particularly liked Issei, but he was a schoolmate, someone they'd known, and he'd just been brutally murdered before their very eyes seemingly without reason. Sayo and Ieyasu were still innocent, still truly unaware of the dark depths that lurked just around the corner. They'd just gotten a tiny peek at what was there and it terrified them.

"That was something I'd hoped the two of you could live your lives never knowing existed," Tatsumi whispered quietly. He truly wished they hadn't been forced to see something like this. "I kill those things, that's my job. That's what I do. I assure you, Yuuma will not get away with Issei's murder for long."

"How do you kill something that can fly and fling bolts of light at you?" Ieyasu whispered hurriedly.

"Carefully, and preferably before they're even aware you're there." He shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I'll handle things from here."

"We should call an ambulance," Sayo whispered as she grabbed for her phone. "Maybe Issei can still be saved."

Suddenly a red glow enveloped Issei. "Wait!" Tatsumi hissed, slapped a hand over Sayo's phone before she could dial anything. All three of them turned to the scene playing out before them. There wasn't any need to tell them to stay quiet after what they saw.

A slip of paper flew out of Issei's pocket, the arcane occult design etched across its surface glowing a fierce red color. It stopped in mid-air and expanded, ripping apart until a large, magical grid hovered in midair. Tatsumi didn't recognize any of the runes on it, but he recognized the style.

It was the same type of magic that devils used.

The runic grid slowly fell to earth, tracing the outlines of a buxom figure. Sayo gasped and Ieyasu gaped as Rias Gremory, the most popular and beautiful girl at Kuoh Academy, made an appearance. Tatsumi felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach and he could only stare on grimly as someone he, sort of, knew revealed herself to be a devil. There were devils at school and they'd been there the whole time. Kuoh Academy just became enemy territory.

Souna couldn't be told of this. It would devastate her if she knew her best friend was a demonic entity that thrived on the suffering of humans and that was if Tatsumi could even convince her in the first place.

"So it is you, the one who called me." That voice dispelled any doubt at who that might be. She turned to face Issei, a little smile on her face. "Yes, I was right to watch you. You are special. Since you're going to die anyways, I will take you in." A pair of black wings erupted from her back, confirming her heritage. "Your life is mine. Live for my sake." Still smiling another circle of runes erupted from around Rias, encompassing Issei within its borders. The two sunk into it and disappeared.

"Dude, I am so confused my brain is about to just pack it in and go home," Ieyasu said, gaping at the now deserted scene before them. The only indication that anything had happened was a pool of blood and cracked flagstones.

Sayo grabbed Tatsumi by his lapels and shook him roughly. "That was Rias-senpai wasn't it! Wasn't it?"

"It was," Tatsumi said. That voice, that appearance… both were far too distinctive for it to be confused for anyone else.

Sayo shook him roughly. "Why would she care about Issei? How did she get here? What was that light? Why does she have wings?"

Tatsumi knew the answer to all those questions, but he didn't know what to say. "It's probably best if both of you just forgot everything you just saw."

"Not happening man, naked tits aside this shit is just too crazy for me to forget!" Ieyasu said. Sayo was rapidly nodding her head in agreement.

Tatsumi squared his jaw and fought to keep back the distaste from his expression. He didn't want his friends to know, to be dragged into this but they weren't going to let him go without some sort of explanation. That much was unchanged from the old world, at least.

"The short of the long is this. Fallen Angels and Devils are real. They prey on humans for a variety of reasons, but always selfish ones. Yuuma was a Fallen Angel. Don't ask me why she killed Issei, I don't know either." It was probably because of the Sacred Gear but Tatsumi didn't even know how he'd go about explaining that to them, he didn't even know what Sacred Gears were. "Rias-senpai, it seems, is a Devil." Tatsumi scowled at the spot where she disappeared. "Issei will be back at school tomorrow all alive and well. Rias will bring him back from the dead as a devil, a slave to her whims for the rest of eternity."

Sayo's face scrunched up in disgust. "Eww, why would Rias-senpai want someone like that?" Tatsumi blinked. That was actually a very good point. Whatever that 'Sacred Gear' was, it had to be something utterly amazing or putting up with Issei simply wouldn't be worth it.

"Fallen Angels… Devils… ugh… what'd you drag me into this time Tatsumi?" Ieyasu complained.

"Hey! You're the one that wanted the explanation and it wasn't my idea to come over here!" Tatsumi shot back. "I just got us here unseen so that Fallen Angel didn't murder us!" He blew out a heavy sigh and forced his surging emotions down, there wasn't any reason to get upset at his friends. They were actually handling this better than he thought they would. Most people would be hysterical by now. He gave his two friends a soft look. "Guys, just go home. Don't worry about Yuuma. I'll take care of her." He glanced over to the pool of blood. "And it may be best not to mention any of this at school."

"Do you honestly think anyone would believe me?" Ieyasu asked archly. "Rias-senpai is the most popular girl at school. Not only would no one believe me, but a single word from her would completely destroy my high school life."

There was that too.

"Yes, home seems like a really good idea right now, sleep too," Sayo said quietly. She peered over at Ieyasu "Ieyasu…"

"I know, I know," he said as he slowly got to his feet. Brushing off his knees and held his hand out for Sayo. "Come on, let's go." He gave Tatsumi a hopeful look. "You'll really take care of her?"

"I will," Tatsumi promised.

"That's a relief, I'll sleep better knowing a fallen angel isn't going to show up and murder me while I sleep," Ieyasu said. The two of them gave him a wave farewell before they started off towards their houses.

Tatsumi did the same, heading in the opposite direction. There was much to think about here. Rias Gremory was a devil. That made things complicated. Akeno Himejima was always at her side, and Kiba had called her master. Were both of them devils as well? Individuals that Rias had reincarnated in the past? Quite possibly, and with Issei that made at least four.

Kuoh Academy was a veritable nest.

Tatsumi hadn't even noticed that they were devils. All of them had looked and acted exactly like regular high school students.

He scowled and kicked a rock across the street as he left the park and headed up the street to his home. "That's probably what it is." There was only one reason that Tatsumi could think of for Rias to be acting like a regular high school girl. It was infiltration. The devils Tatsumi had been killing to now were basically visiting. Here for a short stay to acquire or do something, and then gone. Rias was probably here for the long haul. If she had collected Akeno and Kiba while here, then maybe she's doing now what Gregorious had already done.

Infiltrate human society to build up enough slaves for this 'Rating Game' of theirs, and then make periodic stops later on to fill in the gaps or replace those that aren't performing as they should. Cherry picking the best that humanity had to offer to elevate themselves amongst their own kind. Letting humans die or outright killing them and then denying them the peace of death just to empower themselves.

"…I was right to watch you. You are special."

Issei's death didn't matter anymore. This was much bigger than just him. Tatsumi would have to move carefully. Like that time he'd been part of the Jaegers. He'd keep acting as he had. Hide his true feelings and affiliation. Learn as much as he could about Rias and her slaves and then make a plan to eliminate her and those she's reincarnated.

After all, they were better off dead than having their minds twisted by Rias.

---

Author's Note: The primary DxD story line has now commenced! Let me know what you think in a review.

Note on Issei's date with Yuuma: I know Issei has his date with Raynare on a Sunday. I changed it for my story. Instead of being an all-day thing, it became an afternoon/evening date.

Note on Pacing: Three Chapters to start the actual story. I know, I know, but there was some foundation work I needed to put in place first. It's there now. It's time for Tatsumi to start messing with the DxD timeline!

Note on Tatsumi's Feelings on Rias: I hope this isn't needed, but I'm sure some will need this clarification. You need to realize Tatsumi is someone who has never met a 'kind' Devil (he doesn't know Sona and Serafall are devils). Gregorious was his first, and every one after that were like the one killed this chapter. He's been exposed to the absolute worst that Devil Society has to offer continuously for three years. Right now, at this particular moment of the story, he has no reason to suspect they're even capable of kindness, compassion, selflessness, or charity.