Hello there!

I gave the light novel a bit of a read. Admittedly, something I should've done loooong before even getting this far. That said, be prepared for a potentially confusing section of dialogue in this chapter.

Again, thank you to everyone that has favorited, followed or commented. It really means a lot.

Disclaimer: I do not own High School DxD, nor do I own Type Moon or any of its intellectual properties.

Published: November 13, 2020

Updated: August 4, 2023

…

Chapter 3 – First Job

In the week that followed his meeting with Tobio, Connor had endeavored to prepare himself for any surprises that might befall him.

He had quickly finished and fine-tuned his work on the apartment and completed the Bounded Field around both the apaato complex and Watanabe's house. The Field spanned a full fifteen meters around both buildings, and with it in place, he would be made aware of any foreign magical energy signature traversing its outer border, both coming in and going out. It would do nothing more than that, but that was all he needed from it.

Having secured the home front, he could devote his attention to his body's conditioning. The resistance runes in conjunction with the new routine of morning stretches and exercises were a step in the right direction. Even so, it took him several days to get used to the sensation of a weighted body, and part of his regiment required him to get used to the sword again. He didn't want to use his father's emergency runes if he could help it. He had also resolved to getting his internal clock back in order and find a proper sleep schedule, which meant regularly going to bed sooner and getting up earlier. No more all-nighters.

…Except if it was necessary.

For all his preparations, though, the week's events did not cease to surprise him. Namely, events at school.

On numerous occasions on Tuesday, he got the sense that he was being watched. Not because of any supernatural sense, but rather because he kept seeing somebody with white hair duck around a corner whenever he turned to look behind him. He vaguely remembered reading about this kind of scenario somewhere before. Was he being spied on, or was it just a student that was too nervous to come near him? Opinions about him still varied within the student body, and if this person's opinion leaned to the negative, approaching them now would only spook them. He'd wait for an opportunity, maybe they would slip up and he could catch them.

Reya had taken it upon herself to act as a 'super sempai,' in Aika's words. On Wednesday morning, she had completely skipped greeting him and forcibly placed a bento box in his lap the moment she walked into homeroom. She explained that it was a pineapple teriyaki chicken recipe that her grandmother had used for decades and claimed that it helped speed up the body's natural recovery process. The look on Reya's face said that she wouldn't accept refusal, so he relented and promised that he would partake.

The very next morning, while he was getting ready for the day, Connor noticed something remarkable in the mirror: The swelling on his cheek was completely gone and the bruise was barely noticeable. He figured that he would need another week or so to keep it under wraps, but now it felt like nothing was wrong. He made a mental note to give his regards to Reya to pass along to her grandmother. The woman was either a miracle worker or a magician, and a good one if whatever she did passed his initial check for drugs or poison. In any case, he decided to keep the patch on until Sunday, just for the sake of appearance.

A couple of new faces had made his acquaintance during the week, too. Reya had introduced him to another member of the Student Council before classes started on Thursday. Apparently, she had caught on to his daily disappearing act, and decided to use her available time wisely to catch him while she could.

Tsubasa Yura was the taller of the two girls, trailing him by only a few centimeters. She wasn't as… proportionate as her fellow Council member, but in place of that, she had quite the athletic build going for her. He could easily imagine her being captain on any sports team if she wasn't part of the Council. Another particular detail he noticed about the tomboyish bluenette was that, unlike Reya, the sleeves of her uniform's white dress shirt were neatly rolled up past her elbows. Based on that and her confident but respectful greeting, he gathered that she was someone who preferred actions to words.

Friday had been the real kicker: He learned the identity of his alleged stalker.

–––––

Connor was taking his shortcut through the assembly hall to his preferred little spot in the wooded area behind the tennis courts. The courts themselves never saw any kind of activity between 12:00 P.M. and 1:00 P.M., which made for a perfect place to vanish during lunch break.

As he turned the corner to exit the assembly hall, however, he abruptly came face-to-face with a girl. A very short and petite girl that almost looked too young to even be at a high school.

She had bright white hair with two long bangs that ran past her shoulders and a few smaller bangs that nearly covered her forehead. The rest of her hair was arranged into a somewhat messy bob cut. On either side of her head, a cat-shaped hair clip sat almost evenly with her temples. Despite her size, she wore the academy uniform well, with the shoulder cape being the only standard piece missing.

Her hazel, almost golden eyes, stared up at him. He had at least 40 centimeters on this girl, so he had to really look down to meet her gaze.

"Um… Hello."

"Hi."

"Uh…"

"You taught the Tennis Club to play Bruiseball."

"Oh. Do you play?"

The girl shook her head. "Different club. Fun to watch, though. I hate perverts." Her speech was brutally honest, but her dispassionate tone made her sound completely callous about the subject.

"What club are you in?"

"Occult Research."

"Really? Oh… Oh, you're that first-year that's with them."

She nodded, her eyes never leaving his. "Koneko Tōjō."

"Connor Lochlainn. Er… you know, I've been wondering about that. Is Koneko your real name or just a nickname?"

"Real name."

She kept staring.

"Okay… Another question: Have you been following me recently?"

"Yeah."

No shame or guilt at all. She just kept staring.

"…I see. One more question: Why are you looking at me like that?''

"Trying to figure something out."

"I… see… Okay, well, it was nice to meet you, Koneko-chan, but I need to go."

"See ya."

Connor walked away briskly, going back through the assembly hall, wanting to be anywhere but there at the moment. Koneko's eyes continued to follow him, still giving that same blank look.

–––––

Hands down, the most awkward and cringeworthy conversation he had ever experienced in Kuoh. One that he did not relish the thought of revisiting.

It wasn't her appearance or the way she talked, he didn't mind those at all. It was funny seeing how much taller he was compared to her. The problem was the way she just… stared at him… that blank stare that made it seem like she wasn't really looking at him. He wondered if this was how people felt trying to talk to him when he was younger. He had a bad habit then of not looking people in the eye.

And what was it that she was 'trying to figure out,' exactly?

Sunday evening finally came around and Connor arrived with time to spare at the front of the larger of Kuoh's two privately-owned izakaya. A cluster of runestones stood by in his pocket and with Tobio nowhere to be seen, he took that extra time to survey his new surroundings.

Nomura's Bar and Grill was actually closer to home than he thought; a mere two blocks away from where he normally made the turnoff out of the market district to walk home. It was a very simple-looking establishment, nestled into the first floor a two-story building with the kanji for Nomura (野村) displayed above the entrance on a large canvas.

He stood outside for a few minutes at a nearby magazine stand along the street, browsing through the selections and just killing time waiting for his contact. When the contact in question emerged from the izakaya's entrance with a leather bag in hand, Connor set the magazine in his hands back in its slot and made his presence known.

"Tobio!" he called with a false grin.

"Hey, Connor! Long time no see!" Tobio held out his hand to shake, to which Connor obliged. "Come on in, let's get you something while you're here. We can talk inside." His words were friendly, but the way he said them sounded like a command.

Slipping in just as the dinner rush was beginning to approach, the two stopped at the far end of a bar on the left hand side of the restaurant's interior. Tables of various sizes were arranged neatly across the center of the floor and against the right hand wall. Spaces along the bar were preset for dining at about one meter apart from each other, and available foods were on display behind a glass counter. Connor had to admit: some of the things there looked pretty appetizing.

"'Oyaji', got a live one for ya!" Tobio called toward the kitchen.

"What are ya doing back, boy? I thought ya clocked out already," a raspy voice resounded from the back before a man in his late fifties or early sixties shuffled out to greet Tobio. His full head of white hair was neatly held within a hair net, and the wrinkles on his face softened upon seeing Tobio standing with someone new. "Oh. Friend of yours?"

"Yep. Connor, this is Hideo Nomura, but everyone just calls him 'Oyaji.' 'Oyaji', Connor Lochlainn."

"Good to meet you," Connor greeted with a light bow.

"Yeah." The old man only nodded, not seeming to care about formalities. "So, what'll it be?"

"We'll have the karaage, boss. Make it two." Tobio interjected, not even giving Connor time to browse the selection. (1)

"Gotcha," 'Oyaji' grunted, walking back to the kitchen without another word.

"Quite the talker, isn't he?" The magus remarked as the two took their seats, with Tobio to his left.

"Yeah, but some of the things 'Oyaji' makes here can't be beat. By the way, you healed pretty fast. Got tired of it and fixed yourself up?"

"You could say that," Connor dismissed before his tone and expression turning serious. "So, how do we do this? And how secure are we?"

"I've got countermeasures in place," Tobio assured. "People who hear us will think we're talking about a game. We'll start simple. My name is Tobio Ikuse, leader of Slash/Dog Team, the only human-exclusive special ops group under the jurisdiction of the Grigori."

"Human-exclusive? How'd you get caught up with them?"

"Let me answer that question with another: Have you ever heard of the Heavenly Aloha?"

"Yeah. That was the cruise liner that took off from Japan several years ago, but never came back. No emergency broadcast, no wreckage, not even a clue as to where it went. News media said a whole school full of students was on board for a special trip. Every country along the Pacific and then some pitched in for the search effort, but nothing came of it for weeks." The better question would have been: 'Who hadn't heard of it?' It was the worst maritime disaster the world had seen that year.

"I was originally supposed to be one of the students in that group, but I couldn't make it because I was sick. Over two hundred fifty people, a vast majority of them kids, vanished without a trace. At least, until several of my classmates who were on board reappeared in Japan a month later."

Connor's eyes widened. "How did that not make the news?"

"It was covered up. One thing led to another, on and on again for another month or so, I awakened my Sacred Gear in the middle of it all, and I eventually found out that all those people on the ship were used as test subjects for experiments into Sacred Gears. The people responsible for it, the Utsusemi Agency, were trying to get revenge on the Shinto clans that rejected them for simply not being talented enough to carry on the family practices. After my best friend almost died trying to save me, I lost control and unlocked my Balance Breaker. It took Azazel-sama and two of his most trusted associates to subdue me.

"When I came to, Azazel-sama explained everything to me; Sacred Gears, Balance Breakers, the Great War, the Armistice, everything. Then he got me and my friends, the ones who survived, into an institute within the Grigori and trained us up to be special operatives under the code name Slash/Dog. In summary: I owe my life and my friends' lives to them."

"I see… For what's it's worth, I'm sorry you had to go through that." To Connor, the idea of seeing people you knew get turned into experimental fodder was horrifying. Just because you had to look out for yourself as a magus didn't mean you had to be heartless doing it. At least, he thought so.

"Thanks. So, what about you? What's your story?"

"You said you wouldn't ask family secrets."

"I'm not. I'm asking for your story. Your personal story. How'd you end up here, halfway around the world? Why go and not stay home?"

"There's not much to tell. I'm just a simple magus, trying to move up in the world."

"No simple magus kills a Fallen Angel the way you did. Indulge me."

Both men stayed silent for a moment as Connor contemplated his answer.

"I guess you could say I'm on vacation. Or, I was."

Tobio's eyebrow quirked.

"My grandpa was a kid by the time World War II started up, and with Ireland staying largely neutral throughout the war, that left him with a lot of time to read and learn. He always told me that distant relatives took an interest in him and taught him the basics, and he built himself up from there. He never called them anything other than 'distant relatives,' so as to keep their secrets safe. Most of what I know about magecraft came from him."

"What about your father?"

"My dad was the second-born in the family, so he wasn't allowed to learn magecraft. It's a common practice in magi families for the first-born to get the special treatment, and that went to my uncle." Connor paused and shook his head. "But then, he and his pregnant wife were killed in a massive car pileup almost fifteen years ago. Since it was way too late at that point for my dad to be instated as a new heir, Grandpa instead chose four-year-old me."

"You were forced into it? Did your father not try to stop it?" Tobio asked curiously.

"There wasn't much he could do. He was kept completely in the dark about magecraft growing up, and he was worried of what my grandfather would do if he didn't comply with letting me learn it. And I wouldn't say that I was forced into it, just enticed. Grandpa made it sound so alluring and amazing. It took me a while to see how that was mostly a matter of perspective."

Following the death of his eldest son, Donovan was desperate to not lose his life's work, and threw everything he had into completely rebuilding the Magic Crest to where Connor's body could adapt to it in a span of four years. In that haste, however, he hadn't done everything he should have to prepare his grandson for the life ahead of him, and had died before that problem could be properly corrected.

'Dying from overwork is a pretty sorry way to go.'

"Then, with all that, why did you end up going to Japan of all places?"

"The scenery?" the magus lightly offered before his gaze went down to his hands. "I don't know, I… I guess I just needed some time away from it all. Just for a little bit; a year or two, nothing more… I wanted to study something else for a while, you know?"

Connor was fully aware that a mindset like his made him a disgraceful aberrant in the eyes of more traditional magi, a coward unwilling to take whatever steps necessary to reach the Root, but he didn't care. Fuck that noise, he was taught to be a magus, not raised as one. He wasn't going to pawn off his soul or the world itself just for a tiny glimpse of the Root, not that he'd ever actually get it or live long enough to brag to anyone that he pulled it off.

Ultimate knowledge of all phenomena across the universe was fundamentally impossible for mortal man to achieve, and the vacuous pursuit of it was a pointless venture. From his standpoint, it was like falling in a bottomless pit; unable to reach the desired end, but also unable to return after failing, with one's only companion being their own unending despair.

He simply chose not to jump.

"I suppose… and what about those eyes? Those green ones you looked at me with back at the park?"

"Genetic mutation. No one else in the family had them, so that's really all I can say." Connor's answer was quick but even. Tobio didn't look convinced.

He and Connor didn't get much farther with their discussion before 'Oyaji' presented their orders. Two ceramic platters of deep-fried chicken chunks seated on a few leaves of lettuce with a lemon wedge on the side.

"There you go."

"Thanks, 'Oyaji.'"

"Yeah, yeah," the old man waved as he moved on to other orders.

"As enlightening as this has been for the both of us, I think we need to get to business," Connor began. "First off, what are Sacred Gears? You know more about them than I do, so…"

"Itadakimasu." Tobio gave thanks for the meal before beginning his explanation. "Fair enough. Sacred Gears are special artifacts created by the God of the Bible in order to enact miracles on Earth. They're linked to a human's soul upon birth, and only humans or hybrids of humans have ever been born with them, but they can carry over if a human gets reincarnated into a Devil. It's believed that some of history's most prominent figures were likely wielders of Sacred Gears that never truly manifested. Just imagine if people like Alexander the Great, Jeanne d'Arc or Nobunaga Oda actually had Sacred Gears and used them to make their mark on the world."

"But there's no way to know… right… And what about Balance Breakers? You mentioned that, too."

"Balance Breakers are the… ultimate stage of activation with Sacred Gears, their most powerful manifestations. Each one is as individual as the one wielding the Gear. Most of the time, Balance Breaker is triggered through emotional highs or overwhelming stress. For me, it was almost losing my best friend a second time. Hey, those cool off pretty quickly, so you better eat them now," he finished, pointing his chopsticks to Connor's platter.

"Huh? Oh." Connor took his chopsticks in hand and gave thanks. "Itadakimasu." Carefully, he brought the first piece of chicken up to his lips and dug in.

Whatever 'Oyaji' used for seasoning gave the chicken a nice kick upon the first bite, enough to make him blink several times in surprise. The texture, on the other hand, was the real winner. A well-crafted medium between the perfectly crispy skin and the delectably tender meat. Nothing short of exquisite.

"Wow… That is really good." Connor proclaimed after clearing his mouth.

"I know, right? I was about to steal some of yours."

Connor angled his platter away from Tobio, casting a deadpan stare towards the agent. "Mine. So, what was the deal with last Sunday? What happened there?"

"Like I said on Monday, Raynare's team had been sent to Kuoh to identify and observe the actions of one Issei Hyoudou. Azazel-sama had reason to believe that Hyoudou had a Sacred Gear, and a potentially powerful one, so their job was to watch him and make sure that he hadn't already awakened it. In the past, humans that have done so before entering their prime have gone berserk from the sudden change and caused death and damage that could expose the supernatural to the general public."

"How did you even find out he had a Sacred Gear if it wasn't even awakened?"

"We have our sources."

"I find that answer vague and unconvincing." Connor remarked while wrapping a chicken chunk in a lettuce leaf. "Then again, who am I to talk? So why did Raynare kill him if he wasn't dangerous? Your sources should've told you that, too, right?"

"My understanding is that the 'new' orders she received were worded in such a way that they sounded like Azazel-sama would give them if you didn't know personally what he was like."

"Who really sent the order?"

"We're still looking into that. I'm pretty sure Azazel-sama has an idea, but whoever it was knew that Raynare, the designated leader of the op, wouldn't object to them. Dohnaseek hated humans, Raynare is obsessed with Azazel-sama, and Mittelt is just lazy. Kalawarner at least had enough sense to question the orders when they first came, but her opinion fell on deaf ears." He paused briefly to continue eating his meal, leaving Connor to connect the dots of that night's events. "On a different note, Raynare's team was pulled out of here in such a hurry that the trove of rogue exorcists that she brought in are still skulking around town. I've been keeping them from getting out of hand in the meantime."

"Rogue exorcists? What, was she planning an attack? How many are there?"

"I'd say… at least a dozen. And no, Raynare needed manpower for a ritual she had in the works." From his bag, Tobio extracted a small stack of papers and presented it to Connor. Upon taking it, Connor's eyes were first met with a photograph of a young blond girl with innocent green eyes and clothed in a dark teal nun's habit. Pertinent information regarding the girl was listed beside the picture; height, weight, blood type, and the like. "Asia Argento, age: 16, nationality: Italy. Raised as a Holy Maiden of the Catholic Church until she was excommunicated about a month ago."

"What was she exiled for?" The magus asked as his eyes glided over the information on the pages.

"According to our sources, she used her Sacred Gear, Twilight Healing, to save the life of a Devil in the Vatican. The clergy found out, branded her a heretic and showed her the door almost immediately."

Connor stopped reading and looked up, his brow scrunched in disbelief. "In the Vatican? Bullshit. That place is the European cousin of Fort Knox. Even if a Devil somehow got past all the barriers, the Church's Executors would've torn them to shreds before they could blink."

"I agree, but what's done is done. She had to rely on us to get by for the past couple of weeks, and Raynare pulled some strings to arrange for Asia to come here while her little mission was going on. Her plan was to conduct a ritual to extract Twilight Healing from Asia, killing Asia in the process, and bring the Gear to Azazel-sama personally. She didn't cough up that detail until just yesterday, and it's too late to stop the plane that Asia is taking to Tokyo right now."

Connor paused as he was about to take another bite of chicken and stared at Tobio incredulously. "Why? Why not just deliver Asia herself? I imagine that a practiced wielder of a Sacred Gear would be more valuable than somebody that just stole the damned thing. If she's such a potential asset, why bring her here and risk someone else getting to her? Like me, an unknown variable, or even the one behind her exile! What the actual fuck was Raynare thinking?!" The astonishing lack of logic in this roundabout scheme was more off-putting than anything else Connor had heard so far. It was enough to make his head hurt.

"I told you that Raynare is obsessed with Azazel-sama, but I never said she was accurate in her understanding of him," Tobio clarified. "She thought she could earn points with him, or possibly more, by bringing in a rare and useful Sacred Gear with no strings attached, I suppose. She didn't take into account that he sees humans in a positive light, and wouldn't take kindly to a pointless murder for the sake of one Gear, regardless of its value. It was a deluded love that drove her, and… love can make people do crazy things."

"Right" Connor let out a tired sigh. A rather common occurrence in the last few days. "So what am I supposed to do with Asia? I'm not exactly a trusted source."

"Azazel-sama said he was, quote, "curious of how this will play out," unquote. He's ordered complete silence across all channels that Raynare had used to get Asia here, make it seem like things are going according to plan. Before you say anything, I gave him that exact same look, so you're not alone in thinking what you are." Tobio explained, commenting on Connor's befuddled expression. "As for what exactly you do, that's entirely up to you. And my next report depends on it. Do you help her, turn her in to the Devils, send her on to me, or outright ignore her?"

"So this is all a case study now? Your boss just wants to see my reaction for shits and giggles?"

"Better than being a target for elimination, I would think," Tobio reasoned.

The magus was silent for a moment, staring down at the tabletop.

"I'll think about it."

"Don't think too long. She should arrive at Kuoh within the next two days or so." Tobio's sage advice was interrupted by a beeping coming from his pocket. Pulling a phone from said pocket, he held it to his ear for about five seconds before clicking his tongue as he hung up.

"Well, I gotta go. You can have the rest of my plate. See you next week, same time." He slapped his hand against the bar top as he walked out, leaving his target to his thoughts.

Looking to where Tobio hit the table, Connor saw a stack of yen placed atop a different kind of paper. He pulled the stack closer and noticed that the solitary piece of white paper on the bottom held a sequence of numbers written in English numerals. It was a phone number, presumably Tobio's. He could add it to his contact list once he got home. He pocketed the number, then returned to his meal, taking Tobio's unfinished karaage and setting it on his own platter.

Connor sat in silence for a long time, even after finishing his extended meal and 'Oyaji' collected what was left of his and Tobio's orders.

Was this a pun or a paradox? To have options but no alternatives?

When one waits for a special event or a meeting of importance, any period of time prior to that event feels much longer than it actually is. From Sunday evening to Tuesday afternoon seemed like an entire two weeks had passed, not two days.

It still didn't make sense to him why Azazel would take a risk like this in the first place. Better to secure your own holdings before your enemies even realize what you're doing, especially in their own turf. However, if he had chosen to let the situation run its course, then he either saw no harm in doing so, or had full confidence that Tobio could pick Asia up if things went south.

But why did he not fill Tobio in on his plan if that were the case? Why even use a middleman?

Connor's peaceful walk through the park to clear his head wasn't working like he had hoped. With no sign of Asia at all yesterday, he was left wondering if she had been delayed by local transportation or that in Tokyo.

Which brought up another conundrum: Just how sheltered was Asia? Did she even know how to read or speak Japanese? Because if not, then-

"Lochlainn?"

Connor looked behind him upon hearing his name.

"Hyoudou?" The younger male was dressed in the Kuoh Academy uniform with the blazer and white shirt unbuttoned to reveal a faded red undershirt.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Nothing, really. Just out for a walk, enjoying the weather. What about you?" Connor replied casually.

"I was on my way back to the club room, I had some people I needed to meet with this afternoon."

"Club room? The ORC, right?"

Issei blinked. "Uh, yeah. How did you know?"

"Word travels fast at the academy, especially when a notorious pervert is suddenly seen in the company of a 'Great Onee-sama.' I've heard they're pretty strict about who they let in there."

"Well– hey, it was a big surprise for me, too. I only joined the club last week after Rias-buchō made the offer, but it is awesome! I mean, sure, being the new guy, I'm having to do a lot of errand running; go deliver this, go see this person, go talk to that person, blah blah blah. It's kind of a drag."

"They treat you like an errand boy there?" Connor asked.

"Oh, no, i-it's not that they treat me bad, far from it!" Issei backpedaled upon realizing how it sounded. "Everyone there is really nice. There's just… rules that I have to follow, that's all it is. Oh, but let me tell you something! Both Buchō and Akeno-neesan have the most amazing oppai I've ever seen! And I haven't even– " Whatever Issei continued to say didn't register in Connor's mind; he had already stopped listening.

'Aaaaand, he's off, with his daily diatribe of harems and the wonders of breasts. Put a cork in it, you–'

"Hawuaa!"

The two males turned to their left when a voice rang out. What they saw was a young girl in a nun's habit splayed out in the grass face-first with her arms stretched out to her sides.

Connor recognized the habit from the profile's picture. It had to be his person of interest, Asia Argento.

And she had just tripped…

Over nothing…

Connor and Issei glanced at one another before both approached her.

"Oi, daijobuka?" (Hey, are you alright?) Issei asked as he offered his hand to her.

"Auu… Perché continuo a cadere? Ah, um… gomen'nasai. Arigatogozaimashita." (Why do I keep falling over? Oh, um… I'm sorry. Thank you very much.) the girl lamented before addressing her present company in rough Japanese.

Connor feared that this was the case. His Italian wasn't exactly immaculate, so communication would be a problem unless she could speak English. At least she knew some of the native tongue.

Asia took Issei's hand to stand up and lifted her head to see past her veil, bringing her green eyes and bright blond hair into view. The hopeless pervert looked absolutely starstruck at what he saw. So much so that he couldn't bring himself to speak for several seconds.

"Umm… Qualcosa non va?" (…Is something wrong?) she asked carefully.

"Iie, iie. Nandemonai," (No, no. It's nothing.) Issei finally recovered.

Connor, meanwhile, was staring at Issei. Did he not even realize she was speaking full Italian and she understood his full informal Japanese?

'Must be one of those Devil perks. Maybe that's why his English seems so good,' he thought.

"Mi scusi," (Excuse me.) he addressed Asia, not sure if he was butchering the words.

"Sì?" (Yes?) Her eyes snapped to him, and he could see why Issei seemed to get lost in them. A face like that was the picture of innocence.

"Er… Parla inglese?" (Can you speak English?)

"Yes, I can speak English," she replied fluently.

"Okay, good," Connor breathed, his accent coming forward. "I'm sorry, I'm not good with Italian."

"Oh, that's alright. It's such a relief to actually talk to someone now. Everybody I talked to so far couldn't understand me, and… I got lost." She looked down somberly, holding her hands to her chest.

"So, uh… are you passing through town?" Issei asked, noticing the travel bag on her shoulder.

"No, I was appointed here to the church in this town. Kuoh, I believe is the name. Are you two residents here? It's nice to meet you both."

"He's the resident, I'm just a foreigner. That's Issei Hyoudou, and I'm Connor Lochlainn."

"Hey, I think I know where the church is, actually," Issei supplied.

The girl's eyes lit up like spotlights. "R-really? You do? Oh, thank you! It must be God's hand at work! Oh, and my name is Asia Argento."

"I didn't know this place had a church, Issei," Connor said inquisitively, noticing Issei's flinch at the mention of God.

"Oh, yeah, it's actually just a short walk from here, but I don't know if anyone's been there in a while."

"You don't say?… Okay then, lead the way."

"Wha- Wait, you're going, too?"

The magus shrugged. "Sure. It's a nice afternoon, plus I've got nothing else to do. Don't worry, Casanova, I won't stand in your way as you try to woo the hapless nun."

Issei's face turned red as he stammered. "Wha- bu- I-"

"Relax. I'm just messing with you," Connor assured through a chuckle, though Issei didn't seem to find it that funny.

Connor's joke wasn't simply to poke fun at Issei, but rather to mask his frustration of the problem at hand. He wanted to make this pickup as quick and simple as possible, and there couldn't have been a worse time for any Devil to show up, much less the pervert. While he could simply tell Issei to back off, he had a feeling that the kid would get Rias involved and draw a lot of unwanted attention to both the magus and the nun.

Still, maybe all wasn't lost. Issei was sour about doing grunt work, which meant that he wasn't brainwashed or conditioned into absolute loyalty, at least not yet. If Connor played this right and convinced Issei to keep quiet about Asia, then maybe he could stall a confrontation. A little bit of extra time was all he could hope for now.

The trio didn't get very in their walk to the church before their attention was drawn to the cry of a child nearby. He was sitting in the grass, holding his knee and whimpering while his mother hovered over him to inspect the injury. Connor and Issei were of the like mind to dismiss it and move on, but Asia broke off and approached the boy.

She lightly comforted the boy before moving her hands over the scrape. To the surprise of everyone present, two silver rings suddenly appeared on Asia's middle fingers, and a green orb of light emerged from her palms to cover the boy's knee.

Looking closer, Connor could see that the lost skin actually reappear in sequence going from bottom to top, in complete opposite of the way the kid likely got the scrape. When she was finished, it looked like nothing had ever happened.

'Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. That's Twilight Healing? That's not just accelerating the natural healing process. It's almost like time reversal within a Bounded Field! Would that mean no scarring from bigger wounds? If so…'

It made perfect sense now why the value of this Gear was no exaggeration. Something like that made Asia a prime target for anyone remotely familiar with the supernatural. Anyone. The mother hurriedly ushered her child away, but couldn't stop the boy from letting out a parting "Arigatou, onee-chan!" (Thank you, big sis!) to which Issei translated.

Asia explained that what they witnessed was a gift granted to her from God, but her expression said that it came with a lot of heartache. The Devil looked like he wanted to say something to cheer her up, but decided against it, for fear of upsetting her.

They continued their trek to the church and arrived about ten minutes later. From a first glance, Connor could tell that Issei had been on the mark about it. Judging by the broken windows, the chipping paint and the amount of visible dry rot, it didn't look like the dilapidated place of worship had seen a soul in years.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Issei asked, his tone more rigid than it was before.

"Yes, this is it! Thank you both for guiding me!" Asia didn't seem to notice his unease over her own joy of finding the church.

"Uh… Issei," Connor began, "you've been here longer than I have. When was the last time you saw somebody coming and going here?"

"People used to come here, when I was a kid, but not that I remember recently. Why?"

'Because I need you to buy this.'

"Because, looking at it now, I've got a really bad feeling about this place."

"You, too?" Connor looked to see from Issei's expression that the words came out almost reflexively.

"Yeah. Hey, Asia, stay here with Issei for a minute. I'm… I'm gonna take a look inside."

"Eh? Is everything-"

"I just want to check something, I'll be right back, don't worry."

"Okay. Be careful."

He waved as he walked forward in a last reassurance. When he reached the double-door entrance, he found that the handles were still intact, but barely held in place. It wouldn't take much force to open either side, and he hoped that the hinges were still working. They were, to his relief, and the right side door creaked and squeaked open slowly, letting in the evening sun's light to guide the building's newest visitor.

Stepping in past the door and into the foyer, his eyes wandered from wall to wall and everywhere in between, taking in as much detail of the place as possible.

In its prime, the little church might have held about one hundred or so people comfortably at maximum capacity. Christianity was a very minor faith in Japan compared to Buddhism and Shinto, so even this could be considered pretty big for a small town church.

The sunlight streaming, or rather straining, through the broken windows and occasional hole in the roof cast an eerie atmosphere within the old wooden building. It was easy to see that the years of neglect and the elements had not been kind to this house of God. Most of the walls had lost their white paint, what floorboards that weren't completely rotted groaned with every step he took toward the front, and even the supporting columns running along the length of the chapel looked like they were wearing away, too. A layer of dust gathered upon the pulpit at the altar and every pew left standing suggested that no one had been in the church for a very long time.

The two rows of pews at the front told a different story; there wasn't as much dust on them for the simple reason that somebody had attempted to use them recently. He could tell by the trails left by fingers dragged across the tops, the handprints on one pew that were angled facing forward for stability, and a spot where someone had attempted to sit down but almost fell through. In truth, those areas looked rather fresh.

This place wasn't as deserted as Issei claimed (not that he could've known), but that was far more worrisome than it simply being empty. Somebody was still waiting for Asia there. Likely the exorcists Tobio had mentioned.

Taking one last quick glance around, Connor made for the door, being careful where he stepped. Upon passing the doorway, he was relieved to see that Issei and Asia were still right where he left them before.

He shook his head as he rejoined them. "I don't know what else to tell you, Asia, but there is nobody there. I looked in every room, and it looks like there hasn't been anybody in there for years."

Her eyes widened. "B-but… I was told that this was the church…"

"I'm sorry, Asia, but there really is nothing in there. Plus, the building's in pretty bad condition, too. Honestly, I think a strong enough wind could knock it all down."

"Well, in that case, she shouldn't go in." Issei declared, a bit abruptly.

"No argument there, but… that leaves us with another problem. Asia, did the people who sent you say anything about a different place you could stay in case… this didn't work out?" Connor asked.

"No… I was only told to look for the church." Her eyes fell and there was a tremble in her voice now. It was hard to look at.

"Well, you could come to my house," Issei offered hastily. Connor shot him a look that went unnoticed as he continued. "I've got a guest room that would be fine for a while. My parents wouldn't say no, so that won't be a problem."

"O-oh, no. I… I don't want to impose…" Asia tried to decline.

"Issei, quick word with you. One second, Asia, we'll be right here." Connor lightly nudged him aside, leaving both of the younger teens confused.

Connor leaned in to whisper. "Issei, before you go making offers like that, think things through. You saw that Sacred Gear of hers. Can you imagine the lengths that people would go to just to get a tool that heals anything for themselves? Someone coming after her could put you and your family at risk if she were to stay at your house."

"Y-Wait, you know that was a Sacred Gear?"

"I know a lot of things, but that's beside the point. Look, if she just finds an apartment here in town and keeps her head down for a little while, then maybe whatever shady freak duped her into coming here and tried getting her to go in there," he pointed emphatically to the run-down chapel, "might lose her trail."

From a logical standpoint, it was a shot in the dark, and if the Fallen were still in town, it would definitely not be that easy. It still wasn't, since he didn't know just how many Stray exorcists there were, but Connor was just hoping that Issei would be naïve enough in his concern for Asia that he would believe it. Luckily, it seemed to work. The younger male looked to be seriously weighing the options.

"Okay. We'll… we'll give it a shot. Geez, man, when did you get so paranoid?" Issei spoke a little louder now, slightly assured by the American's words.

"I'm not paranoid, Issei. I'm proactive." Connor's voice took a lighter tone to soften the mood.

"What's the difference?"

"Well, the difference is that one is an adjective and the other is mental sickness."

"Umm… " Their attention was drawn back to the nun, who stood by nervously.

"Sorry about that, Asia. Okay, Issei and I talked it over, and we're going to see if we can get you set up with an apartment here in town. Would that be alright?"

"Um… okay. Thank you very much. But… I don't have much money."

"That's okay, don't worry. I think I know just the place you could go."

Connor, Asia, and Issei sat in seiza in the main gathering room of Watanabe's house, waiting for him to return after he had adjourned himself.

A combination of subtle hypnosis and a mild exaggeration of Asia's story were enough to convince the landlord to allow her to live in the apartment next door to Connor free of charge for one week. If Connor tried for any longer, he suspected that he would get Asia into more trouble than was needed. Issei had caught on, it seemed, because he noticed the somewhat glazed look in Watanabe's eyes when Connor told the story. He looked to the magus while the old man had gone to get the paperwork for a temporary lease, and only saw Connor put a finger to his lips while looking pointedly at him.

When Watanabe returned, he presented Asia with the forms but, to her embarrassment, she was unable to read them. He assured her that was alright, as the story Connor told him mentioned as much. With advice from Connor and translation from Issei, she worked out an agreement with him to simply stay until she could get on her feet, be it a part-time job or a scholarship at the local academy.

That got Connor thinking.

Once the meeting was finished and Asia was given the key, the trio of students dismissed themselves and set to work getting Asia settled into her new residence. With the stars in Asia's eyes, one would think the two had just landed her a premium suite in a luxury hotel. She marveled at every room, every appliance, every piece of furniture, everything in a place of living that most people would take for granted. It was a heartwarming sight, but at the same time humbling.

While she joyously inspected the apartment, Issei confronted Connor.

"Hey, what was with the landlord? What did you do?" he quietly asked.

"Trade secret. Keep what you saw today between us, Issei. And don't tell anybody that Asia has that Sacred Gear. It's for her own safety."

"Okay, how do you know what a Sacred Gear is? Are you really going to look out for her, or are you just taking advantage of her?" Issei all but demanded to know, having lost patience with Connor's evasiveness.

"Calm down." Connor rebuked evenly. "Let's just say that I've been involved in the supernatural for a long time, and I know what to be wary of. And as for Asia, I wouldn't have brought her here if I didn't genuinely want to help her. Watanabe-san takes good care of the place, and the neighbors here look out for each other. And then there's me; I'm here when I'm not at school. You don't have to worry about a thing, Issei. I'm asking you to trust me on this, if nothing else. I'll make sure that she stays safe."

For the longest time, Issei just stared at him. Connor didn't know it was possible for him to look so dead serious about something other than breasts. Perhaps he had misjudged the kid. Finally, Issei's expression relaxed.

"Okay. I'll hold you to that." He looked at his phone and grimaced. "I need to get going. buchō's probably going to scold me for being late to get back. Asia! I'm sorry, but I need to go!"

"Oh!" She came bounding out from the bedroom. "Thank you very much for all your help today, Mr. Issei!" She deeply bowed, almost completely horizontal before straightening. "I hope we'll see each other again soon."

"Yeah, me too, Asia. I'll see you around. Good night."

"Good night."

Once the door fully closed, Connor looked to Asia and saw her still looking at the door, with her bright smile having never left her face.

"Mr. Issei is very nice."

"Yeah. I definitely saw another side of him today." For all his perverted tendencies and awkwardness around an actual girl, Issei Hyoudou seemed like a guy who would readily lend a hand to any girl that was in need of help. Chivalrous, to be sure, but Connor wasn't holding his breath. The kid was a Devil now, albeit a fledgling, and time would tell if the motivations for that chivalry were true.

"Alright, let's make sure you're squared away for the night," Connor declared, moving to face the nearest wall, and began to draw the first series of reinforcement runes in earnest.

'Algiz, Hagalaz, Uruz, Thurisa-'

"Mr. Connor, what are you doing?" Asia's question made him pause.

"Setting up security measures, magic defenses," he summarized before continuing. "I did the same thing with my apartment. With these in place, you should be safe from mostly anything on the outside."

"Are you a magician?"

"No, I'm a magus. We're… different from what you may know to be magicians. And I…" He stopped working and lowered his arms to his sides, turning to face her. What he said next could scar their relationship forever, but he felt compelled to say it. He was going to have to tell her eventually, but he would prefer that his actions not be used against him down the line.

"And I've been lying to you from the moment I met you."

Her eyes never left his, but now they bore a look of confusion.

"I already knew your name before you even got to Kuoh, I knew you were coming here, I know the Grigori have been taking care of you recently, and I know what happened with you and the Church." She flinched at the latter, and he found himself regretting his choice of words immediately.

'Shit.'

"I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. I won't say any more on the subject, if you don't want me to."

"Then… are you with the Grigori?" she asked.

"In a sense. It wasn't my first choice, but I kind of put myself into a corner with that. I got in trouble with them, and now I have to pay off my damages by doing little jobs here and there. They told me you were coming."

"What about the church? Was it empty?"

"At that moment, it was, but based on what I've been told, I think a group of rogue exorcists are camping there. Rogues that have nothing but bad intentions for you."

A long, uncomfortable silence lingered between the two, Connor looking down and Asia holding her hands to her chest, both trying to find the right words.

"Anyway, I just wanted to get that out there and… apologize… for misleading you. And for… bringing up bad memories." He turned away, not wanting to look her in the eyes anymore. He waited to hear some kind of reaction. When he heard nothing, he figured that she was going with the silent treatment. With a small nod of understanding, he focused back to where he-

"It's okay, Mr. Connor."

He stopped and turned back to her. He'd been expecting her to lash out, start crying, or even yell at him and tell him to get out and leave her alone. But there were no tears in her eyes, or any sign that she was even upset.

She was smiling.

"I'm not angry. You told the truth, and you're helping me now, so I'm happy." If anything, her forgiving his deception made him feel even more guilty. The sincerity in her voice was almost painful to hear.

"I trust you."

At times, words can be more powerful than bullets. Right now, he just felt like he'd been shot.

"Er… I… right… okay."

Connor found it difficult to concentrate on his work after that.

He finished with the reinforcement runes and tied the sensor runes outside her apartment to the ones on his own in about one hour. A bit longer than he expected. The rest of the night was spent showing her the basic necessities of living in an apartment, in particular, how to handle the kitchen. He served her a light dinner, and by 7:00 P.M., Asia seemed more than ready to just go to bed. It had been a very trying couple of days for the exiled nun.

Connor now stood outside the apartment door. "My apartment is right next door to the left. I'll be there in case you need help with something."

"Thank you, Mr. Connor."

"Just Connor is fine. And… you're welcome. I'll stop by in the morning to check on you before I head to school. Good night, Asia."

"Good night."

Even after Asia closed the door, Connor stood there looking down, replaying the events of the last few hours in his head. His mind still ran rampant as he went inside his own apartment and moved through his nightly routine. After finishing with brushing his teeth and giving a final rinse, he stood hunched over the sink.

'It would be so easy just to turn her over to somebody else and walk away. Forget that she even existed. Move on with my life. It wouldn't really be a change of pace for her; she's been exploited for her Gear her entire life. Hell, now that I think about it, I'm doing the exact same thing. I just locked her up! So why does she not even care? You do not smile after getting treated like that. How does someone who's been betrayed to the extent that she has forgive that easily? Why would she trust someone that easily? It doesn't make sense!'

He ran his hand down his face in exasperation, and looked into the mirror. His reflection just stared back. Not necessarily judging him, but neither was it reassuring him of anything.

His sleep wasn't very restful that night.

…

(1): Japanese cooking technique where an ingredient is lightly coated with flour and deep-fried. Usually chicken, but can be fish or vegetables.

…

Lot of conversational bits, I know, but I had to make it all flow evenly. Dialogue is just hard to look at in the light novel. There won't be very much of these separate language bits in the future, because trust me, I am not fluent in anything other than English.

I hope that these segments weren't too long or arduous to read, particularly the meeting with Tobio, but I wanted to get some background of both his character and Connor's established. The number of times that I've seen Tobio be accurately depicted as a character in DxD fan-fiction material is incredibly small. He's only listed as a major character in two other stories on this site, and he's the main protagonist of one of Ishibumi's other series, Slash/Dog. I mean, I get it, writers can lose interest and move on to other projects while still using the older stuff, but I saw Tobio as wasted potential.

If you would like what you read, leave a favorite, a follow or a review to let me know. Any advice or support that you could give would be greatly appreciated. If you'd like to take a shot at the challenge listed in chapter 1, send me a PM, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

As always, thank you for reading!