Discipline 1.2

You know, I never really gave much thought to this whole reincarnation thing. It had never come to my mind, at least to the point where I was aware of it. I'd been too busy. It was one thing after another, with me simply trying to survive. Having some downtime, Freed withstanding, was good for me. It let me put my thoughts in order, in a sense. I wouldn't call it healthy exactly, but it worked.

I don't know what happened after the crash.

The memories were still there. It didn't fill me with the sort of soul-crushing dread from before. It just left me feeling numb. I didn't want to truly process it. If I did, I'd have to face the fact that I'd never again see any of the people I know and love. It was much simpler to just wrap up all those thoughts and put them into a locked box then throw away the key. I could let future me deal with it when that finally became a problem.

I wasn't dead at least.

Asia beamed at the small bowl in her hands. It was just a simple paper cup. It had Japanese writing on its side. I still couldn't understand a single letter of it. Inside, the cup was filled with creamy-colored ice cream. Vanilla. We were both sitting on a small street corner of a local park. Asia had dragged me over to a nearby bench that had a view of the fountain in its center. I recognized it. It didn't help with my morbid thoughts.

Asia let out a small "Mm!" as the wooden spoon went up to her mouth. Slowly, I tasted my own. Mine was colored a dull orange. It quickly melted on my tongue in the summer heat. Cicadas rang in my ears. Memories of my Grandmother making gelato came to my mind. I scowled.

Asia turned to me, her blonde hair whipping to one side. There was pure excitement on her face. It was almost like that of a puppy wanting to go out on a walk. My face melted into a warm smile. In Italian, She said, "Thank you, Jack!"

My name felt weird coming out of her mouth. It was still a bit awkward talking to her. Hell, it was a bit awkward talking to anyone here. I couldn't quite get it out of my head. They were real people, actual living breathing people. They weren't just characters on a screen. Freed. Asia. Dohnaseek. They looked like the spitting image of the characters from the show. It was jarring. Looking at Asia, I kept my thoughts to myself.

By chance, did I ever mention just how small the girl was?

The top of her head barely reached my shoulders. I was an inch or two over six feet, so she had to barely be breaking five. I tried my best to ignore people's features like their height or their looks, but when the only people you had to talk to was a cute girl and Freed fucking Sellzen, I ended up noticing a few things. I could feel heat in my cheeks as my eyes drifted lower than her head.

Features...she's got a few of them. I thought. I wouldn't be caught dead saying it aloud, but Asia was easy on the eyes. Her flowery uniform hugged her form surprisingly tight. If one were to look closely, it seemed to accentuate her breasts and...other assets. Honestly, it made me raise a few questions about the church. It was odd that she'd be dressed in such clothing, coming from her background as a Nun. I could just chalk it up to anime logic I suppose. It still looked a bit embarrassing to be wearing in public. Asia didn't seem bothered by it at all.

"You didn't have to bring me out..." She started. I could see her earlier joy fade. Her head turned down. Her green eyes looked sad, seemingly staring at the ground. I wanted to do something about it. Slowly, Asia brought her head up to me. "You and Mr. Freed argued about it. I enjoy going out like this, but I don't want to if it will get you in trouble. I'm sorry."

I frowned.

"You don't have to apologize. Freed can buzz off. Dohnaseek said I was on your-" I put up my hands in a sort of wave. The fallen angel had made it so dramatic. I would've laughed if I didn't know what it entailed. "-protection detail. The way I see it I was just doing my job. He didn't tell me you couldn't go outside. I had the money for it too, so I thought why not? We can go again if you'd like."

I really did, have the money that is.

It turns out that being forcefully conscripted by Dohnaseek did have some perks. The Grigori actually paid their employees. The fallen angel had even promised more on our return to the Grigori. I wouldn't be collecting though. All in all, it wasn't much, a little over thirteen thousand yen. I honestly had no clue what that would be worth in American dollars, but it was something at least. It was originally an even fourteen, but the ice cream had cut down on that a bit. The only thing that even was a pain about it was getting Freed to leave us alone.

I was still kind of shocked that they let us leave. It came with a few ground rules, but it was better than being held up in that musty old church for the rest of my life. All we had to do was stick to the public areas of town and not go anywhere near the schools. Well that, and be back before dark. I had a curfew. It felt like I was in high school again. The fact that I possibly had a fallen angel watching to make sure I got home on time instead of my grandparents made me a bit jumpy.

Actually ordering the ice cream was a bit of a hassle. Neither Asia nor I spoke much of the local language. It ended up with the both of us just pointing at what we wanted from the little store. Or rather, Asia pointed it out to me which I then relayed to the lady running the counter. Asia had spent most of the time hiding behind my shoulder. It felt a bit odd walking around with her. When other people were around, the girl acted like my shadow.

It was cute though.

Interrupting my thoughts, Asia grabbed my hand. I could feel a soft pressure coming over the slowly building calluses on my right palm. Asia was smiling again. It shined like the sun. The heat in my cheeks returned full force. I suddenly felt the need to stand. I'd never been this close to a girl before, not since my first and only girlfriend didn't work out so well. That had been back in my last year of high school, almost two years ago. Asia didn't feel any of my peril as she drew closer.

What the? I thought.

I could feel her breath come onto my face. It was warm. Her eyes were filled with a mixture of thankfulness and excitement. I leaned back on the bench. Something akin to nervousness rolled in my stomach. She was too close. Way too close. Stars were shining in her eyes. Our noses were almost touching. Asia was practically leaning over me. I could feel most of her body weight pushed towards me. She wasn't very heavy.

"Do you mean it?" Asia exclaimed.

For a few seconds after, there was only the cacophony of singing bugs and the light chirping of birds. My heart hammered in my chest, seemingly trying to make the moment even more nerve-wracking. I could feel her hands still firmly grasping my own. They felt small. I almost wanted to pull away, but Asia beat me to it.

I could see the realization of our position come to her. It was a slow thing. It started at her neck. A light pink dusting slowly turned red as it climbed to Asia's ears. I could almost see steam come off them as she shot backward, all the way to the other side of the bench. I sat there stunned as she seemed to mumble for a bit before finally finding the words.

Quietly, Asia stammered, "I-I'm s-sorry. I-I got t-too excited. I-I don't want to annoy you."

She was stuttering over almost every word. My brow lowered as I thought of her words. Asia wasn't annoying, not at all. Sure it was a little weird talking to a girl who didn't know much of anything about the real world. It just took her a little longer to understand the things that were going on. Hell, I was like that too. I'd never been to Japan before. If I didn't have Dohnaseek giving me a place to start, I would've been just as lost if not more lost than her.

In fact, I'd say that she probably knew more about all this supernatural crap going on than I did. Sure, I had a bit of meta-knowledge about what was going to happen in Kuoh town, but I didn't know much of the specifics of it. A few names and faces stuck out, but things like what was going on in the outside world were beyond me.

"I grew up in a monastery. They didn't, I didn't-" She paused. I could see her slowly look over at me. She had tears in her eyes. The green orbs were just a few words from breaking open. My stomach twisted as she continued. "I'm not good with talking to people. I-I can just leave you alone if you'd like..."

What kind of monastery did she grow up in? I questioned. I didn't really remember much of her backstory, beyond her being an exiled nun. After the first season...or was it the second? It didn't matter. After the intro, she didn't really do much. I could vaguely remember she got some dragon thing as a familiar, and she was basically just used as a healing station. There were small bits and pieces from scenes in the school as well. It wasn't important either.

Small tears, came down Asia's face.

There was a crying girl crying in front of me. It didn't matter how, but I was the cause of it. I anxiously opened and closed my hands. I didn't know what to do. What to say. I thought this was supposed to be Issei's job, not mine. Quickly, I shook my head back and forth. He wasn't here. If I let this keep going, mia nonna was going to come out of her grave and kick my ass.

Hastily, I replied, "You don't have to do that. Look, it's fine. I don't find you annoying at all." I paused for a second bringing a finger up to my cheek. I tried to give her a smile. Nervously, I scratched at my face. It had worked before. If you gave Asia a compliment, she melted like butter. It didn't change the fact that it was embarrassing to say aloud. "I-In fact, I think it's kinda charming, cute even. I don't mind it at all."

The tears stopped. I could see emotions flash across Asia's face. It quickly went from dejection to hope before finally settling in a pure brimming joy that seemed to make her glow. I didn't get to say another word before a blonde missile struck my sternum. I let out a small grunt of pain as Asia practically tackled me onto my back. Her long her drifted out and upward tickling my nose. It smelled of cinnamon.

It worked I guess...I thought.

-|-]=[-|-

"Has he done anything else?"

The stray exorcist shook his head. Despite his normal proclivities, he was surprisingly calm. The man's face was stony and his blue eyes were turned down, not meeting Dohnaseek's own. To those who knew him, It was an odd look to be on his face. They were both standing on a small balcony from the second story of the church. It had a perfect view of the broken pews and podium below.

"No, my Lord. Nothing. He's just been sparring." the man stopped, a bit of anger flashed in his eyes. His lips twitched. It quickly disappeared. He continued, "I know you said he needed to be trained but..."

The exorcist turned, looking down below.

There were two figures. One was dressed much the same as the rest of the exorcists under the fallen angels' purview. The other looked to be somewhere in between. On his top, the young man had a simple cloth shirt. It was gray. His pants matched. They were both in tatters, slashes all throughout. The only thing that stood out from the gray was his shoes. They were sneakers of some kind. The man watching from above had never heard of the brand. The shoes were red with a white symbol swooping up either side of each one. They were starting to show a bit of wear. It was definitely a bit off from the priest-like robes of the others.

In his hands, there was a chipped longsword. The young man pulled it overhead before quickly lunging forward. He snarled as it missed, the tip slamming into the ground. The wood floor cracked as it hit. Scowling, he cried, "Oh come on!"

There wasn't much technique to his strikes. It seemed that he likened the weapon to a bladed baseball bat. His attacks weren't particularly fast either. He struggled to pull his weapon from the floor. The young man let out a few curses. Frustration was building on his face. It seemed that his strength had betrayed him.

Freed laughed before charging at his opponent. The young man struggled to release his weapon to no avail. Freed jumped putting the entirety of his weight onto his opponent's sword. It broke. Quickly, The madman moved holding out a sword made of light towards his younger adversaries neck. For a moment, the two stood silent. They were both injured. From a distance, it was easy to see dozens of small slash wounds. Slowly, blood leaked onto their clothes.

Then, the younger of the two opened his mouth. Anger showed in his eyes, along with no small amount of excitement. The two started arguing with each other with Freed often letting out mad cackles in between. The younger man collapsed, heaving. From the side, a woman rushed over. She looked like a young nun. A dull green glow came from her hands as she stood over him.

Above, the stray exorcist shivered. He didn't know how they did it. The pair had already proved the danger involved with such an exercise. They both had more injuries than he could count. Blood was seeping through their clothes. Sparing with live weapons like that? It was stupid, mad even. It didn't matter if they had a supernatural healer on hand or not.

"They're both insane. And that boy, he's letting the witch heal him! He even took her outside the church." the stray exorcist paused. His face was stretched between outrage and disgust. The scar crossing from his left temple down his right cheek made it not a pretty sight. He looked down on the nun. "I don't know why we're keeping that disgusting thing around anyway."

Dohnaseek sighed, his wings briefly twitching down. Slowly, the fallen angel brought two fingers up to pinch his brow. Noises came from below as the two from before started again. Dohnaseek winced as blood flew from Jack's face.

"Will he be ready in time?" Dohnaseek turned to his subordinate. His face was stony, but underneath a mixture of fear and worry was brewing. Jack was supposed to be his out. If he didn't perform, then the fallen angel would be back to square one. Worse actually, they might all be dead. "I need him to at least be able to hold his own before Raynare returns Dominique. If not..."

"If you would've left him to me, I'd have him able." Dominique scowled. Hatred pooled in his eyes as he stared at the back of Freed and the nun. Dominique coughed, bringing a fist up to his mouth. More righteous anger pooled in the exorcist's eyes. Then, he continued, "You shouldn't have put him with them. That dirty devil-healing whore and that psycho Freed will turn him into one of them. He's just another monster in the making!"

Why do I have to be the one to deal with all this? thought Dohnaseek. He wanted nothing more than to leave all this behind. If he could simply flee back to the Grigori, things would be so much easier. Unfortunately, the fallen angel couldn't just up and leave. He'd taken orders straight from the top. It was either this, or he had to try and argue with a Seraph. It wasn't even a choice.

Dohnaseek raised his wings. At first, the fallen angel had wanted to simply leave Jack with Dominique. The balding man was in charge of training up most of the new recruits. He was a hard man but fair. Things weren't that simple anymore. Dohnaseek was on a schedule, and the due date was coming up quick. Raynare had left to go acquire something from the superior that had given her this job in the first place.

She had stated that when she returned everything was going to change between their group and the local devils. The fallen angel had gathered up the rest of her compatriots on the roof of the church to tell them. The woman had decided that the best time to announce this was right before she left, a few hours before dawn. Neither Dohnaseek, Mittelt, or Kalawarna had been amused. A sneer had surfaced on her during the announcement. She was like a rose. The flower had beauty, but lying underneath, it held nothing but pain.

They all could tell that she was lying. You didn't need "equipment" for a scouting mission. They didn't even need all the people Raynare had ordered Dohnaseek to gather for her either. It was supposed to be simple, easy. Dohnaseek wished he could just go and speak to the sacred gear wielders they were sent to Kuoh to watch. It'd make things so much more simple. It didn't matter. Orders were orders. Mittelt and Kalawarna wouldn't stand up to her, and without careful planning, Dohnaseek wouldn't either. It wasn't worth the risk.

Supervisor my feathery ass. Thought Dohnaseek. He didn't believe a word that came out of her mouth. Most likely, this was just going to be another harebrained scheme of hers like when she killed that human boy. Dohnaseek couldn't take the chance. The devils had already picked the kid up. Dohnaseek scowled. They hadn't even let his body cool before they'd lapped it up, enslaving him to their will.

Devils pissed him off.

Raynare, she was crazy enough to actually try something and get them all killed. He already knew she had a contact in the Grigori. Despite this, Dohnaseek had no faith in any plans the woman made. They'd all turn belly up. He knew it. Her little stunt at the school had most likely blown their cover. It was only a matter of time now before the devils came knocking, and when the sisters of Sirzech's Lucifer and the Satan Leviathan were involved, Dohnaseek wouldn't be there to answer.

The fallen angel had to move things forward. He couldn't just sit idle for much longer. One way or another, when Raynare returned things were going to change. Dohnaseek was betting on what he saw as the winning side. It wasn't Raynare. It certainly wasn't the devils. It was himself.

"It'll have to do." Commented the fallen angel.

Dominique tilted his head to the side. Quietly, the man let out a small hum. He had more to say, but Dominique had long learned when it was best to hold his tongue. Complaining about things he couldn't change wouldn't do him any favors. His thoughts were heard. If Dohnaseek would do anything about them wasn't up to the stray exorcist to decide.

Dohnaseek watched from above. Jack was standing there, holding his broken longsword out like some kind of trophy. Freed and him were locked in a close ranged scuffle; the both of them trying to disarm the other. Roughly, he threw his head forward. Freed let out a cry of pain and let go.

There wasn't enough time left. He'd have to do, Dohnaseek had no other options. He only needed Jack for one thing after all. If things were going to be moving along so quickly, the boy would have to meet Raynare. Making him the replacement of Freed as Asia's watcher would streamline that. Dohnaseek smiled. It was a cruel look. Like a shark's hungry maw opening up in search of blood. The thinly veiled malice and bloodlust held within spilled over the fallen's face. It would only take one blow. His lips curled higher.

All Jack had to do was stab her in the back.

Now. Dohnaseek thought, his smile fading. The fallen angel's line of thinking continued. Jack wasn't quite there yet. What's the best way to make him do that?

AN: And that's chapter eight folks!

It took me a bit longer to finish this one than I thought it would. I ended up having to rewrite that scene I had typed up already. The previous chapter made me have to for continuities sake. I think it made it a little bit better overall. Moving on!

There are two things I really want to have down in this fic. I want Jack to actually feel like a human person, and I want the world to feel lived in. I've tried my best to really show what everyone involved in a scene thinks and feels as a person. It has been...trying at times with a particular character, but I think I'll just leave it at that.

Anyway! Please, tell me what you think down below. If you noticed any grammar or other writing errors please point them out so I can fix them. I try not to leave in any errors if I spot them. I ended up editing the last chapter before posting this to fix a couple of things for a similar reason. It wasn't anything major, just a couple of bits and pieces.

Well folks, that'll be all for now. Until next time...

~ciao