Chapter 4

"In a world where we're allowed to search for the meaning of our lives,

isn't it a bit too early to say goodbye?"

"Are you still nervous about your surgery?"

A young man was speaking through his cellphone, in his other hand was a small bouquet of blue roses.

"Of course! They're operating on my eyes, you know?"

Came the reply from the other side of the line, the voice belonged to a young woman

"But,after I recover...

... I'll finally be able to see Kazuya's face again, right?"

A gentle smile plattered on the face of the young man as he nodded

"...That's right"

"Hehe,

okay, I gotta go now."

The light changed, signalling that it was okay to cross the street. The young man absently took a step forward

"Ah, take care. See you later."

With that, the line went dead.

And that moment, a large truck came forward with a very fast speed despite the red light.

And all the young man could do was look at the incoming truck before his world turned red

*Timeskip, the next day, afternoon*

"Kashitarou-san, you're fired."

Well, that wasn't what he had expected to hear when he went to one of his workplaces, which was a fastfood restaurant. Nonetheless...

"Is it okay for me to know the reason why I am fired, Ukitsu-san?" he asked with a neutral tone

"Due to the financial problem, we need to downsize the number of personnels. I'm sorry."

Yeah, right. And Toyotomi Hideyoshi's nickname was Roba, not Kozaru (1) , he couldn't help but snort in his mind. His manager's voice showed him that he felt anything but sorry. Anyway...

"This is the payment for this half-a-month." An envelop was given to him as he nimbly took it. It seemed the manager was hoping he would go away as fast as he could.

Giving a nod, he turned toward the exit. But before he could do that, a rather... amusing scene caught his attention.

"Auuuu... What should I order?"

In front of the register, Asia Argento was standing with a confused expression as she muttered aloud to herself in Italian while the employee was also confused by what the blond nun said. The Earth was really small, wasn't it?

"Umm... what would you like to order?" came the question in English from the employee. If this continued, he wondered how long it would take until this situation was solved.

Oh well, he probably should help her.

"What would you like to order, Asia-san?"tapping the shoulder of the employee, he signaled him to stepped back as he stepped forward and asked her in Italian

"Eh? Yodaka-san?"the surprise could be heard clearly in her tone "Wha-what are you doing here?"

"This was one of my workplaces"he shrugged casually "Anyway, what would you like to order, Asia-san?"

"Auuu... I haven't eaten anything like this"now he could hear the distress in her tone befoe she said in a rather forced proud tone "Don't worry Yodaka-san. I can manage this!"

Five minutes later...

"Auuu... I can't buy a burger by myself" now the blond nun had an invisible dark cloud floating above her head as both her and him now sat opposite each other in a small table, her meal now was in front of her. The distress in her tone had increased tenfold. "I'm so ashamed."

After waiting and the blond nun hadn't been able to choose what she wanted, he had decided to choose order for her and brought it to a table that had a nice view of the street. Though the looked of other males in the restaurant toward Asia's and his direction made him a little bit uneasy but he just shrugged it off. And for the young nun, after finally getting out of her distressed, Asia decided to pray before taking a very close look at the burger in front of her instead of eating eat.

A funny thought decided to pop up in his mind. Did she khow how to eat it?

Nah, of course she would know, right? If him, a person who had never eaten a burger or french fries knew how to eat it, then she would...

"Ummm, Yodaka-san?... How should I eat this?" asked Asia timidly

... Seriously? What next? She didn't know how to eat french fries?

"Ummm, and... should I eat this by hand or by fork?" asked Asia in embarassment as she indicated the french fries

... It was a lie right? It was a lie to make her look like a shy, innocent and socializing inexperienced girl, right? But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't see or feel any signs proved that she was lying. This girl must be an exceptional actress or a girl had no common sense!

Either way... Oh dear, he could feel a headache was coming close. With a sigh, he shook his head, he reached toward her tray

"You eat the burger by taking off the wrap first like this..."

"So that's how to eat a burger!? Amazing!"

He didn't even finish his sentence. And that reaction was a little too much, wasn't it?.

"... And you can use hand to eat. You can also eat the fries by using hands, too."

"Oh my God!"

This was going to be very troublesome.

"This burger is so delicious!" squealed Asia happily as her eyes shining before she suddenly stopped "Umm Yodaka-san, is it okay for me to ask something?"

He nodded with a thin smile. Until now, the nun seemed innocent but he still had to be on guard.

"Why don't you eat, too?" asked Asia as she tilted her head

Ah, that question.

"I'm not hungry." he lied. The money to have one meal in this place was enough for him to eat in a whole day. Having a meal here was even harder than having another instant curry meal. Flexing his shoulders a little bit, he changed the subject "You have never eaten burger before?"

"I have seen it on televsion, but this is my first time eating this!" nodded Asia happily after she finished her burger "It's so delicious! Thank God for give me a chance to enjoy it!"

If it wasn't for him being cautious, he would find the way she react would be amusing.

"Normally, I usually eat bread and soup. I also eat salad and pasta." Continued the blond nun "To have a chance like this is truly God's bless!"

Such luxury food, he let out an unnoticeable sigh. He wondered when he would have a chance to have a taste of those food. That aside...

"What are you doing outside the church?" he asked half-heartedly

"AH! ... I-I am just having t-time off!" said the blond nun a little too loud

Liar. If the sadness in her eyes was genuine, she was doing anything but having time off. Was she truly a bad liar or it was just a guise?

Damn, he really became paranoid, he mentally admitted. And his paranoid was bugging the hell out of him! Though he knew a way for him to check whether she was acting or not, there was one problem...

"Asia, do you want to hangout with me for a while?"

"Huh?" Asia seemed taken back by his sudden question

... he hoped his budget could endure it in the near future and his stomach could endure in a little farther future.

Meh, he would survive. With an empty stomach for some time.

*Short timeskip*

"Ah, we played a lot today...I'm a bit tired but it was so fun. I'm really happy!" squealed Asia as she hugged the mouse-liked plushy they had won in the crane game machine. Both of them now sat on a bench in the park, watching the sunset in a quite peacful atmosphere.

The scene would have been perfect if it hadn't been for the perverted devil who had been tailing him since he let Asia to a arcade center. Now he could understand how the girls could easily catch him and his friends peeping. The pervert was literally sucked at secretly tailing other people! He couldn't help but wondered whether Asia noticed the pervert or not.

As for him, he was happy too. With great effort, the 'hangout' didn't cause any severe dent on his budget. His stomach would be feeded in a little farther future!

Aside from that, he had accomplished his main goal through conversation and observation during their 'hangout'. While he didn't know about Asia's allegiance, he could at least confirm that she was honest and truthworthy.

Of course, that didn't mean he could let his guard down

"How was your life in a church back then, Asia-san?" he asked neutrally.

A tear rolled on her cheek before more and more started faliing. And it was the start of a story about a 'Holy Maiden'

In a certain region in Europe, there was a girl who was discarded by her parents. She was raised in a church nearby by a nun along with other orphans. The girl, who was a strong follower of the Church, discovered her special power at the age of 8. She healed a wounded puppy, and a person from the Catholic Church witnessed it by chance. From there on, her life changed. The girl was taken to the main Catholic Church and she was symbolized by many as a 'Holy Maiden' because of her healing power. She used her power to heal many believers. They were told it was a power of divine protection. Rumors brought rumors and she was respected as a 'Holy Maiden' even without her approval. She had no dissatisfaction's for how she was treated. People from the Church were kind and she didn't hate healing people. She instead was happy that her power was of use. The girl was thankful to God who had given her that power.

But she was a bit lonely. She didn't have any friends she could talk to. Everyone treated her nicely and was nice to her. But there were no one willing to become her friend. She understood why. She knew that they were looking at her as something irregular. They didn't look at her as a human but as a creature that could heal humans.

And one day, everything changed. By coincidence, there was an injured Devil nearby, and she healed it. She thought that even if it was a Devil, she had to heal it if it was injured. It was her kindness that made her take such an action. But that changed her life forever. One of the people from the Church saw that incident and notified others of the Church. The higher ups of the Church were shocked about it.

In a blink of eyes, the respected 'Holy Maiden' now was deemed as a heretic, a 'witch', a blasmephy. After she was kicked out of the church, she was picked up by a group of "Exiled Exorcists" and taken under their wings in exchange for her divine protection.

"It's because I didn't pray enough... See? It's because I'm clumsy. I'm so stupid that I can't even eat a burger by myself." Asia wiped her tears while laughing to herself while he just kept silent. In a brief second, he suddenly had an intent to reveal about the truth about God but he decided to shut his mouth.

"This is also a trial that God gave me. Since I'm a clumsy nun, God gave me this trial so I have to endure it." The laugh of the former blond nun became more and more broken as she seemed like she was talking to herself instead of him. Despite that, he could sense a very strong faith in the Bible God in Asia. That was quite a feat given she was kicked out of the church.

" I have a dream, Yodaka-san. I will make lots of friends one day. I want to go buy flowers with a friend...and also go buy books and...talk..."

The blond nun slowly trailed of before more tears falling. He couldn't detect any sigh showing that the girl was lying. While he wasn't good at comforting people, perhaps he could try

"And you have already started achieved your dreams."

"Huh?" this seemed catch Asia by surprise

" We played, we laughed, we talked together for the whole day, didn't we? Then we are friends." He said casually as Asia's eyes widen.

To be honest, he still had a little doubt about this girl but he decided to give her a chance.

After all, except truth, what would he lose anyway?

".. But Yodaka-san... I have no common sense." Sadness laced in her voice as her hand was put on her mouth while she continued to cry

"You have already started learning by watching and observing things around you, haven't you?"

"...I can't speak Japanese and I don't know Japanese culture..."

"You can learn. With enough time and practice, you'll eventually be a natural"

"...I don't even know what to talk about..." This earned a snort from him, this girl was even more pessimistic than him

"You talked to me normally for a whole day. That's a start. You'll just have to keep going from there."

"…You will be my friend, Yodaka-san…?" for the first time, he saw hope in her eyes as he gave her a flat look.

"OUCH!" Asia held her forehead, courtesy of his flick.

"We are already friend, Asia-san." He patted her head lightly "I'll be in your care from now on Asia"

Suddenly, a rather cold mocking voice caught him by surprise.

"What a heart warming scene. Too bad it's going to end."

A Fallen Angel slowly descended from the air, her black wings spreaded out in a rather showoff manner. Cursing in his mind, he switched to his Time Vision and he could see aside from Issei's presence, there were several incoming red human presence, probably exorcists, coming this way.

What a sticky situation he got himself into.

(Chapter end)

(1) Roba (ロバ) meaned donkey. Toyotomi Hideyoshi had been given the nickname Kozaru, meaning "little monkey", from his lord Oda Nobunaga because his facial features and skinny form resembled that of a monkey.

Author's note: I decided to cut this chapter into two parts in order to write it more easier, hence the cliffhanger. Thank you for reading. And please, read and review!