He didn't sleep that well, his body hadn't fully acclimated to his condition after all, but he rested better than in the prison. Granted, a private room with a comfortable bed beat the magical barrier in every aspect, but a big part of his energy came from the freedom of being outside said barrier. Not so much from how comfortable his new room was. He'd have to adapt it, to give it pieces of himself for it to truly feel at home.
But that would have to wait. For now, Diodora wanted to tackle the goals he set for himself when he arrived at Kuoh Town. Namely, keep a good image with the devils in town and get Genshirou back into his peerage. Without Sona around, Diodora felt more confident in his ability to do as he pleased. Especially because Rias didn't share her friend's strictness, and thus Diodora would be able to appeal more to emotion rather than give concrete arguments in case of being refused.
Rias, after all, was a devil. And if she thought that Genshirou now belonged to her, Diodora would've to be more forceful about getting his Bishop back. Because not even the redhead would dissuade Diodora from his choice. Maybe not the best mindset to be in while going to a friendly meeting, but Diodora didn't have much more room to interpret the world around him. He simply wasn't raised that way.
"Hope I didn't make you wait." Rias wore a black skirt that reached down her knees, and a cream blouse with short sleeves. She arrived early, walking downstreet and smiling at Diodora upon finding him sitting on a bench in one of the local parks.
"I was actually afraid I'd get here late." With everything said, Diodora didn't show any of the untrusting thoughts he had while getting there. Call it double faced, but Diodora would rather present himself as a friendly face first and avoid unnecessary conflict than show his true feelings and cut straight to the point "I can't move that quickly now."
"I… Yes, I know." Rias smiled apologetically "I just wanted to say it out loud."
Diodora suppressed a chuckle, nodding slightly.
"You watch too much anime and… Hm? Not even Akeno is with you?" Diodora moved his eyes around Rias, wondering why no one from her peerage had come along. Even if it was early in the morning, he had been promised breakfast. Did no one else eat after waking up?
"I… Told them not to come." Rias pressed her fingers together, moving her hands downwards "Is that a problem?"
He wanted to have breakfast with Genshirou and Miyuzuin… But, well, Rias would have to do.
"Riser might get the wrong idea, but okay." Diodora chuckled.
"Ah! He came here to talk to you that one time, right?" Rias smiled pleasantly, seemingly not taking Diodora's words too seriously.
"I don't know." Diodora admitted, as he barely remembered his interaction with Riser "But it felt that way."
Diodora adjusted the crutch, putting it more straight against the floor.
Thinking back on it, he'd expected the son of the Phenex to be a lot more antagonistic. But it'd seem like even Riser had changed somewhat in this world, compared to what Diodora knew. Or at least, the context had changed. Which made sense, since Diodora technically outranked Riser as the heir of the Astaroth… Back then. Nowadays, Diodora's place in devil society was nebulous at best. He'd probably no longer enjoy the benefit of being the next face of one of the 72 Pillars, like Benia had shown right off the bat, but he suspected this would only matter within the Underworld.
Which reminded him… What did she mean by 'that's who you are'? They had seen each other before.
"Yes, that's just how he is." Rias sounded midway between entertained and bothered. It felt like Riser remained a sore point of conversation, which surprised Diodora given how long Fate Weaver had been around. Were they still engaged? They couldn't be married, or else they'd be talking about Riser Gremory now "Don't let it get to you, it's nothing personal."
"A lot of devils are, unfortunately, like that." Diodora nodded sagely "I've had my fair share of that attitude."
Like with Shalba.
"Of course, I almost forgot." Rias chuckled humorlessly "Didn't mean to imply anything."
Diodora shook his head.
"So, what are we having today?"
"There's a family restaurant not too far away from here. They serve very light food, but that's just how japanese people…"
"I've been here before too." Diodora reminded her, twisting his lips "You don't have to babysit me like this. I'm not re-learning anything here. I'm fine."
Rias looked at the floor.
"Sorry."
"Your guilt is damning." Diodora stated, unimpressed "I feel like you want to tell me something important, but I don't think breakfast is the right time for it. The day is just starting."
Rias looked away and fixed her hair with her right hand.
"You're probably right." She sounded like she hadn't changed her mind, though. Which made Diodora purse his lips "But maybe the food will make up for it?"
"Breakfast is the most important food of the day." Diodora retorted "It gives you energy to start with the right foot. Please don't ruin it for me, I might end up crying."
Rias chuckled and gave Diodora an amused 'are you serious?' stare.
"You're right, sorry."
"I usually am, and it's no problem." Diodora lifted his left elbow, grabbing the crutch with the other hand tighter. An invitation "Shall we go?"
Rias smiled more genuinely this time, less worried, and locked her arm around the space Diodora had made for her.
"How bold. We were just talking about my fiancé too." She still sounded amused, but Diodora took that as a win.
"I prefer 'gallant'. And I'm sure Riser can forgive me for being so daring with a lady with no ring."
"I'd think so too! But that's a human custom." Rias talked while they walked to the restaurant. Diodora locked her arm tighter, but the meaning quickly changed as she stiffened her own, giving Diodora some extra support on the side not helped by the crutch "It's common nowadays, but I don't think that's where anyone in the 72 Pillars draws the line."
"Human marriages are monogamous too." Diodora added, not really that interested in the logistics of Rias' marriage. But indeed curious about why she hadn't gone through with it after graduating "Even with the explosive increase in reincarnated devils, I don't think that's changing any time soon. I suppose that, with that degree of separation, it'd be strange if high-class devils started using the customs of their servants."
"They're largely monogamous, yes. But that's besides the point." Rias didn't seem bothered by the topic, which kind of surprised Diodora. But at the same time, it didn't. This was that kind of world, after all. For her, it was a simple day to day occurrence. Something she had grown with, and accepted as normal "We're young, but as we grow time feels different. For the older devils, the Evil Piece system can still be somewhat fresh. I've even heard that the changes to the Underworld have brought complaints from how fast they happened."
Diodora hummed to buy himself a couple of seconds to digest that information.
"The fake sky is nice, though."
"It is, isn't it?" Rias perked up slightly at that. They crossed the street before she talked again "The constellations are the same, and it even has eclipses at the same time as the real firmament. I always wanted to see a real shooting star while growing up. And now I realize just how faithful to the real deal is. I suppose that little things like that help reincarnated devils feel more at home. It helped me feel at home when I first came to the Human World, at least."
Diodora chuckled. The wonders of space and celestial bodies was something any child would share, but not something the adults talked about that much. His parents, at least, had quickly plucked that childhood wonder to replace it with the grounded look at this world. At the people around Diodora. He felt younger, in a strange way, talking about this with Rias. But a small pit in his stomach made itself known when he didn't know how to answer that. It felt like he found a piece of himself that had been cut, and he couldn't find the missing part. Like he had been robbed.
Thankfully, the walk to the restaurant didn't last that long. The uncomfortable silence that formed between them only made the physical contact all the more awkward. Even when Rias had the kindness to get them to one of the walls; so Diodora could sit and rest the crutch right behind his chair. Choosing food made for some respite with the comparison of the dishes, but otherwise the two devils remained silent while waiting. With the individual break to go wash their hands while they waited. And Diodora took a bit longer, with the excuse of being slow and clumsy while walking, so by the time he came back the breakfast had been served.
His family's common sense kicked in once they dug in.
"Hey, this is nice."
"You like it?" Rias looked a bit surprised by how positive his reaction was, as Diodora ate a bit faster.
"It's not gourmet or anything, but it has its own charm. I see why you chose it." In reality, Diodora could tell this kind of food was meant to be available for anyone that needed it. Not something extraordinary, but one of the few things he ate since he woke up. So it did end up being special, if not for the reasons he'd like to share.
"The chef is excellent." Rias agreed "It feels homely."
"Ah, that must be it." Diodora nodded "Do you eat japanese food at home?"
"No, not really." Rias looked at her place while speaking "You know how it is. Even the food is prepared in such a way that looks more like art than something edible."
"It has its own charm." He parroted.
"I guess."
"I suppose when you inherit, you'll find a way to make it work better for you." Diodora looked away "I hadn't thought about that until I realized I didn't belong in that seat anymore."
He saw Rias cringe from the corner of his eyes.
"It's always the small things, isn't it? The ones that you miss the most." Rias sounded a bit somber, but willing to share some empathy with him.
"Not entirely, no. I'm more worried about what comes now. It feels like this isn't completely real." He didn't mean his household situation, but Rias didn't have to know that. He could share his honest feelings without giving out that he didn't care about his so-called dead parents "Like I'll wake up and Star Seeker will still be there, ready to blast me away."
"She wouldn't." Rias said with conviction, but without sounding like she thought that Star Seeker wouldn't have the will to.
"I know. She's the kind of person that follows the flow. I never felt any malice coming from her, unlike Elijah. Not really. But at the same time, if times were more violent, she'd be one of the people to get drenched in blood the most often." Diodora felt his hunger diminish, talking about the Miracle Child "Born to win, no matter what the competition is. As long as she's praised, she'll probably wind up doing anything."
"That has to do with what I wanted to talk about, actually." Rias placed her elbows on the table and crossed her fingers in front of her mouth. If she had glasses, they'd no doubt have blocked her eyes with some mysterious shine at that moment "The whole situation, really."
Diodora nodded.
"There's a lot of catching up to do."
"Yes. More specifically, what happens now that you're back." Rias sighed, and with that motion she looked a bit older as she tried to find the right words.
"Go on." Diodora prompted her, choosing to keep eating before the shocking news came. The dish lost all flavor, however.
"I…" Rias fell silent again "Well, first I want to apologize."
"What did you do?" Diodora asked without looking at her.
"No, I haven't done nothing. But…"
"Then don't apologize uselessly." He eyed her before continuing to eat "Own up to what you're about to ask me. Do at least this much."
Rias placed her hands on her lap, clenching her body as she struggled with the words.
She nodded.
"Diodora, I know all of this has hurt you the most. You saved us, my peerage. You saved me. In any other circumstances, I'd have hated how you shunted me out of the fight. Away from leading my family… But also, anyone else would have run away on their own. Left us to our fate."
Diodora swallowed bitterly.
"You were the best chance for everyone to escape alive." He hadn't wanted to give up Genshirou. Vritra would probably be his only trump card against the Vanishing and Welsh dragons. Even without taking into account that not having Vritra on his side would likely put that dragon against him too, sooner or later.
"I hate that too." Rias closed her eyes "I can't help being selfish about this. I know, logically, that my brother is the sole reason everyone made it. But it feels like you used me. And I hate how I feel like that in spite of the fact that you shouldered the burden on your own in the end."
She shook her head, fixing her hair thoughtlessly.
"But that aside… I hate that I have to be selfish once more. Diodora, we're in the middle of something big. Something history-worthy. So far, we've managed to stay on friendly terms with the Miracle Children. We've mostly patched things up, worked together. They've helped defend Kuoh, and we've helped them in return. It works. And it works in spite of the bad blood between us. But it also does, because none of us was damaged as badly as you were by the experience." Rias stared hole in Diodora's face. Eyes burning with a strange mixture of passion and pride. Like she had suddenly become more devil-like and expected Diodora to surrender immediately "Diodora, we'll become the pillars of a new chapter. Because of us, the leaders of the Three Factions are considering calling the war over. They're thinking of joining hands for the first time since the Heavenly Dragons interrupted the Great War."
Diodora nodded, taking a sip from his orange juice while swallowing the information whole.
"You want me to not pursue vengeance." His tone became completely flat, not even breaking as it dawned on him. What she asked of him made sense, at least in the grand scheme of things. It struck a chord, true. But, again, fairness did not exist.
Rias nodded.
"Shiki… Star Seeker, hurt my peerage. She's a menace to their safety, and every time I see your face I'm reminded of how utterly powerless I was… But we can't take it against her. It'd defy the point." Rias gritted her teeth, placing her balled fists on the table "All we can do is try to teach her empathy. To help the others show her a better path. It's… It's not revenge, but it still means that we're doing something about her."
"She's getting away lightly for her actions." Diodora pointed out, lifting a finger and dragging part of his shirt downward. Showing his crystalized carvings in the chest "For what she did to me."
"I know." Rias insisted "And I know what I'm asking of you is unacceptable. But this is all bigger than you or I. Bigger than my peerage, than Kuoh Town. We're talking about a millenia old conflict coming to rest here."
Diodora nodded.
"I'll give you anything that it's within my power to give." Rias placed her right hand on her chest "I won't let you share the burden alone. Despise me, hate me. But I implore you to bow your head and let this happen. You'll be our hero, deep in our hearts. You can help make history. You're not alone."
Diodora grinned.
"Then I don't suppose you'll mind if I take Genshirou back?"
"Eh?" She dropped her hand, blinking a couple of times.
"Genshirou. He's mine, and although I'm grateful that you took care of him I want him back." Diodora spoke slowly, smugly.
In reality, he had no choice but to keep a low profile while the Three Factions made amends. The Khaos Brigade would purge him immediately, the other gods and factions wouldn't take him in. And his peerage was all but gone, with only Stain being able to hold the fort. And even then, it'd probably fall against the ridiculous power levels of the foes to come.
And, most importantly, Sirzechs Lucifer wouldn't hate him if he openly cooperated.
"That's… He's been in my peerage for far longer." Rias pointed out, more reluctant than confused.
It made Diodora chuckle a little.
"But he was my piece originally." He pointed out. This sort of logic only worked because Rias was a devil, and she understood desire better than anyone else did. Even Miyuzuin, who strived and worked the hardest to get to her goals, didn't seem to understand it so personally.
"I mean, we can ask him. Sure. But I'll warn you that I won't go against his will. It'd go against my principles, and the point of having my peerage forge strong bonds like we have." Rias looked convinced of her words, but Diodora could tell that she was trying to flip this conversation to her advantage. That she didn't think Genshirou would want to let go of his friends.
Diodora's grin widened.
"Oh, but that's the point. That's the whole point, Rias." He tilted his head to the left "Ask him. Let him come to me by his own free will. He is mine. He will come back. That's the point."
Rias made a small 'o' with her mouth, slightly surprised.
"You sound like a Mammon now." She shared his grin and took a sip of her tea, her features becoming smug "But I'd be careful with taking chances like that. I'm only offering one thing in exchange for your help, you know."
"Do you hate it?"
"No." Rias smiled more brightly now "It's… Nice. It feels like you've finally opened up to me. Before, you always were distant. Like we'd hurt you if you came too close."
"Don't get me wrong, Ruin Princess. I'm more than aware that you can vaporize me with a snap of your fingers." Diodora chuckled "But… Those were some rough months."
"So I've heard." Rias looked away, a satisfied sigh escaping her lips.
Diodora reached out, hand extended.
"So, partners? I'd like to find a way to break Star Seeker's kneecaps all the same, but that can wait until Heaven participates in Rating Games with the Underworld. It'll be like an accident in the Olympic Games."
Rias scoffed. She reached out to take his hand.
"I was actually thinking the same. Yuuto and Gen-kun have been hard at work figuring out how both of them fight. They won't even stand a chance."
"Not with us working together." Diodora felt his mood improve, he released her hand before she did "But first, Peace Conference. Right?"
"Right." She held onto his fingers for a moment, but quickly released him as he visibly made his hand open up "Right."
He didn't like how much more… Devil-like had sounded. But this was the best approach to getting along with Rias, and he did desire the things she offered. As long as he could beat those two up to his heart's content, he'd be happy. After all, he wasn't a bloodlusted maniac that desired violence above all else. Diodora had been raised in a civilized house, after all. Beating people up in revenge had to be done in moderation, in the proper manner.
It'd work out. Especially if Rias also wanted to take revenge. It'd be sweet, it'd even be praised by devil society. What could possibly beat sanctioned violence under Heaven's nose?
When they finished eating, Diodora made Rias company as she did some shopping and went to see anime stuff for the rest of the morning. He felt like he understood her better at the end of the day.