She who found bonds of friendship

IV

Rias nodded her thanks to Akeno as the girl slid the cup of tea in front of her, the red head was already in the midst of a call when Akeno had finished brewing the tea. Though she had been enjoying the idea of a quick cup of her Queen's brew, the enjoyment had been offset by the phone call from their newest acquaintance.

"And you are certain of this?" She asked once again, her lips pulling themselves into a thin line.

"As certain as I can be. With a name like Freed and hanging around an abandoned church currently inhabited by members of the Grigori there is little left to the imagination." Leona replied on the other end with her voice equally tense.

"You sound more concerned about this than I would have expected." Rias replied slowly "Does he present that much of a danger?"

"That would depend upon who he is targeting. From what I know from word of mouth, during his work with the Holy Church he was definitely something of a zealot when it came to punishing sinners…" There was a brief pause on the other end of the line followed by a sigh "The problem lay in who he actually considered sinners. Suffice to say that he also took to killing anyone who had associated with Devils at the time. For an exorcist he was good but he wasn't good enough for the Church to actually be able to justify keeping him around so they cut him loose."

Rias' brows furrowed and her lip curled even further down "And now he is currently staying in the old church in town." she paused for a moment, turning her chair and staring off towards the window as she dragged the cable of the rotary phone with her "How much of an issue would you say he will cause? It is difficult to gauge with exorcists, either stray or affiliated."

Leona was silent for a moment before she continued on "I'm making sure to strengthen the bounded fields around my house. I'd recommend keeping an eye on your peerage when they go about the town after hours, especially if they are going out to fulfil contracts. Suffice to say that the likes of Freed won't be put off by something as trivial as peacetime."

Closing her eyes, Rias exhaled and reached up with her left hand to nurse her brows. "So I see…Dare I ask why you were near the Church to begin with?" she added on with a slightly accusatory tone to her but nothing overly pressuring.

"A nun came to town and didn't speak a word of Japanese. Considering we're both Italian I figured it would be nice to help her out." Leona casually explained.

"I should remind you that, even if temporary, you are now an associate of the Gremory Family." Rias pointed out in a mildly chiding tone "Which-"

"Reflect upon you if I'm caught doing anything untoward. Fortunately they don't know why I am and being human I'm much better at disguising myself than a Devil." There was a pause "Don't get me wrong, I don't have any intention of running back there though, nor do I plan on outing my connection with you."

Rias chuckled lightly "I am impressed you can find some humour in this situation but my point does remain the same." the smile on her lips faded slightly. "On another note, I believe you mentioned something in our last conversation that was…intriguing to me."

"You mean the heat resistant cape?" Leona replied back with a curious tone of voice "Now why would the Gremory Family - infamous for the Power of Destruction - need a cape to withstand flames?"

Before Rias could even respond, the woman on the other end of the line beat her to it "You don't actually have to answer that. I make it a policy not to delve too deeply into my clients needs unless I personally know them or am making something that could otherwise seem mildly concerning."

"I see…Your discretion is appreciated." Rias replied with a slight hint of gratitude in her voice "As for the topic on fire repellent equipment…I would like to discuss this further with you at a later date. For now I have other matters that need to be addressed." she paused for a moment "Thank you for bringing the issue to my attention, however. If you have need of us, I will be ready at a moment's notice."

"Awwww~ We've known each other for barely a few days and you'd do that for me?" Leona chuckled merrily on the other side of the line "I knew it. I've won you over with my enchanting personality, haven't I?"

Rias rolled her eyes and sighed "This is common courtesy on behalf of the Gremory family to always treat our Servants and associates with a high degree of respect and care. It would sully my pride if anything were to happen to you or your husband on my watch, even if your affiliation with us is only temporary." she paused "Although if by the end of it I am more thoroughly impressed by what you have to offer-"

"I'll be sure to add your number down to the list of potential clients." Leona replied back casually "Just don't expect me to keep adding on discounts though!"

Rias smiled "Perish the thought, it would hardly be like me to undercut you when I can afford the going rate."

"...You know that is what you're doing right now though, right?"

"Yes, but you offered that I believe."

"That I did." Leona replied back without arguing the point "Fair enough. Well, I'll be going then. I'll set aside some of my research notes on fire repellant for you for a later discussion. Although I don't think you'll be looking for a cape."

"...Most certainly not." Rias flatly responded before she carried on, resuming her more formal tone "Thank you again, Mrs Archaman." With that said, she turned her chair back around and placed the phone back on the counter, ending the conversation.

Akeno stood to the side of her, her own expression mildly worried "Did I hear right in that there was a stray exorcist now in Kuoh?"

Rias sighed and nodded her head, extending her hand towards the hot tea in front of her and clasping the handle between her fingers. "Unfortunately so, and according to Mrs Archaman he appears to be one of the more…overzealous ones." She explained further, taking a small sip of the hot drink "The type who not only chase down stray devils, but also well known and established families and kill those they are contracted with."

Akeno frowned more openly at that "Within Kuoh and between your Peerage and Sitri-san's-"

"We would be talking at least a hundred people in this town." The red head confirmed with a grim nod of the head "All of which might be valid targets for him. To say nothing of any of my Servants who were present at the time. I'm confident that Yuuto and Koneko can handle themselves until we arrive in the event of an encounter with a stray exorcist but…"

"Issei-kun." Akeno surmised with a grim nod of the head "As it stands his combat potential is poor and his lack of demonic power means that he cannot use teleportation spells by himself. Which makes escape for him without our intervention impossible."

Rias silently nodded her head.

"Shall I have my familiars keep a close eye on Issei-kun for the time being?"

The King considered it for a moment before she shook her head "No. I shall take care of that myself." she sighed "I have been lapse in Issei's training, allowing him to take it at his own pace. He has been in repeated life threatening situations and is unable to defend himself…perhaps it is time to set aside some mild training for him, at least to give him a chance in the event of a battle."

The Gremory Queen gave an approving nod of the head before she smiled "It's not like you to be so proactive."

Rias frowned lightly "I hope you don't mean to imply that I'm lazy." she pouted slightly, prompting Akeno to give her a light giggle.

"Nothing like that, I just mean to say you are usually more willing to allow people to develop at a more natural rate without forcing them." She tilted her head ever so slightly "Have recent events had that much of an impact on you?"

Rias sighed "I'm not doing this because I like it, but it is for Issei's own good. I wanted to ease him into being a pawn more gradually by having him focus on the contracts first before we delved into the more combative side, hence why I only had him watch during the stray devil hunt."

"Where he saved you."

"Where he saved-" Rias coughed into her hand, a faint red dusting her cheeks "Yes, that. Well…I wasn't expecting to have to look up at the time so that's my fault for being careless."

"Ara, ara Buchou!" Akeno leaned back and widened her eyes slightly "Have you fallen for a Knight in shining armour? Whatever will your adoring fans say?"

"Don't tease me like that!" Rias whined "It was just a nice gesture from him, that's all! I'm not going to fall for him anymore than I would for Yuuto doing the same." she paused for a moment, clearing her throat "A-anyway. If he is in danger, then leaving him without any sort of means to defend himself - and a Sacred Gear he can barely manifest - would be highly irresponsible of me."

Akeno's features softened ever so slightly, her smile becoming less teasing "That much is correct. Perhaps some light exercise with Yuuto-kun might do him some good?" she offered then her smile became more amused "And I believe that the two of them could do with some male bonding."

Rias paused for a moment, slowly squinting her eyes at Akeno "This doesn't have anything to do with the few rumours currently circulating about Issei 'corrupting' Yuuto now, does it?"

The girl's face was the perfect picture of innocence, and her smile was just as guilt free "Why Buchou, I haven't the slightest idea what you might be referring to."

"Hmmm." Rias gave a dubious hum but knew Akeno well enough to know that the girl enjoyed gossip almost as much as she enjoyed her sadism "In any case, it does have some merit. Especially considering that Koneko is hardly likely to hold back against Issei in terms of training."

"She has her preferences and Issei-kun has made his own rather apparent across the school." Akeno pointed out wryly. "He isn't exactly well received amongst the female populus."

"Nor with the male populus." Rias pointed out "Save some of the Teachers…" she paused for a moment "Speaking of, you said you went to see Romani-sensei earlier." she inquired, turning to Akeno and looking up at her, taking another sip of her tea "How is he doing? I heard something about him looking rather sickly when he came to school."

Akeno's features fell slightly "I believe he is still coming to terms with being more aware of the world. His introduction to the mystic side was far from pleasant…either time."

Rias thinned her lips and nodded her head "Then he is still stressed?"

The girl paused for a moment to consider her answer "I am not quite sure, I believe he is more concerned about us than himself." that earned a blink from Rias "It would appear some of Issei-kun's wording about us supporting one another regardless of the situation had his imagination working in overdrive, now he is worried about what situation would even arise where we would need to watch over one another so closely."

"Ah…" Rias smiled gently and nodded his head "I see."

"He was also wanting to know if Devils had a different physiology in case they got hurt and he needed to act in his official capacity as school nurse." Akeno added on before chuckling and waving her hand "I was able to dissuade him of those concerns by explaining that Devils are quite a bit more durable than normal humans."

"At the very least, Sona will be happy to hear that Romani-sensei is still taking his job very seriously." Rias pointed out before pursing her lips "Perhaps more so if she learns about his wanting to help the students regardless of race…though he might be somewhat underqualified in that regard."

Akeno nodded her head before she tilted it "We did get into a rather amusing discussion about fortune cookies."

Rias blinked once "...Fortune cookies?"

"He wanted to know if someone could actually read the future and see their fortune, or if the cookies themselves were just a scam." Akeno explained "I told him what little I knew and explained that the cookies were, indeed, a scam." Another chuckle emerged from her throat "His little amusing comment was that if…" she paused for a moment, her brows furrowed and her eyes narrowing slightly.

Noticing the expression almost immediately, Rias paused midway through bringing the tea cup towards her lips once again. Raising an eyebrow at the Queen and lowering it down slightly "Akeno? Is something the matter?"

"...Hmmm. I'm not sure…" She replied slowly "It is simply that something about Roman-sensei-"

"Roman-sensei?" Rias parroted with clear amusement "Is that not Issei's nickname for him?"

Akeno smiled back "Yes but seeing the way he squirmed when I called him that was too great an opportunity to pass up."

"He is married, just don't get too carried away." Rias pointed out before she shook her head "I brought you away from the topic of conversation, you were saying?" she brought the cup to her lips once again.

"Hmm? Ah, yes." Akeno nodded her head "It is merely that his manner of phrasing now strikes me as somewhat peculiar."

"Peculiar?"

A hum "Yes…we were talking about clairvoyance and his comment…" Akeno rolled her jaw "He said what he would do if he had it was to just skip ahead and watch his favourite show before it aired."

Rias chortled something rather unladylike but she was alone with Akeno, therefore it was less problematic for her appearance "I don't think that's what the intended use for it was."

"I said as much as well." Akeno pointed out "But then Roman-sensei said 'that's what I would do if I had any control over it.' or something to that effect." she furrowed her brows at Rias "I didn't think anything of it at the time but now that I think about it…"

Rias hummed quietly and slowly lowered the cup back down onto the table "Yes…that is a strange way of phrasing it." leaning back into her chair, she turned her body and stared straight ahead as thoughts started to bubble forth in her mind "Strange…and rather curious." it might well have been Romani phrasing it poorly but there was still something strange about the man.

Especially his penchant about suddenly being in places that he wasn't supposed to be in.

Something was certainly elusive about the resident nurse at Kuoh and Rias was determined to get to the bottom of it.

At least before Sona got a chance to catch wind of it at any rate.

Speaking of which…

"Akeno." Rias placed the tea cup back onto the plate and returned her attention to the Queen "Would you be so kind as to pass along the warning of the stray exorcist in town to Sona, it wouldn't do for her to be caught by surprise."

"And to subtly hint that your gamble with Roman-sensei's wife has already produced results?"

Rias' lip twitched up in thinly veiled amusement before it thinned out "As tempting as that would be in another situation, it is more so that we can ensure the safety of our contractors. Their deaths would be both needless and problematic for us."

Akeno nodded her head once "I will see to it."

Romani rolled his shoulders as he rose up from his seat, looking up towards the clock and withholding a yawn that he felt building up in the back of his throat. This had been both the longest and the shortest day of the week so far.

Not to mention mildly elucidating for him.

At the very least he hadn't gotten any more horrific visions but that didn't change what he had seen this morning, or the way in which he could still see it clear as day every time he closed his eyes. The vagueness of it haunted him, the complete lack of information in any capacity and the ability to do anything about it.

Either to stop them or put a stop to it.

He wasn't even sure he wanted more information, with a groan he reached up and rubbed his brow. What was even the point in bombarding his head with all of these nightmarish sights if there wasn't anything he could actually do about them in the first place? It was just cruel.

Worse than cruel it was like he was cursed.

Visions of Issei dying? He couldn't do anything to stop that.

Visions of Issei going off and getting attacked? He couldn't stop that either and it only ended with him getting caught up and injured as well. Not to mention the subsequent mountain sized revelations that got dropped on his head immediately after that he was still having trouble coming to terms with.

And now visions of a room caked in blood and bodies twisted beyond recognition and he was left to do nothing but heave at the sight of them?

He lowered his hand back to his side and made for the door, making sure to grab his coat and his back as he walked past them and flicking the lights in the room out. Opening up the door, he stepped out into the hallway and shut it behind him.

The only person he could really talk to about any of this was Issei and it wasn't like the teenager knew anything either. He could find some solace in that they were both completely ignorant but even then, the boy was starting to leave Romani behind as he looked as though he was getting more and more acclimated to being…well…not human.

He exhaled, turning around and locking the door with a gentle click before he pocketed the keys. He didn't even want to tell Leona about all this because he knew as much as it freaked him out, it would worry her even more.

She'd kept him in the dark with all of this to try and stop him panicking and he was far more panicked than she could possibly imagine. If he went and told her about his eyes then there was a good chance she'd become…

She'd most certainly feel as though the blame was hers.

The irony of him considering keeping this a secret from her was not lost on him. Nor was the hypocrisy. Opening up his emerald orbs, he turned his head and stared down the hallway at nothing in particular.

His right hand sought out his left, his fingers tracing themselves across his ring once again to calm himself. He was doing that much more frequently than he had been before but it didn't seem to be losing its calming effect on him now so there was no reason to stop that particular ritual of his.

"Ah, Roman!" Lev's voice called out from behind him in a relieved tone, prompting the nurse to turn around and face him. The top hatted man approached with his usual smile and his hand raised in greeting "I had hoped to catch you before you disappeared off home." he lowered the hand, the smile on his lips slowly giving way to a more concerned look "I heard talk from the youngsters that you came into work looking rather sickly."

Lev thinned his lips and squinted his eyes slightly as he scrutinised Romani for a few moments before humming to himself "Yes…I suppose you do look a little under the weather." he murmured before leaning back and inclining his head "You aren't ill, are you?"

Romani waved his hand "No…no…just a…bad night's rest is all."

"Those seem to be becoming more frequent." Lev commented with a raised eyebrow "You're not eating cheese before bed, are you?"

The nurse managed a weak chuckle at that before pointing to the man "That is a myth and nothing more."

"Ah, but who is to say a myth can't be grounded in a hint of reality?" Lev replied in an amused tone of voice as he shook his head. His closed eyes meant he missed the way Romani's face froze for a split second before it turned more pensive. "Though I shouldn't joke about this, considering your health seems to be suffering as a result."

"It's fine." Romani replied with a shrug of the shoulders "Joking about something is supposed to be a coping mechanism, isn't it?"

"...In some cases, I suppose that would be true." Lev replied slowly before he frowned and looked over at the nurse with much more concern than before. "Though you have never joked about someone's pain before so I doubt you were in any rush to start now."

The nurse thinned his lips and looked down "...Yeah. I'll…looking into getting a better night's sleep." his eyes flickered back up and he gave the man a reassuring smile "Sorry to worry you."

"You shouldn't be apologising to me about all this." Lev raised the flat of his palm and shook his head disapprovingly at the nurse "The only one suffering from all this is yourself right now."

"Yeah…yeah…" Romani nodded twice before he paused and levelled the man with a slightly annoyed expression "Speaking of which, Akeno-san stopped by the office to cheer me up-"

"Did she?" Lev interrupted, his expression cooling out and his right brow raising up to the rim of his hat "That seemed rather charitable of her. Though much of the student body regards her as an 'ojou-sama' so perhaps she is merely trying to play the role up as much as possible."

"Heh…" Romani managed a weak chuckle as he recalled how far flung from the idea of a great lady Akeno actually was before he shook his head and squinted at the man "...You knew that Sensei actually could refer to nurses all along, didn't you?"

Lev remained completely blank faced for several seconds, engaging Romani in an impromptu staring contest.

A nearly imperceptible smile formed upon the teacher's lips "I suppose I might have known."

"Wha-?" Romani sputtered before levelling an accusing finger at the man "I was running around for about a year telling students I wasn't a 'sensei' when I actually was one!"

"I can hardly be held accountable for you not taking the time to correct your own mistakes, Roman." Lev pointed out with the same sort of tone that he used with the students "It is the job of a teacher to encourage people to reach out and become independent thinkers and find their own solutions!" Despite his words, he was clearly fighting back a rather wide smile "Besides, after nearly a year of being called 'Romani-sensei' by the students, I was at least hoping you would ask why they kept doing that no matter how many times you told them not to."

"I just thought it slipped their minds!"

"You thought the intricacies of the Japanese language slipped the minds…of the Japanese students…in Japan." Lev replied, his eyes opening wider and wider the longer the sentence went on all the while Romani looked as though he wanted to shrink into the ground. After a few moments, Lev sighed and looked slightly guilty "In truth I had thought to correct you after the first month if you didn't correct yourself…then I just got to thinking how long it would take for either you to realise something was wrong or for one of the students to point out the mistake to you."

Romani remained silent for a moment before he closed his eyes and scrunched up his face "...How long did you think it was going to take me?"

"...I was fully prepared for this to go on for another year."

Romani made a noise akin to a newborn lamb, in all its pitiful wonder. "C-can we just change the subject?" The nurse all but begged "Between you and Akeno-san, I can't help but feel I'm getting picked on today…"

"Alright, alright…" Lev raised his hands in surrender "I'm sorry that I allowed it to carry on for quite as long as it did. That is my fault, I should have done something to correct your misunderstandings."

"Hmmm…" Romani hummed quietly before shaking his head "Oh yeah, how did Asia get on?"

"Sister Argento?" Lev blinked before he nodded his head "I got about halfway towards the church before I ran into Leona during her morning jog."

Romani remained silent for a moment before he closed his eyes once again "Don't tell me…"

"It was inevitable." Lev explained with a shrug of the shoulders and a look on his face that showed he didn't see any potential issues. "Leona encountering another Italian in Japan was bound to attract her interest and she opted to take Sister Argento across the town to the church." he carried on, gesturing to Romani "Considering I know Leona to be a responsible adult who also spoke the language, I agreed to let her take custody of Sister Argento until she arrived safely at the church."

The nurse remained silent for a few moments before he slowly nodded his head "Well…that's true enough, I suppose." he agreed easily enough. Leona was the more responsible of the two of them, even with her occasional flights of fancy they both knew who the more sensible of the pair actually was. Or rather, the more mature of the pair at any rate.

"At least I don't need to stress myself over that for the time being." He replied with a weak chuckle before he paused and slowly frowned "...Actually, no. Does anyone even go to that church? I didn't get a chance to look that up."

Lev made a thoughtful face for a few moments "I did hear some rumours about a recent arrival of priests in town, so that might very well be the new congregation. Then again, the church has been rather run down for many years so I wouldn't think they would be open to receive guests anytime soon."

"Hmmm…as long as Asia has someone to take care of her. Arriving in Japan without being able to speak the language is a little."

"Worrisome?" Lev finished with a raised eyebrow before he nodded in affirmation "True enough. However, that is no reason to-" the man paused midsentence and then slowly shifted his attention to look over his shoulder, his eyes focusing on something behind the pair.

Romani followed his line of sight, noticing Issei walking towards them and looking somewhat caught off guard at suddenly finding himself the centre of attention. To his credit, he recovered from it rather quickly and resumed approaching the pair with a relaxed expression as he brought up his hand to wave at them.

"Hey, Romani-sensei, Lev-sensei." He greeted the pair of them as he came to a halt just in front of them, then turned to Romani "Figured I'd stop by before I went home to actually say goodbye."

"Ah, thanks Issei-kun." Romani nodded his head at the boy, quickly glancing at Lev for a moment before returning his focus onto Issei "By the way, that thing you asked me earlier. Still haven't had anything on it yet so it's probably fine."

Issei stared blankly at him for a few seconds, then his face scrunched up in confusion "Huh? What thing?"

Romani's smile became more strained. "You know…that thing." he replied, putting more emphasis on the word and once again pointedly looking at Lev to his left before back at the boy "That thing we talked about earlier."

Issei's face was still scrunched up in confusion, this time it was an expression that was slowly starting to get mirrored by the other teacher, Lev looking between Issei and Romani several times as if trying to discern some sort of riddle that was going on between the two of them.

"...Oh!" Issei suddenly made a face of realisation, the boy slamming the bottom of his fist into his palm "That thing! So it's fine then? That's all good!"

No one spoke for several seconds.

"...I can leave if you want to speak to Hyoudou in private, Roman." Lev's voice was utterly blank as he stared at Issei without a hint of emotion, the vacant stare continued on for much longer than the boy was obviously comfortable if the way in which Issei's face seemed to falter and he looked away to the side was any indication.

"Thanks." Romani nodded to Lev "I'm probably going to stay for a couple more minutes anyway, I'm sure there's a couple books you have left to mark, right?"

Lev chuckled at that "True enough, the work of a teacher is never ending." he turned away from the duo, not before pausing and holding up a finger towards Issei "I expect to see those marks in English rising, Hyoudou. If you can master Italian then you can manage English easily enough." he smiled and lowered his hand before continuing on his way down the hall.

Romani and Issei watched him leave before the former turned to the latter and gave him an almost deadpan look "...Really?"

"What?" Issei gave an indignant shrug and looked to the side for a second "It's not like I'm used to speaking in code or something."

"...Fair enough." Romani admitted after a moment's hesitation before he winced "We probably made it really obvious, didn't we?"

"...Yeah." Issei slowly nodded his head, looking somewhat guilty "Sorry for not getting it quicker though."

"I probably should have waited until Lev was gone so it's just as much my fault." Romani raised his hand and shook his head before looking up and down the hallway to see if anyone else was coming. When he was confident they wouldn't get interrupted, he returned his attention to Issei and resumed his walk "But yeah, I didn't see anything else since you last saw me so…" he raised his right hand and gave a thumbs up "It's probably all good?

He paused for a moment "Probably." He decided on, he wasn't going to be overly confident on something he didn't even understand. "Just…remember what I said earlier."

"Yeah…watch out for rooms full of…yeah." Issei nodded his head slowly, his voice dropping into a whisper as he made an unpleasant face "Although I'm supposed to be staying after school for ORC today as well." he added on, his expression doing a complete one-eighty "So that's alright."

Romani stared at him for a moment before he allowed a smile to grace his features "You're really enjoying your time there, aren't you?"

"Huh? Well yeah, why wouldn't I?" Issei looked at the man oddly for a few moments before his expression turned giddy "I get to be in the same room as two of the Great Ladies of Kuoh!" he excitedly whispered "And they talk to me!" Issei then made a slightly pensive face "I mean…yeah, handsome bastard is there but I've learned how to take a few blows if it means I can get somewhere good."

Romani actually managed to look marginally impressed by that for a moment, then his face turned mildly worried "Are you trying to apply your experience of getting repeatedly beaten by the girls P.E. clubs for peeping on them into a 'go and get them' attitude?" he paused for a moment before continuing on as he approached the stairs "Because if you are, that's actually pretty impressive."

"Really? I thought that it seemed like common sense to not let things get you down?" Issei replied with a raised eyebrow, reaching up and scratching his cheek "If I felt down everytime the girls gave me a beating then I'd never even think about making another attempt to peak." he shrugged "That's how it is for me anyway, just doesn't make sense not to keep on trying if you get knocked down."

The nurse stopped walking, standing on the lower steps before slowly craning his head over his shoulder to stare up at Issei a few steps behind him "...You know those times where people use the wrong equation in maths and somehow end up with the right answer?"

"...Sort of? I'm not really a maths guy."

Romani slowly nodded his head "This feels like one of those times."

"What do you mean by-" Issei asked in puzzlement before he gave the nurse a deadpan look "...Thanks…I think?"

"Don't get me wrong." Romani waved his hand "I think not letting things get to you and always trying your hardest is something you should be really proud of." he explained "But…well…the way you went about it probably wasn't the right way? I think?" Romani paused once again before shaking his head and continuing his descent down the steps "Nevermind, so you're going to the ORC again are you?"

"Yeah." Issei nodded his head, following the nurse once again as a few other students passed them by. "Buchou said there were still a couple things that needed to be sorted out." Issei then scrunched up his face "Well…Kiba said that Buchou said so…"

"Don't kids today have phones?" Romani asked aloud to himself as he came to the base of the steps, turning around and looking up at Issei "Wouldn't it be easier if you just texted eachother this sort of stuff?"

"Yeah, but we aren't allowed to use phones in school unless it's for emergencies." Issei explained as he came to the base of the steps with Romani, the pair walking off to the side to avoid blocking the path for the other students "So I don't think it would really work out all that well. Kiba is also the only one in my year so…" he sighed "It's probably easier."

"Huh. Alright then." Romani shrugged his shoulders "Actually, forget I recommended you to use phones in school." he hastily added on with an almost panicked look on his face "I don't need the student council finding out about that. The bringing sweets into school was one thing but this is an entirely different beast."

"I…wasn't going to tell them anyway?" Issei replied with a slow tone of voice "I don't think I have the best relationship with the student council either."

"...Good point, well made."

"Mmmhmm." Issei nodded his head before he blinked to himself "Oh, by the way you were talking with Lev-sensei before I interrupted you, right?" he winced "Sorry, did I mess up something important?"

"Huh? Oh no." Romani shook his head and gave Issei a reassuring smile "It wasn't anything too serious." his features flattened "...I just found out that 'sensei' can also refer to nurses as well and Lev knew about it, thinking it was funny…"

"I wondered about that." Issei muttered to himself "I guess it makes sense you didn't know…" he shrugged "I thought you just meant you were still in training or something which was why you didn't want to be called it."

"I kept saying I wasn't a teacher."

"...Well…you know…ummm…I got nothing." Issei gave an apologetic shrug "Sorry?"

"Don't you apologise, it's probably more my fault for not figuring it out sooner." Romani quietly mumbled to himself before his focus returned to the boy "So yeah, what did you want to ask?"

"Hm? Ah, yeah. How did Asia-chan get on?"

"Asia?" Romani tilted his head "Well, Lev ran into Leo on his way to the Church and then Leo offered to take her the rest of the way." he smiled "So she probably made it there safe and sound…provided Leo didn't take her on a big tour of the entire city first."

"Wait, Mrs Archaman?" Issei blinked twice "Oh, right. She's Italian as well isn't she?"

"Yeah." Romani nodded his head "So it makes sense and Leo had more free time than Lev and speaks Italian a lot better than either of us…" he paused and squinted at Issei "Except you…what was up with that anyway?"

"I have, legitimately, no idea." Issei replied with a mystified face "I was probably going to ask Buchou about it later on account of suddenly being able to speak a completely different language." he dismissed the thoughts, his features turning softer "But it's nice to know that Asia-chan made it there safely…I was a little worried about her."

The nurse stared at him for a few moments before he gave a light chuckle "If you say so, Issei-kun."

"What?"

"Well, she's a nun and you're…you know…" He gestured Issei up and down with a pointed look.

"Hey! Just because I might be a pervert doesn't mean I'd try anything, I have a bit more courtesy than that." Issei complained with an annoyed frown on his face.

Romani blinked once before he leaned closer, dropping his voice into a whisper "I meant the whole Devil thing."

"Oh. Ooooooh." Issei leaned back and nodded his head "Yeah, that makes more sense…Still though.'' The boy frowned. "I don't see how that should stop me worrying about her." he crossed his arms before giving a more confident look "But if she's with Mrs Archaman then I'm sure it's fine. She seemed really responsible to me."

"She is…sometimes." Romani admitted "Depends on how creative she's feeling at the time." he muttered "Anyway, I'll be heading home and…" he trailed off, turning his head to look down the hallway and towards the entrance to the school building "...I need to have a talk with Leo about some stuff anyway."

Issei squinted at him for a moment before he made an 'O' face and slowly raised his right hand to point at his eyes in a questioning manner.

"You're not going to stop bugging me until I get seen by someone mildly professional, are you?" Romani asked rhetorically, despite the exasperation in his voice he couldn't hide the clear gratitude he felt for the concern directed towards him. "But…I'll…we need to have a talk anyway so…" he paused for a moment "I probably shouldn't be bringing this up in school anyway."

"It's fine, Roman-sensei." Issei responded with a swift shake of the head, thumping a fist on his chest "You listened to all of my problems, so I'll listen to yours as well. That's only fair."

"...Thanks, Issei-kun." Romani replied with a half smile, then waved his hand away "You should probably be heading off to your club as well. Don't want to keep them waiting…And Issei-kun?" he called out to the boy as he started to turn away "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."

"Thanks, Roman-sensei!" Issei called back, waving his hand and turning away before charging back through the corridors towards the back entrance of the school.

Romani lowered his hand to his side and exhaled, turning his attention towards the entrance where the students were currently filing out of and making his way towards them, passing by the younger students as he vacated from the school, already moving for the front gate and onto his journey back home.

He could at least talk to Leo about this.

Keeping his eyes a secret would only end up with…

It was just not going to end well if he kept them a secret from her.

"Leo?" Romani called out as he pushed the front door open, removing his shoes and closing it behind himself as he moved further into the entrance and into the front of the house. He frowned lightly to himself as he continued to look around "Leo? Are you here?"

Nothing.

The man pursed his lips and shuffled his coat off his body, hanging it back up on the pegs next to the front door and walking into the living room. His eyes swept across the interior and showed nothing but furniture. He exhaled lightly and scratched the back of his neck. That was just typical, the moment he actually mustered up the courage to talk to her about something she popped out for some reason.

He paused as he turned his head towards the coffee table, a small slip of paper resting atop it. Humming to himself, he moved around the room towards it and took the paper into his hands, holding it up to read to himself.

"Roman…I've gone shopping for some special supplies, might be back late." Romani whispered out the note to himself before he lowered it and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his free hand.

He supposed he could at least wait until she got back, at the very least it would give him some time to practice what he was going to say to her. At least so he wasn't stumbling over several words at once. He'd more or less done the same when it came to asking her out - she'd still never made it that obvious in his mind - so the same principle would work here.

"...Could probably do with a coffee first." Romani mumbled to himself as he turned about face and quickly moved towards the kitchen. "Okay so…" he muttered quietly as he got to work making himself a hot drink "Leo…I might be able to see the future?"

He paused for a moment before grimacing and shook his head "No…that's just…yeah." he dismissed that one. "Hey, Leo…So you know about people who can see the future?" another pause "No, not that one either."

Resting his arms on the countertop, Romani stared at the kettle as it started to boil "So funny story, you know that time I ran out of the house and got hur-no. Not that one either…" he moved to the cupboard, opening it up and pulling out a plain white mug "Erm…You know how I complain about my eyes sometimes?"

Romani blinked once and nodded his head "Okay…okay, that's a good opening." His self-congratulations brought about a mildly relieved smile upon his face. "Talk about the eyes and ease her into it…okay 'You mean how you complain about how they sometimes hurt? Are you blinking often enough-' No, she knows I'm not that stupid. 'You mean how they sometimes hurt, shouldn't you get those looked at?' Yeah, yeah like that."

He continued to speak to himself as he put the coffee beans in the mug "Okay so my eyes hurt and recently I've been seeing things before they happened…Umm…No, no. I mean…wait it's um…I get dreams and then the dreams come true? I guess that's it."

His hands rested themselves atop the countertop once again "I think? That makes sense to me…sort of?"

Silence for a few moments, then Romani let out a loud groan and dropped his head down. His forehead smacked into the kitchen countertop with a dull thud and remained there. "Who am I kidding?" His voice came out exhausted "I sound crazy even to people who know about magic, probably…and what am I supposed to say if she asks for proof?"

There was a pause for a moment "I guess I could talk about running out because I was worried about Issei-kun…" he realised after a few more moments, it would certainly count as proof but what were either of them supposed to do at that point. By what Akeno had said, people who could see the future just flat out didn't exist.

Not in the case of 'oh, they were a little rarer than usual' but in the case of if Romani could see the future then his peers were Gods.

Gods!?

What was he supposed to even do if he could see the future! He wasn't a God and what if a God who couldn't see the future got jealous or something?

What if they tried stealing his eyes or something else horrible?!

Romani's breath quickened considerably as he clenched his hands as tightly as he could around the countertop, tensing his muscles so far that his knuckles had started to go white as a result.

Suddenly not saying a word about it and keeping it to himself sounded like the smarter thing he could do, although Issei technically knew as well but he was confident the young man wasn't going to let that particular secret slip.

His breathing started to slow down as he tried his best to calm himself, he was getting carried away with that. Telling Leona and Issei in confidence was completely different to going outside and screaming out at the top of his lungs that he could see the future, or he believed he could see the future.

It was more like he could see vague glimmers of the future that would occur in the not too distant future and they were sometimes unclear and other times disturbingly detailed.

He was letting his mind wander again and drag him all the way into the worst case scenarios. As long as he kept it quiet, then he probably wasn't going to get into trouble with anyone. Then again, he didn't know much about this sort of thing which was namely why he was now going to Leona. He couldn't continue to live like this and keeping it a secret from her was hypocritical given his own mixed feelings on her not telling him about the magicy stuff she got up to.

They still needed to have a conversation about that, it would probably be a good idea to slip it in at the end of that or something. It would be convenient to sort of shed light on everything.

What was he even supposed to say to Leo when he got to talking about being kept in the dark about devils and whatnot? He could hardly say he was better off knowing, especially considering the sudden stress he had been feeling in the last few days. That being said, not knowing about it made him feel weird.

Maybe it was the fact that Devils acted so human that if he didn't know they were devils he'd never be able to tell them apart from people.

The doorbell rang.

Romani's head slowly pulled itself away from the surface of the counter, turning his attention to the door of the kitchen and blinking once. He hadn't been expecting visitors, his eyes darted to the clock in the corner of the room, and he certainly hadn't been expecting them at this time.

Slowly poking his head out of the kitchen door, Romani directed his gaze towards the doorway that led to the entrance of the house. He stared at it for a few seconds before he stepped out of the kitchen fully, furrowing his brows before he shrugged his shoulders and started to walk towards it.

It might well have been Lev, the man would have known that Romani would have finished work around this time. Either that or it was Penemue, she could be here to visit Leo. Then again, she probably would have called first, unless it was during the day. Knowing Penny was coming to visit might well have been why Leo popped out.

He approached the door, putting on a casual smile to hide his earlier panic as best he could. It wasn't like he had time to check though, leaving someone waiting at the front door was rude enough. He twisted the handle and pulled the door open.

Then blinked once as he stared at the person on the other side of the door.

He had no idea who this was.

If the mystified expression on the man's face was any indication, he looked similarly surprised to see Romani.

"...Hello?" Romani decided to voice out first, looking the man up and down "Can I help you with something?"

The man stared at him in silence for a few moments before he reached towards his inner coat pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper, folding it open and raising a single finger in Romani's direction and pointing it upwards. "One moment, please."

"Sure, sure…" Romani allowed him as he looked at the man in silence as he took stock of the physical appearance of the man. He was taller than he was, a fair bit taller as well but at last ten centimetres, his features were composed to the point of being the picture of professionalism. His hair was long and blonde, well cared for and extending well past his shoulders. His bright blue eyes flickered up and he gave Romani a patient smile before he returned to staring at his note.

His clothing was something light and semi-casual, a pale grey blazer coat over the top of a thin woollen jumper. His trousers were a similar colour to his blazer, another pale grey and his shoes were once again, white.

It meant this guy was braver than Romani when it came to his choice in footwear, although he had somehow managed to avoid getting dirt or grime on them so it didn't appear to be that big of an issue for the man.

"I-hmmm." The slightly younger looking man hummed thoughtfully, looking back up to face Romani "This might seem a somewhat strange question, but I don't suppose you happen to know a Leona Da Vinci, do you?"

Romani gave him a slow blink "Well…yes."

"Ah, wonderful." The blonde haired man let out a sigh of relief "I was worried for a moment that I had gotten the wrong address and I had bothered you for nothing." confident it was no longer needed, the man placed the note back into his inner pocket "I don't suppose she's further up the street?"

"Oh, um…" Romani pointed down "She lives here."

"I do not suppose I can speak with her for a moment?" He asked, inclining his head to the side ever so slightly "It won't take too long, Mr?"

"...Romani Archaman." The nurse replied after a moment before raising the flat of his palm "She's out shopping at the moment-um, who are you?"

The man stared at him in silence for a split second before he closed his eyes and nodded his head "Indeed, that was rude of me. I suppose introducing myself beforehand would have been more appropriate." he opened his eyes again and smiled "Kirschtaria Wodime."

Romani gave him a strained expression "Kirs-Kerish-"

"You can just call me Wodime, if it is such an issue for you." The blonde man politely interrupted him with an understanding expression "I am aware of the complexity of my first name, Mr Archaman."

"Right, thank you." Romani exhaled in relief with the knowledge he wasn't going to spend an entire conversation butchering this person's name. Actually, who was this - admittedly handsome - man and why was he even here for Leo in the first place? "So…um…why did you need to speak with Leo?"

Wodime blinked at the nickname but didn't speak about it further. "I was in the neighbourhood and thought I would catch up. We used to go to school together." he explained easily enough. "Though she was a few years ahead of me, we still interacted."

"Huh…" Romani blinked once "Leo never talked much about her student life…" he idly commented before shaking his head "Wait…did you come here just to catch up?"

"Hmm? Oh no, though we were schoolmates I did come here for a more meaningful reason. More business related to her current line of work."

Romani remained silent for a moment as he raked his brain, then remembered the actual line of work that Leo was involved with. Which meant that this guy was probably a magician? He didn't really look all that wizardy, but then again neither did Leo. Also the students at school didn't look much like Devils either so making comments about appearances was somewhat pointless.

"However, if she isn't here at the moment then I suppose there is little I can do." Wodime frowned to himself, despite that he didn't appear too put off by the lack of success in finding his wife.

"You can stay until she comes back." Romani remarked, throwing a thumb over his shoulder "She probably won't be long anyway."

Wodime gave him an indiscernible expression "...I'm not quite sure how much Leona has been teaching you, but as an apprentice it isn't common courtesy to invite another magus into your home."

"Apprentice?" This time it was Romani's turn to look confused, prompting Wodime to mirror the look.

"Yes…is that not what you are?"

"I'm her husband…"

"...Oh." Wodime simply replied, his brows raising themselves up his forehead before they creased "How much are you aware of your wife's line of work?"

"...She does magic stuff."

"Magic stuff." Wodime replied in a toneless voice, giving Romani a completely blank expression. "I shall assume you were a civilian until recently?" he paused for a moment "For point of reference, civilian is what we refer to those who are unaware of the greater picture of the world."

"Oh. Then yes."

Wodime nodded his head, his face showing as though he expected the answer "...You were offering a hot drink, I believe?"

"I just put the kettle on." Romani replied, putting a thumb over his shoulder "I was making myself a cup of coffee."

"...In that case, I suppose I could take you up on your offer, Mr Archaman." Wodime replied, stepping into the house and looking around for a few moments. "I had intended to leave if Leona wasn't here but it would be rude to turn down your invitation." He paused for another moment and gave the nurse a curious expression "That and I'm…somewhat intrigued by what type of person she would marry."

"...Oh…um…great?"

"Don't feel as though I'm trying to judge you here, Mr Archaman." Wodime moved to assure him with a wave of the hand and a polite smile "It is merely that Leona was regarded as something of a living legend about the school so…" he offered an innocent shrug "I would ask you to at least entertain my curiosity for a brief conversation."

Romani remained silent as he stared at the man in front of him, everything was telling him that there was a little more to this person but he couldn't accurately say what it was. That and there didn't seem to be anything wrong, they had been polite enough. Also he didn't know much about Leo in school, so there was that.

"I guess…I'm a little curious as well." Romani admitted with slight hum.

"Would it not be easier to ask Leona about her time in school then?"

"...I get the feeling she would give me a very biassed account."

Wodime opened his mouth to respond before he paused, his mouth held open for a few moments and then it slowly closed. A look of understanding flashing across his face "Now that you mention it, that might well be true. Leona always held a singular confidence around her achievements."

Well, at least that confirmed that this Wodime actually knew Leona.

AN: No fanfare, no grand reveals, nothing.

Wodime just shows up at the door and Romani invites him in for coffee.

Which is nice for him.

That being said, don't expect Wodime to stay for long in this arc. He's literally only going to be here for this one cup of coffee and then leave for the rest of it.