Chivalry of a Hollow Cryo Dragon Devil Knight

by Gaevontracey24

Ayato Kurozakuro Sparda will enter the world of Devils and learn more about himself as Rias Gremory's Pawn & Stella Vermillion Gremory Phenex's Queen , along with his mysterious family past which allows him to wield a legendary demonic sword... and he's the next Red Dragon Emperor. Harem with Stella,Rias and Mio being the main girls.

2. Chapter 2

"" - Talking

'' - Thinking

Chapter 2

…

** At a Playground **

Akeno frowned slightly as she sat on a swing set in a playground not far from Sylvia Park that's currently under repair. It was only a few hours after Ayato was taken back to his dorm room, but she was still in shock about what happened earlier.

Ayato was part Fallen Angel, and had 8 wings, along with 10 Devil wings, and she could've sworn that he's extremely powerful, and for some reason, he defeated Stella from the mock battle. And that's the same person who's also a member of the Hero Clan. That confused her to no end.

But believe it or not, that was not her major concern right now. What was, however, was the information that her familiar had picked up; there was one person in their school that has the aura of a Demon, and another that's a representative of the Hero Clan, and she happens to be in the same class as Mio's.

Not only that, there was one more person that her familiar mentioned, and that was someone she had not seen in a very long time; someone she dreaded meeting since that tragic day a long time ago.

And that person was last seen at the old abandoned church with the other Fallen Angels, meaning that she is one too, and Akeno knows it, and at this point, she truly didn't know what she was going to do. When her mother, Shuri Himejima, passed away and she had run away, she wasn't alone at that time.

Rias had found her and her two sisters, Akame and Kurome.

Akame was the oldest of the 3, and she wanted nothing to do with the Devil that had found them, while Kurome was the youngest of the 3, and followed Akame, while Akeno still held a deep hatred for what she was and her Father, so she chose to become a Devil, and she had never seen her sisters since.

She had no idea what happened to either Akame or Kurome, and right now, they could very well be enemies with one another if Akame was working with the other Fallen Angels at the abandoned church.

Which begs the question….Which side is Ayato on? The Devils? The Fallen Angels? Or the Heroes?

'I need to let them know….let's just hope they don't kill him or Mio….' Akeno thought to herself as she rose to her feet before using magic to form a red summoning circle beneath her feet to return to the Old School Building that's home of the Occult Research Club.

** At the Old School Building **

(10 minutes later)

Rias sat at her desk with her head in her hands, still absorbing what had happened earlier tonight. Ayato has managed to not only consume her 8 Pawn Pieces, as well as Stella's Knight piece, and Mio's Queen piece, but they were transformed into Mutated Pieces, and those pieces reacted to his body, without ever chanting the official spell, which has never happened before. Not to mention that he was an extremely powerful individual, who could be as strong as her brother, if not, stronger than him.

But the problem is, he's also serving under Stella and Mio as well, meaning that there could be an unfortunate disadvantage for this family in terms of favoritism in the upcoming Rating Games.

However, when Akeno had told her the information she had gathered so far, she was really cross at herself, not only for letting Fallen Angels into the territory of her and her relatives, but also Demons and even the Hero Clan members as well.

It's one thing that she allowed their presence as she or the others didn't wish to start a conflict between them that would undoubtedly result in a war, but now, they were all targeting their potential peerage members, and also Mio as she's the Future Demon Lord, trampling over their territory like they owned it.

It was something that she could not forgive; would not forgive.

However, she was still puzzled by one fact.

Ayato somehow managed to Kill Off a Fallen Angel with unknown powers, and without a Sacred Gear. Sona and Rias could detect the presence of Sacred Gears through magic and they have confidence in determining them by hindsight. Yet, despite that, they didn't know what kind of power he just unleashed.

They placed assumptions on the possibility of it being some random ability that he possessed through a bloodline, but the last name of Kurozakura sounds awfully familiar to them. What they did know was that he possessed something similar to a Sacred Gear and/or a Device, although, it was unknown to them at the moment, but that will soon change.

They could not make conclusions on the spot and after what had happened, she was glad he was on their side…for the moment, at least.

If the other Devils caught wind of this, they would immediately try to force their way in trading him into their peerage without a second thought. After all, power was everything to most of the Devils, the Fallen Angels, and the Demons, and that boy, along with Mio, were the perfect criteria to their desires that would otherwise lead to a HUGE mess if they happen to come across this incident. The good news is that Mio is off the table, and for obvious reasons.

But the bad news is that while Ayato is with the Gremory Clan, they will do anything they can to get him to their side. Any form of negotiation from the boy's end would be simply thrown out of the window. That's how power-hungry most of them were.

And they thought that the Devil society in the Underworld had changed over the past century, especially after the war with Mundus.

"Are Mio and Ayato accounted for?" Rias questioned as she raised her head. Akeno nodded from where she stood on the opposite side of the desk.

"Yes. Emile and the Director took him back to his dorm room," Akeno told her. "She said that she's going to explain everything to us about Ayato . Sona and Tsubaki will be here, too, knowing that one of her members is actually Ayato's childhood friend."

"Well, that's good, to say the least," Rias sighed in relief. "The last thing I want right now is to have either those Fallen Angels or those Demons sink their claws into Ayato,which I want him here also, since he's already an ally."

"If the Fallen Angels know that Ayato is also part Fallen, will they make their move sooner than expected?" Akeno questioned, causing Rias to frown. She knows that Ayato can fight, but she knows that there's something much more going on around here, and a good clue of that is already having a member of the Hero Clan in the same class as Mio, which raises a lot of concerns by itself. There were too many situations going on at once that alluded her.

"I don't know yet," Rias stated, making Akeno frown. "However, we're going to hopefully get a lot of answers when they come here."

Then she noticed her Queen's discomfort.

"Is there something wrong, Akeno?" Rias asked. "Is there something about Ayato that you find distasteful?"

"No Buchou, of course not," Akeno replied, shaking her head. "From what Lady Stella told us,Ayato is a great swordsman, and is quite cute, but knowing that he's part Fallen, there's…something….I'm concerned about,but I don't know. And speaking of concerns,there's one thing that may be rather unnerving for you to hear."

"You left something out?" Rias asked with wide eyes as her Queen nodded. "What is it?"

"There's an additional Fallen Angel that's now at the abandoned church," Akeno spoke softly as she closed her eyes, knowing that this was going to be difficult to come to terms with. Her breath was also slightly shaky, making Rias frown. "I believe that Fallen Angel….is my oldest sister, Akame."

Rias was speechless as Akeno raised her head. Rias had met Akame and Kurome once before when she was a young girl and also met Akeno for the first time. She had come across the three half-Fallen Angels and asked all three to join her peerage.

Akeno was the only one to agree, while Kurome had followed after Akame and left with her oldest sister. No word had been heard from either since. If those two had joined Grigori, the territory of the Fallen Angels, then they were one of the Devil's sworn enemies.

"Akeno….I'm so sorry," Rias apologized as she rose from her desk, walked around it and placed her hands on Akeno's shoulders. "It's been such a long time since you saw either of your sisters."

Akeno lowered her gaze as Rias pulled her into a hug with Akeno returning the embrace as Rias soothed her. Rias, Stella and Mio were the only ones to see this side of Akeno Himejima, the only ones knowing how emotionally fragile she really was.

"You don't have to worry Rias, I'll stand with you, Mio and Stella," Akeno whispered softly as she pulled back from Rias' embrace. "If they're with the Grigori, then they're just like Baraqiel, my enemy."

Rias frowned slightly as she remembered how broken all three had been when she had first laid her eyes on them, if it hadn't been for Akame protecting them with a strange cursed blade, she had no doubt that the Himejima Clan would have eliminated the three half-Fallen Angels.

But even back then, Akame, being the oldest sibling, had just been a young girl, holding a blade much too powerful for her to wield. Akeno and Kurome had watched their clan's members assault and try to kill them while Akame had retaliated before Rias and her father's Bishop, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, arrived.

"I'll speak with Kiba and get him to return with Ayato and Emile tomorrow, and I'll let Sona know about the situation as well," Rias stated. "That Fallen Angel might've survived and could be informing her other accomplices of her discovery at this moment. It's only a matter of time before they could strike again. We should keep our guard on him without raising suspicion, just in case. In the meantime, take some time to think things through, Akeno. You haven't seen your sisters in 7 years."

Akeno frowned, but nodded, always able to take the helpful advice of her oldest friend. There was still so much she didn't know about the situation after all.

Rias frowned as she watched Akeno sit on the couch with a view of the window, drawing a knee up to her chest, which she hugged, resting her cheek on it. Rias didn't want Akeno to have to face off against her sisters, ever. The same can be said for her Rook, Koneko Toujou, who's almost the same as Akeno's, as she too, has two other sisters.

The Gremory House cherished family and Akeno's and Koneko's were both in a difficult situation. While Koneko's true family were with her two older sisters, Leone and Kuroka, who were SS-class criminals, Akeno's true family were with Akame and Kurome.

Akeno frowned, feeling the sting of tears at the corners of her eyes at the thought of facing her older sister, as she was the last person Akeno suspected that she would cross here, of all places. She had almost deluded herself into a false happiness, but now as reality was crashing around her, pain was erupting within her.

Right now as Rias contacted the others via magic circle, memories were flooding through Akeno's mind. Both happy and painful memories. One memory clung onto her; it was how different Akame had been after their mother Shuri had died. In their entire time travelling together across the country, not once did Akame smile after their mother's death.

What Akeno doesn't know, but will know soon, was that Ayato was even worse off than her, and his past will surely surprise her, and in more ways than one.

Oh, and what she and the Gremory girls also don't know, was that the Himejima Clan….is already on the verge of extinction, as Akeno, Kurome, Akame, and one other member were the only ones left…

** Near the Abandoned Church **

Akame just sighed to herself as she saw Malty after a failed attempt to kill Ayato and being killed by him, too.

She had a series of constant headaches nowadays every time the name of Ayato was mentioned, and sudden flashes of memories that had entered her mind forced her to walk out of the church to get some fresh air and try to figure things out.

However, another ominous presence was felt around her area, as Akame stood up and immediately knew who it was.

"Show yourself….Kalawarner," Akame ordered as a woman emerged from one of the trees. The tall and buxom woman, Kalawarner, has long, navy blue hair that obscures her right brown eye. Her attire consisted of a violet, trench coat like top with a wide collar, a matching miniskirt, and black heeled shoes. The trench coat top was open at her chest, giving view to her breasts and cleavage. She also wore a gold necklace around her neck.

"What took you so long, Akame?" Kalawarner asked with a smirk. "Did you have some fun before coming here?"

Unfortunately, Akame didn't react to the obvious suggestive notion she was expressing, which made Kalawarner sigh in annoyance.

"Always such a stick-in-the-mud, and here, I thought you'd actually show us something other than a stoic nature for once."

"What do you want, Kalawarner?" Akame questioned. Kalawarner simply looked back at the church, making Akame's eyes narrow. "Why are you here?"

"Listen. The nun will arrive in a few days time and Malty wants to make her move against the wielder of the Sacred Gear sooner than we originally planned," Kalawarner answered as they had been given strict instructions to observer Ayato Kurozakuro Sparda, nothing else was permitted. Now Malty had the idea in her head that if one of her minions Ayato that the lead members of the Grigori were so interested in, she and the others could move up the ranks.

Their fallback plan was the Nun, taking her Sacred Gear that's said to heal any injuries and they would no longer need the Grigori to support them, they would be able to go out on their own…for Malty, Raynare and her 2 sisters, that is.

Which didn't leave much room for the others in the group; they were simply being dragged along into Malty and Raynare's scheme. However, now that Kalawarner knows that Ayato almost defeated Raynare, perhaps Malty brought Akame and a few other Fallen Angels to try and stop him, but Kalawarner has a lot of doubts about Akame, and for good reason.

"I no longer have an interest in why we were sent here," Akame stated, surprising Kalawarner, as she was never one to defy orders, let alone fully giving them up. "Return to the others. I don't care what you tell them, but I am no longer a member of the Grigori."

Kalawarner's eyes widened even more at the sudden declaration.

"This is not like you, Akame," Kalawarner spoke as she frowned slightly at her friend giving up her position among the Fallen Angels. "You're more rational than this. You really think that…boy…can protect you from the Devils, Angels and even Demons that will hunt you? Grigori will hunt you down, no matter if you are the first daughter of Baraqiel."

"What you plan on doing is basically a death sentence for all of you. Malty may receive Mio's powers while Raynare or one of her two sisters, Reynelle or Raynella, may receive Twilight Healing, but you, Dohnaseek, Mittelt, or even Abazeth, are all nothing but tools in Malty and Raynare's scheme to gain more power," Akame spoke as she gritted her teeth with memories of her time spent with her fellow Fallen passing through her mind.

"The Devils are in this territory, along with the Future Demon Lord, who's the daughter of one of the Great Satans. So do you really think that they will continue to turn a blind eye to everything you're doing here?"

"A few Devils are nothing to us!" Kalawarner growled, disliking the thought of even being considered to be on the same level as a Devil, let alone a Demon.

"Lucifer's sister is the Ruin Princess of Destruction, while his daughter is the Future Demon Lord, and actually has the bloodline of Lucifer in her veins, among some others, and his niece is part of the Phenex family, giving her the title of The Crimson Flaming Princess. So again, do you really think that he would remain quiet if any of us harmed any one of them, especially his daughter? This plan has too many holes, and you're going to wind up dead, Kalawarner," the busty Fallen scowled as her hands clenched her fists.

"Abandon this stupid façade and contact Azazel and inform him of what Raynare and Malty are doing before it's too late."

"And what of you?" Kalawarner asked. "Are you actually to defend that boy, in the hopes that he can protect you forever?"

"I don't need protection," Akame answered. "I'll fight beside him, even if I have to fight against the Devils myself…and that includes my sister."

Kalawarner frowned at that and simply replied, "I will inform Azazel of your defection. Your Father will be ashamed of you."

"All I need for Family….is Night Raid," Akame stated, confusing her fellow Fallen. "Now go before it's too late."

Without so much of a goodbye, Kalawarner spread her wings and flew into the sky. Akame sighed before spreading her own pair of jet black wings before flying away from the church in a separate direction.

** Inside A Train **

The sun was already rising up, signaling the start of a brand new day. As everyone prepared for their day, a train was coming into town.

Inside one of the cars is the youngest child and daughter of the Head of the Kurogane Household, Shizuku Kurogane. Shizuku is a petite young woman of a much smaller stature even for her age often referred to as a lolita, and being shorter compared to Koneko who is the same age. She has short silver hair with several bangs covering her entire forehead, the middle portion of it coming close to her nose and jade-green eyes. She holds her hair together with a black headband that has pink flowers on both sides of it.

Right now, she's on her way to Hagun Academy with a heavy heart, and the reason why is because she just walked away from an abandoned cemetery after giving a short prayer to two special people.

Those two special people were her brother, Ikki Kurogane, and his best friend, Basara Toujou.

They died 5 years ago during the incident with the Hero Clan, and Ayato was responsible for their deaths, but she knew that he did it not out of spite, and certainly not out of hatred. It was to prevent them from becoming Hollows and being cursed.

'One day, I realized it: The cruel reality which lies dormant within the peaceful world,' Shizuku thought to herself. 'The pain of the person I've always loved.

'My father and mother, everyone in that house, and even everyone at the other house…they don't love that person…or their own son, for that matter. Far from it.

'They don't object to tormenting him even more. They even held no remorse for the death of their own son. In fact, they actually celebrated his death as they knew that he would tarnish their great bloodline.

'And that's why, I won't let that happen to Ayato. Not now. Not ever!'

** At Hagun Academy **

Ayato, who already finished his run as he was drinking a bottle of water at a park table.

As he did, Ayato looked at the sky with a small smile on his face.

"Oh, there you are, Ayato," came a familiar voice. They looked to see Stella Vermillion Gremory with her arms crossed, as she was being accompanied by a new woman that Ayato hadn't seen before.

The new woman in question has the reminiscent of that of a beautiful young woman with white skin, golden eyes and a very curvy voluptuous yet slender figure with large breasts, noted that her body is surprisingly toned with a light layer of muscle. She has long eyelashes and glossy pink lips that one of Stella's servants has described as being surprisingly plump.

Her body measurements are [B91-W55-H85]. Her body weight is [58 kg] [128 lbs]. Her hair is Pink and long enough that it reaches down to her thighs. Her hair also has bangs parted to the sides and one settled between her eyes. Her height is 162 cm. (5 feet inches). She's actually Stella's other Knight, Philuffy Aingram.

"Princess Stella," Ayato greeted her.

"Good morning, Ayato. This is actually good timing," Stella said to Ayato after greeting them. "I actually have something to talk to you about."

"Something to talk about?" Ayato asked.

"Yes," Stella answered. "But the Director is also going to be there as well. At the Occult Research Club at the Old School Building later this afternoon."

Meanwhile, Ayato looked at Philuffy, and could tell that she's an excellent swordswoman and a worthy opponent, but what he doesn't know is that she is going to be one of his peerage mates.

** At the Old School Building **

The room inside the Old School Building of Hagun Academy was eerily dark and quiet as it features a horror-theme like atmosphere as candles lit up separately from all places with dark patches overtaking the less lit areas of the room. Two candles flew from the main desk where Rias was sitting, accompanied by Akeno and Erza Scarlet, who were standing on each side of Rias since today was going to be somewhat special.

Rias and her group of Koneko, Yuuto and Akeno were with Mio and her group of Maria, Aine, and Yurishia, and Stella's group of Ai, E. Scarlet and E. Knightwalker were gathered here, but this time, they were accompanied by Sona, the Student Council President, and her second-in-command, the Vice President, Tsubaki, who was standing at attention behind her King's seat as Sona drank some of Akeno's tea.

With Yuuto and Koneko sitting on the left couch, Mio and Aine on the center couch with Yurishia and Maria standing, and Sona and Erza Knightwalker on the right couch, they were all waiting patiently for Kurono, Stella, Philuffy and Ayato to arrive so they could finally get some much-needed answers to some questions that had been vexing them for a while, especially for Sona as her natural curiosity and feeling of responsibility having made the situation especially vexing to her.

"So the Director is going to be here as well?" Sona asked as they waited.

"Indeed," the eldest crimson haired devil nodded. That alone puts Ayato more at ease. He not only managed to defeat some demons, but that Fallen Angel as well."

"But let's not also forget that he defeated Lady Stella in that mock battle, but he's also a member of the Hero Clan," Maria reminded them, tensing some of them up a little bit.

"And yet, he's also a hybrid of a Devil and Fallen Angel and a Dragon as well," Sona followed. "And his last name of Kurozakuro sounds like he's a member of the royal family of Kurozakuro who has the highest authority in the Underworld, along with the Kurogane."

Before she could say anything further, there came a knock on the door, drawing everyone's attention to it.

"Well, here we go. Come in!" Rias called, sitting up straighter, wanting to make a good impression, with Sona and Mio doing the same.

The door opened, allowing Kurono, Stella, Philuffy, Emile and Yukio into the room. As Ayato glanced around at the occupants before fully entering, his gaze paused on Sona and Tsubaki briefly before walking in and closing the door behind him.

"Senior Gremory," Ayato greeted, nodding to Rias and Mio before turning his gaze to Sona. "President Shitori. I wasn't expecting you and the Vice President to be here as well."

Sona adjusted her glasses and spoke, "Rias informed me of what transpired and I believed it prudent to be here as well. Now you may not be aware, from what Rias and the others told me, but we are joint rulers of this city, with the Director, Mio and Stella as the Assistant followers, so such issues are things we should all be aware of. Now before we begin, I feel I should introduce myself properly. The name of Souna Shitori is actually an alias I use here at school. My actual name is Sona Sitri, and over there is my best friend and rival, Rias Gremory, with her cousin, Stella Vermillion Gremory-Phenex, and her niece Mio Naruse Gremory-Lucifuge."

Ayato widened his eyes at hearing those names as he sat down on an empty couch as Akeno and Ai served Him tea.

And the name Sitri is part of the Ars Goetia, along with Gremory," Kurono told Ayato. "I imagine you went with that option since you look more Japanese than her, so there's no real reason to hide her name."

Both Rias and Sona were surprised.

"You know about our families from the Ars Goetia?" Rias asked.

"Only what it says in the actual book since I was taught by my Godfather," Ayato said as he began to recite. "If I can remember, I believe that Gremory is a strong Duke of Hell who governs 26 legions of Demons. He tells all things past, present, and future about hidden treasures and procures the love of women, young and old, but especially maidens. He is depicted as appearing in the form of a beautiful woman with the crown of a duchess tied around her waist and riding a camel."

Some of the newbies here looked at Rias, Mio and Stella with interest while Rias shivered at the mention of camels.

"Then what about the President?" Tsubaki asked, not noticing the look of slight panic Sona sent her, nor seeing Rias' amused smile, knowing that she's not going to be the only one embarrassed.

"I can answer that," Ayato continued as he recited, "Sitri is a Great Prince of Hell, reigning over 60 legions of Demons. He causes men to love women and vice versa, and can make people bare themselves naked if desired. He is depicted with the face of a leopard and the wings of a griffin."

Now everyone turned to Sona, who had a flushed look on her face.

"Oh my, make people bare themselves naked?" Maria asked, being the succubus that she is. "Is that a skill you possess, President?"

"Fufufu, what is it that they say?" Yurishia giggled. "It's always the quiet ones?"

"I-In any case…" Sona said quickly, doing her best to retain some dignity as she tried to get the meeting back on track. "If that is your only source of information on our families, then I can see that you might need some assistance so you aren't wandering blind."

"And if I may," Kurono spoke up. "I need to get this out of the way before we go on any further as this will answer many of your questions. This fellow is my nephew, Ayato Kurozakuro, who's actually the heir of the Kurozakuro Royal Family, and is a descendant of the Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda."

When Kurono introduced Ayato, the whole room fell silent for a good 2 minutes before…

[EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!]

"T-T-T-T-Then that means?!" Stella asked as the others were still shocked by this.

"Yes. This is the missing prince of the Kurozakuro family, who with the Kurogane, holds the rare title of 'Devil Emperor' as they are the only 2 families that carry the Sparda bloodline," Kurono explained.

"Director! What is this all about?" Mio asked Kurono.

"What do you mean?" Kurono asked innocently.

"Don't play dumb! He…was supposed to be dead 10 years ago from that incident, and how is he so…different?" Stella asked.

Many of them wanted to know as well.

"Well, first of all, do you all know about the Blazers?" Kurono asked, as everyone in the room nodded. "Then, do you know about Soul Reaper Blazers?"

"You mean, the rare Blazers that have survived the vicious training from the Soul Society?" Yuuto asked.

"The very same," Kurono answered as she explained. "The Soul Reaper Blazers are basically like the ones the Shinigami works at the Soul Society. As you know, Shinigami are guardians of the souls who are going through the circle of transmigration. In ancient times, they were known as Balancers as they managed the balance of life and death and carried special weapons called Zanpakuto. They purify Hollows who do evil in this world and ensure the safe crossing of souls - the Pluses who have lost their way after death - by giving them a soul burial. They possess high Reiryoku and a body of Reishi. They are invisible to those without spiritual powers. It almost works the same as Senjutsu, more or less."

When Senjutsu was mentioned, Koneko flinched at that, but thankfully, no one but Rias seemed to notice.

"Shinigami receive salaries, like workers here, and to you Devils as well and also earn bounties for defeating Hollows. All Shinigami have vents at their wrists which release their Reiatsu. If they are blocked off, the Shinigami in question would be incinerated by their own Reiatsu from the inside out. If a Shinigami's Saketsu (鎖結, Chain Binding; Viz "Chain") and Hakusui (魄睡, Soul Sleep) are pierced, their spiritual powers are sealed up and they most likely can never regain their lost powers again. The same goes for Soul Reaper Blazers as they are the rarest of its kind, along with Soul Reaper Devils," Kurono explained. "Which brings me to Yukio here…this kid is a special kid. He always enjoyed being a Blazer, but he didn't know that he's already a Devil. Unfortunately, he's a generation. You all know what that means, right?"

At the mention of a Generation Blazer, Stella's eyes widened, among many others.

"T-That means that he has two elements merged together," Stella realized.

"Then that means his appearance…" Mio started to say as Kurono nodded.

"Yes, his new appearance is because he lost control and as for his merged element, it's the combination of ice and electricity manipulation, which has come to be called the Cryo-Lightning Manipulation. He can control electrified frozen energy in the form of ice or lightning, but that's not all. He also has Cryo-Wind Manipulation by using ice and wind."

Sona was now more curious as ice was his main element, but asked this particular question.

"Then I want to know this…If a generation loses control of their power, it usually ends in their death, so how is he still alive or even standing?" Sona asked.

"To this day, I'm not sure. No one knows for certain. However, I do know that he is a very powerful individual as his will is very strong because of his family….or should I say….whatever little remains of family he has left," Kurono told him.

Both Akeno and Koneko knew where this was going as the former knew about what happens when a Generation loses control.

'A generation who loses control would have their powers run wild and die not long after, and yet, he survived,' Akeno thought. 'And at a young age, too! Could it be…that he's also afraid of his own powers as well? And what little family he has left? Don't tell me…'

"After that day, he just stopped caring. He pushed people away. For the last 5 years or so, I've only seen him in pain, too afraid of his own power to even smile," Kurono continued, making many people in the room gasp in shock, as Akeno's theory was now confirmed. "It sickens me! It sickened me to see my own nephew like that and being unable to do anything! I've even forgotten how bright his smile used to be. And Stella…your fight with him the other day was the first time I've seen him smile in years, and I must thank you for that."

Stella was surprised while Emile had tears running down on his face. She never would've thought that Ayato's situation had that big of an impact on his family. And now…she, Mio and the others were all now seeing the full effect, especially for Akeno and Koneko. Yukio had been scared to the point of sealing away most of his feelings and pushing people away.

Even Aine and Yurishia couldn't find the words to express Ayato's situation as they and some of the others all put their heads down in sympathy.

Stella, on the other hand, was so shocked, that she struggled to think of how to reply. She couldn't just say 'it was no problem' or 'there's no need to thank me' because…to the Director, and to Emile, it was a very big deal.

"It's…(sigh)…Your welcome, Director," Stella tried to say. "I'm at least glad that you could see him smile again."

"I actually have to thank you as well, Vermillion, despite that bet I've made earlier," Emile followed. "From what the Director told me, Ayato decided to disappear from the world after losing control of his power."

"But his Godfather stepped up and took him in, and long story short, he became part of the Hero Clan," Kurono explained, making some of them gasp, especially with Mio and Maria. "He was homeschooled and continued to train like always. He wanted to have full control of his power, but…he's afraid to push it to its full might in fear that he'll lose control again. What you all saw from that fight wasn't even the full power of his magic or even its full capabilities."

"So that explains why he was holding back," Rias analyzed. "But why was he with the Hero Clan, knowing that he's a Devil? They could've killed him on the spot."

"That's right," Maria followed. "The Clan of Gods and what you would call 'heroes' are only a few of our enemies."

"Well, he was able to hide his Devil powers well, but he lost control of his powers again 5 years ago, and got exiled because of it," Kurono answered. "However, his Godfather went with him, knowing that he wasn't going to be alone again, knowing that he, myself, and a few others all believed in him. However, if you were to meet any of the members of the Kurozakuro or Kurogane families and ask them what they thought of Ayato….Almost all of them except a handful would tell you that he's a monster. A waste of time to try and help. They would say he's destined to be a failure. That's why he chose here to hide, because he feels like there are times where he is being treated like he doesn't exist."

Akeno was trying her best not to cry, but to hear all of that from his own family…she never would've thought that she was going to be the only one. How wrong she was.

Even Koneko and Philuffy were beginning to get emotional as tears were beginning to form, but it didn't stop there.

"Yeah, I need to talk about this eventually anyway," Ayato finally began. "It is indeed pretty depressing, but will you all hear it?"

"Of course," Rias answered. "We're not going anywhere."

"Well, let's see. Does anyone of you know about Samurai Ryouma?" Ayato asked.

Yuuto immediately answered, "You mean the hero who guided Japan to victory in the past great war?! He's one of my heroes! His real name is Ryouma Kurogane."

"That's right," Ayato responded. "He's one of my great-grandfathers. And he's one of the many people I'm aiming to become. Generation after generation, the Kurogane and Kurozakuro families have produced excellent Blazers and Soul Reaper Blazers and Devils, thanks to the Sparda bloodline that we all carry. We're what you'd call a distinguished family. While I had talent, I was also…a hybrid, and when they found out, they always treated me like I didn't exist, except for my parents and my sisters. Family gatherings never included a seat for me. I heard those voices – of people having fun.

"Then one year, on my 6th birthday, I lost my parents, my home, even the girl that I tried to save while we were attacked, everything. I was the only survivor and I had to escape, but I had nowhere to go. And to make matters worse, it was a heavy snowstorm, and it got so rough, I got lost pretty quickly. Knowing that my attackers may be getting closer, I was ready for death. That's when I just kept thinking…how frustrating it was that this was my end.

"And that's when he appeared before me."

"Samurai Ryouma?" Stella asked.

"Yeah," Ayato answered. "I remember word-for-word what he said to me back then…"

(FLASHBACK TIME! – 10 years ago)

"Are you annoyed, youngster?" he asked as he looked at the bruised Ayato. "Do you regret what you've done back there? Don't throw away that frustration just because you couldn't control your powers. That's proof that you haven't given up yet. On yourself, that is."

As he was carried back by his great-grandfather, Ryouma continued, "Got it, boy? Don't become a worthless man who has given up and says that they're living within their means. A person can do anything if they refuse to give up. After all, we're creatures with wings, and yet we haven't gotten to Mars."

(FLASHBACK ENDS!)

"Although they were just words, they truly did save me," Ayato continued. "And when I was handed over to my Godfather, that was when I decided that I'd become an adult like him and my Godfather, who taught me how to be a Hero. That if I ever come across someone in the same situation, I'd become a person who can pass along his words."

Rias, Mio and Stella all gasped at that, especially with the former, knowing that all of her members have very troubled pasts, and for some reason, Rias may actually think that he can actually solve all of their problems, but Rias should've done that on her own terms, so she can actually have a chance of going up against….him.

"But to do that," Ayato continued. "I'll have to become strong myself. Strong like them."

"So that's why you want to become a Magical Knight?" Erza Scarlet asked.

"But nobody would teach me anything," Ayato answered. "So I always trained alone with my Godfather and the people at the Hero Clan and Traveling around the world."

"Alone…" Stella muttered as she remembered battling against some warriors all by herself at a young age.

"And then, thanks to a letter of recommendation from the Grand Master of the Mage's Association, I was finally able to enroll in this academy," Ayato said to them. "But it seems the Kurogane family are troubled that someone like me could become a knight, especially for who I am. They coerced the school."

Everyone gasped at that.

"That's right," Kurono followed.

"That house put pressure on the Academy as they said, 'Do not let Ayato Kurozakuro, the stray murderer of that household, ever graduate', they said. The former Director approved it, went his way to create a minimal level as a requirement for taking the practical combat courses, and made it so that Ayato wouldn't be able to take classes. As a result, he lacked credits and became a repeater…that's how it was."

"W-What the hell is that?!" Stella asked angrily.

"Is that what a parent…a teacher's supposed to do?!" Rias asked, cross as well as many of them couldn't believe that.

"Of course, I would never let such a thing happen," Kurono immediately answered. "The moment I took office, I disposed of all the trash involved in it

" those fools didn't know that your father happens to be the Chairman of the Board, and he has given me an opportunity to take Ayato to the Mage's Association while I quickly cleaned off their mess, transforming back to the school it once was. That Six whole years was dedicated to Ayato improving on his magic and body at that Academy, and despite its…reputation….Ayato saw that as an opportunity. No matter how he's called either a Failure or a Monster behind his back, he has never stopped believing his own value.

"Without giving special treatment nor discrimination towards those with or without talent, nor escaping from his own incompetency, he kept on fighting against all the irrationalities, and reached his 'strongest minute'."

"And yet, I still think that type of harassment will continue," Ayato continued. "But even so…"

"You won't give up," Stella finished. "Even if you get badly burnt. Right?"

Stella then stood up and said, "I remember those kinds of feelings, too."

"I see."

"Of course you would."

"Then I would like to make one correction," Stella told him.

"What is it?" Ayato asked as he looked at Stella.

"You said this morning that I'm competitive, didn't you?"

"Yeah…" Ayato before he saw everyone in this room before he smiled slightly. "Got it, I'll correct that. We're all competitive."

Everyone, including Koneko and Aine, smiled, especially Stella, who replied…

"Exactly!"

"Well, then I'm glad that you're on our side," Rias smiled.

"What do you mean?" Yukio asked as Rias stood up.

"What I'm trying to say here is, is that all of us here are Devils, and the proof of it lies on the presence of your wings," Rias answered as everyone, except for Kurono sprouted out dark bat-like wings behind their backs that soon surprised Ayato as he looked behind and saw 10 wings out of his back, proving that he's the strongest one in this room.

"That's because he possesses something inside his body that would be a potential threat to the Fallen Angels," Rias answered.

"They were once Angels serving God, but they have been cast down to the Underworld due to their wicked nature," Mio told them. "They're trying to manipulate humans and destroy us demons. Since primeval times, there's been a constant struggle for dominance in the Underworld, or Hell, as humans call it. There are also normal Angels, coming here on God's orders to hunt demons."

"In other words, a 3-way standoff or ceasefire," Aine concluded.

"And usually whatever is inside their body could very well be a Sacred Gear," said Rias and Akeno continued from there.

"It's an unusual power that resides within certain humans. It is said that most of the great men in history possessed it. A power that sometimes exceeds that of a Devil or Angel, thus having them to become threats from both sides. In a more peaceful method, we tend to recruit those people with Sacred Gears and fight with us against our enemies."

"And with what we've seen from that mock battle, and from your story, it's obviously clear that we can't bring this yet to the other factions, seeing that you might get their attention," Sona proposed.

"What do you mean by that?" Yukio asked.

"Well, over 2000 years ago, the 3 factions were at War with each other, which was called the Great War," Rias explained. "It resulted in all the warring sides losing the majority of their numbers. It was even further compounded during the Demon Invasion that brought the Great War to an end when the 3 Factions were forced to work together in an attempt to push the Demon hordes back. Even then, there were simply too many demons to fight. It would have been the end of everything, if it wasn't for the appearance of the Great Sparda."

Rias spoke that name with great reverence, even going so far as to clasp her hands together as if in prayer. There wasn't a Devil in the Underworld who didn't know about the story of Sparda, the Legendary Dark Knight who appeared during the Demon invasion and single-handedly saved not only the human world, but also the Underworld, Heaven and the homes of the Hero Clan as well. He was known to be THE strongest devil to ever exist, and was said to be even more powerful than all 4 of the original Great Satans combined, and yes, that even included Lucifer. There was even a cult in the Underworld that revered Sparda as a Devil-God, and many could see reason in thinking as such.

Mio continued from the conversation.

"After the Demons were forced back into the Abyss and sealed away, the devil population was left in ruin with over half of the 72 Pillars wiped out. The Devils needed to replenish their numbers, but with our fertility rate being so low, this proved to be a daunting task, until Lord Ajuka Beelzebub created a way to reincarnate other beings into Devils."

At that, Rias lifted her hand up and in a flash of light, a small item that Ayato recognized as a red glowing Knight Chess piece appeared.

"Through this, we have been able to recoup our numbers and ensure that our society survives for the foreseeable future," said Rias as she turns back to Ayato. "This is the Evil Piece system, which is set up like a Chess board. There are 16 pieces in a set, and a high-class Devil is only allowed one set."

"The pieces consist of a King, a Queen, two Knights, two Bishops, two Rooks, and eight Pawns," Stella continued as the pieces disappeared. "The Devils who are given a piece become part of a Peerage. The duty of a Peerage is to protect and serve their Master, or 'King', which is myself and my cousins Rias and Mio, in this case. Each piece grants the bearer an increase in a specific attribute."

"High-speed regeneration is quite rare in the Underworld, seeing it to be a high-ranking ability for higher-ranking Devils and Demons, but you were able to use it at the moment of your imminent reincarnation.

This also tells why we don't have a clue of what your power is right now…. Only speculation could be done at the moment, but also, some of the pieces of Lady Rias, Lady Stella and Lady Mio have reacted to you and as a result, you are now serving under all 3 of them," Akeno explained. "Do you think that you might somehow know something that could lead you to having those pieces inside you?"

Kurono quickly answered, trying to diffuse the situation. " In a way, yes, Ayato is the servant of Rias, Mio and Stella as he's been reincarnated into a Devil, which he already is, but they don't do the traditional depiction of the relationship… They do this in order to increase their powers by performing contracts with other people."

"Wait a moment, we contract with other people?" Aine asked as she is also one of the new servants.

"Of course," Maria answered. "Humans nowadays are still dependent on the Devils and they were aware of our existence…. We do certain tasks to satisfy them like customers by fulfilling roles and helping them in any way we can, and in return, they give contracts to us, which allows for our powers to increase greatly, depending on the number of contracts we have on those people."

"That's…some pretty weird currency for Devils," Ayato said as he tilted his head in confusion. "Well, anyways, I believe that you have some questions that you like to ask me, though I will say in advance that I'm not going to be telling you about the full details of what happened 5 or 10 years ago."

Sona's face tightened at that, while Rias, Mio, and Stella frowned in displeasure.

"May I ask why?" Rias asked.

"The reason is simple. It is incredibly private and important to me, and while all of you have been kind enough to me so far, I'm not ready to share those experiences to someone I can't really call a friend just yet," Ayato explained calmly as the 3 Gremory relatives all sighed, but nodded in understanding. After all, they have just met, so that's reasonable.

"I suppose I can see your point, but still can you at least tell us if whatever happened to you is likely to cause us any trouble in the future?" Rias asked.

"The likelihood of that is close to zero," Ayato said firmly. "The circumstances of what happened are very unique, and considering what I did at that time by the odds of it, or anything related to it, happening again are really small. So no, you shouldn't have to worry about that."

"Good," Sona said with a nod of her own. "We'll hold you to that. Hopefully at some point, you will feel comfortable enough to share the specifics with us."

It was then that Rias stood for a moment before placing a pile of paper sheets into the desk with symbols written in every one of them as the new servants peered over it to have a better look.

"This is the symbol of summoning a Devil which humans tend to use very often to contact us…" Rias explained to them. "Normally, our familiars or servants do that kind of thing, but since you are new beginners around here, Aine and Ayato, you both need to have firsthand experience in order to get used to it."

"So basically….we're delivering these papers like poor paperboys?" Aine asked, not happy about it as she grabbed a small pile of them before examining them with Ayato doing the same.

"Well, in a way, yes, but once that's done, the contract would soon call out to us in which we would answer to them eventually," Rias answered.

"Well, if this is a way to get more power and prestige in the future, then I'll swallow my pride for it," Aine said to herself.

"Now as much as we would like to continue, I believe that we should end our discussion for the night," Sona spoke. "We'll have Tsubaki and Akeno to escort you two back to the dorms since we don't want any Fallen Angels preying on you again."

This made everyone nod in response before getting things done for the night.

(40 minutes later)

As everyone began heading back to the dorms, Kurono actually asked Rias, Mio, and Stella to stay here for a bit, while Akeno and Maria accompanied them.

"Now earlier, I know that Yukio said that he's not going to tell anyone of you about the full scale of the incidents that happened 5 and 10 years ago," Kurono remarked. "I know that from the looks on your faces, you are curious, aren't you?"

The 5 girls all looked at each other and nodded as Akeno began to speak first.

"Director….What happened to Ayato and Haruka's parents?" she asked. "What made him lose control? Why would he think that he's not allowed to be happy?"

Kurono sighed as she looked at the sun setting down from one of the windows.

"First of all, do any one of you know about the reports of the avalanche in Icesitania?" she asked as they all stiffened.

'What could that have to do with Ayato?' Stella thought.

"Uh, yes. The reports said that there was an avalanche in the mountains surrounding Iceland," Rias explained. "The entire town was completely destroyed, but luckily, no one was killed because every member had left to go to some secret location that is considered sacred to the Kurozakura for some kind of rite of passage or something like that."

"But now, no one knows where they are," Stella continued. "It's like they all just…disappeared."

Kurono developed a sad smile and replied, "You're close."

Everyone was confused at that, but Kurono was about to tell them the awful truth.

"You see, that story was nothing but a lie," Kurono confessed as their eyes widened.

'A lie?' Rias, Mio and Stella thought at the same time.

"Wh-What do you mean by a lie?" Mio asked.

"It means exactly as it sounds. It's a lie that was fabricated by a member of the government who also happens to be a friend of mine," Kurono stated. "That person knows about Ayatoo being a generation and knows that what happened was a complete accident, too."

The girls were getting more and more nervous.

"Th-Then what really happened?" Akeno asked as Kurono's eyes were shadowed by her hair.

"Are you sure that you want to know….what really happened?" Kurono asked. "Because once I tell you, there's no going back, and not one person outside of this room, except for Ayato, must know any of this."

Knowing that this could be big, the girls all looked at each other before Rias stepped up and said…

"We understand. We're sure."

With that, Kurono went to the doors and locked them.

"OK, I'm going to tell you what happened that night 10 years ago, but I want to say this at the very top," she began. "The Old Satan Faction played a major role in this incident."

The girls all gasped in shock and horror, because they knew that if this had got something to do with that faction, they knew it was NOT good.

And what happened in the next 15 minutes would forever change their lives, especially with Mio and Akeno.

** At the Boys' Dormitory **

(2 hours later)

Ayato already knew that he can fly with his wings, but he also liked running around town as he passed those fliers along the way. Though he didn't mind, doing these tasks proved to be a part of his training, and this is also giving him an idea of how Devils do work around here.

After all, he has travelled throughout the world, but he hasn't gone to the Underworld in a long time, so it was completely new to him.

However, he wasn't going to stand out on the street corners passing them out as he knew that it would be a colossal waste of time. Not only that, he had a much better idea.

Thanks to the experience he had from the Mage's Association, he placed the fliers all over the city, especially around local college boards. He also travelled to America and learned how College Life works there and it was no different here in Japan. He even added this little message as well.

Need help with studying? Need a good home cooked meal? Or just someone to talk to, just make a wish.

After he was done, he was heading back to the dormitory to meet up with Emile, however…

RING! RING!

…he was about to get an important phone call.

"Hello?" he asked after he picked up his phone.

[Hey there, my dear boy. How are things?]

Ayato immediately knew who it was.

** Somewhere in Africa **

Riding on one of the elephants during a private safari is a tall, slim man with long, brown hair and glasses. He is often seen wearing a white shirt and grey pants most of the time. His name is Jin Toujou, the one who quickly took Ayato and Haruka as his own after the death of their parents, and is now their Godfather, but he usually treats them as if he is their own child, and for good reason.

In the incident with the Hero Clan 5 years ago, his biological son, Basara Toujou, was among the dead, and despite knowing that Ayato had to kill him and his stepbrother, he still loves and cares deeply about him as he even abandoned his duties as a hero so that he could raise him with Haruka without intervention from the Hero Clan and also being a living remembrance of his lovers.

As a best friend of Kagami and Kurono, he has made sure to keep his promise.

"I hope that everything is going well so far," he said to him. "By the way, are you able to attend school now?"

** At Hagun Academy; Boys' Dormitory **

"Yes, I have," he said. "Although I had to fight against Stella to do that."

[Stella? As in Stella Vermillion Gremory?]

"Y-Yeah. How did you know?"

[It's obvious that your Aunt told me everything, including you being a part of the Gremory Clan, serving Rias, Mio, and Stella. Don't think too badly of them. In fact, you're in good hands with them, as they treat their servants like family, just like us.]

"I see."

[And that brings me to the reason why I'm calling. Now that you're under the services of the Gremory Clan, there are some important things that you need to know. One of them has been marked for investigation.]

"Investigation? By who?"

[The one that we've dissolved 5 years ago…the Hero Clan.]

Ayato stopped in his tracks when Jin mentioned about the Hero Clan, the very place where everything went terribly wrong the 2nd time.

"Who is the one that's being investigated?"

[Mio Naruse Gremory, who's not only the daughter of the Demon Lord Wilbert, but she's also the granddaughter of the original Lucifer himself, as her real name is Mio Naruse Lucifer. She even has inherited from the House of Alastor as one of them was a member of that house. Plus, she's also a descendant of the Paimon Clan as well.]

"W-Wow…well, why is she part of the Gremory Clan?"

[I'll get to that in a moment, but first, let's talk about Wilbert. He was a peaceful Demon Lord in the Demon side of the Underworld, and after he triumphed over the warmongering Demons, not only he ended the Demon Clan's ancient conflict with the Hero Tribe, but he also helped the Anti-Satan Faction defeat the Old Satan Faction in the Devil Civil War. But at the same time, the war-hungry Demons that protested the truce sought after his title and throne. To shield Mio from those fools, Wilbert not only asked his good friend Sirzechs Gremory to take her in, but he even had some of his servants here in the Human World to raise her as her surrogate parents, but she got to know her real father, as well as her new foster parents, whenever they visited for one week every year in the middle of summer while Wilbert withheld his true identity.]

"So…what changed?"

There was a moment of silence, giving Ayato a sense of dread, and sure enough, Jin explains.

[Around a year ago, Wilbert died. Officially, the cause of death is still unknown, but unofficially, the Demon Lord of the Devils side and the 4 Great Satans, the leaders and protectors of the Demon Lord, confirmed that he was assassinated, but how is still a mystery to this day. Mio, on the other hand, was living here in the Human World with Rias as a Middle School Student at the time, completely unaware of her true heritage. The current Demon Lord of the Demon side, who ascended to the throne after Wilbert, is now seeking to capture Mio and absorb all of the powers she inherited.]

"Oh…my…goodness," Ayato said slowly, as he began to feel sorry for Mio, after all she's been through. "And to have her parents be killed right in front of her….Just like…what happened to mine…"

[Exactly. So empathize with her, Ayato. This is now a high school student, who's suddenly told that not only she's the Future Demon Lord, but she's also the granddaughter of the original Lucifer. Even with the help of the Gremory Clan, she can't get much help due to the Great Satans being busy with the Devils' Demon Lord, and also due to the remnants of Wilber's faction being found and killed. And with all of those powers and her Sacred Gear not fully awakened, it's only going to be a matter before she, along with the others, including Rias and Stella, are going to be killed, which will certainly lead to another War, and that's why the Gremory Clan adopted her and Maria into their family to protect from these threats, and even Hollows.]

"And…you are now telling me all of this because…"

[I want you to see them not as Devils, but normal people, and bond with them. That may be a possible explanation on why those Evil Pieces reacted to you, because they need help. And if that's not enough to motivate you, maybe this will.]

What Jin says next changes Ayato's perspective of them right then and there.

[The one who was responsible for the death of Mio's surrogate parents….is the same one that's responsible for the death of your parents and he is Mio's stepfather.]

Ayato froze as he couldn't believe it. After all these years, he now has a clue as to who killed his family a decade ago.

[So, this is where you come in. The time for hiding and playing it safe is over. If you want to avenge your family, Mio's family, and anyone else who was in the path of this killer, you need to grow stronger and control your true powers with Haruka.]

Ayato's eyes were shadowed as he said nothing as he now got a LOT to think about after listening to this conversation. However, he now had a determined look on his face.

Now he has a much bigger purpose.

He now feels as if…those Evil Pieces that were now in his body…were calling for him, and he was now going to properly answer that call.

** At the Girls' Dormitory **

Mio really felt terrible and ashamed. After listening to Ayato's past from the Director, not only she was shocked, but felt really heartbroken, and somehow felt a connection to him, as if her past was almost the same as his.

Their first meeting was certainly not a good start, and now that she thought about it, she knew that it was her fault. Despite admitting that he was in the wrong, she still let her temper and a bit of her pride get the better of her, and she and Stella almost kicked him out of this very school because of it. The real reason she did that was to prevent him and the others from being hurt because of her situation.

"What…have I done?" Mio asked herself as tears were beginning to form.

"You shouldn't have to worry, My Lady!" Maria told her, trying to cheer her up. "He's now one of us, so this is a good time to make up and start over!"

"Yeah…but how?" Mio asked.

Maria tries to think of an answer, but soon, she sees the moon. A Full Moon.

And that has given her an idea….

"I know just what to do!" Maria clapped her hands in excitement.

** Inside Ayato's Room **

As Ayato was thinking of the many things that had happened earlier today, he wanted to help Mio out, but he also wanted to help Rias and Stella, too.

But then…

FLASH!

…a red magic circle popped on the floor, interrupting Ayato's thoughts, and out of the magic circle came Mio and Maria.

"M-Maria? Lady Mio?" Ayato asked in surprise. "What are you two doing here? Isn't it forbidden for the females to be in the males' dorms and vice-versa?"

"That's correct," Maria answered. "However, I've been thinking that since you're also going to be serving Lady Rias and Lady Stella, I knew that we're not always going to be around. With things the way they are now, you and even Emile will all get separated for some reason, and you will all have to be the ones to rush over."

"That's….a good point," Ayato said while placing a hand under his chin. "There may be times that our phones and even our profiles can be either hacked or blocked by magic, and with tracking devices, they might be interfered with by protective magic shields."

"I agree on that," Mio replied. "But I don't think it matters what type of magic we use. They'll probably find a way to cut the link. Even Aunt Rias told us a lot."

"Well…not all of them," Maria smirked as she turned over to Ayato. "And that's where you come in as we need something from you, Ay-at-o!"

Ayato raised his eyebrow, and the next thing he knew, the lights in the main room were dimmed and Yukio found himself standing on a glowing magic circle with Mio and Maria.

"Um, Maria. I really don't like the looks of this one bit. What the hell are you signing me up for here?" he asked annoyingly as he put his senses on high alert.

"This is the Master-Servant Pact magic. I need you and Lady Mio to form a Master-Servant Contract," Maria replied with a straight face.

"OK….before I say 'hell no', I want to know why," Ayato told her with a strained voice. "I'm already Lady Mio's servant, so what's the point of forming a contract of this nature?"

"Calm down, Ayato. This particular one is only going to be in name and a formality at the end. Being bound together by a pact will allow you to sense each other. Then, since you will always know where Lady Mio is, you'll be better able to protect her, along with your peerage mates. The people whose souls are united by this contract will be aware of each other's locations!" Maria explained, but Ayato felt insulted for some reason.

"…Why do I feel that there's another meaning behind all this?" Ayato asked as he glared hard at the small succubus.

"Don't be like that! Besides, this contract can only be made on the night of a full moon, which happens to be tonight!" Maria replied and pointed up. "We can't miss this chance! This opportunity!"

"…Well, what do you say, Lady Mio?" Ayato asked one of his new masters. "I'm already your servant, but with this pact, I think that we maybe can start over and I'll start protecting you, and that is a promise. If you want to do it, just say the word. Just make sure that you don't abuse it."

Mio glanced down slightly with a blush and responded, "Well…If you don't have a problem with it, then neither am I. This is just to know each other's whereabouts."

"Then it's settled!" Maria said cheerfully as she clapped her hands before going to Mio's side. "This will be her first magical contract, so I'll be supporting her. Please use my magic and chant the spell."

"OK," Mio replied as she closed her eyes.

"The pact will be sealed when you kiss the magic circle that forms on the back of Lady Mio's hand," Maria explained to Ayato, who nodded in confirmation as Mio muttered the required spell in a different language.

"Like the knights of old and the Royal families of Europe. Understood," Ayato remarked as he prepared to walk over to Mio and took a knee, but not before he felt something tingling on the back of his right hand.

Upon inspection, he noticed a glowing green magic circle on it, much to his confusion and concern.

Wasn't it supposed to appear on the back of Mio's hand?

"Um…" Ayato began slowly. "The magic circle appeared on my hand. Is this part of the ritual?"

Mio opened her eyes and looked surprised, while Ayato noticed a shadow of a grin on Maria's face, increasing his concern. Apparently, Mio noticed this too, and grabbed Maria by the shoulders.

"Oi, Maria! What is the meaning of this?!" Mio demanded as she shook Maria frantically.

"H-Huh? That's strange! Did I make a mistake somewhere?" Maria wondered, smiling nervously like a cat and sounding like she was playing dumb as she scratched the side of her face before Mio shook her again.

"What are we going to do now?" Mio asked frantically as she sounded panicked, and relented on shaking Maria so she could answer.

Ayato has other concerns, like if Emile is hearing all of this, or if he's just about finished, or even a staff member outside is hearing this.

"O-Our original goal was to let each of you know where each other is, so it doesn't matter who's the Master or Servant in this case, so Lady Mio, if you'd just kiss Ayato's hand…" a sweating Maria requested quickly to Mio, who now looked horrified.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! WHY DO I HAVE TO BE HIS SLAVE?!" Mio screeched, shaking really badly.

"Shh!" Ayato shushed Mio. "We need to quiet down so we can diffuse this situation, and-"

But his thoughts were interrupted when the seal began to fade.

"H-Hey! This magic circle here appears to be fading. Is this some kind of queue for something?" Yukio asked while Maria went white-eyed with horror.

"This isn't good! Lady Mio, you need to kiss Ayato's hand already! Just do it!" Maria urged her.

"Why the hell should I?!" Mio asked angrily.

"We can fix it during the next full moon!" Maria quickly responded. "For the time being, just kiss it, please!"

"The next full moon? B-But…"

But it was too late as Ayato's hand was completely back to normal.

"Uh, it disappeared," Ayato suddenly spoke up, showing the back of his hand that was void of any magic seal.

"Ahh…" Maria moaned as she sank to her knees, sighing, as if she knew what was going to happen next. "Th-This isn't good…"

Ayato and Mio sighed in relief, thankful that nothing happened, and more importantly, no one noticed it.

Mio was just about to leave when she suddenly froze up, shaking.

"Wh-What's happening?" Mio asked.

"Lady Mio?" Ayato asked before seeing a purple choker-like mark around her neck with a heart in the middle.

"No…no way!" Mio said, sinking down into the floor, continuing to shiver as her cheeks gained a hint of red. "No…"

"Lady Mio. Are you alright?" Ayato asked as he went over to Mio. "What's wrong?"

He's about to quickly find out when he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Hyaahn~!" Mio cried out the instant Ayato touched her, causing him to quickly withdraw.

"What the?! What's going on?!" Ayato asked frantically as Mio collapsed completely to the floor.

"Oh no! This is not good! The curse is starting to take effect!" Maria panicked before flinching at her unintentional outburst.

"Curse?!" Ayato asked towards Maria, who put both hands to her mouth, but it was already too late.

"Ah…oops…" Maria squeaked as she felt Killer Intent from Ayato and she knew that she was getting the receiving end of it.

"What. Did. You. Do?" Ayato asked slowly and angrily as Maria knew that she screwed up. Big time.

The small succubus laughed weakly and explained, "Th-The truth is…. 'knowing each whereabouts' is only a side-effect of the Master-Servant Pact Magic. The original purpose of this contract is meant to enforce the servant's loyalty. So if they try to rebel against their master, the curse is activated as a punishment. Since Lady Mio refused the kiss of devotion, this is no doubt…"

"…that this is her curse, right?" Ayato finished as he looked at Mio, who was breathing heavily with her arm under her bust and her other arm between her legs, without touching her. "And because you're a succubus, despite your appearance…"

"That's right. I made the pact using my own magic, so she's suffering from the effects of a succubus' curse," Maria as Mio fidgeted around. "In other words, it materializes as an aphrodisiac that drastically increases her sexual desire!"

"A-Aphrodisiac…?!" Ayato asked as his face began to turn red before looking at Mio. "You mean...she's horny?! And all because she didn't kiss the seal?!"

"I…I've never heard of that. P-Please just…hurry….hurry up…and s-save me," Mio squeaked out, trying to fight against the pleasure, with her body motion not helping.

It was a pretty hot sight for him, but also a troubling sight as Knowing that…

"Rest assured, there is a way! Once the servant submits to its master, the effects of the curse will dissipate," said Maria quickly. "In other words, you need to make Lady Mio obey."

"By submit and obey, you mean…" Ayato started slowly and looked at Mio.

"It's simple. Just touch Lady Mio!" Maria replied brightly. "Right now, the aphrodisiac effects of the curse are heightening Lady Mio's senses. She's experiencing arousal like never before, so in short, if you caress her body, she'll obediently swear fealty to you by choice."

"H-Hey, Maria!" Mio squeaked. "What are you try-"

"Please bear this agony a little longer, Lady Mio. Ayato will no doubt relieve you soon!" Maria assured her as she bent over her and grinned. "I definitely didn't do this just to see your face as you're caught in the throes of ecstasy, Lady Mio."

'You totally did…' Ayato thought in a deadpanned voice with a sweatdrop. 'And you're not even guilty about it…'

"Now, Ayato! Carcass Lady Mio's most sensitive parts to relieve her!" Maria requested, presenting her to Ayato, who was now a blushing mess while gritting his teeth.

He had in front of him, one of his new masters, the granddaughter of the original Lucifer, cursed with an aphrodisiac, because her stubborn and prideful side refused to kiss the pact that the sneaky succubus tricked both of them to do. Now, the only way to stop her from going mind-rape from the substance is to make her…. 'submit' to him.

"You must hurry. Her agony will only continue to grow the longer you stall, and if you wait too long, Lady Mio will ascend to Heaven in more ways than one," Maria urged Ayato, who facefaulted.

"A demon ascending to Heaven itself? Yeah, like that'll ever happen!" Ayato yelled as he stood up. "By the way, there's no other way to stop this, right?"

"Nope!" Maria replied excitedly.

'H-H-H-H-He isn't?!' Mio thought as on the other hand, she was terrified. He wasn't going to-?!

"...Fine. I'll do it."

His words were final, his blushing face turned into a serious expression, like a wolf ready to hunt. That kind of stare made Mio and Maria feel shivers down their spines.

"But first, place an anti-hearing barrier. I refused to let anyone hear her screams when they are about to sleep. The last thing I need is a misunderstanding turning into an incident."

"Okey-dokey!" Maria replied as she summoned several blue circles that covered the entire room. "Done~!"

"Good...I trust no sound will come out nor will it get in?" Ayato asked her.

"Yep! Not even if you scream at the top of your lungs, or even if a dumbbell lands down hard!" the succubus said with pride puffing from her small chest.

Ayato made a small smirk and went up to her, and proceeded to pat her on the head, making her feel embarrassed at the praise…

*CRACK!*

And before anyone knew it, Maria's face was planted hard into the floor, leaving a hard crack in it and a giant bump into her forehead. Her tiny body was twitching at the sudden attack and didn't move on a bit. Ayato removed his hand from the girls' head.

"With some luck, she'll be passed out for a while," he said as he turned over to Mio next, who was still breathing heavily.

"No! S-Stay away, you jerk!" Mio breathed out. "If you do anything weird, I'll kill you a hundred times over…a-ha!"

But Ayato forcefully grabs her hand.

"Listen here, Miss Naruse," Ayato said as Mio looked away. "Look at me, please."

He proceeded to grab her chin, sending shivers through her body. Having no other choice, her pink eyes meet with his dark purple eyes.

"We both fell into her trap, and she's going to get it. But right now, I need to stop the aphrodisiac before my roommate finds out. Please, let me help you," said Ayato, but he was embarrassed. And why not? He hasn't done this to ANY woman or girl in his life, so this is certainly his first time, but he'll be damned if he lets this freaking drug destroy her mind!

'N-No…Don't look at me like that,' Mio thought as her mind was going crazy, even with the scared, concerned, and determined expression of her new servant. 'I can't say no if you give me that stare…'

She bites her lip as she finds the strength to grab his hand.

"Then…I command you…as your King….to help me…."

"I will….my Lady," Ayato responded as his eyes turned red and draconic, just like the time he battled against Stella in the mock and let go of Mio's hand and quickly went to touch her most sensitive part: Her breasts.

"Well, it feels like I don't have to warm you up. You're just as hot as your body." Ayato remarked and straddled Mio's legs.

He then went to work, moving from her arms to her stomach, rubbing and massaging it with his thumbs over her clothes. Ayato noted that the succubus-style curse inflicted upon Mio was pretty strong, because she was letting out erotic moans and pants as Ayato caressed her now hyper-sensitive busty frame.

It was then Ayato moved up to her breasts that Mio's jerked rather violently and her voice went up several notches, making Ayato wince as his ears nearly started ringing and withdrew his hand, smirking.

"Looks like I found it, lady Mio. Your weak point."

"N-No… Wh-What should I do?" Mio moaned out as she tried to resist further, but was failing as Naruto's hand drew closer to her weak point, "At this rate, I…"

As her new servant finally grasped Mio's breast, with his fingers sinking into the softness as a pleasure sensation sparked through her body, causing her back to arch despite Ayato straddling her.

"N-No…don't, Ayato!" Mio pleaded, but her words fell on deaf ears as Ayato caressed her breasts, rubbing them gently in a circular motion.

Mio squirmed under him and his ministrations, and just as she realized that she was feeling pleasure that her body was trying to get her mind to welcome, with the magic circle around them turned from yellow to pink.

Ayato then leaned forward and whispered sweet things into Mio's ear, how everything is going to be okay, and the sooner she submits, the sooner she can make Maria pay.

The last part the reddish-blonde made sure Maria didn't hear, as Mio felt her loins suddenly tingling.

"No… If this continues… I'm…I'm gonna-" Mio managed to get out as she tried to prevent the pleasure from clouding her mind.

"Master… My…Master… Ayato, my new Servant, is my Master now." Mio murmured, with her heart singing with joy at the admission, and was about to finally accept and submit to Ayato, when unfortunately, the last remnants of her pride and reasoning made a last-ditch comeback as she closed her eyes and turned away, "No way! I can't! Such a thing…"

"Mio-sama…" Maria groaned and semi-facepalmed, slightly fearing what her continued resistance was going to get her.

Ayato pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I was going easy on you, hoping to end this before my amplified demonic instincts took over thanks to the full moon." Ayato said, closing his eyes before opening them, showing he was serious as his aura flared and his eyes turned red with slits, "Now…I won't be able to hold back, therefore doing it the hard way. Sorry, Mio."

"N-no way!" she whined as Ayato put his hands on her stomach and caressed it again, before stiffening up when his hands found their way under her yellow top and started pulling it up bit by bit, "No! Don't! Ayato! Don't, Ayato!" she cried out as her top was rolled up to her breasts.

(5 minutes later)

The curse was finally over as a completely exhausted Mio was left lying on the couch, trying to catch her breath, while Ayato and a fully awoken Maria had to clean the area of love fluids that was all over the place. In the end, the bond had indeed fused the two souls to one another, which has given him some concern due to his Hollow Counterpart laughing and feeling the raw potential that Mio has, and even he can feel it.

"That was amazing!" Maria cheered as she hummed happily and finished cleaning up the area around the magic circle that was there. "To think that Lady Mio could hold out for so long after coming more than 9 times! Plus, I've never imagined that I would absorb so much energy."

"Oi, Maria. Why the hell didn't you mention the curse and its effects from the start?" Yukio asked with his eyes narrowed.

"…Because you were finally investing in helping us, including Lady Mio. I needed to make sure you wouldn't change your mind. It's the truth that the contract can't be annulled, so I thought there wouldn't be a problem. I'm sorry."

"I see," Ayato mumbled and sighed. "Is that all?"

"Huh? You're not mad?" Maria asked in surprise.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but right now, that's not my part. Lady Mio would no doubt be ticked at me for who knows how long, but considering that you started this, well…"

At the same time, Ayato jerked his thumb to motion behind her as Maria's head was firmly grabbed from behind like a clamp, and Maria fearfully sweated, knowing who it was and who Ayato meant.

"Hello, Succubus Hentai…."

That monotone voice could only mean one thing: Koneko was here and she was holding Maria's head in a firm, vice-like grip. And if Koneko was here, then…

"I was wondering where you two were…."

Rias Gremory was also here, along with her Queen, Akeno Himejima, who was carrying Mio, who had enough energy to tell them what had happened.

"Maria. For you to do the Master-Servant Contract behind our backs…." Rias smiled, but Maria knew that it was not a genuine smile. "We need to talk. We'll see you tomorrow, Yukio."

"Koneko, my head! You're hurting my head! I didn't mean to do it!" Maria cried out as she, Koneko, Mio, Rias and Akeno all disappeared in another red magic circle.

Also, the barrier around the room vanished, and not a moment too soon as Yukio sighed in relief as he just averted another crisis, but just barely, and now, all he wants to do is sleep and get ready for the official first day of school tomorrow.

(Next Day)

** At Hagun Academy; Main Entrance **

And now, today is the day! For Yukio Kurozakura Sparda, today is his first official day as a Freshman at Hagun Academy, and he was eager to get started, and apparently, so was Emile as they were both walking towards the entrance.

"Yay! Today's the day that we can finally make some good memories!" Emile cheered. "I really hope that we'll be in the same class together!"

"Well, you seem to be in high spirits," Yukio replied. "Unlike…"

A few feet away from them was a grumbling Mio followed by Maria.

"Geez, you didn't have to go out of your way to escort us," Mio mumbled as they stopped for a moment as Maria broke away from them.

"Well then, I'll be on hand nearby," she told them.

"Be careful not to wander too off, or Child Protective Services will get involved," Yukio warned the loli succubus, who didn't look or sounded worried.

"Ku ku ku," Maria chuckled. "Don't worry about me, Yukio. I have this!"

She then pulled out a license.

"A fake license?" Emile asked deadpanned before blinking. "Yet, it's not."

"That's right. Your Director actually had this commissioned for me. It would be an issue since I look underage, but with this, I can go wherever I want, even on weekday mornings!" Maria declared with a smug smile.

"Well, have fun with that," said Yukio as he, Emile and Mio continued on.

"Have a good day~!" Maria called out to them as they headed towards the Main Entrance.

(5 minutes later)

** At the Lockers **

After they found their assigned lockers,at Ayato's, they all saw Aine and Yurishia coming in.

"The faculty room that way," Mio said to Ayato, pointing in that particular direction, not knowing that Ayato already knew that, but Mio didn't need to know that. "Now listen, don't cling to me here, OK?"

"Well, we have better things to do besides guarding your ass, then to 'cling' to you like lost little children," Ayato retorted as he made his way to the faculty room, ignoring Mio's steaming glare.

Thankfully, Aine touched her shoulder to calm her down and simply said…

"Don't bother wasting your breath on him. It's not worth talking to that idiotic coward who run away from all of the fame."

Ayato shot menacing glares at Aine, while Mio gasped as she put her hands over her mouth and retorted…

"You take that back this instant, Aine! Yukio is no coward!"

"Oh my, it seems that Aine has touched a nerve on Lady Mio," Yurishia giggled. "As expected from a tsundere like you."

"Wha- I am not a tsundere!" Mio shouted after her, waving her arms angrily.

"You totally are…" Ayato , Aine and Yurishia countered in a deadpan style, leaving Mio fuming before she turned on her heels and stormed off.

"Aine…." Ayato told the silverette, who looked at him. "Don't think that I'm going to let you call me an idiotic coward and get away with it. And in case you haven't cleaned your ears yet, that duel was declared on Ayato's, and the Student Council President has made the decision for him to be accepted in this school. And if you're still not happy about it…"

Ayato then made a battle stance and pointed at Aine.

"…how about we have a sex duel, right after school in my room? And if I win, not only will you take back everything you said about me, but you'll have to do whatever I say for a week."

Aine gasped and growled angrily, "Ayato Kurozakuro, you insolent little whelp! It looks like I, the great Aine Chidorigafuchi, will have to teach you to know your place after School. I will decide whether or not You the monster is worthy of being in our peerage in the first place."

"Aine, stop it," Yurishia warned her.

"Don't stop me, Yurishia," Aine countered. "I need to put him in his place, or it'll set a bad precedent."

"That…is not going to happen," came the voice of Souna Shitori, the Student Council President, who's with Tsubaki and Rias, who signed at Aine's arrogant behavior.

"To think that Emile would battle here before the entrance ceremony…"

…and Twoearle, who was licking a lollipop.

"Twoearle?" Rias asked in surprise. "Why are you here?"

"You should be lucky you've met me here," Twoearle as she yawned. "In case you haven't noticed, Aine, I wouldn't battle Ayato if I were you."

"And why not?" Aine asked.

"Well…" Twoearle spoke as she explained. "Let's just say that Ayato and I met 5 years ago. For my job, I was visiting a hospital somewhere Here in Japan when they told me that there was a patient they wanted me to see. That was Emile.

"There, I realized that he had an amazing talent for being a Blazer, possibly on par with Stella.

Aine, Rias, Yurishia and even Souna and Tsubaki were shocked by this.

"You don't mean…" Souna began.

"Yes," Twoearle answered. "His rank was the same…as Stella's…"

Aine could only look at the ground as she clenched her fist.

Now that got their attention immediately as Souna realized…

"In other words, you scouted him for the sake of your research."

"Are you discontent with my explanation of him?" Twoearle asked.

"What's your objective?" Rias asked.

Before anyone could answer….

{Attention! The Entrance Ceremony will start in 10 minutes! Please proceed to the Gymnasium at this time!}

The P.A. sounded out that the school year was about to begin.

"It's time to go," Rias spoke. "You too, Aine."

"Looks like I don't have a choice," Aine responded as she looked back at Ayato. "Looks like you got out of this one. Consider yourself lucky. Next time, that won't happen."

"Oh, are you going to run away…like a coward?" Ayato mocked Aine, who snarled at Emile, but since the Student Council President was here, she calmed herself down to avoid any more escalating violations.

"That's not it," Aine answered as she walked away. "Something more important came up than fighting you . That's all. But keep in mind; this is far from over after School."

Ayato has no idea how right Aine was.

And with that, everyone proceeded to the gymnasium for the upcoming Entrance Ceremony.

** At the Faculty Room **

Ayato meets up with a normal-looking man, having dark-brown hair and gray eyes, and is wearing a white shirt and black pants.

"It's a pleasure meeting you, Ayato. I'm Mamoru Sakazaki, your new homeroom teacher," he introduced himself.

"Well, thanks," he greeted.

"Now let's get going," said Mamoru as he stood up. "It's time for the entrance ceremony."

And as Ayato proceeded to head to the gymnasium, he knew that he should be on his guard at all times.

Sure, the school will be filled to the brim with normal people, but as you know, appearances can be deceiving most of the time, and it already showed with Rias, Mio, Stella, and Sona and their peerage members being Devils.

However, there could also be representatives of the Demons and/or the Hero Clan enrolling in this school to observe Mio, or even Rias and/or Stella, for that matter since they all belong to the Gremory Clan.

Then there was this from Maria….

"The Master-Servant Contract is predicated on mutual trust. So even if the servant acts insubordinately, if she is motivated by her master's interest, the curse will not activate. The curse only activates when the servant either acts with the intent to betray her master, or her thoughts stray out of the bounds of her master's own interests."

"How troublesome…." Ayato mumbled as he continued on his way to the gymnasium.

(1 hour later)

** At Classroom 1-B **

All the Freshmen had gathered in their homerooms. Ayato had his head down on the desk, while Emile sat on his right, and Stella sat on his left.

Unfortunately, there was also Mio, who was grumbling about Stella and Emile sitting next to Yukio, but she wasn't the only one.

Also watching them from the opposite side of the classroom was a girl with light blue, neck length hair wrapped in a headband with a braid on the right part of her face and an ahegao strand; yellow eyes, fair skin, a slim yet endowed figure with high C-cup breasts borderlining on a D-cup, and wearing the same female uniform as the other girls in the school.

When Ayato saw her the first time, he thought…

'She looks awfully familiar….'

"Good morning, students!" Mamoru began as he was in the front of the classroom. "I'm Mamoru Sakizaki, and I'll be your homeroom teacher this year. Now, first and foremost of all, your original teacher was supposed to be Yuuri Oreki….as to what happened to her…."

** At the Infirmary **

On one of the beds is a young, black back-length haired woman that had bangs that covered her forehead and completely covered her ears as well. The most significant thing about her appearance were the bags under her eyes, which showed signs of insomnia.

This was Yuuri Oreki, but she wants people to call her "Yuri-chan". Now, as to what's happening right now, the reason she's in bed right now is because of her weak condition. Ever since childhood, she actually throws up a liter of blood a day.

Again, she actually throws up, in other words, vomit, a liter of blood a day. And that's what happened a few hours ago as she was getting ready to head to her homeroom.

How she's actually surviving to this day is anyone's guess, but thankfully…

"So, it has happened again, huh?" asked a new voice.

…no one knows this better than her good friend, the nurse of Hagun Academy, who's just as beautiful as the Gremory relatives and some of the other girls in their groups, and the attention of many boys, including a certain trio of perverts, Chisato Hasegawa.

Chisato is a woman with light dark brown hip-length hair, with two strands of hair sticking out like an antenna, aqua-blue eyes with red glasses, a 'beauty mark' under her left eye, a voluptuous figure with I-cup breasts, borderlining Chiharu's and Akeno's, and adorning a green sweater with a white robe on top, a short skirt, and long brown tights.

"I'm sorry…" Yuuri weakly said before coughing. "But you know, it's a special day for a special someone. I thought looking unhealthy wouldn't cut it."

"You mean…Ayato Kurozakuro?" Chisato asked as Yuuri told her all about him a few days ago. "I heard that you were able to enroll him after a spar."

"But that was because not only I knew his mother and sister well as I visited Icesitania from time to time to see them, but that was also because of his abilities, even in spite of the unfortunate events that happened last year," Yuuri told her. "I was even devastated when I found out that they managed to kick him out by turning this into an all-girls school."

"I see…" Chisato said before she looked at the window and thought to herself, 'Now that I think about it….that name does sound familiar to me…'

** At Classroom 1-B **

"…and as a result, I'll be filling her in, but make sure to stop by at the Infirmary to wish her well," Mamoru continued. "Now, believe it or not, there's no class today, but I do have one thing add-on to….it's about the upcoming Selection Matches for the Seven Stars Battle Festival. I hope you've remember what the chairwoman said at the entrance ceremony…"

(FLASHBACK TIME! – 1 hour ago)

** At the Auditorium **

All the students were gathered in the auditorium while Kurono stood in front of them all on the stage, with some of the teachers, and the new Student Council standing behind her.

"Until last year, our school's representatives were selected by ability points," Kurono announced. "But starting this year, all students will be participating in combat selection. From among the winners, the top six will become representatives. It's a simple and fair way to do it."

(FLASHBACK ENDS!)

"Now normally, the intra-school battles are supposed to start next week, however, due to some….unforeseen circumstances….this and the other schools have agreed to postpone them indefinitely until further notice, but I know for sure that it will NOT be cancelled! Not by any means!" Mamoru assured them.

"We will give you further announcements whenever the situations change and they will be sent to your student notebooks via email, so be sure to keep an eye out."

Stella then raised her hand and said, "Mr. Sakazaki."

"Go ahead, Ms. Vermillion."

"How many matches will there be in total?"

"Simple. There will be easily more than 10 matches per person, as of right now. If I were you, I would be best prepared to have one match every three days."

At that, many of the students groaned.

"For real?"

"What a pain."

'While that is great and all, what's the point? I'm not going to even deal with participating. I'll just skip my first match, get disqualified, and I'll watch the rest of it,' Ayato thought.

"Now those who don't want to do it can abstain," Mamoru continued. "It doesn't affect your grades in any way. But I think that it's a wonderful thing that everybody has an equal chance."

It was then that Stella and Emile looked at Ayato with an unreadable look in their eyes.

"With all of that said, I wish you all the very best as we get this school year started!" Mamoru finished as the other students cheered.

** At the Infirmary **

(30 minutes later)

Ayato,Stella and Haruka were at the Infirmary to see Yuuri.

"To think that you came here to see me…." Yuuri smiled. "I'm so glad…"

"Honestly, you really shouldn't push yourself so hard, Yuri-chan," said Ayato

"He's right! I'd hate it if something happened to you," Haruka followed.

"Thank you for worrying, you two," Yuuri replied.

"Geez, you troublesome woman, what am I going to do with you…." Ayato muttered before he noticed Stella looking at him. "What is it, Stella?"

Stella squeaked in mild surprise and answered, "Sorry, I was just wondering…..You two seem really close to her."

"That's because I knew his mom in high school," Yuuri told them. "After he came to with Aunt Kurono for a while, he saw me a lot more as well. He was such a cute little baby. But….it's still unfortunate about that incident though…."

Emile widened his eyes at the mentioning of the word 'incident' before Yuuri looked at them with a bright smile.

"But I'm always glad that you are alright, Ay-Ay-kun."

Ayato just sighed at Yuuri, calling him that, "Yeah…"

Ayato just watched him from the corner of his eye and Stella just looked at him.

'That incident….could it be….that Yuri-chan knows about it, too?' Haruka asked in surprise. 'No. It has to be a coincidence….'

He was pulled out of his thoughts as Ayato stood up and headed for the door with Emile behind him.

"I'll see you later. So take care until then, Yuri-chan," said Ayato and Yuuri nodded.

"Yes, I will. Bye Haruka and Ayato," Yuuri responded.

As Haruka and Ayato left, Mio came in to see Yuuri as Stella asked a few questions about how Yuuri knew about the incident, and she told them about the incident, which they already knew, thanks to the Director, but just hearing it again, made it all the more depressing.

** At the School Rooftop **

Especially for Akeno Himejima, who couldn't stop crying last night after hearing about Yukio's tragic past. Every time she thinks about that, she always brings up the most important person in her life: Her mother, Shuri Himejima.

Which unfortunately, brings up the man she detests: Her father, Baraqiel.

And then came her two sisters: Akame and Kurome, where she felt neutral around them, but she knew that they too missed their mother so much.

However, after hearing about Ayato's story, her heart literally sank.

While Akeno, Akame and Kurome still have their father, Ayato had nothing except his sister Haruka. Not only he lost BOTH of his parents, but the rest of his entire family AND his extended family hated him for who he was, and the way he lost them was much WORSE than how the Himejima sisters lost their mother.

Especially when the Old Satan Faction was involved.

** (FLASHBACK TIME! – 10 years ago) **

[This is very important, and you'll see why…]

The castle of the Kurozakuro Family, normally a glorious sight to almost anyone in Iceland, was now burning ferociously. Broken windows, dead butlers and maids, and the previously beautiful dining hall was now destroyed.

In the same dining hall, a boy around years old, was now standing in the middle of at least 50 grievously wounded Devils. That boy was Ayato Kurozakuro Sparda.

And right now, the castle had been invaded by what seemed like an army of Devils, and the young prince had taken the task of eliminating any intruder who entered the castle. However, he Killed them severely with his Boosted Gear. Suddenly, a teenage girl with shoulder-length hair dressed in a maid's outfit frantically ran towards him.

"Master Ayato! This is bad!" the maid screamed with tears on her eyes as she reached him.

"Natalia?! What happened?!" Ayato asked worriedly.

"Y-Your parents….they're being attacked!"

The boy's face lost all color due to despair. He started to run desperately through the castle, leaving the maid named Natalia behind, not knowing that she too would be among the dead as well, as he only thought of finding his family. He finally reached a room, the one where his parents slept, and what happened there would not be forgotten for the rest of his life.

His father, Kagami, was leaning against the wall, but it was too dark to see him clearly, but he was watching with horror as he saw his mother, Akari, getting stabbed through with a sword.

"Mommy!" he screamed, causing the assailant and Akari to look towards him.

"Ayato…No…You need to run now! Get out of here!" Akari yelled, but before he could, the assailant raced towards him and slashed through him, but he somehow managed to pass under the person trying to kill him.

The assailant then turned around and slashed again. This time, it managed to slash him in the back, but the movement had been so sudden, that he tripped forwards.

It luckily saved his life, but the attack made a large scar from the left shoulder to right side of his waist. The man walked slowly towards him, forcing him to slide back, but then, his hand touched something warm and wet. When he looked back, he saw his father, Kagami, leaned up against the wall….

….dead.

"Daddy, NO!" Ayato screamed as he looked at his hands, realizing that it was the blood from his father. He then looked back at the person who was obviously responsible for all of this madness. "Why did you take my mommy and daddy away?! Why?!"

The person who had killed Kagami and stabbed Akari just laughed and simply responded without a single shred of remorse, "Oh, the little beast wants to growl. If you really must know, this all happened…because you exist."

"What?" Ayato asked, stunned.

"Like I said, it's because of you. A generation blazer devil. Exist in the Kurozakuro and your father wanted you to lead them and those so-called Elders didn't want that. They would've preferred your unborn child lead if she doesn't turn out to be a generation like you. But I've heard word that they hired someone to kill you and your entire family, however, we've decided to speed up that process, but we've also killed him, too. But I've also heard word that you are a descendant of that damned Dark Knight Sparda, so we are now going to give you a choice: You either come with us and we'll spare you from any more deaths, or end your life right here, right now."

Yukio was completely stunned. The elders did this because they didn't want him, who happened to be born a generation blazer to lead his family. They ruined his life because of their own arrogance, and now, he's confused somehow. This man killed the assailant that tried to kill his family, and yet, he did that very deed. So who is this man, anyway?

But then…he saw something that solved the mystery quickly.

While the man is holding his sword, on his right-handed glove was a symbol, but it was not just any symbol. This symbol had a Devil crest on it, which looked like two intersecting spiked hooks with a 'V' in the middle. His eyes widened in horror as he now knew the organization this man is from….

"T-The Old Satan Faction?"

The man then looked at his glove and realize that he's been found out.

"Tsk," he clicked his tongue. "So you've figured it out, and at a young age, huh? Those parents really must have taught you well. Then it's a good thing I've killed them, after all. And now, you're next. I was going to spare you as you would be the perfect specimen for our secret project, but it looks like they're going to have to find a new one now. Now, enough talk. It's time to die!"

For Ayato Kurozakuro Sparda, time seemed to slow down as the realization began to sink in. He was going to use his Boosted Gear to defend the assailant's attack. He didn't want to be helpless as he now knew that he lost both of his parents, but he had to escape somehow.

However, fate decided to play his mind once again, and be such a big b*tch about it.

SLASH!

The sword was able to cut into flesh. For Yukio, he thought that he wasn't fast enough, but at the very next second, it took him a moment to realize that the flesh the terrorist cut into wasn't Ayato.

It was Akari's.

It turns out that she hadn't died after she got stabbed, but now…she was hugging him close to her, protecting his body with her own.

"Mom…my?" Ayato asked, completely stunned at the sight of his mother holding him, and smiling at him, possibly for the very last time.

"My, my….you wanted to avenge us….and your unborn sibling…but you can't die today, sweetie, you need to keep yourself safe. And you need to keep her safe. I'm so proud of everything you've done. I wish I could stay to watch you and your Sister grow up, but it looks like we'll have to do that from Heaven. Ayato, remember to grow up to be a sweet and cool man like your father. And protect the ones that matter to you the most, especially her. And remember, it's okay to be a crybaby. Believe me, mommy's one too."

And to prove her point, tears began rolling down her cheeks.

"Just remember that crying doesn't make you weak. It just means that you've been strong for too long. Lastly, I want you to remember that your father and I….love you oh so much."

And with that, the man pulled his sword out of her back as Hitomi's body fell to the ground, leaving the life out of her eyes.

"Tch, such sweet words, but they were wasted," the terrorist spoke without any remorse. "Don't worry, he will follow you soon enough."

At that very moment, Yukio Kurozakura Sparda was so broken and destroyed, it looked like the fire in his eyes were quickly snuffed out. He cried while he hugged himself, and this was the beginning of what was soon to be called 'The Kurozakuro Massacre'.

It was then that violet and pale blue energy exploded outward from his body, sending the terrorist flying back. He was losing control as the ground below him started to freeze over in a layer of violet ice. His heart had completely broken, and as such, like all other generations, his powers were going out of control. His hair soon started to slowly turn white.

The ice mixed with electricity stung worse than just dealing with one or the other, meaning that no one was safe for being so close. And then suddenly, bolts of electricity jumped through the air just as 4 ice crystals shot out of his back. He then began to cough up blood while his right eye turned white.

However, at this point, someone else came into the scene. It was Haruka, wearing a sundress, and screamed at the scene in front of her. She also saw Ayato and gasped in shock and horror. Thankfully, she also knew what happens when a generation loses control of their powers, so throwing caution to the wind (literally), she ran towards him, but she quickly realized how badly hurt that was, which also made her realize how powerful Ayato's powers as a generation really were, but she wasn't going to give up.

As a mini snowstorm fills the room, the Older woman pushes herself forward before she hugs Ayato. Somehow, and in some way, it seemed to work as Ayato recognized who was hugging him and wrapped his arms around her, and he was slowly calming down and beginning to go back to normal, but it was at this point that she now knew what had happened. After looking at the dead bodies, she screamed and cried. She screamed her anger at the ones who had caused this.

(15 minutes later)

Standing outside of the burned castle were not only the Demon army that's viciously attacking the rest of the Kurozakuro family and clan members, but at the sky were three people.

One had the appearance of a young man that was dressed in a somewhat demonic-looking Black armor that clung to his muscular body like a second layer of skin, along with a cape that looked noble and almost kingly. He had long brown hair that goes to his hips with many bangs covering his right eye, but the most defining thing about him was his expression: Cold and callous like he didn't see a thing wrong in what they were doing or didn't even care.

The second was a tall woman with a voluptuous figure and wearing glasses and a low-cut dress which exposed quite a bit of cleavage. She had brown hair tied in a bun and tanned skin.

The third and final one of the group had black hair tied in a small ponytail, pale skin, pointy ears and was dressed in noble looking clothes with red belts and motifs, coupled with a violet cape.

They were all seeing the carnage and destruction down below and were very pleased with the results.

"Looks like the Kurozakura family are all dead," the tanned woman smiled. "Took long enough."

"The method may not have been the most dignified, but the end result is all that matters," the black-armored man spoke. "Looks like we actually have to thank Lord Black for providing us all of this."

The pale-skinned man seemed to notice something.

"Over there, look."

They all saw Ayato and Haruka escape the burning castle, despite having injuries over their bodies.

"He and the older sister managed to escape," the black-armored man noted, disgusted. "What a nuisance."

"Not exactly, take a look," the tanned woman argued with a smirk as she pointed up at the sky.

What came down surprised them.

It was a large Hollow and began attacking anything and everything that stood in its way, including the Demon army, and the burning castle after firing a Cero attack.

"Then that means…this objective was a success," the pale-skinned man gladly said. "Now all we need to do is to capture the vessel and proceed with the Secret Project."

But before they could, the Hero Clan came just in the nick of time to save Ayato, who was already sucking out the poison from the girl that was attacked by the Hollow earlier. Hoping not to get found out, they used the teleportation circles to get away, but they knew that they weren't going to give up that easily….

** (FLASHBACK ENDS!) **

For Akeno, she couldn't stop the tears falling down on her face, but she was at least glad that Ayato and Haruka were alive.

'He just wanted to have a normal life,' she thought to herself. 'But how can he after dealing with them, let alone the other members of his family just wanting to kill him just for who he is? It's not fair. It's absolutely not fair! He has suffered a lot worse than what I went through. He should have a chance to be happy, but how can he when all he has are memories of pain and suffering?'

And that was when a sudden realization came to her like a bolt of lightning.

'Is that why…my heart was beating so fast? Is that the reason I want to take him into my arms and hold him tightly? To comfort him because of the terrible life he has lead up to this point?'

** At the Infirmary **

Mio and Stella were still stunned and shocked by what Yukio and that girl have gone through while Yuuri looked saddened.

"I remember the Director had gotten a call from her friend (in the government)," Yuuri said, gaining Stella and Mio's attention. "He had told her that all of Iceland was just….gone. At the time, we had no idea what had happened, but when she heard that, she, myself, and even Nene all left immediately for Icesitania.

"She was so worried just as the rest of us were, but she…looked like…the worst out of the three of us. When we got to where Iceland should've been, we met with her (government) friend and searched for any possible survivors. The director only managed to find Haruka, but Ayato was still missing. Haruka had some pretty bad injuries, primarily the bottom of her feet were freezing.

"It took 6 months before we got word from his Godfather that Yukio was found, courtesy of Samurai Ryouma, his Great Grandfather. It turns out that he was kidnapped by a terrorist organization, and how he managed to survive after such torture still astonishes me to this day.

"Ayato's power is ice and electricity mixed together. Its true form is electrified frozen energy. It's dangerous because if a person is in direct physical contact with ice for too long the water present inside the cells of whatever body part that's in contact with the ice, then freezes and form ice crystals.

"The electricity aspect then cause these ice crystals to burst faster than they're meant to and much more violently, causing damage to the frozen tissue. Now while he can do things like form ice crystals or frozen lightning bolts, the damaging effect is what all of Ayato's attacks are doing, and at various levels. This is all due to Twoearle's research that she sent us."

At this point, Stella and Mio both felt completely frozen on the inside. They had gotten their answers, only to find out that the truth was much more horrible than they thought, to say the least.

And that's not counting the Hero Clan incident 5 years later!

Now that they knew about the incident and it allowed them to really put things into perspective.

'Yukio….' they both thought before pulling their knees up and hugged their legs.

"So…that's why he's afraid to tap into his full powers…." Stella said to herself and Yuuri nodded.

"Yes…he's afraid that the same thing will happen again, and to make matters worse, there's a Dark Side of him that's being manifested, and that side will do whatever it takes to make a bad situation much worse.

That's why he believes he's not allowed to be happy. After not one, but TWO incidents, and after killing so many, including 2 people he was meant to protect; his own step brother and his own best friend.

He came to believe that he didn't deserve to be happy or have good lasting memories. He believes that he doesn't deserve to live out his dreams or have friends. He also believes that…he doesn't deserve to….be loved by another," said Yuuri before falling silent for a moment as tears welled up in her eyes.

Reminiscing about these events was really painful; she, much like the other people around Ayato, hated seeing him so beaten, but she felt that Stella and Mio needed to know everything at this point. She hoped that maybe…

"Because of how he feels…and because of one of his weapons…he decided that he needed to get away from it all and travel around the world to hone his skills. His Godfather didn't want him to be alone, so he accepted his decision to disappear and train. He even went so far as to let his closest friends think he just went missing or ended up dead," Yuuri told them as tears rolled down her cheeks. "In fact, he even gave up on his dreams of participating and trying to win the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival, the King of Knights Tournament, and the God of War League."

Mio and Stella's eyes widened.

'He wanted to enter all of those…to prove himself,' Stella thought.

'And he just…threw it all away…' Mio thought.

Stella got up and said, "I….I have to go. I'm going to go find him!"

"Then I'm coming with you!" Mio followed.

"Please…help me, Nene, Haruka and the Director see the old Ayato again," Yuuri told them. "On our behalf, please take care of him…"

"Of course, we promise!" Mio declared. As she and Stella left, Yuuri smiled softly.

'You're so lucky, Ay-Ay-Kun. You now have people who care about you very much. Even if you don't to see it yet,' she thought before she looked at the window. 'No matter how much it hurts, they'll still try to get through to you.'

Unfortunately, it won't be easy as it sounds, especially when the Old Satan Faction is still out there somewhere, among other threats along the way…..

** Outside Hallway **

Ayato walked around the campus with his hands in his pockets. While his face looked calm, his mind was anything but. As it was plagued by the sounds, screams and the images of every person that lived in Iceland flooded his mind. Then the image of that girl that was almost Hollowfied also passed through his mind and his eyes grew even colder.

'I can't forget it…' he thought. 'If all the lives I took from those 2 incidents can't be happy, then why should I get to…especially after going through…that project?'

"Wow! It's him!" one girl said as he passed by.

"He's so cute! I hope he's single! I want him so badly!" another girl spoke in admiration.

"What's with his eyes? They're so unique!" a 3rd girl said, causing Yukio to grit his teeth in anger.

'These stupid eyes….They aren't unique,' Yukio thought, but then…

"Ayato!"

His thoughts were interrupted when Stella yelled at him and stopped at his side. He turned towards her in alarm and saw that she was panting.

"L-Lady Stella! What's up!? Is Yuri-chan okay?! Is Haruka-Nee okay?!" he asked, clearly worried.

"Calm down, Ayato. They're both fine. Sorry if I worried you," Stella apologized as Yukio sighed in relief.

"Oh, that's good. Then why'd you run after me like something terribly bad had happened?" he asked.

"I was only trying to catch up to you. Mio and I have been looking for you. I wanted you to know that we and Rias know about it," Stella answered, but Ayato arched an eyebrow in confusion.

"You mind clarifying things for me here, Lady Stella? Cause he's very lost right now," he said as he pointed to himself.

Stella then blushed before she walked closer to him so she could lean up to his ear.

"I-I'm trying to tell you. I know about what happened in Icesitania…I know about how you lost control and tried to save Haruka…"

Ayato's eyes widened as he seemed to go pale. He started to back up so that he could cut and run, but Stella preempted any way of escape when she grabbed his arms and stopped him.

"Ayato, wait! I'm not afraid of you, or anything like that…" she whispered before she started to feel a little nervous. "Yukio…we want to help you."

Ayato looked at her with a sad look.

"You can't help…I don't deserve it," he said before he muttered the last part to himself, but Stella was still able to hear it.

"Don't do that," she countered. "Don't start thinking that you don't deserve to be happy, or have dreams, or to be loved. Because you do!"

"Stella, I can't. I've hurt so many people, including my own friends. Parents who will never see their children again. Children who will never see another Christmas or have another birthday again. So how can I be allowed to be happy when none of them will?"

Stella was about to respond, but was quickly cut off as a random girl jumped and latched on to Ayato's arm.

"Senior Ayato!"

When Yukio suddenly realized what just happened, he tried to pull his arm away, but the girl had a tight hold.

"I can finally talk to you, Senior!" the girl happily chirped as Stella's face turned red.

"Wh-What are you doing, Ayato?!" Stella asked.

"I'm wondering about that myself!" Yukio responded before he looked at the girl. "Who are you?"

"I'm Kagami Kusakabe, from the same class as you!" the girl introduced herself as her large breasts pressed against Yukio's arm. "I'm a huge fan of yours!"

"Oh…okay then….What do you want?" he asked, feeling very uncomfortable.

He knew he said getting close to people may not seem so bad, but this was definitely not what he had in mind. And this girl, Kagami Kusakabe, made him feel unnerved. She had the same name as his father, despite her being a girl and it left him a bit….emotionally weakened. He just wanted the conversation to end so that he could get away.

Stella, on the other hand, puffed up her cheeks as she crossed her arms while she watched Kagami flirt with Ayato, which he noticed.

"I happened to see the mock battle the other day. You're pretty strong, aren't you?" Kagami asked.

'Not really…' he thought before he sighed and tried to get his arm out of her grip, but Kagami just squeezed her chest onto his arm some more, strengthening her grip.

"You know, I'm thinking about starting a newspaper club, and I want you to adorn the memorable first issue! Please, let me feature you!" Kagami begged.

Ayato sighed and was about to decline before he noticed something important. Everyone in the immediate area, who had heard Kagami's question, was now looking at them.

'This little witch! She set me up!' he thought crossly before Stella groaned.

"How nice for you, to be this popular right at the start of the new school year," said Stella before she stormed off. "How about you just give in and let her feature you, Senior?"

Ayato glared at her and responded, "Well, fine then. Storm off! We were done talking anyway!"

'Oh no, we're not, you big idiot. Not by a long shot. You may not want to believe it, but you do deserve to be happy, and I'm going to let the others know about it,' Stella thought as she went to the Old School Building to find Rias and Akeno.

Yukio looked back at Kagami and remembered that she was still latched onto his arm.

"In fact, I already know the headline, too! ``Ayato Kurozakura, The lost prince knight who defeated the genius knight, wins flawlessly!" "! How about that?" Kagami asked.

'So they know…this has Aunt Kurono's name…or Twoearle's name written all over it,' he thought. "Let's talk about this again later."

He then noticed that she had been slightly distracted, so he used that opportunity to get out of her grip before he walked away. As he walked, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Geez, what a day…" he muttered, but then he heard a voice that forced to come to a screeching halt.

"Finally, I've found you."

'Th-that voice….could it be…' he thought as he looked around, and it didn't take to see a familiar face that made time seem to freeze. 'It is her…'

"S-Shizuku…" he spoke as she started to move closer to him as the others noticed her.

"Isn't that…"

"Yeah, it's Lorelei!"

"The new student whose results are 2nd!"

When Shizuku made it up to him, she just stared at him as tears welled up in her eyes.

"It's been a while…my big brother…." she spoke.

"Y-Yeah…Shizuku…I….I hardly recognized you," he said in surprise. "You look…very beautiful."

"Th-Thank you, and you look…very handsome," she replied.

As they both blushed, silence fell between the two. They were both too stunned at seeing each other again to say or do anything else. Shizuku just stared at her stepbrother and examined every detail of his body.

'He's gotten a lot taller. Did he dye his hair?' she thought.

"There you are, Ayato," came a new voice. It was the class representative as the siblings turned to face her.

"Class rep…Is it just me, or do we know each other-" was all Ayato could say before…

HUG!

…the girl suddenly stepped into his personal space and hugged him close.

"Huh?" Shizuku blinked as the other students made noises of shock, and then…

"W-W-Wh-Wh-What are you two doing?!" came the shocked and angry voice of Mio, who finally managed to find him with a tint of red on her face.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Ayato deadpanned before turning to the Class President and putting his hands on her shoulder when she didn't let go. "I guess you're the hugging type when it comes to meeting new fellow students?"

"Yukio…have you really forgotten about me?"

When they looked at each other, it was then Ayato quickly saw an image of a girl 5 years ago, and it overlapped with the girl in front with the same yellow eyes, and blue hair and style sans for the braid, allowing him to widen his eyes as he knew who it was.

"Yuki….Nonaka?" Yukio asked in surprise.

"Thank goodness. It has been a while," the girl named Yuki Nonaka, one of his childhood friends, sighed in relief.

Shizuku then recognizes Yuki as well and decides to cut off…

CHU!

…by kissing him on the lips! Most, if not all the girls were cursing Shizuku in their minds while the reverse could be said for the boys and what they were thinking of Ayato.

The only exception was Kagami, who started taking pictures of the whole thing. Mio, on the other hand, felt anger well up inside and felt like she wanted to end these two, while Yuki was just plain stunned.

"What's with you two?! Rather, how long do you both plan to be glued to him! Stop clinging to him already!" Mio yelled, trying unsuccessfully to pull them apart. "Hugging and kissing Ayato all of a sudden…Why are you both acting so weird?!"

"This is a scoop!" Kagami smiled as she continued taking pictures. Shizuku kept kissing Ayato until she moved her head back. She then looked into his eyes as she placed her hand on his cheek.

"I wanted to see you all this time…" said Shizuku before she surprises everyone once again…

SLAP!

…with a slap to Ayato's face!

"D-Dang it, Shizuku! What was that for?!" he asked as he held his reddened cheek.

"That was for scaring me! I thought something really bad happened to you! I didn't know if you were even alive or not! I've been worried about you, you big dummy!" Shizuku replied before sobbing.

Yukio looked at her in complete shock. With her and Yuki here, it was then that his heart made a very convincing argument to get a one up over his mind.

'Despite saying I don't deserve to be happy, I never stopped to think how it would affect everyone else,' he thought before he lifted his right hand to cover his eyes. 'Damn it, Ayato! How has being gone affected Shizuku, and even Yuki and Haruka! How has saying and thinking you don't deserve to be happy affected Yuri-chan, Aunt Kurono, Nene, or even….Crap, how has it affected that girl, too! Damn it all, you big idiot!'

Tears welled up in his eyes, but they didn't fall. He wouldn't let himself do that; not now. Not when he's the reason Shizuku was crying at this very moment.

However, Yuki took this the wrong way.

"Look at that. You made him cry," Yuki said to Shizuku who was very cross. Shizuku knew that Yuki was one of his childhood friends and can already tell that she was jealous, and a rival for his affections. She had always been pretty observant, capable of telling if any girl showed any real interest in her stepbrother.

"Says the one who only hugged him," Shizuku responded before looking at Mio, and also knew that she was jealous as well. "I, on the other hand, kissed him. It's a sign of deep affection. Men and women with the shallow ties of lovers do it. So, based on that, it's only natural that a brother and sister, bound by much deeper ties, do it too. In some countries, it's akin to a greeting."

"Is that so?" Ayato asked.

"Siblings don't kiss like that in our country!" Mio yelled while trying to avoid her actual homeplace.

"I don't think other countries do either," Kagami followed.

"It's as they say," Shizuku told Ayato. "They're them, and we're us. Remembering those eight years of longing, even sleeping together would be no more than a greeting."

"As if!" Mio shouted.

"Shizuku, a girl shouldn't say things like that!" Ayato scolded her. 'So protective of me as always.'

"I'm just joking," said Shizuku before closing on him to kiss him again. "But big brother, if you were to wish for it-"

"Not happening…." Yuki interrupted as she pulled on Shizuku's ear, forcing to get off while Mio went to Ayato.

"Ayato, what's the meaning of this?!" Mio demanded, getting into his face, now annoyed.

"What? Do you have a problem with the way I was united with my stepsister and my childhood friend? Or are you just jealous that you didn't get either a hug or a kiss after what we've been through?" Ayato whispered back with a snap, causing Mio to sputter.

However….

"Oh, now I remember. You are my big brother's childhood friend, correct?" asked Shizuku to Yuki, who now had a dark blue aura surrounding her with the occasional appearance of snowflakes. "Why are you interfering in sibling-to-sibling communication between us?"

"As if that kind of manipulation is any kind of communication!" Yuki responded as she now had a bright yellow aura surrounding her. "And besides, it's none of your business."

Shizuku didn't take that kindly.

"That's for Big Brother and me to decide," Shizuku said as she waved at Yuki, while Mio was getting ignored. "In fact, it's you that has got nothing to do with it. If you understand, then I'd suggest that you keep your mouth shut, childhood friend."

"I see…" Shizuku said to herself before giggling maliciously. "Shizuku is going to set Big Brother free now. Splash, Yoi Shigure."

She summoned her device, a silver bladed tanto that she held in a reverse grip appear in her hand.

"Shizuku, don't do that!" Ayato warned as Shizuku smiled at him.

"It's fine, Big Brother," Shizuku assured him. "My affinity is water. I can kill Emile and Yuki, no matter what their affinities are."

"That's not what I'm saying!" Yukio tried to say, but it's already too late.

Upon saying that, Shizuku has just found out who Yuki really is.

"I see. So you are one of THEM…." Shizuku said softly, but with a strained voice before muttering…

"Hero…"

"And from the way my sword is reacting, it really must hate your guts…" Yuki countered before muttering…

"Devil…"

"Go to Hell!" The two girls yelled as they attacked each other. 'Oh that's right, devices or any other weapons aren't allowed to be used within the school premises or even outside unless you are being attacked!' Ayato thought but it was too late to do anything as the attacks fired by two very angry girls collided and resulted in an explosion.

[- A Few Hours Later -]

Suffice to say, Kurono had found out about the incident involving Shizuku and Yuki. She immediately dragged the 2 girls off and lectured them before deciding their punishment for their weapons on school grounds, while Emile was taken somewhere at the Sports Field.

"Inside or outside of school, it's forbidden to deploy your Devices or other weapons outside of allowed areas," Kurono told them as she looked upon Yuki and Shizuku as they were cleaning up with mops.

Kurono had decided that cleaning the girl's restroom floor would be a suitable punishment for the two.

"Now normally, you should be punished under house arrest, but considering it's still the first day, I decided on a week of toilet cleaning. You should be thankful for my leniency."

"Thank you very much, Director…" Yuki stoically said.

"I will reflect upon my actions, and I won't do it again," Shizuku followed.

"Good," Kurono smiled. "You can go home after cleaning all the girls' toilets within the school. By the way, there are 27 of them, but you two should be very lucky.

(2 hours later)

** At the Main Entrance **

It was now evening, and after exchanging insults with each other, including ones that rather wouldn't be heard, Yuki and Shizuku finally finished cleaning up all of the restrooms, but they have to do it again tomorrow.

"I'm going to let you off today," Yuki told Shizuku as they were at the Main Entrance.

"So, you're admitting defeat?" Shizuku asked her. "Then don't get near Big Brother again."

"I'm not admitting anything, not in the slightest!" Yuki snapped back. "And too bad for you, but I can't not get near him. We're childhood friends, after all."

"Well, some things can only be understood by blood relatives," Shizuku countered.

"Like what, for example? Go ahead and explain it."

"Well…" Shizuku tried to say but quickly shook it off. "No matter what it is, you'll never understand Big Brother's feelings! You, who's not even part of the Kurogane family-"

"Don't suddenly make it about family!" Yuki snapped. "I wouldn't be so sure about that!"

"So you do understand? How does my brother feel after always being treated like he doesn't exist?!"

"Of course, I understand! I was there when he was exiled from us 5 years after killing so many people, INCLUDING YOUR BROTHER!" Yuki yelled, forcing Shizuku to freeze in shock.

"What?" Shizuku asked, completely stunned by what Yuki just said.

"Yes! Don't think I'm dumb!" Yuki told her as tears began to form. "5 years ago, Yukio held on to…THAT sword, and from there, everything went out of control, and then…we were attacked by those large monsters…Ayato, completely out of his reach for control, tried to stop those monsters, but in the process, he killed your brother and his best friend! And after that, he was banned from our clan when he should've sealed up to a different dimension, never to be seen again! After that…he just stopped believing that he deserved to be happy, or have good lasting memories, or live out his dreams, or even have friends, or…to be loved by another."

Shizuku couldn't believe what she was hearing right now, but she began to tear up anyway.

"I even heard that he's given up on his dreams to participate and try to win the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival, the King of Knights Tournament, and even the God of War League, and it's all because of that idiot that didn't listen to their orders! If he hadn't done that, then NONE of this would've happened!"

Shizuku felt her blood run cold after that as she fell to her knees as she held a hand over her small chest.

"That's why he disappeared with his Godfather," Yuki finished. "That's why he thought that he didn't deserve to have any of us around, because he fears that we could be the next victims."

Shizuku Kurogane couldn't take it anymore as she started to cry.

"T-That's crazy! Almost every person in that damn country hated him, along with my extended family! With how most of them treated him, he deserves to be the happiest now that he's free, but instead, he's in pain! He's suffering, and my brother and his best friend paid the price for it!" Shizuku cried.

Yuki thought to herself, 'Ayato…I wish you could truly see that while you're suffering might make most of the people there happy…it's tearing the rest of us apart. And now…you're with the Devils, and those greedy creatures are only going to make things even worse…'

Yuki tried to pat Shizuku's head, but she quickly stood up and said…

"Please don't touch me. I need…some time for myself to think. I'm going to make sure that Yukio won't suffer any longer."

With that, Shizuku heads off to the Girls' Dormitory while Yuki is convinced…that those Devils need to be taken care of, even if she has to be the starting point of another Great War….

** At the Girls' Dormitory **

Shizuku finally makes it to her room to meet her roommate.

"Oh, welcome," a new voice was heard. The person is a transgender woman, having many effeminate features, like soft eyes, and very girlish lips, although this may be due to the fact that she believes she is a girl trapped inside a man's body. She has very long dark hair that covers most of her forehead, and goes down all the way to her ears. She also wears a religious cross, tied in with a necklace, around her neck.

"I was worried because you weren't showing up. I'm Nagi Arisuin, but my friends call me Alice," she introduced herself with a wink. Shizuku narrowed her eyes in suspicion as something told her that something's off with this girl…

** At Sylvia Park **

(1 hour later)

Ayar laid on a park bench while he looked towards the night sky.

"I wonder…..is what Aunt Kurono said true?" he asked. "Mom. Dad. Are you two….really watching everything that's happening right now?"

In his mind, Stella's words earlier echoed his mind. He remembered how he replied and remembered that she looked ready to retort.

'I wonder what she was going to say,' he thought before he sighed. "Do I…really deserve to be…happy?"

A dark voice he knew all too well simply laughed, (No, of course not! Not after all of the things you've been through!)

Ayato gritted his teeth when he heard the voice of his Hollowed self.

(Oh, and before you say anything, let me also point out that your life is already going downhill, thanks to that Sacred Gear of yours! I don't know if Ddraig told you this, but as any Dragon Emperor, you're bound to live such a miserable life! And then there's me. You may not notice it, but I'm going to keep getting closer and closer to you. And not just day after day, oh no. It's going to happen much faster than that! See, I'm already closer to you than I was a moment ago. And I'll keep getting closer and closer to you, until I swallow you up and then, you'll disappear, FOREVER! For you to be happy? HA! As if that's going to happen anytime soon. In fact, someone is about to come here to prove my point. See you around.)

And with a cold chuckle, his Hollowed self cut the link before Ayato could even have a chance to speak with him, and he felt more depressed after hearing that. And then he touched the back of his neck to feel some marks behind him.

'And there's also that…' he thought to himself. 'If they find out about the mark behind my neck, I'm completely done for….'

But then, he remembered the last part of what his Hollowed self said. Someone was about to come here to prove his point… What does that even mean?

He's about to quickly find out as a strong aura forced him to quickly stand up and glance around and saw the sky turning purple as a result.

'Wait a minute…this had happened before,' he thought as his guard was raised up. 'It was…just like that time…with Raynare.'

And without a second to spare, he immediately tensed up as his expression now turned grim as he recognized this kind of development. This was no doubt just like that last night when he was attacked.

He looked around and realized something. For some reason, he was more active and could see clearly at night, and because of that, his eyes caught something that could be described as a mysterious hatted figure hiding in the shadows.

"Who's there?!" he shouted as the dark figure moved closer into the light, revealing itself as a man in his middle years, wearing a trenchcoat and a hat that concealed his face for a moment until he revealed himself.

"Well, how unfortunate," the figure spoke before shifting his hat in a more proper place to show his face to him. "It might just be my lucky day to meet your kind in such a place."

Ayato couldn't stop the creeping fear inside his body as he faces the unfamiliar figure, but he noticed a similar aura as that of Raynare when he first encountered her after saving her from a group of Demons. The dreaded feeling of hostility and betrayal. At that moment, he could only come up with a single conclusion.

This man is definitely a Fallen Angel.

As he was examining the man before him, the figure cast his sinister glance towards him, causing him to leap away in a safe distance as if his body reacted to his dark gaze. As soon as he landed, he was shocked to find just how he covered a good distance between them.

'My goodness…I never knew that I would jump THAT far…' he thought in awe, but he quickly turned his attention back to the man.

"Hoh? You are quite sharp enough to sense danger. I must say that it's really unlucky for you to be alone at a time like this, boy," said the main with a smirk which only made him raise his guard in defense.

Ayato knew that if he summoned his Device right now, he'll be in trouble, but at the same time, he doesn't want to reveal his Sacred Gear to him just yet. Knowing that, he's going to make a run for it. Hopefully somewhere where there's little to no people so he can fight against him properly.

As he ran away from the figure, the man himself chuckled at his response. Also, he began to see multiple black feathers falling out from the sky, prompting to look up to see the same man from before flying above them, forcing him to turn elsewhere.

"Kuku, I have to admit that it was logical of you to run away in the face of a Fallen Angel. However, I can't help but laugh at your pathetic attempt," he laughed with a bit of mockery that was making Ayato's Hollow's words beginning to come true.

"This is why low-level creatures are so troublesome. They run, they hide without accepting the fact that they're never going to survive, no matter how fast they can get away from those higher to them."

Ayatoo was getting more and more p*ssed off from the way this Fallen Angel was looking at him.

"Then why are you targeting me?! Tell me or I'll bust your face if I have to!" Ayatio warned him, causing the man to laugh again. "What's so funny, you creep?!"

"I like your spirit, boy, but unfortunately, you must die tonight," the Fallen Angel answered. "I don't sense any of the presence of your master or comrades. You're not even trying to escape nor using a magic circle. That analysis should lead me to refer to you as a Stray."

With that, he slowly lifted his hand and summoned a spear of light, causing Ayato's eyes to gape open in disbelief upon recognizing that very weapon used to kill him by Raynare. His body was telling him to either change into his Shinigami form or use his Sacred Gear or avoid that spear at all costs.

"Don't worry. I'm going to end you in an instant. You won't suffer any more. Perhaps God would be willing to grant you another life. You are just an unfortunate individual that will be soon expanded for the sake of our secrecy," he said before thrusting the spear without warning.

The blade was too fast for Yukio to avoid, but he soon remembered about many people waiting for him.

Aunt Kurono. Stella. Rias. Shizuku. Yuki. Mio. Maria. And many more.

Knowing that, he quickly tries to avoid it, but the spear made a last minute change of direction….

SHUNK!

…

…

…

…

SPURT!

…and managed to pierce through its flesh. However, the Fallen Angel was surprised to see Ayato stretching his right hand to catch the blade in front of him as he knew he couldn't avoid it in time. However, that wasn't what caught his attention. It was the dripping blood that was gushing out from it as he tried to suppress the pain with all of his might.

"Well, well. I'm impressed that you would be able to stand after taking the hit. No matter, though. A mortal cannot survive from a blade of light, and as a Devil like you, it's poisonous and it's too much for you to handle," the man muttered in amusement.

Ayato was pierced in the arm as blood smeared onto his clothes while unable to gaze away from the serious wound he got from the man.

"Kgh-" Ayato gritted his teeth in frustration as the blade disappeared and reappeared back on the man's hand, which only served as another shot for him to fire upon them with ease. The hole in his palm was visible through and through, indicating the severity of the wound.

(See, I told you!) Ayato's Hollow laughed before quickly stopping to see Ayato's expression shadowed for a bit. (Oh? So you've finally had enough being bullied? About time! Go get him!)

And that's exactly what he was going to do. Ayato stood up and eyed the Fallen Angel, now completely mad! There was no indication in his expression worrying about his pain on his hand. Instead, there was only anger and it was directed solely towards the man.

"I-It hurts. I-It seriously hurts, alright," Ayato finally spoke. "And I know for a fact that you're trying to kill for no apparent reason. However, I just can't simply stand around and do nothing while you're possibly trying to kill the ones I care about, YOU BASTARD!"

In a split-moment, the temperature dropped to subzero temperatures as the man had to cover himself up to keep him warm, but to no avail.

Ayato was now changed to his Shinigami form, and what's even more strange is that the wound on his arm was somehow gone and instantly closed itself.

"Wha-What's going on?" the man asked in surprise. "A Shinigami?! Hmph. Don't get full of yourself!"

As he launched the blade of light towards him, Yukio simply deflected it with a swipe of his bare hands that shocked the Fallen Angel.

"I-Impossible! How did you-"

"I don't know what you want with me, but something tells me that you're going to go for my friends and family, and if you so much as lay a finger on them, I'll make sure to freeze you until you are easily breakable and there's nothing left of you to exist!" Ayato shouted in complete anger one moment, he was on the ground, but the next moment…

FLASH!

…he was standing right in front of him!

PUNCH!

And at the very next second, Yukio gathered up dark energy in his fist and used it to punch the Fallen Angel in the face so hard that a bone-shattering sound echoed upon impact, sending him crashing to one of the vendors standing at the park.

At first, Yukio thought it was over until he saw the man staggering out of the wreckage before turning over his cheek with his hand, which suffered a severe burn from Ayato's attack, and then shot him a hateful gaze towards him.

"A mere low-class Devil inflicting such an injury this much?! Unforgivable! UNFORGIVABLE!" the man shouted in rage, seemingly unable to accept the fact that he was beaten.

He suddenly sprouted his black-feathered wings as he floated above him with his hands raised above him. After a few seconds, an enormous version of his blade of light appeared. It was a lot bigger than the things he had before and Yukio knew for a fact that he was intending to destroy everything around him.

It appeared that he has no choice but to reveal either his sword or Sacred Gear to make things even….

"Eat this, you pathetic crow!"

PUNCH!

…but that wasn't going to be necessary as Ayato quickly saw a silver blur from the right slip past him and towards the man at lightning-fast speed! He didn't know what it was, but he saw the man forced to use his two hands and summoned two normal-sized blades of light to deflect the approaching blur, thus disrupting the massive spear of light from being thrown and vanished immediately.

Then a couple of seconds later, he was punched once again as he was launched towards a tree. At that moment, Ayato quickly went back to normal, and not a moment too soon as he saw…

"You should be very thankful that we've saved your sorry Ass."

…Aine Chidorigafuchi who punched the man easily, thanks to her Sacred Gear, but she wasn't alone.

"It looked like you were in a pinch. We apologize for stepping in late," came the voice of Erza Scarlet, followed by her twin sister, Erza Knightwalker.

As he was distracted by his would-be saviors, he heard the man shout towards them in anger.

"Tch, it's one after another! You will pay for that!"

Though as he was about to make his move, a thunderous roar erupted from above as a large lightning strike shot down above him, forcing him to dodge. But before he could ascertain who made that attack, he was forced yet again to make a dodge as a wave of black-red energy, ice and fire approached from all ends of his vision and slammed together as a result, creating a loud bang that lightly shook the area around them.

"Don't lay a finger on him," a voice spoke from behind as Ayato glanced from his back and saw 5 figures stop just near them, and immediately knew who came to save him.

"President Rias, Senior Akeno, Lady Stella, Lady Mio, and President Sona?" Ayato spoke of their names as they stared at the man with ominous looks.

He could feel a strong aura emanating on the five as if they were like some characters in a manga fight. In other words, they didn't look normal in his eyes, but then again, nothing was normal around him as far as he was concerned.

The Fallen Angel was getting frustrated over the sight of new visitors joining the fray.

"Who in the hell are you?!" he asked, demanding an answer from them as he tried launching a spear of light towards them, only to be deflected once more by Rias' rook, Koneko, and a new person that Ayato hadn't seen before.

The new person is a slim young woman of below average height. She has long, white hair which curls slightly at the ends, with two bangs framing her face and reaching down to her chest; her hairstyle's most distinctive trait is a short, upward ponytail obtained by gathering and tying the hair covering her forehead.

Due to her always adopting such fashion, her hair seems to have adapted to it, with the hair on her forehead remaining pointed upwards even when not tied. She has large blue eyes and a curvy, voluptuous body, with large breasts.

She is usually seen wearing a sleeveless, ankle-length maroon dress with a pleated skirt. The chest is adorned by a large, pink bow, and similarly colored trimmings frame the rather ample neckline, acting as straps, and circle around the waist.

Since she's standing near Stella, Ayato assumes that she's a part of Stella's Peerage, and he's right. She's an excellent mage by the name of Mirajane Strauss.

"Hmm…it seemed like the cavalry has arrived," the Fallen Angel spoke as he now knows that he's outnumbered. "Perhaps I'm mistaken regarding this guy as a stray."

"Are you still planning on fighting?" Rias asked him, prompting all of them to stop as the man recomposed himself before recognizing her and the other two Gremories by the color of their crimson hair as it glistened in the moonlight.

"I see. You must be from the Gremory family," the man guessed. "And I also see that your partner in crime, Sitri, is here as well."

A smile crept its way onto Rias' lips before moving into a gesture to greet him.

"I'm Rias Gremory, and I have my cousin Stella, and my niece Mio, and my best friend Sona Sitri. How are you tonight, Mr. Fallen Angel?"

"Hoh, how interesting. Who would've thought that this place was not only under Gremory's observance, but also Sitri's as well? It seems like we were mistaken," the man replied before looking at Ayato. "Is he from your household?"

"Yes, and we will show no mercy to anyone who tries to mess with him," Stella answered with confidence.

"Well, I must say. I'm impressed that he wields such power. Who knew that he would be capable of fighting Fallen Angels on his own? Well, I won't apologize for what I did. I mistook him as a stray. I suggest to keep your servants on a leash and not let them run free alone at this time of night, because the next time I find them again, I won't be so lenient."

"We thank you for the advice, but let us give you something in return. Should you do something like this again, we will kill you a hundred times over!" Mio warned him.

"And I'll throw in my 2 cents," said Sona. "It's best advised that we don't cross paths again, because at least one of us is guaranteed to die should this happen."

"Likewise, Gremory and Sitri. Likewise," said the Fallen Angel as he simply lowered his hat in acceptance of the advice before he flew away, leaving black feathers behind him. "By the way, the name's Dohnaseek. I do indeed hope that we never face each other again, but I surely won't forget this meeting."

As soon as he said that, the barrier began to disappear as the skies returned to normal once again.

"And we're clear!" came the voice of Maria who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, causing everyone to breathe a sigh of relief, seeing that the battle was now over.

Then all of a sudden, Ayato felt his body shut down and fell down to the ground as a result.

"A-Ayato! Are you okay?!" Stella asked as she and some of the others tried to help him up, but it seemed like he was out cold, probably by the fatigue he suffered after that wild display earlier.

"Don't worry, everyone. It's just fatigue. He'll recover in a few minutes," came another new voice in the form of…

[Twoearle?!]

"And I must say, Darling has come through once again~!" Twoearle spoke as she came to pick up Ayato with one arm while her assistant Meimei just bowed down to them before they headed back to Hagun Academy.

"And just where do you think you're going with Ayato?" Rias asked.

"Easy. Back to his dorm room," Twoearle replied with a smile. "Haruka asked me to find him and take him back to his room. Oh, and Rias….you're not thinking of actually trying to sneak into his room and sleep naked to heal him up, are you?"

When Twoearle asked that question, Rias, Mio and Stella all blushed and couldn't answer, but Rias knew that Twoearle caught her red-handed (literally)!

"H-How lewd and indecent!" both Erzas yelled in embarrassment.

"Well, there goes your chance…" Akeno giggled at Rias.

"B-Be quiet!" Rias stuttered, causing Sona to sigh in annoyance.

However, what they all didn't know was that Yuki Nonaka saw all of this from a far and safe distance, and immediately knew what to do.

"Ayato…will be in constant danger with those Devils around. I need him to get away from them somehow."

** At the Girls' Dormitory **

Shizuku was talking to her new roommate Nagi as she looked out the window.

"I loved my Big Brother and Stepbrother so much, and kept loving them even after they left home. But one day, I realized how badly the family treated them. I detested those people and the Elders from the bottom of my heart. And that's when I decided. Father's love, mother's love, big brother's love, little sister's love, and the love of my extended family…

"I'm going to provide them all to my stepbrother myself."

Alice just chuckled a bit, forcing Shizuku out of her thoughts.

"Ah, I'm sorry," Shizuku apologized. "I'm rambling on, even though we just met."

"Shizuku, from the way you described, you hate people, don't you?" Alice asked.

"Huh?" Shizuku asked, confused.

"You may have been shy with strangers to begin with," Alice explained. "But maybe in your case, your relationship with your family made it worse."

She then stood up and continued, "I understand. I used to know a similar girl. Well, we're going to know each other for a while, so if you ever need to talk, you can talk to me. Think of me as your big sister."

Shizuku smiled and nodded.

** Outside the School **

On top of a building nearby is the same masked man from earlier that saw Yukio being reincarnated, and just saw him fight against Dohnaseek.

"So that is the descendant of the legendary Sparda…" he said.

"Indeed, it is," a new voice said.

The masked man turned around and saw two hooded figures behind him.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Relax, we mean no harm," one of them responded as he raised his hand. "We're just here to talk and to meet with your Master."

"Oh, then tell me something. Why should I do that?"

"We can make an offer he couldn't refuse. Not only will he have the power of the Future Demon Lord; Mio Naruse Lucifer, but also the power of Sparda and the Red Dragon Emperor himself."

'The Red Dragon Emperor?! Inside the descendant of Sparda?!'

"Hmm…."

That made the masked man think for a few moments before he made his answer.

"Very well then. I'll see what I can do, but for now, follow me."

He then summons a magic circle before he steps through and the robed figures soon follow.

(Next Day)

** At Hagun Academy **

Now, when it comes to the "Great Ladies of Hagun Academy" by the names of Rias Gremory, Akeno Himejima, Mio Naruse Gremory-Lucifuge and Stella Vermillion Gremory-Phenex, every boy in the school wants to have one of them as their girlfriend, but there's an unspoken rule that they put on themselves:

'If a guy goes out with a Great Lady, all the other boys will kill him.'

And also, their sweet smiles always bring good things to others. Many of them asked them out, but they turn them all down, saying things like:

'Thanks for offering, but I have more important things to do.'

So imagine some of the fans of the Great Ladies, both male and female, turned and gasped when they saw Ayato walking with one of the Great Ladies by the name of Akeno Himejima when they got to the Main Entrance.

This is the reaction from the boys.

"What the hell?!"

"The prince with Big Sister Akeno?!"

"You mean that guy?"

"When did he get so close to her?"

And from the girls…

"Big Sister Akeno with that boy?"

"Including the missing prince!"

"When did she get close to someone like him?"

"It can't be!"

Just then, the trio heard a familiar voice call out to them.

"Akeno!"

It was Rias as she, Aine and Yurishia were approaching them.

"What is it, Buchou?" Akeno asked.

"I just wanted to know how Ayato was doing after last night," said Rias.

"Well, we are doing fine, thank you," Emile answered. "But seriously, you didn't have to sleep naked with us last night!"

Ayato almost gasped in horror when Emile revealed that one while a few boys who were close enough to hear that felt like a lightning bolt went through them. They would certainly spread that rumor, and Aine knew it as she began to crack her knuckles, but Akeno then responded….

"I did that just to heal his injuries, and nothing more, so you don't have to punish him."

Aine scoffed and replied, "Fine."

"In fact, Ayato even worked hard last night to give you this bento, if you want it," Akeno told her as Ayato pulled out a box of bento and offered it to her.

Aine stared at it for a few seconds before she said, "This better be good."

With that, she accepted it, put it in her bag, and walked away. Some of Aine's fans who saw that couldn't believe it.

"Well, well, well. For Aine to actually accept that from you, Ayato," Yurishia replied with a smile. "You should be lucky as Aine usually rejects them by stomping them on the floor in front of them."

Ayato actually flinched at those poor souls before him, hoping that he wouldn't be the next one or he would promise himself to never do it again.

"However, if she likes it, then she will thank you, but not directly, of course, knowing her," Rias explained as she looked at Aine's retreating figure.

"The fact that she accepted yours means that she's somewhat willing to start over from scratch, we hope."

"Yeah, we hope," Emile repeated, but not fully convinced.

"Come on, we'll be late for class," Rias finished as they walked away, but some of the fans were not happy at how their idols were talking so casually to Ayato, despite being the Kurozakuro prince.

Several of them decided to investigate this.

** At Classroom 1-B **

Ayato was sitting at his seat with Stella and Emile after leaving the others. After being attacked by that Fallen Angel last night, Rias has decided that Ayato was going to do some training, which he was excited about, but she also told him about some of the rules that she would tell him after school.

While he was lost in thought, he didn't hear some of the girls in the back of the class whispering about arriving at school with Akeno. They wondered how he could have done such a thing.

But then, he was rudely broken out when out of nowhere, the Perverted Trio of Issei, Matsuda and Motohama appeared in front of him as Matsuda slammed his hands on the table to get his attention.

"Ayato! How and when did you get so close to Big Sister Akeno and this beauty here AND Yuki?!" Matsuda practically shouted.

Ayato just sighed in annoyance as he knew that sooner or later, this was going to happen. He never would've thought that some of their fans would get THIS worked up.

"They are just helping me get up to speed on club activities, since Emile and I just recently joined Akeno's club," Ayato carefully responded.

[WHAT?!] the trio shouted.

"How the hell did you get accepted into that club?!" Motohama barked. "A lot of their fans had tried to apply for it, but they had always said that they didn't qualify! How the heck did you get accepted? And why did you arrive at the school from the same direction as her?!"

Ayato was thankful that Stella was there to diffuse the situation quickly, since having questions like these bombarded him was something new, and considering the number of jealous fans of many of the Great Ladies, admitting that he…. 'slept' with her last night was more than definitely out of the question.

"Then why was she so close to you, as if she wanted to hold your hand?" Issei asked.

Before either Stella could retort as they were beginning to get annoying, Mamoru came in and saved them from any more trouble.

"OK, everyone! Take your seats!" Mamoru barked at the students as the Perverted Trio retreated out of the classroom, but Ayato has a feeling that this was far from over….

** Near the Old School Building **

(2 hours later)

It was now noon, and the students had broken for lunch.

Yukio was sitting with Emile near the building where the Occult Research Club was also located. He opened his bento and was about to start eating when he felt someone sit down next to him.

"Hi, my Big Brother," Shizuku said with a smile.

"Hello, Shizuku," Yukio said in surprise.

"How was your day? Did you have any trouble?"

"Well, a trio of guys, who I would soon later on as the most pathetic perverts on the planet asked why I came to school with Akeno."

Shizuku's eyebrows twitched at the mentioning of Akeno, which may be another opponent for his heart.

"And what did you say?" Shizuku asked.

"I said that she was helping me get up to speed on club activities," Ayato answered. "When they asked how I managed to join the Occult Research Club, Emile told them that we were not allowed to, and when they asked why, he answered that we met her along the way."

"And I've heard that she was very close to you…in fact, she was about to hold your hand," Shizuku said with a bit of strain in her voice.

"That…wasn't a lie, to be honest with you," Ayato replied honestly.

"And by the way, what's with the extra lunch?" she asked as there was one extra box that was left unopened.

"That was for Mio," Emile answered. "But she refused hers, because she thought that it was for Yuki, which I told her that we didn't know she would be here. Despite understanding our situation, she's acting so troublesome, like a typical annoying tsundere."

Shizuku frowned at yet another competitor in Ayato's heart, but since Mio refused to take it, she has decided to take that box for herself.

"Then don't mind if I do," Shizuku smiled brightly as she took the box. "Anything made from my Big Brother is definitely going to be worth it. Thanks for the meal."

With that, Shizuku walked away and proceeded to the cafeteria to eat.

as Ayato stood up and proceeded to walk near one of the buildings just to have a little bit of fresh air. However…

"Are you going to have lunch with your childhood friend?"

Mio was in his path as she asked that question scathingly, with the idea of him having lunch with one of her rivals burning her. However, it was snuffed out with Ayato hitting her back with a nasty glare.

"Careful, Lady Mio. We don't want to do anything to get you all… hot and bothered now," Ayato threatened as his eyes went from his cold dark purple eyes to his red draconic ones, and back again.

Mio recoiled and stepped back, putting a hand to her neck as Ayato brushed past her, not wanting the curse around her neck to activate at the worst possible time.

"What the heck… You don't have to be so…" Mio muttered, hurt at Yukio's attitude towards her, but her own wasn't endearing herself to him.

"Well, that is quite the fine mess you've just gotten yourself into, new student," came a new voice.

Ayato looked over near the entrance to one of the buildings to see a normal male student with dark green hair spiking up with two fringes on both sides and deep purple colored eyes, and the male uniform with boots.

"I'm Yahiro Takigawa," he introduced himself. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

** At the top of the building **

The next thing Ayato knew, he found himself at the entrance of the school rooftop, with a sign on the door that says, "Entry is Forbidden. – The Director". Despite that, Yahiro was picking the lock.

"It's pretty easy to get it open once you get the hang of it," Yahiro commented to an impressed Ayato. "I'm the only one in this academy who knows about this, and now, you do too."

"Thanks," Ayato deadpanned as Yahiro opened the door and led him outside.

"I know what you're going through. I transferred here last year myself," Yahiro said, starting a conversation as he started eating his lunch.

"Is that so? I can tell you that you're the type that stays out of trouble, but what the hell is with the rest of the guys here? Their animosity towards me is abnormal," Ayato noted.

Yes, unfortunately, the rumor of Akeno walking with Ayato has already spread, thus many of the guys beginning to hate Ayato, not only because he was with the Occult Research Club, where all of the Great Ladies attend, but he also has history with his stepsister Shizuku, and their rival Yuki, a history that many would kill to have. There's also the fact that he's friends with the Handsome Duo of Yuuto Kiba and Fritz Glanz, preventing Yukio from making any new friends from his gender.

"It's not just them, man. The rumor mill is spinning like clockwork, and now, almost all of the whole male population is jealous of you," Yahiro confirmed, with Yukio grumbling.

"Because of my relationship with Yuki, Shizuku and the Great Ladies?"

"That's right. The Great Ladies, Shizuku and even Yuki are the rival idols of this school, and that's not counting the Eiken club, mind you, so you're in the King's position after triggering 'flags' for many of them."

"Flags? What's this, a harem visual novel? And everyone here is actually calling them princesses?" Yukio asked incredulously.

Rias is certainly a princess due to being the Heiress of the Gremory Clan, Stella being the Princess of the Vermillion side of the Phenex Clan, and Mio, in a sense, as a princess due to her father being a Demon Lord, but she acts anything but one.

"Surprisingly, the men are more jealous than the women."

"Have there been problems in the past that I should know of?"

"Well, those Perverted Trio folks you certainly need to watch out. They'll do anything to get their hands on seeing booties and boobies. Last year, they even went bold on stealing the girls' underwear while they were taking their baths, which led to the fixed gender dormitories, and whenever someone tries to start either of their 'routes', the other admirers halt them in their tracks," Yahiro explained.

"So those horny hyenas keep each other at bay? That's pathetic. They'll die as virgins before they know it," Ayato scoffed.

"No doubt, but exactly," Yahiro agreed.

'To think that many of them would seize the opportunity to grab Lady Mio, but they have to be out of their mind if they think that they can get past Lady Rias and the others, but still…'

"Then should you really associate with me, then?"

"Don't worry about it. You look like a strong guy. If it comes down to it, I'll abandon you to save my own skin."

"For a new friend, you're so….dependable."

"It's amazing that you've already set the flags for many girls, and even your roommate, a 'trap', if I do say so myself. It'll be fun to hang out with a guy with that kind of luck, or whatever other unseen power," Yahiro finished with a grin, but unknown to him, Ayato's eyes were hidden behind his hair, with his eyes turning draconic red in anger.

** At the Main Entrance **

(5 hours later)

"Why are you following me?" asked an annoyed Mio.

Ayato, and Stella all declined to answer such a dumb question as they spotted Maria waving at them. It was a stupid question since they all live within blocks of each other.

"Oi, Lady Mio! Good job with your hard work today!" Maria greeted, bowing until Mio walked past her.

"Ayato…"

"What?" he asked.

"She seems like she's in a really foul mood," Maria whispered to him.

"Being a tsundere, Maria. Don't think any more of it," Stella growled out. "Besides, a lot happened."

Maria blinked before adopting a sly smile. "Oh, that's not good. Unlike that time, you should use protection."

Ayato ignored Maria's teasing and Emile's retaliation and focused his attention on Mio.

"What?" Mio asked a bit haughtily and avoided eye contact with him, but looked nervous at what he was going to say with a blush.

"Are we seriously going to have a problem concerning my relationship with Yuki and Shizuku?" Ayato asked seriously, making Mio and Stella perk up. "Because I've come to a conclusion that this is something that we all don't need when it comes to your situation. As for Yuki, you should know-"

"Ayato."

Ayato sighed heavily as he knew who called him. "Speak of the devil…"

They turned around to see Yuki as Maria and Stella laid eyes on her for the first time with interest.

"We need to talk. Alone," Yuki spoke with her eyes on focusing on Ayato.

Ayato just blinked and looked at Mio, Maria and Stella were confused while Emile slightly narrowed his eyes at Yuki. Now Yuki may have been Ayato's childhood friend, who knows longer than the others, except for Shizuku, but he also remembered where he met her and what she came from. He was hoping that it was just a mere coincidence that Yuki just happened to go to the same school as Mio and the others.

Wishful thinking.

It was then that Aine, Yurishia, and Erza Scarlet arrived to see Yuki walking with Ayato as the others were left behind.

"Lady Mio, Maria, Lady Stella, we've come to escort you back to the dorms," E. Scarlet said to them.

However, they all still looked at Ayato and Yuki's retreating forms, but also watching them from another view was Shizuku and quickly decided to follow them.

** At a Coffee Café **

"Is it just me, or do you really enjoy being so close to me?" Ayato asked after he and Yuki both took a seat at a table, with Yuki sitting right next to him.

"It's better if no one else overheard us," Yuki replied as she leaned in on Yukio, pressing her breasts against his arm.

"….Uh-huh."

"Thank you…for coming with me."

"…Five years. You sure have changed," Ayato commented with a small smile as he sipped his drink.

"You as well. You returning my embrace is the same, yet you didn't take the opportunity to fondle my butt in the confusion," Yuki noted in slight disappointment, even while her face betrayed no emotion.

"We were in front of our peers. Besides, that's a private thing between you and I, but our old friend Basara did it more than me. However, something tells me that you didn't drag me away to reminiscence about the good times. What did you really want to talk about?" Ayato asked as he drank more of his drink.

"It's about the Gremory family, but more specifically, it's about Mio Naruse…"

As soon as Yuki said that, Ayato's hair shadowed the Dark Purple eyes as he set his drink down.

"So it's not a coincidence like I was hoping for. When I learned about Lady Mio's situation, I had a feeling that they would sic an observer on her, despite her being adopted into the Gremory Clan. It's only logical explanation I can think of when it comes to how the representative of the Hero Tribe is going to the same school as Lady Mio; and to think it would be you, of all people, Yuki Nonaka," Ayato explained with strained casualty as he finished his drink and set it down as his look turned hostile as Yuki's yellow eyes turned cold as she warned him to….

"Stay away from Mio Naruse Gremory. In fact, don't involve yourself with her any further, or those Devils, for that matter. They are nothing but trouble."

** At an Unknown Hospital in the Underworld **

It was 'nighttime' and Kurono was in what looked to be a hospital room sitting by a bed. The sound of soft beeps and hisses of machinery filled the room while she held the hand of the person in bed.

"I really wish you'd wake up, you damn pain in the behind," Kurono spoke before she looked out the window and sighed. "Ayato,Haruka and even Shizuku would love to see you. They're not doing so hot right now, but…it seems things might get a little better.

"There's this girl and get this; she made Ayato smile, and I mean, really smile. For the first time in years since that night."

She soon stayed silent while secretly praying, and it's a good thing, too, because had the person heard the prayer, that person would be hurting right now since the person is part-Devil. She hoped for a response that she knew would probably never come. She then bit her bottom lip as she squeezed the person's hand.

"The three of them…they really miss you. Unfortunately, I never had the heart to tell them that you've been here, but at least his Godfather is making good will on your husband's promise," she said before she looked down.

"Even though they'd be happy that you're alive. You're stuck in this damn coma…and there's not even a guarantee that you'll wake up..."

Another groan was heard next door.

"And apparently, so is the mother of the Bael Clan. Both Ayato and even Madoka would blame themselves for it, and they'd be even more lost than they already are right now. I'll come by again later."

Kurono then stood up and started to leave, but before she let go of the person's hand, the person in question chose that moment to squeeze Kurono's hand as she looked at the person in shock.

"Ku..ro…no…" the person said before going back to sleep.

To Be Continued….