Saji came running straight at him, dark tendrils surroundings his limbs as he got an arm out to punch away. Fate Weaver had enough time to scoff before he put his Sacred Gear forward, swinging in a moon-like arc and touching Saji's arms from the back to redirect him away as Fate Weaver stepped aside.
Saji's momentum carried him on, letting Fate Weaver turn around without threatening a counterattack to be ready for the next strike. It came in the form of a blast of darkness, which Fate Weaver parried with the Sacred Gear. Stopping it dead in its tracks.
At least he stopped screaming while charging forward. It looked like that'd be all Fate Weaver would be able to ask of this guy.
"There." Kiba stated, standing some meters away from where Fate Weaver and Saji sparred, arms crossed and eyes straight at the two of them while Akeno stood to his left, equally as engrossed in the practice.
They took a liking to watching these one on one matches, to analyze the movements and brainstorm what to improve and what should be discarded. It made for a slower method of training, because they'd not be doing much more while Fate Weaver fought, and they'd take time afterward to compare notes. Koneko didn't usually participate, and Rias herself encouraged the others more than she gave out her own pointers. So the process always looked clumsy to Fate Weaver.
To Yuuto's right, Murayama Shino cutely nodded her head along the tempo of the fight. Making Fate Weaver smile.
"Careful." Star spoke up, automatically getting Fate Weaver's attention back on the fight.
Saji dropped low and tried to sweep Fate Weaver's legs from under his body with a spinning kick, but Fate Weaver managed to jump and hit Saji on the head with the dull part of his Sacred Gear. Making him fall flat on his back.
Fate Weaver moved for the win, but Saji's determination to keep fighting saw him roll backwards and to a standing position. Arms raised on a boxing-like stance, and dark tendrils oozing around his limbs.
He didn't even caress his forehead while it reddened.
"You're pretty resilient, if nothing else." Fate Weaver commented. He didn't like complimenting this guy, especially because it felt like he always had a problem with Fate Weaver no matter what, but he had to admit that he didn't expect to see Saji fighting even while holding back.
Not like Fate Weaver wouldn't be able to win if he went all out, but that'd defeat the point of practicing.
Saji smirked.
"What? Nah, Kaho hits harder than you."
Fate Weaver twisted his lips, but he found it better not to answer the taunt. He'd hold back a little less, and that'd be it. Saji didn't do banter all that well, and Fate Weaver had years of experience in real battle. So being provoked would be like a teacher getting bad at a kindergarten kid.
Fate Weaver took his Sacred Gear with both hands, stopping himself from getting a boost as he lunged directly at Saji. He'd be a lot fancier with the sword and his stepping, but it seemed like the blond didn't expect such an approach after getting danced around for several minutes on end.
Fate Weaver swung, and Saji could only lift his arms up to try to stop the incoming blow.
The invader smirked, twisting his hips and shoulders to get the blade in a different angle, right below Saji's guard.
His blade hit Yuni's own the next moment, with the tall silver haired girl standing between the two men with her two hands holding a katana with the blade pointing downward. That it did not break was because Fate Weaver didn't put all his strength behind the blow, but it still surprised him how well Yuni held on her own.
"Excuse you? We're doing something important." Fate Weaver scoffed, pulling back and getting his left hand on his waist.
"Not anymore." Yuni's reply came as deadpan as usual, and she got to a normal standing position as Saji stood straighter as well "Let's go."
"Again? You can't just butt in whenever you want." Shino started arguing. It always got under her nerves whenever Yuni did something like this, given how the silver haired girl didn't seem to be willing to cooperate with anyone from Rias' peerage.
Yuni didn't answer her, and instead motioned with her head away from the training grounds. She looked at Kiba and nodded, doing the same for Koneko and leaving without saying another thing.
"What's with her? Seriously." Shino scoffed, crossing her arms and looking away. Cutely pissed off.
Originally, she had been a regular girl from the kendo club. Always with her friend, Katase, and Fate Weaver recognized her from the anime as one of the girls the Perverted Trio always bothered to no end. And yet, in this world, Fate Weaver saw the missed potential from the anime. He approached her, and they quickly got along because he didn't make the same mistakes the original Issei did. Who knew? Girls liked you a lot more whenever you weren't behaving like an asshole, so it was inevitable that they'd start dating soon after.
Then, one day, she followed him while Rias' group dispatched a stray devil. He had meant to coach them, if possible, so they could grow stronger sooner. Yet he ended up having to defend Murayama from the stray devil, which revealed this side of the world to her.
Afterwards, it was a simple matter of asking Sona or Rias to reincarnate her so she could defend herself. And the rest was history.
"Let her be." Fate Weaver smiled at Shino's cute expression, placing his hand on her cheek "She's got a lot of baggage, I can tell."
Sometimes, Shino thought that Fate Weaver lied to her. He expected as much, because she had lived her life as a normal person. But he really could tell. Yuni carried herself in a way that left no hint of weak points, always 'passively on guard' like a lot of people from the church that Fate Weaver met. Like Dulio, or Father Edmond Lawrence. They did it without knowing, and although some could hide it, being reincarnated and aware since birth allowed Fate Weaver to learn how to tell these things from sheer exposition.
He'd meant to talk to her before, but Yuni never really gave him the time of the day. It got so bad that they almost fought for real on several occasions, threatening to make the weak balance that Diodora Astaroth's absence created crumble. Only Fate Weaver's attempts to convince to lay off her weapons made it so they didn't start a war, but from then on Fate Weaver held her at arms' length. Letting her approach him first whenever she felt comfortable.
And yet, high school would be over and she never did. It bothered Fate Weaver, in a strange sort of way. He held doubts about the girl's alignment, and sometimes he suspected she had been brainwashed one way or another. But he couldn't be sure.
But between training, looking out for Star, dating Shino, and waiting for canon to start; Fate Weaver had his hands full. And so, he couldn't do anything about Yuni. Until now.
"Like you?" Shino stared at him with upturned eyes. Fate Weaver chuckled and messed with her hair a bit, letting her pout as he disengaged "Where're you going?"
"I'll check on her." Fate Weaver unsummoned his Sacred Gear, giving his girlfriend a reassuring smile "It'll be fine."
He eyed Rias and Akeno, gauging if they reacted to his words. But they were talking to Saji and Kiba, exchanging pointers and encouraging the blond to keep trying his best as he always did. They gave him side-glances, but nothing beyond that. It made Fate Weaver scoff, but since he didn't get the result he wanted, he didn't comment on it.
That'd have been rude.
"Star, don't do anything weird. I'll come back."
"Shut up, Nasu." Star crossed her arms, pouting.
"Man, that's not reassuring at all… Shino, please take care of her."
"Sure, Ise-kun." She gave him a slightly blushed smile. Which did feel reassuring to him.
Fate Weaver walked away from the training grounds, looking back to see if Saji had followed or if he still hung around Rias and co. He didn't seem to be anywhere near, so Fate Weaver followed through the small forest behind Kuoh Academy and tried to see where Yuni had gone.
He didn't see nor hear a goo-like entity oozing closer to him and adopting the shape of a little vampire girl.
Stretching hurt, doing small exercises hurt, and staying in the same position for too long also hurt.
Diodora used his time in the isolated barrier to catch up to some exercise, trying to wake up the muscles that he hadn't used in nearly three years. But the whole thing just made him sadder as time went by.
Intellectually, he knew that he'd not be able to do as much as he used to. And that his injuries had taken some degree of motion that he wouldn't be getting back, but the whole thing just depressed him to no end as he slowly realized that his little stunt with Star Seeker might've taken more from him than he expected. All he could do was to power himself up using demonic power and to entertain himself by practicing while waiting.
That Miyuzuin sometimes visited helped a lot. She even gave him things to read. But she seemed hesitant to speak frankly to him now, keeping some distance as she told him about the outside world in small bits.
Diodora expected as much. If he could win her over so easily, she wouldn't be worth the effort. Or perhaps she'd have left already on her own accord. What mattered was that he had more things in store for her, and that patience would let him get the better of the girl sooner rather than later.
Yes, he'd been erratic. And that didn't help the situation. So Diodora pulled back, gave her the space she silently asked for, and bid his time trying to see how much he'd be able to recover and where he should give up.
He'd need a walking stick, at least. Ophis' power was no joke.
"Ah, am I interrupting something?" Sirzechs' voice interrupted Diodora as he tried to stretch down to touch his toes without bending his knees. He stood straighter, way too suddenly for his injured body, and his hiss of pain gave the red haired Demon Lord enough reason to stop.
Or maybe it was that Diodora had discarded his shirt and only had his comfy pants on.
"Lord Sirzechs, of course that's not the case." Diodora smiled thinly, walking toward the barrier to get the Demon Lord to see him better.
Sirzechs looked away.
Diodora's body looked like that of a statue, one that had been carved irregularly and now displayed the gem-like form within. Lines as thick as a thumb ran around his chest, reaching out to his shoulders and arms, and overtaking his skin completely on his hands. It looked like he they had been replaced by the limbs of a natural golem. And instead of having more carvings, the lines running in his hands and fingers changed to a lighter color, without any further relief.
His lower body had been largely spared from the damage, and his face only held two thin vertical lines. Which still couldn't be ignored that easily, if Sirzechs' reaction held true.
Diodora stopped himself from scoffing. If the Demon Lord found it hard to look at him, then he should wait to get in Diodora's shoes and see how he liked it.
"Please look at me, you'll make me feel worse if you don't." Diodora closed his eyes, staying neutral-sounding just to help Sirzechs save some face. When he opened his eyes, the red haired devil had done as asked.
"I'm sorry. It's just… You're Rias' age." Sirzechs spoke with such a pained tone, that Diodora had to wonder if he didn't have empathic powers and could feel the physical pain Diodora had gone through "I meant to come here and thank you personally. I know it took some time, but that's how it is when you have to rule the Underworld."
Diodora saw another devil come right behind Sirzechs, and the red hair and facial hair clued him into who that was. Although he did not expect to also see the matriarch of the Gremory tailing the both of them.
"I'm sorry?" Diodora played dumb, but only a bit. He really didn't understand why the three of them had shown up "Lord Sirzechs, I didn't do anything worth thanking for. Anyone else would've done the same."
"It might be hypocritical of me, but I don't care." Sirzechs spoke without hesitation, his expression stern but clear from doubt "I understand the logic, I could even praise it. But I also know that, if you hadn't chosen Rias, I'd not feel half as grateful toward you as I do now."
Diodora looked away, wondering how much that feeling could've helped him in court.
"You might think it's unfair. That simple words hold little meaning now." The brunette spoke up, taking the turn away from her son "And we'd have liked to intervene in your favor, protect you. But…"
"That'd put a strain on the other Factions." Diodora concluded, nodding along "I see. As expected of the Demon Lord of Lucifer. You'd place your people before your feelings."
Sirzechs smiled awkwardly. Maybe he could tell Diodora didn't mean the praise, but honestly that didn't matter. Had things gone smoother back then, Diodora would've even accepted those words at face value. But now, having gone through all that back and forth just to end up imprisoned… Diodora felt like it was disingenuous.
"I am but a foolish older brother worried sick about his little sister." Sirzechs admitted "There's nothing admirable about me, not when I couldn't even decide whether to intervene or not in favor of the man that saved my dear Rias."
That picked Diodora's interest. The wording, or rather what Diodora understood from it.
"Well, I'm here in this prison." Diodora placed both hands on the barrier, feeling its energy with his palms as he spoke calmly "If nothing else, I'd like the same treatment that you gave the Miracle Children. Let me out, even if I have to be under constant surveillance. The wait is making me go crazy."
He couldn't even tell the passage of time, because the light didn't change. And he quickly got bored of counting. Like, sure. He could keep training his demonic power all the time, and he could slowly recover his motor functions. But he could probably do both way better on the outside, with Genshirou and Miyuzuin and the rest. It didn't help that his newfound feelings could only be staved off partially, that he could no longer stay put without anyone else. The pressure of death was gone, and he knew for a fact that Kuoh Academy would be the safest place on Earth at the moment.
He couldn't wait. He didn't have to, so why put up the effort? He wanted to get out, and the Gremory's appearance didn't help with the feeling.
"Well, I…" Sirzechs started, but another presence entered the chamber with the barrier.
Everyone gave Baraqiel their attention.
"Ah… Seems like we all had the same idea today." The fallen angel spoke slowly but a hint of embarrassment leaked through.
Diodora smirked. Seems like the wait wouldn't be that long after all.