Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Highschool DXD if I did this story would not be here
Vermilion Devil
Chapter 12: Blade to Blade: Holy Sword vs Devil Sword
The tree slid down its bark and landed on the ground with a loud thud. The area was surrounded by cutdown trees, broken pieces of bark and shredded leaves. In the middle of it stood Kiba.
"Run away!"
"Save yourself!"
"Go! Get out of here!"
"You..have…to survive."
Kiba gripped the hilt of his sword hard and he gritted his teeth. "Why did you guys do it? Why did you sacrifice yourselves for me?" Images of young children choking on their own blood came to the forefront of Kiba's mind. Kiba gritted his teeth even harder. "Rgghhh!" Kiba threw his sword and it pierced straight through one tree before getting stuck in another one. "I'll avenge you guys, I swear it."
"Uzumaki-San." The teacher said, the teacher didn't receive a response so he tried again. "Uzumaki-San." Once again the teacher received no response. The teacher then slammed his hand down on Naruto's desk. "Uzumaki-San!" The teacher's action finally captured Naruto's attention. "You should be paying more attention, this information will be on the upcoming test." Naruto nodded his head. "Good. Now, where was I? Oh yes-" Naruto continued to drown out everything the teacher said and only made it look like he was paying attention. His mind was elsewhere right now.
After class Naruto had a free period before his next class so he walked up to the roof and stared out into the sky. Once again Kiba skipped school and with the way he was acting yesterday, even he was starting to become concerned. Naruto heard the door to the roof open and wondered who it was. Normally, he was the only one that came up here when he needed to clear his head. To his surprise, it was Akeno that came through the door.
"Naruto-san? What are you doing up here?" Naruto figured that he must've caught her way off guard if his actual name came out of her mouth. Naruto didn't feel like taking a jab at her slip up right now so he ignored it.
"Thinking."
"Do you mind if I sit here?" Akeno gestured to the spot a few feet away from him. Naruto shrugged his shoulders and continued looking out at the sky. The silence between them wasn't awkward per say but it definitely wasn't very comfortable. Maybe because they never had a legitimate conversation before. As he really thought about it, Naruto can't remember when they didn't throw shots at each other. Naruto looked at Akeno. Actually, this was the first time he got a good look at her. There was no denying that she was pretty, but that was like stating the obvious. Naruto looked at her black hair and found himself trailing her ponytail.
'That ponytail is freakishly long. I wonder how long it took to grow that out.' Naruto looked back at the top of her head and looked at her orange ribbon. Being the sucker for orange that he is, Naruto reluctantly admitted to himself that it was a pretty cool ribbon. Can't have her getting anymore ammo against him now. Akeno seemed to notice him staring at her and sent a smirk his way.
"What? No remarks?" She asked. To her slight surprise, Naruto shook his head no.
"Not in the mood." Akeno sat quiet for a few seconds. The next words that came out of her mouth surprised even herself.
"What's wrong?" This week must have been full of surprises because Naruto definitely wasn't expecting her to ask him what's wrong. Naruto waited for her to retract her statement or throw some teasing remarks his way. When she didn't, Naruto debated on telling her what happened yesterday. Something is going down in this town and Naruto felt like he would be doing everyone a disservice by not speaking up about it.
"Thinking about Kiba." Akeno's eye's slightly widened. She wasn't expecting that. Truth be told she was worried about Kiba but she didn't think he would be concerned too. He didn't strike her as the type to care too much about others. Then again, he did stay and help them out with the engagement when he could've decided to sit on the sidelines. Maybe she wasn't giving him enough credit.
"Yeah, Yuuto-Kun has been acting strange recently."
"I ran into him last night." This piqued Akeno's interest and she urged him to go on. "He was attacked by this crazy exorcist priest guy. His name was uhhhh, frozen? Sozin? Something along those lines. Anyway, I saved Kiba's butt. But the crazy guy seemed to be working for someone."
"Did you tell Buchou about this?"
"No-"
"This isn't something you should keep from her. She does oversee this town after all." Akeno said, although her voice held a slightly accusatory tone that she didn't notice. Naruto did however.
"As I was trying to say, not yet." Naruto said with irritation. Naruto let out a breath before continuing. "I know I don't tell you guys much of anything but this isn't one of those times. I will never keep something from you guys that would put you all directly in harm's way, I'm not like that." Akeno realized what she was insinuating and looked away guiltily.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."
"Meh, it's okay. Anyway, He was being attacked by this crazy exorcist. I jumped in to help but he didn't seem to appreciate it. After that, I ran into these girls. Get this, they were both from the church and one was carrying something big on her back."
"That can't be a coincidence." Akeno said. Naruto nodded his head in agreement.
"I thought the same thing. I think something is about to go down in this place. Whatever it is, I'm afraid that Kiba's getting caught right in the middle of it." Just then, Akeno felt a chill go down her spine and she automatically tensed up.
"What's wrong?" Naruto asked. Akeno looked at him like he had two heads.
"You can't feel that?" Naruto made his confusion obvious by raising an eyebrow and scratching his head.
"Feel what?"
"Devil's natural enemies are holy swords. Buchou said something about this yesterday. Our bodies always let us know when one is near. Are you saying that you can't feel its presence?" Naruto shook his head and Akeno looked at him weirdly.
"What?" Naruto asked.
"You are starting to become the weirdest devil I have ever met." Naruto huffed and rolled his eyes. Then, the school bell rang, officially bringing an end to the conversation. Naruto got up from his spot and dusted himself.
"You share classes with Rias, right? Do me a favor and pass on the information when you get a chance." Akeno nodded her head. Akeno watched Naruto leave with a look of contemplation on her face. She didn't think she would end up having a legitimate conversation with Naruto when she came up here. Nor did she ever expect him to be concerned about one of the others. Although she was curious, she never made an effort to know him like Rias or Koneko tried to.
Although, Naruto played a big role in that aspect. It was no secret among the peerage that he kept them at arms length. He also made it clear that he didn't plan on sticking around. Although with this recent conversation, Akeno was left wondering…
Does he care more than he led them to believe?
"Freed is back in town?" Rias asked. Akeno nodded her head.
"According to the description from Naruto-san, it matches Freed Sellzen. On top of that I believe that something holy came nearby the school."
"All of these things happening within the span of a few days? That's not a coincidence." Rias said.
"Naruto-san said the same thing. Speaking of him, something really strange happened."
"Hm? What happened?"
"When whatever it was that came near the school, I of course reacted but Naruto-san, he couldn't-" Akeno was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in!" The door opened to reveal Sona and Tsubaki.
"Forgive the intrusion, but I must speak to you both, it's important." Sona said. Rias nodded her head and beckoned for Sona to sit down. Akeno offered her some tea but she refused. She wondered what this could be about but at the same time she could probably take a good guess based on recent events.
"Earlier today, two people from the church came to see me."
"Again with the church." Rias said, which caught Sona by surprise.
"Have they already contacted you?"
"No, but because of the information Akeno provided me, I learned that Naruto may have already met the two people you are talking about."
"When did this happen?"
"According to Naruto-san, last night." Akeno said. Sona seemed to mull over what Akeno had said. "I think that he might be right when he said something is about to go down in this town and Yuuto-Kun is in the middle of it."
"Kiba-Kun? What's going on with him?" Tsubaki asked. Rias had let out a sigh.
"Yuuto has been…distant as of late. His mind is somewhere else because of him seeing a holy sword." The room went silent. Sona knew about the knight's past, heck all of them in this room did. Rias hoped that Kiba would be alright once everything started to go down. Realizing that they were getting sidetracked, Rias shook her head. "Sona, what did the people from the church want?"
"They wanted to speak to the both of us tomorrow after school, seeing as we both oversee this town."
"They were also wielding holy swords." Tsubaki chimed in. Rias put a hand on her chin in thought. Rias thought about anyone that could have been involved in the church in Kuoh. Rias thought about Issei's childhood photo. Her train of thought was interrupted by Akeno.
"So that was what I felt earlier. I knew something came by the school but I didn't think it would be a holy sword of all things." Sona and Tsubaki looked at Akeno in confusion. "I was on the roof during the free period talking with Naruto-San…Surprisingly."
"Anyway, what did you tell them?" Rias asked.
"I agreed to their request, they will be coming here tomorrow." Sona responded. Rias nodded her head. "And Rias?"
"Yeah?"
"I wish you good luck with your knight in the coming days." Rias nodded her head. Sona and Tsubaki got up and walked out the door.
"Akeno."
"Yes?"
"Is that tea offer still on the table?"
"Always."
"Good, because I could use some right about now."
"Of course." Akeno bowed her head and walked out of the room, leaving Rias to her thoughts. Rias thought about the events that have been happening for the past few days. First, Yuuto sees a holy sword and gets distant, Next, Naruto and Yuuto fought the stray exorcist from a while ago. That same night, Naruto ran into two more people sent by the church, and now those same two people want a meeting.
Great, things just keep getting more complicated.
"Hey, Naruto?"
"Hm?"
"Can I ask you something?" Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "With everything going on with Kiba and the reason he's doing all of this it had me wondering, why did you become a devil?" Naruto stopped walking. Issei had come to pick him up after class because apparently Rias called an urgent club meeting.
Naruto put a hand on his chin in thought. He never thought back on the night he went to Rias to join her peerage. He knew that part of the reason he joined was that he wanted to help, but that wasn't the whole reason. He remembers feeling a little guilty about not doing more than he should have when it came to them, especially after that talk with the weird projection of his younger self. "My reason? I guess you could say that I wanted to level the playing field for you guys a bit seeing the hand you guys were dealt."
"Really? That's it?"
"Yeah, I mean were you expecting anything else?"
"A little. I mean it's just that Buchou saved my life when she reincarnated me, same with Kiba and Asia. I don't know about Akeno-San and Koneko-Chan yet."
'She saved Kiba's life? I must've missed something yesterday.' He knew that these guys had pasts but if he was being honest he didn't really care what they were. Does that make him an asshole? Probably but hey, their pasts were none of his business and he wasn't the type to pry anymore. "Well I guess it's because I wanted to learn more about the magic and how to use it." He figured that if he learned how to use this world's magic, he could use it to get home. They were sort of like a means to an end. "Why are you doing it? Why did you become a devil?"
"Well like I said before, Buchou saved my life, twice even. She even saved Asia's life even though she was a part of the church at the time, so I kinda owe it to her. Above all of that however…" Issei's face took on a bit of a perverted look. "What I want in the future is to assemble the greatest harem of all time and become King!"
"Harem King? Oh yeah I forgot that you're a bit of a pervert." Issei looked offended at Naruto's choice of words.
"A bit!? I'm the most perverted student in the entire school! The leader of the Perverted Trio!" Naruto sweat dropped.
"Ya'know, that's not really something to brag about-"
"I'm the embodiment of lust for pete's sake. I'm more than a little perverted. Hell, I'm more perverted than most degeneres." Naruto begged to differ but kept his mouth shut. "I'm more than a regular pervert, if anything I'm a-"
"Super-Pervert?" Issei looked at Naruto like he just said the magic words and a smile came to Issei's face.
"I…Yeah, a Super-Pervert." Issei and Naruto continued walking towards their clubhouse. "Although…Right now I'm more worried about this whole church situation. Especially since those two came to my house."
"To your house?" Naruto questioned.
"Yeah. What's more is that one of them was my childhood friend. They also knew that me and Asia were devils."
"Was it two girls? One with a white paper flower in her hair and one with a green fringe in her hair and carrying some big item on her back?" Naruto questioned.
"Well, yeah actually, that's their exact description. How did you know that?"
"I ran into them two days ago. It's a long story." Naruto put a hand on his chin in thought. 'If they appeared at his house, then this meeting is definitely about them.' His earlier hunch was being proven correct. Something is going down in this town and the church is at the center of it all.
The air in the atmosphere was tense. Rias and Sona with their respective peerages were situated within the main room of the Occult Research Club. Rias and Sona were sitting on one couch while two other people sat on the one across from them. One of them seemed to be unbothered by the fact that she was surrounded by two devil peerages given her cheerful attitude. The one sitting next to the girl was a different story. She looked serious and had her holy sword right next to her, as if knowing it was keeping them at bay.
"I'd like to thank you both for agreeing to talk with us. I'm Xenovia and this is Irina Shido." The one with the blue hair said as she pointed to the girl next to her.
"I find it very bold of the church to send two exorcists to high-class devil territory unannounced." Sona said
"It makes you wonder what the church could want." Rias chimed in.
"Out of the 6 excalibur fragments that have known locations the church is still in possession of 3 of them. However, the other 3 were recently stolen." Irina said.
"The ones that we have with us right now are the holy swords Excalibur Destruction." Xenovia said as grabbed the wrapped up sword and presented it to everyone. Irina raised her arm and pointed to her arm band.
"And this one right here is Excalibur mimic."
'Excalibur, huh.' Naruto thought. He looked around the room and noticed all of the tense expressions on everyone's faces. Naruto's gaze landed on Kiba and he saw nothing but pure hatred on Kiba's face. Naruto followed Kiba's gaze and it landed on the two holy swords. Naruto looked back at Kiba and Kiba noticed him staring and the two locked eyes. It was like the two were having a silent conversation. Naruto seemed to be telling him to calm down but Kiba only glared at him, refusing to calm down. This caused Naruto to glare right back before looking away.
"We managed to track one of the missing fragments to this town." Xenovia said.
"I hope this is not your way of throwing an accusation at us." Sona said. Xenovia shook her head no.
"On the contrary, we already know that the excalibur pieces were stolen by fallen angels."
"Fallen angels? Again?" Issei muttered.
"Then what would you want us to do then?" Rias asked.
"Nothing, since this is between the church and the fallen angels. We're asking you-no We're telling you both not to get involved in these matters."
"Are you insinuating that we might aid the fallen angels in an attempt to get rid of the holy swords?" Sona asked cooly. Xenovia simply smirked.
"Holy swords are one of the devil's greatest threats. Would it not be advantageous to you all to be rid of something so deadly to your kind?"
Rias felt herself getting angry at the accusation but took a deep breath to calm herself down. She knew what she was trying to accomplish. She was trying to rile her up in order to get an advantage in this conversation. She wouldn't let her. Sona, ever the collected one, responded in kind.
"That is true, holy swords are very dangerous to us devils and it would be good for us to destroy them." Sona said, acting as if Xenovia planted the idea in her head. Xenovia narrowed her eyes at Rias and Sona
"If you proceed to aid the fallen angels despite the warning, we will have no choice but to eradicate you. Even if you're both the little sisters of the maous."
"We devils aren't so desperate as to team up with fallen angels." Sona said. Rias nodded her head in agreement.
"We would never do anything that would bring shame to the maous or our family names."
"That's good, I'm glad that I wasn't wrong about you two not being foolish."
Over on the wall Naruto tilted his head in confusion. Where are their other teammates? Surely it can't be just these two. These excalibur thingies seemed pretty important so it seemed pretty stupid of the church to only send two people to retrieve them. Or maybe he was just underestimating these two girls.
"With all of that being said, you do understand that you will not be receiving aid from us either, correct?" Rias said. The two girls nodded their heads in agreement.
"Then we suppose that we can allow you to continue your mission as long as it doesn't cause too much of a disturbance." Sona said. Naruto resisted the urge to snicker. He of all people should know that with situations like this, things always escalate to uncontrollable measures. He knew that it was inevitable that they would eventually get involved. Especially since Kiba is going full throttle on vengeance. Speaking of, Naruto took one more look at Kiba from the corner of his eyes. Judging by the shaking fist, it looked like Kiba didn't agree to let these two girls roam free. In fact, he looked like he wanted to attack them right here and now.
Naruto hoped that Kiba wouldn't do anything stupid out of anger and he wouldn't have a repeat of what happened between him and Sasuke 4 years ago. Naruto watched as Sona and her peerage left the clubroom first. Next, the two exorcists got up from the couch and walked towards the door. As they got to the door, they stopped and stared at Asia in recognition.
"Hey, aren't you Asia Argento?" Irina asked. Asia seemed surprised about being recognized but nervously nodded her head. "Weren't you that saint who was branded a heretic?"
'Heretic?' Naruto thought. He then remembered Asia saying something about being alone when he first met them. 'Oh…I see.' Naruto now understood how she was able to meet Issei. Unbeknownst to himself, he was unconsciously balling his fists.
"I thought I recognized you at Hyoudou's house. You're the witch who can heal devils and fallen angels and was banished for it." Xenovia said. Issei gritted his teeth. Witch!? Asia was far from a witch. "Tell me, do you still believe in our God?
Asia started to tremble and Issei was having trouble keeping his cool. Everything these two were saying was pissing him off. On the other side of the room, Naruto had his eyes closed and was gritting his teeth too.
"Even though I'm a devil, I-I still believe in his teachings. God has been a part of me all of my life, I-I can't just let it go, I just can't." Asia said as she visibly shook.
"Then in that case, you should just let me kill you here and now." Xenovia said. Her voice was hard and cold and showed no hint of bluffing.
Naruto's eyes shot open 'Alright I've had enough!' Talking bad about one of his comrades was one thing but threatening to kill them? That's one thing he would never stand for, in any world. Naruto leaned off the wall and was about to say something but it looks like he didn't need to as Issei was already standing in between Asia and Xenovia and was glaring at Xenovia.
"How about you back the hell up!" Issei said, startling Xenovia just a bit. "You dare call Asia a witch!? She's as far from a witch as it gets!"
"How so? She betrayed the Church and not only did she heal a devil, she went on to become one." Xenovia countered. Irina nodded her head in agreement and she chimed in, albeit in a less insulting manner.
"By all accounts that does make her a witch, Issei-Kun." Issei's heated glare turned to Irina.
"It's not her fault that her sacred gear doesn't discriminate. She was just doing the right thing!"
"Issei that's enough." Rias said. As much as she hated people speaking bad about her servants, she didn't want this to escalate more than it already did.
"No." Rias looked over to the person who said it. Naruto was leaning back against the wall with his fists clenched. His face was a mask of indifference but on the inside he was pissed. "Let Issei speak." Rias was surprised but when she looked into his eyes she could see the hidden anger behind them. It seems that he too was angered by Xenovia's words to Asia.
Issei looked at Naruto with an appreciative smile before turning back to Xenovia. "Do you think Asia cared about if they were a devil or not? No! She helped them out of the kindness of her heart. That's just how she is. If you keep threatening Asia I'll take you both down."
Naruto let out a small smile, relieved that he didn't have to step in. Looks like there is a person under all that perversion. Although he should have expected that.
"Is that a challenge?"
"Damn right it is." Issei and Xenovia stared daggers into each other before someone's voice cut in.
"I'm joining in on this challenge. 2 on 1 isn't really fair, is it?" Everyone looked over to the source of the voice. Kiba stood there arms folded and glaring at both of the holy sword wielding women. Rias looked at Kiba in concern. Naruto however, was looking at him in irritation. He should've known Kiba would have jumped at the chance to fight another holy sword user.
"Fine then, let's go out back then." Rias said
A few minutes later, everyone was standing outside as Kiba, Issei, Irina, and Xenovia prepared to battle. Xenovia unwrapped her excalibur and Irina's armband transformed into a katana.
"Irina, we may have been friends back then but I can't let what you said about Asia slide." Issei said as summoned his boosted gear.
"Do you think they'll be alright?" Asia asked.
"As long as nothing goes too far, everything should be ok." Rias said
"Issei-Kun and Yuuto-Kun, I wonder how they stack up against holy swords." Akeno said.
Naruto narrowed his eyes on Kiba and Xenovia, seemingly listening in on their conversation. Kiba started to laugh.
"Finally, after all these years the things I wanted to destroy are appearing right before me in spades." A dozen of swords sprung up from the ground and Kiba grabbed one of the swords and pointed it at Xenovia.
"You want to destroy excalibur?"
"Yeah. And I won't rest until they're all destroyed!" Kiba ran straight for Xenovia and the two clashed blades.
"Sword Birth, huh? I remember that there was a report that there was a survivor of the Holy Sword Project with that ability. So it was you." Kiba gave Xenovia a glare that could melt the thickest block of ice with its heat.
"That damn project was the death of all of my comrades. I promised myself that I would destroy every holy sword along with their wielders!" Kiba broke the clash and tried to hit Xenovia with a vertical slash but she blocked it, leading to the two clashing again. The two fighters continued to clash against one another, neither being able to gain early ground. Over on the other side, The battle between Issei and Irina was starting to heat up.
Issei ducked under one of Irina's slashes and he felt some strands of hair get cut off. 'If that thing touches me I'm done for.' Issei used his gauntlet to block another incoming slash from Irina. Issei countered by using his right arm to grab Irina's and yanked her right into a left hook, knocking her back a bit. "I'll make you take back the things you said about Asia!"
Irina put a hand to her face as she felt the sting of Issei's punch. She shook it off and ran back at the perverted pawn. Irina did a horizontal slash at Issei's chest but Issei leaned backwards, managing to make her only slice his shirt open. For the next few minutes, Issei played keep away while boosting up his power.
'Man I wish I could use dragon shot right about now' Thought Issei as he jumped away from another slash. He knew that dragon shot would be too destructive for a battle such as this, especially on school grounds. He needs to be careful when she swings that sword. Getting her to take back her words is going to be tougher than he thought.
"Issei-Kun is managing to keep up fairly well." Akeno stated. Koneko nodded her head in agreement.
"Yuuto-Senpai is doing pretty good too."
"They still have to be careful, Even the slightest scratch from a holy sword is dangerous. What do you think, Naruto?"
"I don't know…"
"Hm?" Rias asked. The girls looked over to where Naruto was standing. He had a frown on his face as he watched the fight between Kiba and Xenovia.
"If Issei can create an opening for himself then he could probably win. But Kiba however, that's a different story. He's too angry, just look at him." The girls looked at Kiba's face and saw nothing but anger. "That idiot." Naruto said. Kiba might be keeping up now, but he's gonna make a costly mistake soon. He knew who was gonna win this. Hell he already knew…
That this match was over before it even began.
"Haaaah!" Kiba yelled as he attacked Xenovia with a middle blow. Xenovia reacted accordingly by parrying the blow. Using the opening the parry gave her, Xenovia did a horizontal slash, effectively destroying the sword in his hand. This did not deter Kiba as he just jumped back and grabbed another sword in the ground. Kiba ran at Xenovia and did a false strike. The faint strike worked as Xenovia flinched, leaving her open. Taking advantage, Kiba slashed at an angle, managing to inflict a long yet shallow cut along her torso.
Xenovia looked at the cut and then looked back at Kiba. "I'll admit, you're pretty good, devil. But…" Xenovia raised her excalibur above her head. Kiba didn't want to give her any more time to finish what she was about to do so he ran to close the distance between them but he was too late. "It's not good enough!" Xenovia plunged her excalibur into the ground.
The ground shook hard, dust flew out into the wind, and Irina and Issei lost their balance due to the sudden destructive force. When the dust settled Xenovia was standing in a medium sized crater.
"All of that from a sword!?" Issei asked. Irina got up off the floor and patted the dirt off of her body.
"Jeez Xenovia, you gotta warn me when you do stuff like that."
"As I said before, the name of this blade is Excalibur Destruction. Its name isn't just theatrics." Xenovia said as she pulled her sword out of the ground.
"Hey Rias."
"Yeah, Naruto?"
"What do I need to know about Excalibur?"
"The Excalibur is one of the legendary swords that was once wielded by King Arthur Pendragon. It was once one sword. However, its original form was broken into seven pieces. It was then split between the different churches."
"This sword seems pretty powerful if it needed to be split into seven pieces."
"Yeah."
"Kiba's hatred for this sword in particular seems to run pretty deep." 'Too deep.' Naruto thought. Rias gave a grave nod.
"Yeah, The Holy Sword Project really did a lot to him. I had hoped to channel that hate into something good. It seems that it's coming back in full force."
'I just hope his hatred doesn't go as far as Sasuke's.' Naruto thought. If Kiba did go Sasuke's route, there was no way he was going to sit on his ass and let it happen.
Kiba groaned as he got up from the crater. "Even after being split it's still that powerful." Kiba then smirked darkly "Good. It wouldn't be satisfying if the Excalibur died off so easily."
"Yuuto…" Rias said in concern.
'This is getting a bit too serious.' Naruto looked over at the battle between Issei and Irina. It was getting heated over there as well, but not as bad as Kiba and Xenovia.
Irina's Katana clashed with Issei's gauntlet once more and the two were held in a stalemate.
"I don't get it! You're just Issei, you shouldn't be able to do any of this!" Irina exclaimed.
"Well that's too bad! I've changed quite a bit since you left." Issei said. A shadow started to cover Irina's face as the sun had begun to set.
"What…Just what are you to Asia Argento?"
"I'm her family and her friend. Above all that, I'm the only one who gave a damn about her when the church kicked her out!"
BOOST
EXPLOSION
A green aura surrounded Issei and Irina was pushed back by the force. Issei held out his gauntlet hand in the shape of a fist.
"We may have been friends once upon a time, Irina. But things are different now!" He didn't like the fact that his old friend was on the opposite side and he wished he wasn't fighting her right now but there's nothing he can do about it right now. "I'll take down anyone who badmouths Asia, friend or not!"
"Issei-San…" Asia said while blushing. Rias and Akeno had a gentle smile on their faces. Meanwhile, Irina gripped her sword tighter.
"Friend huh…" Irina said quietly. She then looked up with a smile on her face. "I think it's about time that we end this, don't you think?"
Issei nodded slowly. "Yeah…" Issei ran at Irina at full speed. Time seemed to slow for Irina as Issei ran at her. Irina thought about one of her last moments with her childhood friend before they split apart.
Flashback
"Hey, Issei-Kun?" A young Irina and Issei just got done running around the park and were now sitting in the sandbox making sand castles
"Yeah, man?" Irina nearly cringed at being mistaken for a boy again but shrugged it off just like she did all of those times before.
"Can you do something for me?"
"Sure."
"Can you promise me we'll always be friends?" Issei scratched his head.
"What do you mean?" Issei asked as he gathered sand in his hand.
Irina looked away nervously. She has been putting this off for a while now, but now that the time was nearing, she couldn't hide it from him anymore. She sighed. Issei looked at her in concern.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"It's just that…That I'm moving away soon."
"WHAT!?" Issei reeled back. "A-Are you sure?" Irina nodded her head sadly.
"Mhm." Issei looked down at the sand sadly.
"Man, that really sucks. When are you leaving?"
"Next week or so."
"That soon!? Geez that's not a lot of time at all." Issei then heard sniffles coming from his best friend. He looked to his left to see that Irina was crying. "Hey…"
Irina wiped her eyes but it didn't stop the tears or the sniffles. "I'm sorry man, I don't want to leave you. You're my best friend."
Issei felt tears in his own eyes as the weight of it all finally hit him and he tried to hold his sniffles. "Hey man stop it, you're gonna make me cry too."
Instead of stopping, Irina seemed to cry harder. "I'm really gonna miss you Issei-Kun." Just then Irina felt Issei's small arms wrap around her and she immediately returned his hug.
"I'm gonna miss you too man." The two sat there crying in each other's arms for a few minutes until eventually Issei let go of her. Irina wrapped her arms around herself to replace the missing warmth.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Issei asked. Irina looked at him in confusion.
"Huh?"
"You're leaving in a week right? Then we got a week's worth of fun to have before you leave." Issei grabbed her wrist and started to drag Irina out of the sandbox.
"Huh!? Issei-Kun wait!" Irina exclaimed as she slammed her feet into the ground, forcing them to stop.
"Hm? What? What is it?"
Irina started to blush and look away while she poked her fingers together. "You didn't answer my request…"
Issei tilted his head in confusion. "Request?" Issei put a finger on his chin to think. Issei then thought back to the beginning of their conversation and snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah!" Issei put one hand in the air and one on his chest. "I, Issei Hyoudou, promise to always remain friends with you, Irina Shido." Issei grabbed her wrist and started running. "Now come on! Let's play!"
Flashback end
A lone tear slid down Irina's eye and dropped onto the floor. 'Issei-Kun. Did you forget? I prayed everyday that you wouldn't forget. I never did.' Irina looked over at Asia and she felt herself grip her sword tighter. 'Is it her? Is she the reason you became a devil, Issei-Kun?' Irina ran at Issei and thrusted her sword at him. To her surprise, Issei dodged to the side and her sword cut through his clothes. Issei grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward and…
WHAM
Issei punched Irina in the face with his gauntlet hand, sending her flying back a few feet and Irina landed on her back with an audible thud.
"That's…for…speaking bad… about Asia." Issei said through breaths. Issei held his side and he flinched and hissed in pain. Issei brought his hand up to his face and saw blood on his hand. Issei's eyes widened and looked at the side where he dodged Irina's lunge attack. There was a cut on the side of his body. He felt his body go weak and was forced to take a knee. Issei's body shook as he felt the holy power from the sword course through and damage his body and he collapsed to the floor.
Kiba jumped to the side as Xenovia swung her sword down to the ground, splitting the ground in half. Kiba dashed at Xenovia and slashed at her arm, effectively cutting it but it did not make her release her excalibur. Kiba gritted his teeth in frustration. He's been able to cut her quite a few times during their bout but he couldn't put a crack in her excalibur. Each time they clashed she just found a way to destroy his swords. They weren't strong enough, He wasn't strong enough.
'Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way.' Kiba thought. Maybe what he needed to break Excalibur wasn't speed, but power. Kiba closed his eyes and focused on the things that got him this far.
Flashback
Two small pairs of feet trampled on the snow. The trees were dead, and the night sky was illuminated by the shining light of the full moon and the stars. Within the snowed forest, two young children are running and fearing for their lives.
"Come on! Keep running!" One of the young children said. This child had short light blond hair and blueish-gray eyes. This child was Isaiah or now more commonly known as Kiba Yuuto.
"Isaiah!" The second child said. This child had long black hair and blue eyes. The two children ran and ran, hoping to get away from their pursuers. The kids were the one of the last two survivors of the horror-filled project.
The Holy Sword Project.
The child with the black hair tripped on a rock that was hidden by the snow, causing her to fall and crash onto the cold ground. "Gah!" Upon hearing the sound, Isaiah skidded to a halt and turned around.
"Yuki!" Isaiah ran towards his friend and put her arm around his shoulder and started to walk in no specific direction. Any direction was good as long as it didn't lead into the people chasing them. They were moving slowly since Yuki injured her leg when she fell, causing her to have a limp. To make matters worse, Yuki suddenly dropped to the ground and had a violent coughing fit. Blood dropped down to the snow when she finished.
"Yuki…" Isaiah said in worry.
"Come on! I heard something over here!" A voice in the distance said. Isaiah snapped his head up in the direction the voice came from. He could just barely make out several figures running through the forest.
"Isaiah…" Yuki said weakly. Isaiah looked down at the sickly girl. There was blood spilling out of her mouth and her face looked pale. "You…have to get out of here. Leave me."
"What? Leave you? No way!"
"Isaiah, look at me. I won't make it much longer."
Isaiah shook his head no rigorously as tears started to gather in his eyes. "I don't care! I'm not leaving you!"
"You have to." Yuki argued. Yuki had another coughing fit and blood splattered on her hand. Her breaths were getting shallow now. Isaiah couldn't bear to watch and closed his eyes to keep his tears at bay. Suddenly, a bloodied hand landed on his face and Isaiah opened his eyes to see Yuki smiling softly at him.
"I'll do nothing but slow you down…and that will get us both caught. I don't want that." Isaiah couldn't hold it in anymore and the tears started to fall. "You're my best friend, Isaiah. I'll never forgive myself if I was the reason…that you died." Isaiah and Yuki heard footsteps approaching. "They're coming. You've got to go Isaiah. You…have…to survive." Isaiah's shoulders shook. "Isaiah." Isaiah looked at Yuki and saw that she had a content smile on her face.
"Thank you, for being my friend."
"Yuki…I-"
"Hey! Over here!" Isaiah's head snapped up and he saw the silhouette of a person running towards them. He then looked down at Yuki one last time and saw her mouth the word "Go." Isaiah nodded weakly and he quickly stood up and ran towards the thickest tree. It was thick enough so it hid him well from his pursuers while also allowing him to see Yuki.
Their pursuers finally caught up to them and spotted Yuki. "Is this all of them?" One of the men asked. Another one shook his head.
"No, there is still one more out there."
"Well then spread out, find them and kill them."
"What about her?" One of the members pointed at Yuki.
"She's almost dead anyway. Finish her or leave her, I don't care either way." The man started to walk away but a small hand grabbed his ankle. He looked down to see Yuki grabbing his ankles. The man sighed and reached into his holster and pulled out a gun.
Isaiah's eyes widened and he hid fully behind the tree so he wouldn't have to see what was about to happen.
BANG
Isaiah covered his mouth to keep himself from making any noise and he slid down the tree. 'Yuki….no.' The tears came down fast and furious. What pained him even further was that he knew that there was no time to mourn and he had to keep moving. With much pain in his heart, Isaiah left the corpse of his friend behind. As he was running, his sorrow quickly turned to rage.
'Yuki…everyone, I'll avenge you all. I swear! I swear I'll destroy Excalibur!'
Flashback end
A large sword appeared in Kiba's hand and he pointed it at Xenovia. His hand shook with rage. He was ready to end this battle and by the look on Xenovia's face, she was ready to end it too. Kiba gritted his teeth and his grip on the sword handle tightened. "I'll destroy Excalibur, even if it's the last thing I'll do!" Kiba ran straight at Xenovia, although he was now much slower due to the large sword in his hand.
Xenovia took on a ready stance and waited for Kiba to get closer. Once he did, Xenovia raised her sword. "You're being foolish!" Both Swords were on a collision course with each other for a battle of strength. Just as the swords were about to clash, someone stepped in between the two fighters.
"That's enough." Xenovia and Kiba's hands both stopped dead in their tracks along with their swords. In between the two stood Naruto with a firm grip on Kiba's wrist and Xenovia's blade. Both Xenovia and Kiba stood shellshocked.
Rias looked next to her to discover that Naruto was indeed missing from his spot. Rias looked back at Kiba and Xenovia in surprise. "Wha-When did he?"
"I didn't even see him move." Koneko commented.
Xenovia tried to rip her sword out of Naruto's hand but was surprised to see that his hand wasn't budging. Xenovia looked at his hand and saw that it was glowing a faint blue color. 'What is that?' She also silently noted that even though blood was running down her sword, he didn't seem to be affected by the holy sword.
"What do you think you're doing?" Kiba asked angrily as he glared at Naruto.
"Stopping this fight, it's gone too far. Anything more and you will attract unwanted attention. Look around." Naruto said. Kiba and Xenovia did as he said and realized that he was right. The ground was cracked and battard from their fight and on top of that, the battle between Issei and Irina wrapped up some time ago.
"Tch." Reluctantly, Kiba let his sword disappear and clenched his fists. Naruto looked at Xenovia and let her Excalibur go. Xenovia put her cloak back on and wiped off the blood on the sword before wrapping it up.
Xenovia walked over to Irina and she turned around to face Rias. "You do remember what we discussed, right?"
Rias nodded her head. "We won't interfere with your search for the fallen angels." Xenovia and Irina started to walk away but stopped when Rias called "Another thing." Rias looked straight at Irina and Xenovia and her eyes turned red. "Threaten Asia or any of my dear servants again and I'll take you down myself." Her voice was dead serious and her face was deadly calm.
Xenovia and Irina nodded their heads, acknowledging the threat.
"Hold up." Naruto said suddenly. The two exorcists turned to him. "Is it just the two of you?" Xenovia nodded her head slowly. Naruto could tell that she was regarding him with caution. "I see. Asia, can you come here for a sec?"
Asia, who was finished tending to Issei's wounds, heard his call and started to run over. Xenovia, who figured out his intentions, shook her head no.
"No thanks, I'd rather not be-"
"Just shut up and take the healing, If it's just you and her you're gonna need it." Naruto interrupted. Xenovia closed her mouth and reluctantly nodded her head.
A few minutes later, Asia had finished healing Xenovia. Xenovia looked away from Asia.
"Thank you." Xenovia said, not one to forget her manners even if they're the enemy.
"You're welcome." Asia said. She returned to Issei's side.
"Let's go, Irina." Xenovia said as she walked away from the old school building. Irina said nothing but nodded her head. Irina looked back at Issei one more time before turning around following her partner.
Naruto looked at the cut on his hand and noticed that the faint glow on his hand was fading but his cut wasn't healing and he frowned. Unknown to him, his wound was healing, just not as fast as he's used to. Naruto turned to face his fellow club members and noticed that they had a variety of different expressions on their faces. Kiba's was pure anger which was no surprise there. Rias and Akeno's was bewilderment and Koneko looked like she couldn't care less. Asia was too focused on making sure Issei was fine.
"What?"
No response.
"What?" Once again, no response. Naruto sighed "Weirdos."
"What do you mean you're leaving!?"
"I'm sorry Buchou, but I can't stay here. Not while those holy swords are still here."
Rias put a hand on Kiba's shoulder. "Yuuto, you're a part of my family. You're my knight, you can't just leave!"
Kiba shook off her hand. "Buchou, I am grateful for everything you've done for me. I am, but…" Kiba clenched his fists. "But they were the reason I was able to get away, She was the reason you were able to find me that day. I can't rest while they're out there, I won't."
"Kiba, I understand you're angry but leaving!? Are you serious!?" Issei exclaimed.
"No offense to you, but I don't expect you to understand." Kiba retorted. After saying that, Kiba proceeded to walk out of the old school building without saying another word.
When he got outside, Kiba passed by Naruto who was leaning on the wall.
"Going somewhere?" Naruto asked. Kiba ignored Naruto and kept waking. Kiba was feeling particularly irritated with Naruto due his interference in his fight with Freed and his recent fight with Xenovia. Kiba was stopped from walking by Naruto's hand.
"Whatever you're planning on doing, don't. It won't end well." Naruto said. Kiba shook off Naruto's hand then turned to face him.
"Naruto. I want you to stop interfering." Kiba said.
"What?"
Kiba glared at Naruto. "You keep interfering. Stop it."
"I keep interfering because clearly you're not thinking straight. This Excalibur stuff is getting to your head. You're acting stupid! Do you really think getting revenge will solve anything!?"
"Why do you care so much about it? It's none of your business." Naruto gritted his teeth but didn't respond. "Besides, I promised myself long ago that I would avenge my fallen friends. And now that opportunity has presented itself. I won't let it go to waste." Kiba turned around and started to walk away from Naruto but he stopped. "I won't forgive them, I'm the only one who will destroy them. Because destroying them is the reason…" Kiba turned his head to look back at Naruto. "For my continued existence." Kiba walked away from Naruto.
Naruto put his face in his hands and let out a sigh before dragging his hands down his face. "Fuck. Can't believe I'm doing this shit again." His fear of history repeating itself has come to pass and fate seems to be making fun of him once again. Naruto narrowed his eyes.
"Ok hatred, round 2."
Chapter end
I had so much trouble trying to decide if Naruto should intervene during the meeting. In the end I decided not to as Naruto is not too close with any of them and it wouldn't make sense for him to defend Asia, at least right now. I also wanted to let Issei have his moments and not give them to Naruto.
But as Naruto starts to dip his hand into the events, certain things will change like the battle between Kiba and Xenovia. I wanted these changes to be gradual instead of immediate. Slowly but surely, Naruto's presence will affect both the outcome of battles and events that follow. I'd like to thank those of you who'd read up until this point. I'll take any constructive criticism or suggestions in the review section or my private messages.
This is The Devious Duckling signing off.