She who found bonds of friendship

XV

It felt like his entire body had been put on ice with the words that came from Leona, the story from what Issei had told him had been more than a little blurred. Not that he was going to accuse Issei of anything, especially because he was similarly suffering from a lack of knowledge as to what occurred in the immediate aftermath of the encounter with Amano Yuuma, or 'Raynare' as she was apparently known as an alternative name.

According to Issei, he had been knocked out fairly early and then something had happened, Leona had provided an explanation that more or less went over his head. Something about getting his brain flooded with light energy from the Fallen that had knocked him clean out or something. Issei told him that he'd been knocked out fairly early on in the fight, probably right at the start if the story about him getting punted up the street the second he turned the corner was any indication.

Hearing from someone else about his own injuries was a rather grim experience, especially when he saw the hurt on Issei's face as he recalled the event. Apparently that had been the one thing that Issei recalled with perfect clarity, right up until the point where Issei had found his memories blurred, Asia had apparently rushed to his aid and Issei had tried - and failed - to fight Raynare, meeting with precious little success.

"So she's…" Romani exhaled, moving his hand towards his forehead, his entire body still feeling as though it had been dragged through a freezer with how cold he currently was. The idea that the girl he had spent the entire afternoon getting to know was now at the mercy of a pack of genuine psychos and murderers was a rather troubling experience. Well, troubling in the sense that there were precious few words that Romani could use to describe the sheer horror he was currently feeling. "Asia is…gone, then…"

It was all he could say, he felt like an idiot for stating the obvious but in the wake of the attack and his waking, it was all he could say. As if driving the point further into his skull and confirming in his mind that it was something that had actually happened. Even still, it felt like something out of a nightmare, the thought not truly registering with him no matter how many times he repeated it inside of his head. Without the grim face of Issei and the stern face of Leona, he probably wouldn't have accepted it by himself.

"Yeah…" Issei nodded his head up and down, his movements were slow and he seemed to have a hard time looking Romani in the face. It lasted for a few moments before he let out a groan and raised his head up, lips pulled into a frustrated expression. "It's…I don't know what happened but Koneko-san said that Raynare grabbed Asia-san and ran the moment that she caught sight of her and Buchou." he sent a glance towards the white haired girl as he spoke.

Romani followed his line of sight towards the girl, thinning his lips "So…I take it you found me and Issei-kun, did you?" tilting his head, he watched the girl nod once in silence. It was rather strange that she hadn't taken his eyes off of him since he entered the room. Though he just put it down to concern over him, or he would prefer it was. There was something critical about her gaze as though she was searching for something about him that she hadn't seen yet. Maybe, or she was just overly concerned about his well being. Or the potential disruption to her supply of treated food. Hopeful that wasn't the case but he was probably a little panicked right now.

"We're coming up with a plan to rescue Asia-san right now, though." Issei added on, clear conviction in his words as he spoke up once again, bringing Romani's attention back onto him. He furrowed his brows at the teenager in a manner that he hoped got along how confused he was actually feeling about the statement they were currently planning a rescue operation or something. Especially since both Koneko and Kiba were present as well.

"I suppose I should be a little more specific…" Issei chuckled nervously, reaching up towards the back of his neck with his left hand and dragging his fingers up and down his nape as he darted his eyes to the side. "It's really more Archaman-san that has been doing all of this sort of work rather than any of us…I'm feeling a little embarrassed about it, actually."

Archaman-san? He turned his head onto Leona and saw her matching his surprised expression with one of her own. If his own expression was flooded with concern and surprise, then Leona's was positively awash with cool determination, she didn't need to say a single word to him. He knew well enough that look of hers only came upon her face when she was determined to see something through, all the same…

"I'm…saving Asia, you say?" He muttered, reaching towards his head and rubbing his temples as he fought back the headache that had only just taken leave of him. As expected, it returned to him just as soon as he heard about the current situation, leaving him with more than a little surprise as to what was going on. "But…hang on a moment, I thought she was surrounded by psychos, right?" bringing his head back up, he looked around the room finding that no one offered a single word of argument against his statement.

"Doesn't that mean…you're all going to…?" Emerald eyes flickered towards Leona, her own sapphire blue orbs stared into him without breaking contact, even as she opened her mouth and confirmed his worst fears.

"Yeah, we're probably going to come to blows with the exorcists and the Fallen currently stationed there." It was almost physically striking with the way that she just outright admitted the fact she was going to do something that was downright horrifying. Worse still was the way that she spoke, it was as though she wasn't doing anything dangerous as facing an actual murderer and conducting a vigilante rescue. Not to mention bringing along a bunch of teenagers along with her. "I'm fairly confident in success."

"Confident in…h-hang on a moment…" He felt dizzy, stumbling backwards as he regained his footing before he could get far, it was more like he had been struck in the fact with the statement rather than anything else. Lowering the hand back to his side as he stared at Leona, perhaps it was still his mind recovering but what she said sounded down right maddening. "What do you mean a…rescue?"

Leona stared at him for a moment, then turned her head to the others in the room for a brief moment. Raising her right hand towards them. "Excuse us for a moment. I'll be back." With that said, she moved back towards him with her features set in a grim line. Moving her right hand to his shoulder and leading him around back into the hallway, reaching out behind her and closing the living room door.

"Alright so I'm sure you've figured out by this point that this is pretty much the best solution you're going to hope for." She began, raising her hand towards him while keeping her voice gentle enough as if she was worried he was going to react with shock and leap away from her. All things considered, that was liable to be an option for him at this point. "And I'm going to be honest with you, the less you know about what's going to happen the better off we'll all be." Turning her head towards the stairs behind him, she dropped her left hand onto his shoulder "Listen, Roman, it would probably be best if you headed back to bed and-"

"Leo." She stopped speaking, he himself wasn't sure where this confidence came from but it might well have just been the stress adding up throughout the day that finally came to a head. Especially considering this entire fiasco had started because he was freaked out about the idea of teenagers chasing down serial killers in the first place and being told that it was perfectly normal in whatever society they came from. He didn't consider it right then and the idea his wife was getting involved was certainly something he wasn't going to agree with now. "I need you to…it's just…you're making this sound dangerous and I'm…"

She pressed a finger against his lips, cutting him off before he could finish his point. Though the look she was giving him wasn't one he was comfortable with, a look of resignation but at the same time…he got the feeling that this wasn't going to be something he was going to win an argument with. "If you want me to tell you what's going to happen, I will."

The look she gave him wasn't very encouraging.

"But if I tell you…" Trailing off, she thinned her lips and slowly drew her arm back to her side and stared up at him with a slightly concerned expression. "Then I know for a fact you aren't going to like what I tell you. This isn't me joking or making light of it just to avoid explaining it to you." The certainty in her voice was nothing shy of terrifying to him. One of the few times he wished she wasn't sounding so confident as she did right now. "With that in mind…do you still want me to tell you what's going to happen, Roman?"

Did he really?

If he went back upstairs and just retreated into his bed and fell asleep, he could probably find some peace and just wait until he woke up for all of this to blow over. Just take a step back and let the world just pass him by like he normally did, it wasn't like he doubted Leona. Quite the contrary, she was certainly a damn sight better at stuff like this than he was. If she was telling him that he wasn't going to like what she told him, then he could be certain that he wouldn't like it.

It wouldn't take much physical effort on his part, just turn around and walk back up the stairs and not press it further. In fact, that seemed like the safest option in his mind right now. Certainly one of the most appealing he had in a long while, just to save himself the stress of what was undoubtedly going to trouble him to a far greater extent than he could possibly be prepared for. It would be a simple case of turning around and walking back up the stairs. Nothing more and nothing less. Leona had said she was going to save Asia and he hadn't been let down by her yet. He could just turn around and walk away, sleep with the confidence that when he awoke there would be a little Italian nun in their house and the very idea she had ever been in danger would be nothing more than a distant and unpleasant memory.

That's all it would take.

…

"...You're in danger, aren't you?"

"Do you really-"

"Sickness and in health." He replied back with a resigned tone of voice, shrugging his shoulders felt like lifting lead weights. Even his heart felt as though it was going to burst out of his chest with how fast it was beating at the moment, he hadn't even been told what was going to happen and he was already freaking out. He could see the hesitation in Leona's eyes, the slight wavering of her expression as she opened her mouth once again, possibly to try and dissuade him once more. "Leona…I'm already involved at this point and…if I have the chance to help someone, then I really should. If a teenage girl can do it, then…then so can I."

Leona had no words to give him, even after a good ten seconds of silence, he took that as his cue to continue onwards.

"I'm not sure what this all means by me learning about it but…but if you're in danger, then I need to know and I…I need to be…I just need to know." It wasn't like he could explain it more than just that, he might have been able to carry himself up those stairs but he would never be able to sleep and he certainly wouldn't have been able to look himself in the mirror.

Help Asia?

Yeah, right. He wasn't going to be able to do that while tucking himself into bed. The very idea that he had even considered doing that with the full knowledge that Asia was in very real danger was downright disgusting to him. Of all the times for him to remain a coward, this was not one of them. "Just…is there anything I can do to help?"

"No."

He jolted with the speed at which she replied, feeling more than a little hurt with the confidence of her words. Opening his mouth, he couldn't even get a single word out before she continued onwards. "It is not like I'm…Alright, it's not like I'm saying you can't help but Roman it's not really the sort of thing you can jump into without any sort of prior training." stepped forwards, she placed both her hands on his cheeks an turned his head to look her in the eye.

"This isn't a case of me forbidding you or anything but I am not going to send you out into something that you can't handle without any sort of training." Whether it was the emotion in her words or the look in her eyes, Romani found that he couldn't turn himself away from her and surrendered to her grip. "You've had two encounters with the Fallen so far and both times I…" biting her lip, she looked away for a brief moment and took in a breath, her eyes shot back to his own. "I had to watch as a couple of teenagers dragged your unconscious body back through the door. The first time I had to track you down and found you slumped over a sofa with your back opened up."

"...I-"

"Roman…I know you're worried about me but think about how I felt when I had to see you in that state." He broke contact with her eyes, turning them down towards the floor. She made no effort to correct him, "I know you want to help because that's just like you." some levity came into her words, as though she was fighting back a laugh. "And that is the sort of behaviour I love about you, but this is something that you haven't been trained for and don't have experience with. Even those teenagers in the living room have more combat experience than you."

"...They're just teenagers…I'm a grown man…" It was a weak argument even by his own standards, he knew they weren't human. It was a simple fact and everything he had seen so far was proof that Issei was physically superior to him in every regard except height. Even still, he just couldn't see anything more than the teenage boy who stumbled into his office covered in bruises day after day. "It isn't right…"

"...Maybe not." Leona muttered, "But I'm not prepared to lose you over this. I won't do that and I won't let you do that to me. If you want to help then please just…be ready for when I come back home. Do that for me and-"

"I'm your husband…" He mumbled, stepped forwards and briefly broke contact with her hands as he looped his own arms round her back. The woman stiffened in surprise before she melted with the contact, letting him pull her into an embrace where he pressed her right against his body, her head tucked into his shoulder and his chin resting on top of her head. "You shouldn't have to do this without me."

Her arms snaked around his side, keeping close to his body as they linked up around his back and reciprocated the hug. "I'm a very unfair person, asking you to do this, Roman." She admitted quietly "It's just that I have…I've done this sort of thing before."

"...That doesn't make it easier on me, you know?" He whispered back, closing his eyes and exhaling. The idea that Leona had thrown herself into danger before brought next to no comfort for him. How often had she done something like this without him being any the wiser? All of those weekend visits to her work where he was just patiently waiting for her to come back home. Those times he felt he had too much space in the bed just because she wasn't there next to him.

Now he knew she was going to do something potentially dangerous and he didn't know how he was supposed to accept just letting her go. It was a cruel thing, torn between wanting her to stay safe and wanting Asia to be safe. Heck, letting any of them go was something that he wasn't quite prepared to accept but all the same…he knew what Leona was going to do the moment he had caught sight of her.

"...You'll come home."

"I'll try-"

He squeezed her tighter, not uttering a single word.

"...I promise. I'll be right home when this is over." She sniffled a chuckle "If you want to help, there is something you can do…please prepare the guest room."

"...Yeah." He felt his lip twitch upwards, the implication went without saying. "I'll get right on that."

"...Thank you."

Romani wasn't sure how much longer they kept holding on another, there didn't need to be any further words. Everything that they said had already been spoken, but he just wanted to hold her a little longer. Just so he could feel her warmth. He didn't even care for the fact she was pressing her chest into him, though she did shift in his grip and come away from his head, Romani pulled himself back just enough to allow her to look into his eyes.

Emerald green stared into sapphire blue.

Then she whispered to him. "I'm coming back, Roman…" her lips pulled themselves into a smile that he knew promised trouble in the future. It was - without a doubt - the most beautiful thing he had seen in a while. "I still have to get you back for that sneaky little comment you made to me earlier, Flirta~"

He snickered, "I figured as much."

"I assume you were just waiting for that little chance, weren't you?"

No sense in lying to her, besides he could do with the distraction, "Maybe…" he trailed off with a faint shrug of the shoulders, his eyes moving away from her and towards the corner of the hallway "It just…presented itself."

"Hmmm~" A pleased hum rippled from her throat as she stepped away from him, sliding her arms down his side and holding them still around his waist, a coy smile playing upon her lips with her eyes half-lidded. "I'm not sure when you got so bold, Roman…I'm torn between loving it and missing how much you melt in my hands."

A wry smile came onto his lips, heat rising in his cheeks "You didn't see how much I cringed after I hung up."

"Ah, there he is." She beamed at him "Knew he wouldn't go all that far."

"Haha." Romani gave a flat laugh, though it was still to hide the embarrassment he was feeling. There was that sense of tension still looming over him, he knew full well that Leona would eventually get him back for it…but he didn't mind something like that being the biggest concern right now. Stepping away from her, he turned his head towards the door and stared at it for a moment. "...So…I'm gonna…" he wordlessly stepped towards the door and reached out, turning the handle in his palm and creaking it open as though he was the guest. He immediately found everyone in the room staring at him.

Issei had an expression completely devoid of emotion, Kiba wore a polite smile though he was very clearly not looking towards his face. Koneko was still staring at a small plate of biscuits in front of her, quietly munching away although she did briefly pause to send him another look. The way her eyes narrowed at him a bit as though she was expecting him to do something was still a little odd.

"Roman-sensei?" It took him a second to realise that Issei had spoken up, he jolted and turned to the boy with a confused expression. The next words cleared up any confusion as to why he was giving him that look. "Devils have really good hearing."

"...Ah."

"Hmmm."

The sound of a throat being cleared brought his attention towards Kiba, the blonde teenager glancing between Issei and himself for a few seconds before he lowered the fist from in front of his mouth and continued onwards. "Touching as this might be-" If he wasn't being so polite about it, Romani would have thought he was being sarcastic "-but there is an entire operation to discuss."

"Yes, yes…" Leona spoke from behind him, Romani stepped to the side and let her follow in after him and into the room once more. Giving a carefree wave of the hand as she entered "I'm a married woman and you are all my guests, I'm sure you can make a little bit of time for me to show my husband some affection."

"I was not trying to imply otherwise." Kiba raised his hands in a show of surrender, though he didn't seem that taken aback by the remark. "I am fine with you taking as much time as you need. It was just that Issei-san made it sound as though time was of the essence in this particular instance." lowering the hands, a more bemused frown came upon his face "I am left with conflicting interpretations of events. Though if you are comfortable enough with the situation-"

"Oh, I'm not comfortable at all." Leona flatly responded to him, the smile on her face never once leaving her. "And the sooner we get this done, the better. It was just something that…needed to be said, was all." she glanced in his direction for a brief moment and sent him a more genuine smile before whirling back onto the group, clapping her hands in front of herself "Now then! What did we get up to?"

"Breaching." Koneko's quiet voice offered, Romani glanced towards her and raised an eyebrow for a second at the plate of biscuits. Then he felt his shoulders go slack. The girl paused, turning her head towards him as she felt him staring at her, body slowly coiling as though she was getting ready for something.

"...Are those my bourbons?"

Then the girl had the audacity to blink in confusion and look down at the plate of chocolate biscuits in front of her, then she raised her head back up and nodded once. "...Taste good."

Romani felt his entire body tremble with defeat "I know…" resignation seeped into his words, a battle that had been lost before he had even had the chance to take part had occurred right before his very eyes. "...That's why I buy them."

"Hmmm. Smart."

"I'm glad you approve."

"Good."

He would have at least liked her to show a little bit of sympathy into the fact she was now in his house eating his biscuits. Alright, it wasn't as though he had hidden them away or something and it was obvious that Leona had probably offered them to her. But all the same, he knew Koneko's appetite better than anyone else and knew just how much she could put away when she put her mind to it. The amount of bourbons he could see on her plate was already approaching…

Excessive.

To say nothing of how many she had already been granted prior to him even noticing.

The way she stared at him after he commented about it was weird as well, as though she was let down by what he did. Was she expecting to do something other than just make a mild complaint about it? Though he did lean towards Leona and drop his voice into a whisper "How many did you give her?"

"Just half a packet." Leona whispered back to him, sounding rather amused as she likely knew what he was asking. The question of 'is there any left for me to stuff myself with?' didn't need to be spoken aloud after all. However, the next words were driven into his chest like a knife. "She ate all the jaffa cakes, though."

Romani felt his face sag. He liked those.

"I'll make it up to you. I promise."

"...Alright. A whole packet?"

"Her and Rias."

"Oh, well, as long as it wasn't just her." He nodded his head, crossing his arms over his chest and giving a satisfied hum. It was more Koneko's teeth he was worried about, to say nothing of her diet. The only thing he ever saw her eat were sweets and chocolates, he wasn't sure what being a Devil did for your health but there was no way that putting back as much sugar as the white haired girl did was any good for you.

Those thoughts aside, he turned away from the young girl and towards Leona fully. Wetting his lips "You…when are you heading out?"

Leona was silent for a moment as she stared at him "Probably not all that long. Definitely within the hour but I'd rather not start taking chances if I have to. Especially since…you would have been unconscious for it but the Fallen Angel did something to Hyoudou that left him rather…incapacitated." That sounded like a very delicate way of phrasing something that was actually really bad.

Romani turned to Issei with a worried expression, though he saw the bemused look on the boy's face. "Don't look at me. I don't remember getting hit by anything. I just woke up with my head feeling like the inside of a popcorn bag and Miss Archaman flashing some magic flashlight in my face."

"I create a device to purge residual Holy Light from the body and it gets called a magic flashlight?" The woman grumbled, making a show of rolling her eyes and throwing up her arms. Romani knew that she was more annoyed- "Couldn't you have thought of something a little more creative to call it? Enchanted lantern or the light of cleansing?"

She was more annoyed at that, yes.

Issei did a double take "What? W-what?" then squinted at her, spreading his arms in shock "How would I know to say something like that?"

"What of the Sceptre of Rejuvenation?" Kiba offered, then paused as he noticed several heads turn in his direction. Issei looked annoyed, Koneko looked surprised and Leona was giving him a thoughtful nod of the head. "...I'm sorry if that was out of turn."

"Hmmm. I suppose it's a good name." She gave an approving noise "Not bad for a beginner."

"Why would you even say anything?" Issei looked completely irritated with the teenager by his side, to Kiba's credit he gave his fellow Devil a guilty expression.

"It seemed like a good opportunity. I had thought it would be a chance to get some bonding done, perhaps a team exercise."

"..." Issei's face looked like he'd sucked a lemon. Then immediately ate the lemon afterwards, skin and all. It was actually rather comical if he was being honest with himself, though he knew for a fact Kiba hadn't really done anything to deserve the looks that Issei was sending him.

"Come on, Issei-kun." The teenager looked at him as he spoke up, "Kiba-san is here to help. Besides, it's not the worst sort of team building exercise, right? You're all in the same…uhm…"

"Peerage."

"Peerage." He snapped his fingers and pointed to Leona as she gave him a helpful little hint from the side. "Thank you, yes!" he whirled back on Issei "Peerage. That's like…something important for you guys, right? I'm sure you could also do with some friends."

Issei's face went through several peculiar shades of emotion before he settled on revulsion "Friends?" he jerked a thumb to his chest "I have friends already!"

Romani knew that already, he had wanted to say for him to make friends that would actually be a more positive influence on his life than the ones he currently had, but that would have been rather rude to say about Matsuda and Motohama. Unfortunately his attempt to correct his mistake actually ended up making things somehow worse than they already were.

Which was more or less the story of his life when he tried to offer life advice such as this. Reaching up, he scratched at his chin "Issei-kun, he's still here to help, remember?" though he was still…

It would have been rather pointless for him to complain about it at this point, it had been spoken enough over the last few days that this sort of dangerous activity was routine for Devils and there was no telling how many times Kiba had done something like this before. That being said, Romani imagined it was still fairly natural for him to worry about them doing this sort of thing.

He could at least show them that he didn't believe they were going to get hurt, if he couldn't dissuade them then he could show them some support. Even if his heart wasn't really in it.

Well, it was and it wasn't. A rather confusing mess of emotions that he doubted would get sorted through any time soon. Perhaps it would be best to think about what that strange bird feeding man said?

Just because they didn't understand why he was worried about them didn't mean he was going to stop worrying. Why make exceptions now if he hadn't before?

"I know he's here to help…" Issei walked around the room towards him, throwing a thumb over his shoulder towards the boy. His face awash with barely concealed frustration "But it's just…" he bit his lower lip and looked down, closing his eyes. "...It's a little discouraging that I need his help at all…" there was something angry in his whisper, but it clearly wasn't directed at Kiba himself.

Romani grimaced, then nodded his head up and down. "To admit that you need help is a big step to take, Issei-kun." This sounded like the sort of thing he should be saying. He thought so, anyway. At the same time, it wasn't like he fully understood what Issei's problem with Kiba was in the first place. Something to do with being handsome but that seemed rather…simple? Yeah, simple reason to dislike someone. Then again, he wasn't like everyone else so maybe that was just a difference of opinion. Thus, he continued on with what he hoped would be some sort of good advice. "Besides, I'm personally dubious about letting any of you go in the first place but…" he exhaled, moving his hand around to the back of his head "This is a weird thing for me to say…Kiba-san might be more experienced in this type of thing?"

He glanced at the blonde for some sort of sign that he was, Kiba closed his eyes and nodded his head up and down. The calm smile still upon his face as he spoke. "I have been part of many hunts for Stray Devils, though I have not personally battled a Fallen Angel before." he added on, opening his eyes and showing a glimmer of shame "I am sorry to say that my dealing with them will be a touch…limited? Yes, limited. Though my uchitel' did offer my perspective on facing different types of opponents."

There was a brief silence before Koneko spoke up. "Kiba-senpai is good."

"What Romani is trying to say." Leona came in next, clearly recognising his floundering for what it was. "Is that he would be put at ease if he was under the impression that you were being helped by professionals?" she paused for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders "Think of this as a life lesson for you. Sometimes you might have to work with people you don't see yourself getting along with." bringing her hand up, she continued on "But considering you're now in the same Peerage as him, let's face it…you're gonna have to get used to him being with you a lot more often than you'd like."

The teenager was quiet for a moment, then he closed his eyes and let out a breath. "Yeah…alright, I can accept this handsome bastard's help if it means saving Asia." He grumbled out, moving his right hand up and rubbing his temples as if to ward away some sort of headache that was forming. "Besides, if he agreed to this he's probably not that bad of a person…"

"You probably shouldn't call him that when he's in earshot of you." He sent a glance to Kiba himself, the boy looked completely unimpacted with the comment that he was certain to have heard, perhaps he had heard it before?

Issei's response wasn't quite the one he had been expecting. The face he made still looked rather frustrated but it was now it was more something in line with a sense of resignation. The next words were delivered with a tired acceptance to them. "I've said it to his face plenty of times. Me saying it behind his back is the best he's gonna get right now."

Well, when he put it like that…

…It still sounded fairly horrible, he looked at Kiba once more and saw that the teenager still didn't look that perturbed by the comment. His expression must have shown his confusion as the teenager released a good natured chuckle, raising his hand and waving it from side to side.

"It is nothing I have not heard before." Romani almost blanched at the casual admittance of bullying "And I have long since learned to accept that some people might not like me based upon my appearance." his expression turned for the first time since he had seen him, lips now being pulled into a thin line. "Though, I am not quite sure what there is about my face that would be considered handsome…I don't view myself as looking that different from Issei-san."

The hand on Issei's temples dropped back to his side, he turned his head slightly and sent a completely emotionless look towards the direction of the blonde for a few seconds. Romani similarly found himself furrowing his brows at Kiba, looking to see if he was trying to be sarcastic or not. After what amounted to nearly ten seconds of silence, and Kiba looking rather bewildered by the sudden stares, Romani found himself blinking.

"...Alright, that's a very nice sentiment."

"Makes him sound like an asshole." Issei whisper-shouted while looking Romani straight in the eyes, almost as though he was daring him to try and contradict him. Admittedly if Kiba didn't seem as straight laced as he looked, Romani would be inclined to agree. But it didn't seem as though he meant anything by the comment.

"It's a nice sentiment and a very mature stance." He doubled down on his original point while sending Issei a pointed look, then he turned to Leona and nodded his head to the side. "Well…if you're going to be here planning I won't try and disturb you…but don't…" he frowned "...Don't hesitate to call if you need help?"

Leona raised her brows at him "Is that a question or an offer?"

"I was going to offer and then I thought about what I could actually do to help and thought better of it…but I was already committed by that point." It was a rather weird thing for him to offer, especially because he didn't know what he could do to help them in the first place. It wasn't like he had the same sort of knowledge as them to begin with, all he really had was…

He stopped, briefly sparing Leona a glance to see if she had noticed anything about him. She'd made it fairly clear that using his eyes wasn't that good of an idea, especially because of the trouble it might get him involved with. Then again, it wasn't like she hadn't told him to not use them. Just that she thought it was a risky thing for people to be aware of and - given what he had heard - he was inclined to agree with her.

Though if he didn't use them and something happened to Asia because of it…

It would be his fault.

He stepped towards Leona, gently tapping her on the shoulder to get her attention, swiftly enough she turned her attention to him and raised an eyebrow questioningly. It remained as he turned side on to the others in the room and leaned forwards, dropping his voice into a whisper. "I'm gonna go see if I can…you know…see something." he put enough emphasis on the word that he hoped she got his meaning.

The second her right hand clamped down around his forearm and held him there, he figured she got the idea. "Roman-" There was a hint of warning in her voice, though more like when you were seeing someone doing something rather stupid.

"Just…let me try for a second, alright?" He whispered back to her, looking deeply into her eyes as he leaned backwards. Hoping to appear more confident than he felt right now. Truth be told, he didn't know how his eyes worked. He didn't know if he'd see anything even remotely useful if he did use them. They'd done him a fat lot of good in alerting him to the attack earlier. What was the point of seeing the future if all he saw were things he couldn't change and other things that didn't really help him?

If there was ever a time for his eyes to come through…he really wished it was this time.

Leona stared at him for a moment longer, then she closed her eyes and nodded her head once. There was a brief pause before a smile came upon her lips "Alright, go and give it a try if you want to." she leaned back and then placed her hands on her hips, the smile giving way to a smirk "See what you can do about that guest room." The voice was a little louder this time, likely for the benefit of the others in the room.

"Guest room?" Issei made a small noise of confusion "Is Asia-san staying here then when we save her?"

"Were you expecting her to stay somewhere else or something?" Leona asked with a curious tone of voice, Romani stepped away and towards the door once again as conversation peeled away into something else. Presumably where Asia was going to be staying when they did save her. It was a really weird thing that this was now something he considered to be not all that confusing.

Or maybe he was running off adrenaline and it hadn't quite dawned on him yet, one of the two.

Stepping back out into the hallway, he closed the door behind him and shut off whatever conversation was still going on.

Finding himself alone in the hallway, it was as though all other sounds faded away as he tried to concentrate on the task at hand. That being making his magic future eyes work and show him something that he could actually use to save someone. Not 'show him visions of death' or to 'show him visions of something that will occur before the actual danger' but something - anything - that would put his mind at ease.

Heck, showing him the aftermath of what had happened would be a welcome thing at this point. Just let him see something that wasn't going to ruin his night. He felt his body go numb as the thought registered, his hands came up and cradled his face as a long and exhausting breath left his throat. No, he just wanted to see something that would let him know that everything was going to work out in the end.

With how clear his visions had been so far, there had to be something he could see that would grant him a glimmer of hope. Just…he just wanted something to hold onto and that he could say 'I can leave this without worry.' just something like that.

Was that truly such a great thing to ask? Did it really come at too high a price?

Not just for the sake of his sanity, but for the sake of everyone else as well.

Just something for him to-

Dark laughter fills the chamber, the raven haired woman throws her head back and continues cackling long past the point where it would have been considered boastful. It is a cruel laugh and it accompanies a cruel deed.

The body is strung up like a decoration, as if pulled straight from a halloween store. The blonde hair which had been so finely combed it matted and low hanging, casting a shadow over the face of the young girl it belonged to, though her expression is shadowed there is still the evidence of the face she had been making before the end.

It is not a pretty sight, it is not even a sight one could imagine is real.

He stares at it, ignorant to all the vision that plays out around him and focuses purely on the face of the young girl. A scream etched onto her, her skin glistening with sweat as her mouth hangs low, her eyes half-lidded and dulled of light.

He's returned with the cackling laughter "Finally! Finally!" the voice it full of jubilation, his neck turns as though his head was forged from solid steel. Focusing on the woman as she gloats. An ethereal green light surrounds her as scratches and bleeds mend themselves at impossible speeds.

"At long last, the power that is so rightfully ours is now within my hands!" Her tone remains gleeful, even as she floats in front of the body of the young girl. "With this Sacred Gear in my hands, I am now far and above the likes of your pathetic little race!" the words come out as a sneer, she drops down to the ground with a thud.

"You-!" A voice like thunder splits the room, there's a blur of movement as he finds a shape rush through him as though he doesn't exist. He finds himself staring at the back of Issei as the boy throws a punch forwards.

Amano Yuuma catches it with all the effort of catching a punch thrown by a child, the cruel grin still upon her face as she lashes back out with a series of blows, Issei staggers away with a grunt before she slams her fist into his throat, then follows it up with a round house kick that sends him into a spin.

Romani ignores it all, though.

He's still staring up at the face of Asia.

And the final scream that remains plastered upon her body.

Romani jerked back into the world, there was no sting in his eyes. Or maybe there was, if there had been he did not register it at all. Everything in the world fell into a sense of muted noise, he fell backwards and did not so much as register his body hitting the door behind him. It was like a faint drumbeat in the background for all of a second.

He felt his legs give out beneath him, his perception of the world grew lower and lower. It was barely a moment later that he realised he had slidden down the door and was now slumped against it, staring across the hallway to the stairs in front of him without feeling a single thing.

He asked for one thing…

He asked for one single thing.

Had he hurt someone in a past life? Had he committed some unspeakable act of cruelty to deserve this? No…had Asia done something so horrific as cure someone with the power given to her to deserve that?

What was he…?

There was a ringing in his ears, he couldn't feel his face and he doubted he was showing an ounce of emotion. He made no effort to move, nor could he find the strength to make so much as a noise. Within the vision or outside the vision, he did nothing but stare straight ahead. He could still see the face of the young girl, that final death cry painted upon her, even now.

Like it had been burned into his mind.

The image of her smiling and laughing while she danced, went shopping, tried on clothes…

All he could see now was her dead face twisted in pain.

Something warm was running down his cheek, though he barely felt it.

"...Why?" The words slipped out of him so easily, how could they not when it was the question at the forefront of his mind. A single word that could lead on to so many questions. Why did Asia end up like that? Why would someone do that to her? Why did she have to die?

Why show him something so horrific if he couldn't change it?

So out of it, that he barely even registered the moment in which the support behind him fell backwards and he slipped into the room. Slumping onto his back, the muffled shouts of alarm followed next and he found himself staring up into the gaggle of faces now looming over him. Each one staring down at him with some varied degree of concern. For whatever reason, discerning specific details about their faces was rather difficult. He knew who it was who was standing over him, but it was almost as though he was viewing them through a filter, their features were blurred and almost murky.

All the while, he felt very little change in his face nor did he feel as though he had the strength to move. Not even so much as resisting as the closest figure closed in on him, a mess of jagged brown hair denoted them as Issei, closed in on him and stuck an arm under the back of his head, pulling him up into a seated position.

Blinking several times, Romani found the filter start to lift and was not staring into the expression of pure concern on Issei's face as he opened and closed his mouth like a fish. The muffled noises in the background, just underneath the high pitched whistle in his ears, got him to realise that the teenager was actually trying to talk to him. Romani jerked himself back into the present, his body reacting almost as though he had jumpstarted.

"-ensi!" The words now came in with a sudden clarity, and quite a bit of volume, as the teenager was all but shouting in his face. "Come one, Roman-sensei! What the heck is wrong?" Issei turned his head, looking over him towards someone else, he felt another presence behind him and a new hand placed itself on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"I'm-" Leona cut herself off from whatever she was going to say, Romani didn't see what face she was making on account of not actually looking at her. He still refused to move his body on account of lacking the will for that, just content with staring straight ahead.

"Roman?" She dropped her voice into a whisper, directly into his ear that would have otherwise put him in an alert state.

He just granted her the barest hint of a hum instead.

"What did you see, Roman?" It was those words from her that drew a reaction from Issei, the boy widening his eyes and looking towards his face with a new found sense of dread working its way onto his features. Romani knew why that was, of course. Issei was just as much aware of the track record of his visions as Romani was, having been party to several of them himself.

It was a horrible thing to empathise with someone over.

Romani's face was practically dead to the world, it was like he was staring at someone who was asleep with their eyes open. Not even a twitch came from the nurse as he looked straight ahead, Issei found himself gritting his teeth at the expression. He was alarmed and horrified, not only because of the state the nurse had entered the second he had moved out of everyone's sight, but because of the words he'd heard.

'What did you see?'

He was sure that Mrs Archaman hadn't meant for him to overhear them, but he was close enough that they had just about tickled his ears. It was those words that stopped his heart cold, it felt as though his entire body had turned to ice the second he heard them. All of a sudden, the expression on Romani's face made perfect and horrifying sense.

Romani had used his eyes to try and see something, anything, and he probably had.

And he'd seen something that sent him into this near catatonic state of being.

"Roman-sensei." Issei felt his resolve harden, if it was something that Romani had seen that had done that to him, then they would need to act quickly. All Romani had ever seen thus far, with only one exception that Issei knew about, had been in regards to a tragedy.

"Issei-san? What is the matter with-"

"Shut up for a second." Issei snapped at Kiba, though his tone wasn't even close to being angry. More authoritative, thankfully the silence came next and he did not hear even so much as a whisper from Koneko. That was good but this wasn't a very pleasant situation for them to be in. "Roman-sensei…" How to phrase this… "How bad?"

The nurse reacted.

He turned his body ever so slightly, looking Issei dead in the eyes. It was as though all sound between the two of them vanished, the world becoming muted as they stared at one another. Emerald green eyes were mirrored in hazel orbs. For the first time, Romani's expression shifted. It had been a minor twitch of the lip at first, then it crumpled away into dust and the nurse let out a noise as though he'd been holding his breath for hours and was only just granted the chance to breathe.

"T-the church-" He choked out, reaching out and snagging a hold of Issei's jacket with his hand, so tight was his hold that the teenager found himself briefly alarmed by it. Though the words of the nurse dismissed all other concerns. "You have to…she's…they'll…they'll kill her…"

"I beg your pardon?" Kiba spoke up in a surprised tone of voice, clearly shocked by the sudden words that came from the nurse. "The idea that the Fallen would kill a member of their own is rather-"

"Let's go." The tone from Leona was like a blizzard, cold enough to freeze Kiba's words in his throat. Issei raised his head and dared to glance upon the woman, with an expression devoid of emotion she stared down at Romani and then turned her head to the others in the room. "Planning 101. Assume that all plans will fail and return to brute force." She looked down at Issei, not even a smile upon her lips. "You wanted to save Asia? Lets go and save her then."

Issei nodded back to her, then glanced down at Romani on the ground "We're going, Roman-sensei. Then we'll come back with Asia-"

Leona crouched down, scooping the nurse up in her arms as though she was a knight carrying a princess. Issei was briefly stumped as he watched the woman pick him up with such ease, it had been the second time he'd seen her do something like that but that didn't make it any less surprising than the first time. She wasted barely a moment in crossing the distance to the sofa and gently setting the nurse down.

She reached out, running her hand over his forehead for a moment then turning back around and facing the group. "Wait here for one moment." She strode forwards with such clear purpose, Issei moved to the side out of the belief she would have - quite literally - walked over him if he had still been in the way. Practically marching out of the room without sparing any of them a second glance "Don't do anything until I get back."

With that, she turned left and vanished into the corridor, even with her socks on her footsteps still echoed out around the house as she stomped off into the distance. While she might not have appeared as visibly angry as Issei felt, that apparently didn't mean she was apathetic to it either.

"Issei-san." Kiba spoke up after a few seconds, Issei turned to him with a blank look and saw the boy's eyes were slightly narrowed. Not in suspicion as much as they were in intrigue and confusion. "I'm…at a loss as to what is going on right now, what is Archaman-sensei talking about?"

Ah…how was he supposed to explain this?

"He was…um…looking at…some…errr…magic thing Mrs Archaman made." It was an excuse he came up with on the fly and it did - admittedly - sound rather logical to him. Though as far as excuses went, it did sound pretty weak. Him stuttering through the words probably didn't help matters much either.

He internally grimaced at the expression that both Koneko and Kiba were sending his way, the blonde at least looked as though he was trying to hide his blatant suspicion that he might not have been telling the truth. Koneko was just outright staring at him as though he was an idiot, like he'd told a lie that everyone knew was a lie. A fitting analogy that wasn't really an analogy, but he'd promised to keep it secret. He wasn't about to start telling everyone Romani's secrets without permission.

"...You mean some manner of scrying device?" Kiba offered, the raised eyebrow and the slow crossing of the arms didn't help much, the tone that was bordering on pandering was all the worse. After a few seconds, the blonde's eyes went from narrowed to indifferent, a polite smile on his lips. "If you did not wish for us to know, then that is perfectly acceptable. I will hardly condemn you for keeping secrets that are not yours to share." he waved his hand "I have heard that Magi are far more private than most other magicians."

Issei blinked, he felt as though tension was starting to leave his body at the excuse that was all but handed to him on a silver platter by Kiba. He might still have had some issues with his fellow Devil but recent events were starting to make him more tolerable…at least when he wasn't the talking point of half a dozen girls, anyway. Oddly enough, it was Romani who picked up the slack that Kiba left behind.

"Y-yeah…something private." Issei nodded his head up and down, then noticed that Koneko's gaze had turned as sharp as a spear, her eyes were now aiming a piercing look at his body. So intense was her expression that he was beginning to feel like he'd been placed under a focused magnifying glass held up to the sun, beads of sweat forming on his brow the longer she stared at him. "...R-really private…"

Koneko continued to stare at him, then slowly turned her head towards the man in question. Romani hadn't said a word since he had been put on the sofa, still staring off like he was asleep with his eyes open, the only evidence that he wasn't were the tears still streaming down his cheeks and the almost haunted look he was wearing.

It was deeply disturbing to see that.

The thudding returned, the sound of Leona marching back through the hallway from where she had been quickly reached his ears and it was a welcome distraction. He turned his head towards the doorway leading to the corridor, the woman appeared around the corner with a satchel over her shoulder that looked as though it had been recently filled.

She looked the room over and said, or rather ordered, "We're going." at least initially, then looked past all of them towards Romani "...We'll be back soon, Romani. All of us." he made sure to stress the word.

Then continued forwards without even waiting to see if anyone was going to follow.

The room was still for a split second, then Issei raced towards the doorway, almost slipping over as he moved too quickly for his feet to catch up with him. Racing around to where he had left his shoes when he first came in.

Rushing footsteps reached his ears, the other two quickly following after him as they followed Leona to the front door.

Issei couldn't help the thrumming of his heart, likely moving at a million beats per second or something. At least that was how it felt to him. There were a lot of mixed emotions in there, but on top of all of them there was one singular emotion.

Determination.

Whatever Romani saw that made him like that, Issei would make sure it never happened.

AN: Yes, it means we have waited long enough.

Initially I debated having them reach the Church in the latter part of this chapter but then decided against it.

Mainly because I'm sure you'd all like the Church arc to be done quickly and - in truth - so would I. Which means the next chapter will bring an end to everything, more or less.

After which, we can move onto the next Arc.

So…that's something to look forward to.