She who found bonds of friendship

XI

It had taken a little while to get Asia to stop crying, it had taken longer to convince staff that there was no problem and that the girl was just getting overly emotional. The face the man had shown Romani had initially indicated how little he believed him, though the fact that the girl didn't speak a word of Japanese and had Romani acting as a translator helped.

There was also the universal sign of laughter that Asia did as she waved the man away, likely assuring him that all was well. Or at least, Romani hoped that she had succeeded. It would end up being rather awkward if she hadn't.

"Here." Romani spoke to her, sliding the soft drink across the table towards the girl and offering her a gentle smile. "It'll probably be a little strange if you aren't used to it, but it shouldn't be too bad…" he paused for a moment, then added on "Probably."

Asia sniffled, wiping down her eyes with the napkin and then glancing at the paper cup with the straw sticking out of the top. "Wh-what is it?" She asked, voice crackling slightly as she spoke through her receding sniffles.

"Cola." Romani explained, then paused for a moment "Erm…it's…a drink with bubbles in it."

"...Like bath water?"

"No. I mean…no, no." Shaking his head, the man attempted to put on a reassuring face although it quickly faded away as he became more thoughtful on the topic. "At least, I hope not. That would be a little weird if you took a bath in carbonated water…wouldn't it?"

"Roman-sensei." Issei coughed into his hand rather meaningfully, when the nurse looked his way the boy aimed his eyes towards Asia rather pointedly.

"Ah, right…" Romani cleared his throat, facing Asia with a more confident expression "It will be fine." he paused for a moment, then pointed at the straw "You just suck through that."

Issei squinted at the nurse "Roman-sensei, I think she knows how a-"

"Ah, thank you, Roman!" Asia cut him off before he could finish, the genuine gratitude in her voice threw him for a loop before her words of thanks registered with him completely and his face shrivelled up as though he had sucked a lemon. Not that Romani could blame him in the least, it was hardly as though he was really expecting the young girl to not know how a straw worked.

Asia glanced at the straw, then to the nurse before looking at Issei. "Okay…" She nodded once, reaching out a small hand and taking hold of the cup before sliding it closer to herself, she leaned forwards and placed her lips around the straw as though she was worried about crushing it by mistake.

Her cheeks collapsed inwards as she sucked, the pair watched as the dark liquid shot up the tube and then vanished behind her lips. The girl stopped sucking and released the straw with a small gasp, her mouth closing shut and her eyes widening as she swallowed. She sat still for a few moments, lips pursed into a line and her eyes focused completely on the cup of fizzy pop in front of her.

The silence stretched on for longer than either Romani or Issei were comfortable with, the latter leaning around to face her better and putting on a worried face. "You don't need to force yourself, Asia. We can just get you some water-"

"I-it's fine!" Asia quickly assured him, her expression shifting to become happier "I just wasn't expecting it!" she giggled, looking towards Romani "It was really bubbly."

The nurse snorted at her, leaning back into his chair and resting his hands on the table "Told you. Don't drink it too quickly though." he warned her "That might end up being bad for your stomach, especially if you aren't used to it. Also you'll probably need to go to the toilet a lot faster if you do that."

Asia nodded at his advice "If you say so, Roman-sensei."

Issei let out a breath, drumming his fingers on the table repeatedly as he glanced from Asia to Romani for a few moments then closed his eyes. "So…Asia, how…erm…" He seemed to struggle for his words, even more so when the blonde girl aimed an innocent look of curiosity his way. "How did you end up with…"

She tilted her head ever so slightly.

Letting out a click of the tongue, Issei opened his eyes and faced her full "How did you end up with people like that creep?"

Romani raised his brows at his blunt declaration, then his eyes snapped to Asia just as quickly. "I-Issei-kun, you can't ask that sort of thing just out of the blue like that!" He hastily scolded the boy, leaning forwards and dropping his voice into an anxious whisper "That's not the sort of thing that people are comfortable with-"

"It's fine, Roman." Asia assured the nurse, her tone of voice more laced with resignation and understanding, both of the men turned their attention onto her as she offered them a faint smile without any real emotion behind it. "It is…" Taking in a deep breath, the girl slowly exhaled as she placed the paper cup back on the table, moving her hands back and resting them on her lap.

"I suppose it is a simple story." She looked at Romani "But I…" her eyes faltered slightly "Did you mean it when you said I could tell you anything?"

Romani stared at her for a few moments, then nodded his head silently as he leaned back across the table.

Asia breathed out in relief "Thank you." She voiced out quietly, then continued on "You know of my Sacred Gear-"

"You have a Sacred Gear?" Issei whispered to her in surprise, at her nod of the head a smile came upon his face. "That's awesome!" His whisper shout earned a jolt of surprise from the girl, especially when Issei pointed to his left arm, tapping his finger on the back of his hand repeatedly as if to show off. "I have one too!"

Asia widened her eyes "Really?" her complexion brightened "That's amazing, Issei!" she gushed at him, the boy fidgeting under the newfound praise while Romani aimed a bemused look at the pair of them. "Sacred Gears are the creations of God-" Issei flinched as a sharp pain ran through his head, his right hand reached up and clenched his temples.

The nun's features instantly paled in alarm, Romani blinking in surprise "Wha-?"

"I'm so sorry!" Asia hastily apologised to him, looking downright heartbroken at him as she reached out but hesitated, looking almost afraid to touch him. "I forgot about…" She looked away guiltily, "I'm sorry, Issei…"

"Ow…" Issei grumbled, still nursing his head "It's fine just…damn." he hissed, pressing his right elbow on the table with a thud and using it to hold up his aching head. "Buchou warned me about that sort of thing but I didn't think it would actually happen."

"Erm…" Romani looked between the two of them "What?" he focused more on Issei, his expression shifting into concern "More to the point, are you alright? A sharp and sudden pain in your head might be a symptom of a migraine or something-" He paused when Issei held up his left hand, waving the nurse down and letting out a faint chuckle.

"It's nothing like that, Roman-sensei…" Issei assured him, lowering his hand and flashing him a smile "It's something to do with me being a…you know…" though Romani understood what he was referring to, he still raised an eyebrow in puzzlement as to the relevance. "Buchou said that certain words and stuff now affect me…like mentioning the name of…"

Romani blinked at him, then raised his brows ever so slightly "Wait, really? So if anyone ever says that then you're gonna suffer from a splitting headache?"

Issei put on a thoughtful face, his right arm hitting the table with a gentle thud. "Well, I don't know about that. Buchou said that it mattered how faithful someone was or along those lines." he paused for a moment, snapping his fingers before he pointed at the nurse "Like if you hold up a cross to a vampire, it doesn't work unless you actually believe in Go-ack!?"

The man released a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, watching as Issei sent himself into another fit of pain of his own accord this time. Then he lowered his hand slightly. "Is this serious?" he asked after a moment, waiting for Issei to recover himself from his mild pains.

Shaking his head from side to side, Issei fought back the grimace of pain on his face as he answered the nurse. "Buchou said it just hurts but isn't that serious. It only lasts a moment so it's not that bad."

"I mean…that still sounds pretty bad." Romani responded after a few moments, frowning at the young man "I suppose it makes sense that a devil can't say that sort of thing but if it's going to hurt every time someone says it around you then that's going to get awkward quite quickly, isn't it?"

Issei just stared at him for a few moments, then tilted his head in a questioning manner "I mean…not really?" he gave Romani an incredulous expression "Most of the people I hang out with regularly are Devils, at least at the moment, and I don't see Buchou saying it because it would probably be uncomfortable for her as well."

The nurse blinked once. "Huh…actually, you might be right on that account." He admitted to himself, reaching up and scratching his chin with a thoughtful look on his face. "Yeah, I don't see people saying that sort of thing if it actively hurts them. Well…as long as you say it isn't serious, though I don't think you have much to worry about at the school."

The teenager shrugged "Well, if faith is a big thing I would think not…" he glanced at Asia, the blonde girl still looking as though she was a kicked puppy. Issei's face scrunched up in discomfort before it smoothed itself out "Don't worry about it, Asia." he assured her with a wave of his hand. "It's not something either of us were really thinking about. It was just an accident is all."

Asia stilled looked somewhat troubled by it, then looked down "Still…I didn't mean to hurt you like that-"

"I'm fine now, though." Issei spread his arms wide as best as he could, though with their seating arrangement in a booth there was very little room for him to actually achieve the effect he desired, the end result being his left arm hitting the seat behind Asia's head and his right arm sweeping over the length of the table.

Romani moved his drink to avoid getting it knocked over, shooting Issei a faint look before he turned back to Asia. "Don't think about it too much, you didn't mean to hurt him so it was just an honest accident like Issei-kun said."

The troubled face started to fade slightly, glancing between the two of them before she let out a breath. "Thank you…" She sniffled, then looked at the table once more as she resumed her story. "But I have a Sacred Gear, like Issei." she nodded to the boy, and then looked to Romani "You already know what it does, Roman."

Issei blinked, then sent Romani a questioning expression, the nurse did look puzzled for a split second before understanding bloomed upon his features. The man reached towards his right shoulder and touched it ever so slightly as he stared at Asia. "Is that what it was then? You can heal people who get hurt?"

Asia nodded her head up and down without replying.

"Huh…That's pretty amazing." Romani paused for a moment, then slumped in his seat "I'm a little jealous now…" he whined "I put in all that work to being a nurse and then you can wave your hands and heal people just like that?" he pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and looking to the side. "Do you have any idea how handy that would be for me when I pull a muscle in my back?"

It took Asia a moment to understand that the man wasn't being serious, when she did the girl released a giggle as she stared at him. "Maybe you should stretch more often, Roman?" She offered her advice with such an innocent voice that the nurse flinched at the rather brutal comment.

Well, it was brutal for him at least.

"Y-yeah…" Romani cleared his throat ever so slightly, rubbing his collar area, and looked back to the girl. "So you can heal people?"

"Hmmm." Asia nodded her head up and down "I was left in front of a church by my parents-"

Both Romani and Issei blanched at her rather blase approach to the rather grim news.

"-and I was raised by the clergy who lived there." A smile came upon her face "They were rather considerate towards me, I'm very thankful for their kindness…" she looked back up, seeing their expressions and catching onto their worries. "Oh, I'm not troubled by it. I just…see it as something that God-"

Issei bit his lip as his leg thumped against the desk, the boy closing his eyes and pain struck his head once more.

Asia paled once more, then paused when Issei held up the flat of his palm in her direction, offering her an untroubled smile as his eyes gestured for her to carry on. She was hesitant for a few moments, then nodded her head once at him.

"As something that the Father thought was best for me." She continued on, glancing at Issei to see if he was affected. The boy remained unmoving, blinking several times and then shrugging his shoulders. Asia's expression brightened as she let out a breath of relief, then carried on with her story. "If I hadn't been there, I never would have discovered my Sacred Gear."

"...That's one way of looking at it." Romani muttered quietly, giving the girl an odd expression as she spoke. It was good enough that she didn't appear troubled by it, if she had been abandoned at a young age in front of a church then she wouldn't have known her parents. All the same, the idea of someone just dumping their baby on the steps of a Church didn't sit right with Romani in the least.

He very much doubted it would sit right with anyone and judging by the expression on Issei's face and the clenching of his fist, it most certainly didn't sit right with the young man either. His eyes returned to Asia as she continued on with her story.

"There was a puppy that used to frequent the church where I grew up." She explained "I think it was a stray but I always made sure to leave out some food for it, Father Dawn was also nice enough to buy food for it when I asked him to."

Asia paused for a moment, fidgeting in her seat "I don't know how it got hurt - maybe a fight with another stray dog - but it one day came to the Church with a limp and I just…" she thinned her lips "It looked so hurt and I felt so horrible at seeing it like that, I just couldn't take it and wanted to show some comfort to it."

Romani could see where this was going almost immediately "You healed it, didn't you?" Asia confirmed his guess with a nod of the head, a pleased smile upon her face.

"I was so joyous to have done that." She replied with pure euphoria "It was something I couldn't quite believe, almost as though it was a true miracle taking place before my very eyes." she inhaled before she exhaled "Father Dawn was there at the time and…" Asia trailed off as she put on a thoughtful face "He had this strange look on his face that I don't think I understood at the time but…I think he was sad for me."

Issei blinked "Huh?" the boy looked positively dumbfounded at her words "Why would he feel sad for you? I'd say the ability to heal puppies was something to be pretty happy about."

Asia nodded her head up and down in affirmation to Issei's words. "I thought the same at the time but I think…I think he might have known what was going to happen." she thinned her lips "...After that, some men from the Church came to confirm that I had a Sacred Gear and I was moved to another Monastery in Italy. I spent most of my time using my Sacred Gear to heal the sick and wounded who would visit me."

Romani leaned forwards, resting his arms on the table and furrowing his brows. Realistically, it would make sense for someone with the ability to heal to be put into a place where they could do the most good. That was the sort of thing logic that applied to doctors and nurses as well, though he couldn't quite help the sense of apprehension in his bones.

Asia was young, younger than Issei and from the way she was describing it…none of it boded particularly well for the mental image she was slowly painting in his mind.

Her story continued on, wholly unaware of the thoughts brooding in the mind of Romani and Issei respectively. "Life there was a little…I don't want to sound ungrateful, because I'm very thankful they took care of me, but at the same time…I don't think I was worthy of all the praise they offered me." Asia looked towards the nurse "It's like you said earlier, Roman, kindness is kindness so I don't think what I was doing was anything special compared to you."

She gestured to him "As a doctor or nurse uses their skills to heal the sick, I used Twilight Healing to do much the same." her expression dropped slightly "Being called a Holy Maiden and a Saint was-"

Romani coughed into his hand, beating his chest a few times as he reacted rather suddenly to her words "A-a saint?" he sputtered, staring at her with wide eyes "They actually…" his expression quickly turned to a grimace "They called you a saint?"

She nodded her head up and down in affirmation, though there was a hint of relief on her face. The emotion quickly made sense as she elaborated further. "I was obviously not venerated - thankfully, I don't think I could have handled that - but it was still something that many referred to me as. The 'Holy Maiden' and…" Asia glanced down "I just didn't know what else to do."

Issei looked at Asia oddly, then towards Romani "What's the problem?" he asked after a few moments with a touch of confusion. "I mean, I can tell how kind you are Asia." he offered the girl a puzzled face, bringing her attention to him. "The fact that I'm a Devil and you're still being so nice to me pretty much confirms in my mind that you're a really nice girl."

"Thank you for your words, Issei." Asia bowed her head to him rather respectfully, then looked to Romani and made a small face. "That's the same face Father Dawn showed me."

Issei turned in the direction of Romani, watching as the expression of the man was scrunched up and more than a little complicated. A mix of sadness and pity filtering through his eyes as he stared at Asia. "What's wrong, Roman-sensei?"

"...It's a lot of pressure, Issei-kun." Romani informed him with a sigh "Especially on someone that young. With it comes a lot of expectations." he drummed his fingers on the desk "It's probably a lot worse than that because there comes a certain way people expect you to act." he looked towards the boy "Like how the other students at school look at you and they only see-"

"Oh…" Issei's quiet whisper cut him off, his voice now bereft of its earlier confusion and replaced with grim understanding. Slowly but surely, Issei turned his sights to Asia and noted that she was pointedly refusing to look him in the eyes. "They just saw you for what you could do, couldn't they? Not for who you were."

"It is hardly as though they were wrong." Asia stated after a moment, shrugging her shoulders ever so slightly. All it served to do was make Issei's face shift into anger at the girl's resignation to it. "With Twilight Healing, I could do so much good for others and - indeed - I did do so many wonderful things. Many people are healthy and alive because of my Sacred Gear so I believe it to be a trial for me."

"A trial?" Issei spoke the word as though it was the foulest tasting thing he had ever put in his mouth. The teens arms now resting on the table, his hands slowly curling up into fists, his jaw clenched shut with a faint grinding. "Asia…"

"I did many kind things and that always brought me comfort." Asia continued on, whether she was willingly ignoring the looks at this point or just couldn't bear seeing them was something that neither Romani nor Issei could deduce. Though, knowing Asia, it was most likely the latter of the two. "Any time I felt lonely, I just thought of the people who I had healed in the past and who I might help in the future and that always brought me comfort."

Her eyes rose up, then she smiled something rather hideous. If only because of how empty it was. "Though it didn't last long, it would have been…around a month ago, perhaps a little less." Her words carried a slightly thoughtful trace, as though it was something rather trivial that she had forgotten. "There was a man, I saw him in the courtyard of the Church and he was hurt."

Asia thinned her lips "It was one of the days where I could freely wander the gardens, though this one was a little different as the other members of the Church had been called away for a meeting." she shrugged her shoulders "It wasn't supposed to be long but I thought that a little time for myself to stroll the grass and see the flowers was nice enough."

Romani and Issei made no attempt to interrupt.

"He was just…lying there in the roses." Asia's voice was one of innocent surprise "Just lying there on his back with such a pained look on his face. I just…I'd seen injured people before but they had always been brought to me, I'd never stumbled upon them before and I hadn't expected to find one in the gardens of all places."

Reaching out, she took a hold of the cup of cola and slid it towards herself, gulping down another sip through the straw and then leaning back to resume the story. "It took be a few seconds to notice the wings."

"...Wings?" Romani raised his brows, then shot a glance towards Issei before it returned to Asia "What sort of wings?"

"Devil wings." Asia confirmed, bringing a frown to the face of the nurse and a look of surprise upon Issei.

"What the heck was a Devil doing in a Church?" Issei muttered under his breath, reaching up and scratching the underside of his chin with a mystified face. It didn't make sense for him in the least. Then again, if the Devil was injured then maybe he was trying to hide or something?

Actually, why would he hide in a Church in the first place?

"I'm not sure, I just saw them and froze up." Asia admitted with a shrug "I'd always heard about Devils, it was hard not to. How monstrous and evil they were, how deadly they were as creatures of sin and how it was the task of the faithful to strike them down, lest they lead man astray to their filthy ways." her words were coloured with a sense of exaggeration, making it clear she didn't mean any of them.

Despite how stilted her speech was, she noticed Romani's face turn progressively more surprised and then saw how his eyes moved to her right side, where Issei was sitting.

She paused, then looked towards Issei. The brunette was staring at her with wide eyes, his brows halfway up his forehead and his lips slightly parted. "Uhhhhh…" Issei dumbly voiced out, his body more or less frozen as he shut down, not quite sure how he was supposed to respond to the words of Asia.

"N-not you, Issei!" She hastily corrected, once more falling into her default mode of panicking as she frantically waved her hands around in front of her body in an effort to try and prevent any sort of misunderstanding. "That is just what everyone said, is all, but I don't think there is such a thing as being completely evil a-and you've been so nice to me, so obviously they just met some bad devils is all!"

"The implication being there is such a thing as a good devil." Romani snickered quietly, then watched as Issei whirled on him with a more disapproving expression. The nurse blinked, then rapidly paled as his words caught up with him. "That's racist, isn't it?"

"I have no idea." Issei explained, then shrugged his shoulders "But yeah…'Good Devil' doesn't really roll off the tongue, does it?" The boy simmered down, seeing some sort of amusement in the words of Romani before he glanced to Asia and waved his hand at her in an effort to calm her. "Don't worry, Asia. I don't believe for a second that's what you think." A wry chuckle escaped his lips, his left hand moving to scratch the back of his neck. "In all honesty…I just got a bit surprised with how specific you got."

"Ah…" Asia made a noise of embarrassment, shrinking inwards while her face burned right red "S-sorry. I just got caught up in the moment and remembered everything they used to say and well…sorry again." she apologised once more, much to the consternation of the teenager as he rolled his eyes at her in amusement.

"Really, I didn't take offence to it so it's fine." He assured her once more, then his features lost their amusement. "Right so…what happened with the Devil guy in the rose bushes?"

Aisa froze for a moment, then looked to Romani. "...Kindness is kindness. No matter who it is shown to. If I hadn't tried anything, then I would have regretted it for the rest of my life." she offered in a quiet voice. Though she had yet to say anything concrete, Romani had his answer all but gift wrapped to him at this point.

"...You-?"

"Yes." Asia nodded her head up and down, then tilted it to the side as she played with the paper cup in front of her, pushing it about with her fingers from side to side. "I had heard all these stories and tales of Devils being monsters, all the verses that listed them as the servants of Lucifer and vile beasts from Hell." she smiled to herself with no small amount of sadness. "I heard all that and yet…when I saw his pained expression, I just…none of it registered to me."

"...He looked human."

Asia nodded her head once more, looking up to Romani and seeing clear understanding in his eyes. Something that brought a touch of relief to her face. "You see it to, don't you?"

Romani hummed in affirmation, nodding up and down. "Yeah. You can get told what Devils are supposed to be and then you see them and…well, I went to the same school as them for well over a year and I never once noticed anything to differentiate them from the other students there." he chuckled, shrugging his shoulders "That's just a little strange isn't it? Even now I just…it's like a strange title they've plopped on top of themselves and I just can't see them any different. Despite what everyone else says." he added on with a jerk of his head.

The nun merely gave Romani a knowing smile. "Exactly. All these people I had helped because I had the ability to do so and then there was someone in front of me. All those stories, all those tales and all those warnings…in that moment, he didn't look like a vile beast or a murderous creature."

Her next words were delivered without any strong emotion to them, as though she was stating the obvious. "He just looked like a man in pain who needed help. I couldn't turn that away, I just…I couldn't do that. For what purpose would I have been granted this ability if I couldn't use it to help this injured man in front of me."

"...So you healed him."

"I didn't think it would work." Asia admitted with no small degree of shame "I just wanted to try something. I just…crouched by his side and assured him that everything would be alright. Then I just…held my hands over him and used my Sacred Gear." she looked at the nurse "It was a rush, one moment he was on the floor, writhing in pain, and the next he was sitting up and staring at me as if there was never anything wrong in the first place."

She let out a quiet chuckle, removing her fingers from the cup and soon playing with her hands. "If I wasn't supposed to be able to heal him, if it was so wrong, then Twilight Healing shouldn't have been able to do anything, r-right?" The girl looked between the two of them as if for support. "That's what I thought. If I wasn't supposed to be able to heal a Devil, then it should have just…failed."

Asia threw her hands wide in an almost helpless gesture "It didn't. I healed him. I helped a Devil. The enemy of the Church, right in front of me…and I just healed him up."

Issei was staring at her in silence, then his lips curled upwards into an approving smile. "That was…pretty incredible of you, to be honest."

"Eh?" Asia turned to him with wide eyes "What do…eh?"

"No, I'm being serious here." Issei went on "Hearing all your life how evil these people are and then when you meet one you just heal him up?" he nodded his head up and down. "That's pretty amazing."

Asia blinked at Issei once, now staring at him as though she was questioning his very existence. To say she was shocked by his words would have been a gross understatement. It was more in line with complete bafflement at what he said.

"B-but isn't it strange?" Asia all but sputtered in shock, her eyes dancing between Romani and Issei. Noticing that both of them weren't quite grasping what she meant, the girl elaborated further. "A Nun healing a Devil. Don't you think that's weird?"

"If you think that's strange, wait until you sit down and eat with one." Romani joked with a twitch of his lip, bringing Asia's wide eyes onto his as he finished. "I bet that will really rock your world."

Asia pouted "I'm being serious…"

"So am I." Romani stated in a completely serious tone of voice. "You're just telling me you used something that's made to heal…and healed someone. Frankly, whether they were a Devil or not shouldn't factor into it in the first place."

He paused for a moment, reaching out and moving his own drink to his lips. Taking a long slurp before placing it back down. "It's like the hippocratic oath. Well…maybe not exactly the same because it's magic but yeah…" scratching his cheek idly, the nurse frowned in thought. "Well, maybe because you heal people?" another pause before he shook his head, clearly dismissing whatever stray thought had entered his mind.

"That isn't the point." Romani stated before he paused once more, as if realising something. "Well, actually it probably is also the point. I guess because you didn't actually have to heal the Devil but chose to, it's more impressive? Maybe…Yeah. I'll go with that." he decided with a nod of the head. "Anyway, as a nurse and stuff-"

"And stuff." Issei flatly responded to the side, his voice not changing as he parroted the words back to the man.

"Yes, stuff." Romani doubled down "I have an oath to care for my patients and do no harm sort of deal. That's the hippocratic oath." he elaborated to the pair in front of him "Though, to be honest, my job isn't really important enough to have to deal with those life or death sort of situations…well, for the most part at least." he commented with a quieter tone of voice.

Asia merely blinked, tilting her head and furrowing her brow at the uneasy silence that descended across the table. With neither Romani nor Issei speaking for a good few seconds as their faces showcased nothing but troubled features. Asia could easily deduce they were alluding to something, though quite what it was she didn't know. Not that she was going to ask about it, the pair were very clearly troubled by it and dragging up hurtful memories was the last thing she wanted to do.

"A-anyway." Romani cleared his throat, "Where was I? Ah, right. You didn't have to heal the Devil but you still did. So that's fine." he nodded once "I mean…I might not agree with you being forced into the role of a healer just because that's what your magic powers will let you do-"

The nun thought she did very well to keep her features composed, the slight wobbling of her lips as she tried to withhold a laugh indicated just what she thought of Romani's comment of her 'magic powers'.

"-aside. If you took it seriously enough that you would heal whomever came in front of you, regardless of their past or their race." He blinked for a moment "That feels weird to say in this context, but nevermind. I'm struggling to find a point here…um…Yes." he nodded at her once "You were a good doctor."

"A…good doctor?" Asia gave a slow blink to the nurse, processing his words. "What…I…eh?"

"Yeah." Romani nodded his head "Doctors are meant to heal people and have an oath not to do any harm to them. So in healing the person who - from your own perspective - should have been nothing more than a savage monster-"

"Oi." Issei complained from the side, earning a vaguely apologetic look from the nurse.

"S-sorry. Anyway, that you could look past all those prejudices and see them as nothing more than a person who needed help that you could provide…well, I think that speaks volumes for your character." Romani nodded his head approvingly at her, not quite noticing how her eyes were widening and her expression was faltering. "You did a good deed, Asia. No, more than that…I'd say you did something very kind."

He paused for a moment, then raised his hand and offered a thumbs up "Good work."

"...Oh." Asia merely responded to him, blinking once and then looking to the thumbs up the nurse was giving her. Shifting in her seat, she turned her body to the side when she heard the rustle of clothes and found that Issei was similarly giving her a thumbs up, accompanied with a beaming smile. "I…I did something good?"

"Yeah." Romani nodded his head once, his voice full of confidence. "You did something good, Asia."

The girl was quiet for a moment, then another sniffle came from her as she looked ready to start crying once more. Something Romani noticed immediately, his expression paled rapidly and he sent a panicked look in the direction of Issei before returning his attention onto the girl. "Please don't start crying about it! It's not worth crying over!"

Asia let out a muffled laugh, offset by the whimper as she snorted. Reaching up, she rubbed her eyes before she could cry once again. "S-sorry. It's just that…I wasn't prepared for that." She admitted quietly, then glanced up "It's…after I healed the Devil he just thanked me for it but by that point…" her expression fizzled out "...The clergy had returned from their meeting."

"...Oh."

A silence descended over the table shortly after that.

"They weren't…" Asia exhaled "I suppose it made sense for them to be angry about it, I can't really remember what happened. It was sort of a blur between the Devil running away and me being dragged back into the Church." she thinned her lips "I can't quite remember a lot of what was said but I could tell they were rather angry. Most of it being…well, I didn't have to worry about being called the 'Holy Maiden' anymore…" she attempted a joke, though found her audience less than amused at the effort.

"...It didn't really last long." Asia mumbled to herself as she kneaded the cloth over her lap "I remember being dragged before the Bishop of the Church and being stripped of my titles…" she sniffled once more "H-he said I was a heretic witch and for healing a Devil I was to be excommunicated immediately."

Issei furrowed his brow "You what?" His voice was hard, no small amount of aggression in his words. Then he looked to Romani and saw the rapidly paling features of the man, looking thoroughly aghast at the statement. "They just tossed you out like that?" Issei's voice was a barely restrained growl. "They just…exile you?"

"Excommunicate." Romani corrected, though his words came out as little more than a mumble. Still staring at Asia as his expression shifted back from horror to a more subdued one, though his eyes lost none of his revulsion. "It's the act of barring someone from any and all religious acts and sacraments." He saw Issei's confusion. "It means that Asia would be barred from any and all Churches of the Catholic faith-"

"All of them." Asia muttered quietly, prompting Romani to snap his jaw closed with an audible click. "It was all the denominations of Christianity. I am forbidden from stepping foot within a Church that preaches the Words of God and even if I were to pray in the privacy of my own sanctum, my words would surely fall upon deaf ears…as how could G-The Father love a sinner as heinous as I." she rattled off almost listlessly, as though reading from a script.

"...You've got nowhere else to go."

Asia nodded her head once. "It wasn't long after my leave that I met someone from the Grigori, the Angels who fell from Grace. They offered me sanctuary here in Kuoh and…somewhere I could live. Of course, it came with the request that I allow them use of my Sacred Gear but…I had nothing else to do and nowhere else to go." She smiled sadly "I was already branded a sinner so…affiliating with the Fallen Angels was hardly a case of breaking further taboo's."

"...This is bullshit."

"Issei-"

"No." The boy snapped at Romani as the nurse tried to calm him. Asia jolted at the tone, her eyes snapping up and glancing between the two as Romani slowly leaned back away from the boy. His face not showing much in the way of emotion beyond grim understanding. Issei looked very close to grinding his jaw together, his eyes burning with no small amount of rage as he all but glared at the nurse. Though it wasn't directed at the man. "You know it as well as I do, Roman-sensei."

Issei all but snarled, at the last second he lowered his voice to keep his words quiet so as not to attract too much attention. "This is…this…" He started and stopped several sentences, seemingly lost for words as he tried to come up with something he could say before he eventually clicked his tongue and pointed at Asia "She doesn't…"

"I know." Romani nodded his head up and down, his face full of understanding as he glanced to Asia once more. Staring at her with an odd expression for a few moments, mostly pity and something else that the nun couldn't quite discern. "...She can't stay at the Church, that's for sure."

Asia jolted and widened her eyes "But I-"

"To say nothing of leaving you alone with an actual serial killer." Romani cut her off, his own voice much more even than it had been earlier. Compared to Issei's thunderous face, Romani's was almost serene. Though Asia could see that behind the warmth he was showing her, there was a storm brewing behind his eyes.

Romani might not have been as vocal as Issei when it came to his anger, but that didn't mean his own was any less intense.

"The Fallen or whatever they are, have already had some pretty…not nice dealings in the past." He continued onwards "And - quite frankly - the idea you have to put up with people like that because you have no choice is rather absurd to me." turning his body, he pushed himself up and slipped just to the side before moving out of the seat and next to the table. His hand was already going to his pocket where he kept his phone. "I'm just gonna ask someone something and then we'll see how it goes."

As he did so, the nurse glanced at his watch and grimaced ever so slightly. "She'll probably be calling me pretty soon and-"

As if on cue, his phone rang before he could even finish his sentence. Romani didn't even look surprised, instead pressing the accept call button, then bringing the device up to his right ear as he started speaking. "Alright, I know that I'm late but it's very-" He switched back to Japanese for the benefit of Leona, although found himself cut off by her before he could get very far.

"You had something important to do, I know." Romani blinked at the tone of voice, briefly surprised at just how serious it sounded. He'd rarely heard Leona sound like this, almost as though she was holding back her emotions. "Come on back home. I need to make a phone call with someone…Oh, make sure to bring Asia back as well."

"Uhm…okay?" Romani blinked once, his eyes darting towards Asia briefly and his own confusion must have shown because the faces of both Issei and Asia stared back at him with their own intrigue at his sudden shift. "See you soon then?"

"See you two soon." The call abruptly ended, Romani peeling the phone away from his head and staring down at it for a few moments. With a shrug, he snapped it closed and pocketed the device.

"Well…Leona wants me to take you home." He spoke, directing the question to the youths at the table.

""Me?"" Both Issei and Asia asked at the same time, the formers anger briefly forgotten as sheer bafflement came upon his face. Romani sent him a look for a brief second.

"No, not you." The nurse did a double take "Why on earth would I take you back to my house?"

"Ah, well…you looked at me-"

"I looked in the direction of Asia." Romani punctuated the sentence by pointing at the young girl for a brief second, then shook his head. "Nevermind just…let me quickly pay and then we can get going."

It was already evening by the time they were heading back, the once bright blue sky was replaced by a faint orange hue as the sun set on the horizon. Frankly, it made for a rather nice ambience but all things considered, it wasn't a particularly jolly mood.

Romani was still rather curious as to why Leona wanted to bring Asia back to their house or quite why that had been the first thing she had spoken about on the phone. Sure, he wanted Asia out of the place with the actual killer but at the same time, he wasn't sure how Leona knew about that as well.

At any rate, he was sure he would be able to ask her when they got back home. It could also be a remarkably simple answer like 'magic' or something like that. It was rather strange to consider the simple fact that an answer such as that was no longer something he could pass off as a joke and was actually a genuine reason as to why certain things now happened.

"Any reason you're still following me?" Romani asked, looking to the side and raising an eyebrow at Issei as the boy walked on the opposite side of Asia. He then realised how his words might have been seen as somewhat hostile, so quickly worked to correct them. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, it's just that I was wondering whether or not you had to go home as well."

Issei waved his hand "Don't worry, I already told my parents I would be staying out late to hang out with some friends." he smiled "They were…really accepting of that answer. I think they just want me to go out more often."

"They're probably right." Romani replied while shifting into a more 'teacheresque' tone of voice. "Vitamin D is a pretty important thing for your body to have and you can only get that through exposure to sunlight. Really, going for a walk every day is something that you should be doing."

The boy stared at him "...You do know that I walk to school every day, right?" he squinted slightly "And that during free periods I spend my time outside of the classes, yeah?"

"...Oh, right." Romani blinked, then lowered his hand and slowly nodded his head up and down. "Nevermind then, you probably get plenty of Vitamin D so you're alright."

"People need sunlight as well?" Asia whispered in the middle of the two of them, her voice belaying no small degree of curiosity as she glanced between the two, searching for an answer. "I thought that was just plants."

Romani nodded his head in affirmation to her question. "Yes, people need sunlight as well. It's actually good for your bones."

"Isn't that milk?" Issei asked with a tilt of the head.

"Milk gives you calcium, Vitamin D helps you absorb it much better." Romani explained to the pair of them, then saw their surprised looks being aimed at him. "What?" He fidgeted, now feeling more than a little self conscious at the stares he was receiving from the duo.

"I just…I'm surprised you know these things." Issei admitted with a tone of genuine bafflement, the boy had his hands in his pockets and his eyes wide as he stared at the nurse. Then raised his right hand and waved it from side to side. "Don't get me wrong here! I just…I know you're a nurse but then you just say something smart and I can't help but remember that you're an actual nurse…"

Romani gaped at the boy "Did you think I was just some guy with a white coat because it looked nice on me?" He made a show of grabbing his coat with his free hand - the one that wasn't holding onto shopping bags - and showing it off slightly. "I did study for this sort of thing."

"I mean, I get that but it's just…" Issei winced, then shrugged his shoulders "I don't know, you just surprised me is all. I mean, no offence, Roman-sensei but you don't really come across as a smart person."

Romani stopped walking, staring at Issei with his brows furrowed ever so slightly "There is literally no other way I can take that except offensively." he waved his arms around, crying out in indignation. "I mean, I might not look the brainy type like Lev but I'm still reasonably smart…you know…"

"So you're as smart as Lev-sensei?"

"...No."

Issei made a face as if to go 'well, there we have it' without actually speaking the words. The general tone was still translated through the look, however, as the boy quickly shook his head as another question sprung to his mind.

"Hey, Roman-sensei?" Issei asked as they resumed walking through the streets, the nurse made a small noise as if to say he acknowledged the remark from the boy. "How come we're not going through the park? Wouldn't it be quicker?"

Romani raised an eyebrow at Issei in surprise "Issei-kun, I'm not gonna lie to you…I've decided to take an oath to avoid that park at night or closing in on night." he raised his free hand, pointing a single finger upwards "I have had enough excitement from that place for one life time and I would rather avoid taking any chances."

"...You know what? I get that." Issei rapidly nodded his head up and down in agreement "Good idea. Let's avoid parks at night."

Asia, meanwhile, remained ignorant to the context of the discussion and was left somewhat bewildered by the fact that neither Romani nor Issei wanted to go through a park towards the end of the day. It did sound as though they were doing it for a reason though, and she could tell that neither one of them wanted to speak about it in front of her.

Therefore, she decided to let the matter lie.

"Besides." Romani waved his hand slightly as he turned ahead once more "This might be a bit of a scenic route, but I walk it often enough that I know it pretty well."

"How often is that?" Issei asked with a slight hint of intrigue in his tone of voice, mixed with no small amount of disbelief. Questioning the definition of what Romani would refer to as 'often'.

"Often enough considering that I don't really go out to the shops by myself all that much." Romani replied without missing a beat, his voice monotone. "So that's still pretty often. I led us here, didn't I?" he waved his hand around to the somewhat sparse neighbourhood, spacious enough that there were gaps between the houses.

All in all, it wasn't a particularly bad neighbourhood and reminded Issei of the place where he currently lived. Though the placement of trees at regular intervals around the corners of the street was a nice touch.

"I think sticking to populated places is a good enough idea." Romani chuckled as they came upon the next turning "We're actually getting pretty close to it now." he gestured to the wall up ahead, the next left turn leading him towards the street that would take him back to his home.

"Oh, right." Romani realised with a snap of his fingers "You didn't answer why you were following me home."

"I'm escorting Asia back." Issei explained as though it was obvious, inclining his head at an angle and raising an eyebrow at the nurse. "Isn't that what people are supposed to do at the end of a da-outing." The boy quickly corrected himself before he could let out the other word for their time together. He'd rather avoid causing any misunderstandings right now. The fact his jaw clamped shut and his eyes went wide was proof enough he'd had a word blunder.

Romani knew what that was like, he'd experienced it himself all too frequently.

"Alright then." He acquiesced easily enough to that point, it was hardly as though he couldn't understand where Issei was coming from. Besides, he could at the very least humour him in the sense of letting him make sure Asia was safe.

As they came upon the corner, Asia spoke up "I hope I don't cause either of you any trouble…"

Romani waved his hand to her "Don't worry about it. I'd hardly consider it trouble. If anything, it would have been more trouble if we hadn't done something."

Asia looked as though she wanted to rebuke the statement, then thought better of it as she thinned her lips. A slight glimmer of warmth flashed through her eyes as she tightened her hold on her robes ever so slightly. For a brief moment, Romani was worried she was going to ruin them, though she loosened her grip.

Smiling at her, Romani turned around and walked around the corner…

…Barely catching a glimpse of violet coloured eyes and dark hair before something crashed into his chest.

There was a brief moment where he felt his feet leave the ground, an odd sense of confusion passing through him as he floated weightlessly in the air, staring up at the darkening sky with what he could only imagine was a puzzled expression on his face.

The sounds around him were muffled, he could barely make out a cry of horror and a shout that sounded vaguely like his name before he came back down to earth with a rough thud, his body shuddered from the impact as he crashed into the centre of the road, oxygen blasted from his lungs and leaving him a singular gasp of breath.

He quickly folded himself up into a ball, violently coughing outwards as he tried and failed to draw air into his lungs. His attempts to actually resume breathing were met with failure, every time he tried to take in a lungful of air his chest would burn up and the wisps of breath would flee from him all over again.

At this point, his breathing sounded more akin to a hacking sound.

Did he get hit by a car?

That would have been pretty careless of him.

It was the only thing that he could actually come up with that could end up with him flying through the air and with his chest feeling as though it had been put underneath a hammer. A sickly feeling built up in the back of his throat before he released another cough, this one carrying something with it as it flung past his lips.

The taste was rather vile, almost akin to metal and with a texture like oil. His blurred vision returned slowly to him, the first thing he noted was he was staring down at the tarmac road, everything else was vague shapes moving around in front of him, combined with muffled noises that were starting to get clearer and clearer.

He also noted the figure now crouched in front of him, a green light washing over his body and burning his eyes, scrunching them tighter. The pain started to leave him with a mighty gasp he drew air into his lungs and coughed out once more, breathing in and out as his eyes opened once more, his vision starting to clear.

"Roman!" Asia called out to him, her voice tinged with panic and relief then turned to horror "Why would you-?"

"Stay back, Asia!" Issei's voice came next, something akin to a thunderous rage that Romani's hadn't heard from the boy since…well, ever. He sounded genuinely angry. "You-!"

A scoff met his ears, feminine and very dismissive. "Oh, please. Don't tell me you're going to try and swing at me." There was a pause before a sinister chuckle echoed out, Romani couldn't see who was laughing as the black gown of Asia blocked his vision. "No, please tell me you're going to try…I would very much like to do something entertaining this evening."

"Why are…?" Asia whispered out, her voice now a whisper but it did nothing to hide away the sheer terror she was feeling. "Miss Raynare…why are you here?"

"That should be obvious." The voice returned again, this time much harder and filled with irritation. "I can't have you running around as you please, can I? So I'm here to take you back."

AN: Surprise gut punch - literally - in this case.

Oh, and props to anyone who noticed the name drop.