The Time of Isolation Hath Come

III

Issei blinked twice after hearing the rather casual revelation from the nurse.

Then he blinked a third time as it actually registered with him in a meaningful way.

"You're learning magic?"

Romani nodded his head twice while he had his eyes focused on the open book in front of them, a somewhat thoughtful expression on his face that ventured into being strained. Issei hadn't really paid all that much attention to his face initially, but now that he looked at them, it did explain why he looked so confused.

His eyes flicked onto the book and then widened slightly. "Is that like some sort of magic book then?"

"Hmmm?" Romani brought his head up and hummed, then made a small sound and shrugged his shoulders. "Sort of? Actually, Leo just got a cheap notebook and then just started writing down everything she thought I would need to know on how to learn magic…At the moment she's written down instructions for focusing magical energy and the like."

That sounded pretty cool.

Definitely better than him with his Demonic energy weaker than a baby or whatever they had said.

He stepped around behind the nurse and then leaned down slightly. "So what sort of magic are you trying to learn anyway?"

"Shield magic…well, Leo says that it's actually just barrier magecraft."

Issei blinked, then looked at the back of the man's head briefly. "Is there a difference?"

"She just said that people call it magecraft because they want to sound special about it…It's mostly just the same sort of difference between two different types of mobile phone, is what she said. They do the same thing so it doesn't really matter what you call them at the end of the day."

That sounded a bit less impressive than what he was expecting the answer to be.

Then again, barrier magic to protect things sounded like a pretty good idea to him.

"So how far have…" Issei trailed off as he actually got a good look at the page itself, he blinked once again and then squinted his eyes. Looking at the written words on the page before he leaned backwards, placing his hands on his hips. A faint grunt escaped him as his gaze darted between the nurse and the book. "Uhhh…that looks like a bunch of numbers…"

"It is."

"Oh…why?"

"Because numbers are magic."

Issei waited for the punchline.

He kept waiting.

Nothing happened.

He stepped back around to the front of the nurse, the two of them looked one another in the eye. Romani looked back at him with a sense of tiredness while he maintained his own incredulity. "...For real?"

"Yeah."

"...Oh." Issei felt his expression sour ever so slightly, rolling his jaw from side to side as he felt all his beliefs about doing magic come tumbling down over the span of a couple of seconds, really this was the complete opposite of what he had expected in the first place. Especially since he had been told about Devil magic being fuelled by imagination or something along those lines.

Heck, he even used his imagination with some spells.

…He hadn't told Romani about those.

Doing that felt like a bad idea, but he definitely knew that he wasn't using numbers when he was doing his magic.

"That seems…"

Romani gave him a knowing look, clearly already aware of what they were trying to say. "Believe me, I was a little shocked as well…but then Leo said that it was a bit like expecting yourself to suddenly become a physicist because you picked up a couple of chemicals and decided to make potions out of shampoo in a bathroom."

Well, when they put it like that, he felt like a bit of an idiot.

"Most of what I've read so far is about converting magical energy into fuel for a spell and figuring out how it all balances out. If you use X percent of magical energy on a Shield, it will block Y amount of damage before it breaks and that sort of thing…at least that's how it's appeared to me so far."

That did make a little more sense to him.

Actually, that just seemed like common sense.

It clearly showed on his face, because Romani made an understanding expression. "Yeah, I know how that sounds, but this is after it was dumbed down for me…Though I'm not sure if it really mattered in the first place. I'm looking at this and it makes a bit of sense to me at the moment…which is weird, because I don't think I was all that good with maths either."

Issei scratched the underside of his chin. "Maybe you're just a natural?"

"You think?"

[With eyes like yours? It would be foolish to imagine anything else.]

The pair of them jumped at the sudden voice, though Issei was the first to recover and rub his right hand over his face, sighing into his palm before glaring down at the back of his hand and the faint verdant light that shone from it. "Really, right now?"

[I was bored and wanted to see if I could surprise him.]

Romani let out a small noise and doubled taked at the hand. "Why would you even want to find that out?"

[Why do you think?]

Neither one of them had an answer to that, especially because it became fairly obvious the longer they thought about it.

Ddraig gave a faint chuckle.

[Still…Why would you be limiting yourself to just barrier magic? Talk about a waste of talent. Don't you think you should be a little more proactive?]

Romani frowned at the hand, then glanced towards him and raised a silent and very questioning brow. All Issei found himself able to do was give a light smile and a shrug of the shoulders towards them. That was truly the extent of what he was able to manage at the moment, and this was after the draconic energy had been drained out of the hand.

If he knew it would be this much of a hassle…actually, he still would have gone through with it.

But that wasn't the point.

"I think him trying to learn protection spells is fine."

[Hmph. So long as you don't take after him, I don't care. You're never going to beat Albion by playing on the defensive.]

That earned a blink from Romani and a raised eyebrow. "Albi-who?"

Issei just sighed and rolled his eyes. "Some feud these two guys have got going on, apparently I'm supposed to get strong enough to go out and find the holder of the White Dragon whatever and then beat the crap out of them so these guys can add another tally to their win streaks."

Romani winced. "That sounds troublesome."

"Tell me about it."

Issei sniffed then nodded to the nurse, changing the subject. "So when did you start anyway?"

"Yesterday."

"Cool." Issei hummed, nodding his head up and down, placing his hands on his hips and rocking back and forth. "By the way, did you know one of those exorcists was back in town, the one with blue hair who was sort of an asshole?"

For whatever strange reason, Romani winced at his words and glanced to the side.

"Buchou said something about running into them and that she would explain it to us later, but it's been on my mind since then." He frowned, folding his arms and finding the memory of some of the rather nasty things that girl said towards Asia being rather unpleasant, especially since he knew that Asia hadn't done anything to deserve all of that hate.

True, she hadn't been the only one to probably feel that way, but she was definitely the most vocal about it.

He didn't know why she would be back in Kuoh but he was sure it wasn't going to be for anything good.

"Just telling you to keep an eye out on Asia."

Romani frowned. "That seems a little paranoid, you don't know why she's here, do you?"

"Well…no…" He admitted, clearly the nurse picked up on that little bit. Scratching the back of his head, Issei rolled his jaw for a few seconds. "But given how she spoke about Asia last time, I don't like the idea of those two accidentally running into one another while she's out by herself or something…but I can't exactly just escort her everywhere at once…I mean, I can pick her up and walk her back to your house, right?"

The suggestion sounded rather forwards even to him, but Romani just wore an odd expression as he stared at him. "Why are you acting like she's only here to cause trouble? Didn't you all help one another out last time…You never know, it could have changed her opinion on you quite a bit…that tends to happen in really stressful situations."

That sounded…

Well…It sounded like it was pulled right out of a shonen manga, being really bitter enemies with someone and then deciding that they were really your best friend all along after fighting alongside them or something. Furrowing his brows, Issei folded his arms tightly and pinched his expression in thought.

Could he say without a shadow of a doubt that it wasn't the case?

No, he couldn't.

"...Do you really think it's like that?"

Romani just shrugged. "People have their own circumstances, Issei-kun. We can't really guess what they are until we know for certain. Besides, what if she wants to apologise to Asia for all the things she said about her? Isn't it a little premature to act as though she's going off to say more cruel things?"

That sounded a bit optimistic, but at the same time.

"Apologising to Asia, huh?" Issei muttered, drumming his fingers along his bicep. "I…I guess it would be a start, nah, Kiba said she also pretty much helped save his life as well so…Well, as long as she apologises to Asia, then I guess I wouldn't really mind it. Just the idea of her saying all that stuff left a bad taste in my mouth, you know?"

"People have their own opinions." Romani replied simply, lowering the notebook down onto his lap. "You can't change them all, but that doesn't mean you have to accept them. Understand them? Sure. But that's not acceptance. If someone says something bad about your friend, you're perfectly entitled to take issue with it."

"I get the feeling Asia wouldn't like that though…"

Romani's lip pulled upwards. "No, but that's Asia being Asia. She just doesn't like the idea of conflict…But my advice would be to keep an open mind if you do see Xenovia about the place. There's going to be a reason that she's here, so until you find out what it is, it would be best for you to reserve judgement."

That sounded pretty fair.

Wait a second.

Issei narrowed his eyes slightly. "...Is this another one of your future vision things again?"

The nurse blinked, then looked at him with complete confusion. "No? What? Why-it's not one of my future things, Issei-kun."

"Just checking."

"Hmmm." The nurse hummed and then brought the notebook back up, returning to reading the pages.

"...Should you really be reading that here? What if some other student comes in and sees it?"

Romani scratched the side of his neck. "I mean, it's a plain looking notebook filled with numbers and equations. They're going to assume, if anything, that I'm trying to keep my mind healthy or something."

"What if they think you're helping students cheat?"

"...You think students would come to me to help them cheat?"

"...Yeah, it sounded stupid when I said it out loud."

Romani just quietly chuckled and closed h eyes. "I'm a bit shocked you could even think about that for a moment, but I guess someone else would probably say the same thing as well. Though I can't deny you being right, I guess." he muttered, cupping his chin and rubbing it from side to side. "I'll keep it in my drawer until I need it, but you had best get off to class now. Even without the accusation of helping students, there's still that fact that Sitri-san would have my head if she heard I was keeping you away from lessons."

Issei could see it, he offered a sympathetic smile to the man. "I think that Kaichou has quite a few reasons to chase you down, Roman-sensei…I think that Koneko-chan mentioned something about raiding again."

The expected result came about, the nurse froze up and his expression turned blank.

He laughed a little. "Maybe you should try and establish some magic barriers to protect your caches of sweets?"

Romani furrowed his brows, then cupped his chin and grunted. "That…hmmm…Could I do that?"

"...I actually have no idea, could you?"

"I guess? It is magic, so I suppose the question would be is there any reason I can't do it?"

Issei couldn't think of one beyond the fact that Kaichou might get a little upset about him setting up magical barriers in the ventilation around the school. She was already pretty annoyed about Romani putting sweets and cakes in there, who knew what she would do if the nurse tried to cement their position.

Then again, if Romani was going to practise magic like that.

"Well, I'll be cheering you on, Roman-sensei. Do your best!" He gave them a thumbs up and a smile, one that the nurse returned while also shooing his hand away towards the door.

With that said, Issei turned around and made his way back into the hallway- "Whao!"

Almost running right into Lainur-Sensei as he did so. "Sorry about that."

"No, I believe neither of us were paying attention to our surroundings, Hyoudou-kun." The man replied smoothly, stepping around him with his arms folded behind his back. "Visiting Roman then were you? Well, as long as you aren't injured, then I'd advise you to be on your way before one of the student council catches you out. They're much less forgiving than I for loitering around when you should be in lessons."

Issei swiftly nodded his head, taking off down the hallway-

"And no running in the school halls." The voice of the teacher echoed after him, forcing him to slow his pace to a swift walk.

"That boy…Sometimes I'm wondering if all those hits have toughened his skin."

Romani raised a brow at the comment from Lev but said nothing, the man shook his head and stepped into the room.

"I can't recall the last time he came into this room with an actual injury. Much as I might be pleased with his lack of wounds, I can't help but worry that you might be giving him the impression that he is welcome to spend all his time here."

"I mean…I don't have a problem with letting the students hang around here if they want." He replied with a shrug, tilting his head ever so slightly. "Though I guess it would be a bit of an issue if they spend more time around me than they do with kids their own age…Hmmm. Then again, I only ever really get visits when people are sick or injured, I'm not sure if that's good company either."

Lev just chuckled. "If that was what bothered you, then becoming a nurse for a school seems to have been quite the unfortunate career path."

Romani just sighed. "Not like that, really it was more…I guess I've been helping some of them out as best I can. Recently times have been a little…tough."

"I should imagine so, you sound as though you've aged a hundred years since the last time we spoke." The words of Lev felt more akin to nails in his heart, he resisted the urge to flinch with each one of them spoken. "And that was only the other day as well…I would certainly like to believe that nothing stressful had happened after hours, has it?"

It had, but he couldn't really talk about it.

"Just…" Romani rubbed his free hand over his forehead for a few moments. "Just feel like I've lost control of my life and getting it back is a bit more complicated than I thought…is what I would like to say."

"...And what do you actually mean to say?"

"...I feel like a castaway after a shipwreck." He muttered.

Lev hummed. "I shall be sure to find you a volleyball."

Romani couldn't help it, he burst out laughing at the remark and shook his head from side to side.

"Please-hahaha-please don't make me laugh about that, it's really stressing me out right now…but…pffft…I couldn't grow a beard to save my life…Doctor babyface they called me when I was studying. I wasn't even a doctor at the time…"

A low chuckle from the man, he stepped forwards and raised his hands in a placating fashion. "I apologise, it seemed as though you could do with a spot of cheering up. Though perhaps I misunderstood the severity of what you spoke of."

"No…it was pretty funny." He had to admit that it did get him for a brief moment, drawing in a breath and leaning his head back. "...Leo's helping me try some new things to calm everything down for me, so I'm mostly just hoping that it will get a bit easier for me to understand but…"

"But?"

That was a big word.

So much he could say after it and so much he had to keep quiet about.

"...You ever think you understand everything and then suddenly wake up and realise that you don't understand anything?"

"...I've had days like that, yes."

Romani blinked, then lowered his head from gazing at the ceiling and looked at Lev. The usual smile of the man was gone, instead replaced with a mild frown on his face that looked almost sorrowful.

"Yes, I can say without a doubt I have had a day such as that. Living ones whole existence under the belief that they have found the perfect path forwards and that my life will remain in this way until I perish…and then suddenly, the world is turned on its head because of a single action that I thought utterly impossible."

That sounded…

…There was a lot of emotion in his words, even if his face didn't show it.

The way he spoke sounded almost…mourning.

"Suddenly, everything I thought I knew was turned on its head and then you have to pick up the pieces, try and form some semblance of normalcy but in the end…"

"...Did you ever pick up those pieces?"

Lev smiled, it was hardly a comforting one, more sympathetic. "You can never put things back to the way they used to be. All you can do is take what pieces you have left and then push forwards while remaining true to yourself. I do not know what you have gone through Roman…and I do not need to know."

Turning side on, Lev paused before he went for the door. "All I can tell you is that as long as you have faith that the path you are taking is the right one, then that is enough. After all…faith in ourselves is the one thing we must rely on remaining a constant. Otherwise, what is there we can rely on?"

"...Feels like I'm having my own advice thrown back at me."

"Oh?" Lev perked up a little. "Is this your way of telling me you have been helping students again?"

Romani sighed. "Something like that, I just told her that the best thing we could do was to just do what we thought was right, rather than what someone else believed was right…All about finding the career that fits you best and how it can't be forced."

"Yes, I can see the comparison." Another light hearted chuckle followed. "But it remains some good advice, Roman…Hmmm? Reading, are we?"

Romani glanced down at the notebook and held it up with a wry smile. "Yeah, just passing the time as I can. Trying new things…mostly maths equations."

"Maths…equations?" Lev squinted at him for a couple of seconds, then hummed. "How strange, I would not have pegged you for such a thing, but if you are so desperate, I'm sure I could spare some worksheets for you to solve."

His face twisted at the mention of that sort of help.

Feeling his lips roll inwards as if they had touched something sour.

"That…uh…you don't need to go that far…Leo's been picking this stuff out for me."

Lev made a face of understanding. "I see. In which case, perish the thought of my suggestion. Good luck with your maths equations, Roman…And good luck with your troubles. If you need anything at all, I'm always open to lend an ear to you."

That…meant a lot.

"...Thanks."

"Don't mention it." The reply was swift and jovial. "Such a thing between friends hardly bares discussion."

Romani pulled a faint smile at his words and watched them depart, once more his eyes returned to the notebook in front of him and narrowed ever so slightly.

He would have to hand it to Leona that she had really done a good job at making this easy to understand because when she was talking about numbers and all of that, he was expecting something more in line with the sort of blackboards that you got when someone spoke about something like physics.

But he wasn't sure what it was, but everything just sort of clicked into place.

Though…how much of that was because of whatever was inside of him?

He clearly could do magic, dragon shooting aside, and he had apparently gone through the process of passing out before and then talking down Fallen Angels into retreating or something along those lines.

It was really…he didn't know how much was him and how much was whatever else.

He tried not to think about it.

Humming a small tune to himself as his eyes skimmed through the notebook, most of it was the establishment of the most basic sort of shield magic. The type that Leona said would be able to stop something getting thrown at his head like a tennis ball. Admittedly, he didn't know if they would be throwing tennis balls at him…but it seemed to be a good start.

Focusing magical energy into all of that and shifting the world for that sort of thing…Hmmm.

That jargon made a lot less sense to him, really it just seemed more appropriate to have all of it put in simpler terms.

Just have the momentum of the tennis ball act against it, pushing back against the thrown item with the same force that it was approaching. Even if you didn't bounce it back, the momentum would still cut out down to zero and it would just end. That way, it was the shield pushing back against the thrown item rather than just absorbing the damage.

Romani blinked, then straightened himself slightly in his chair.

Hang on, didn't that make much more sense to start at rather than trying to make an absorbing shield first? Were one of the two of them simpler or something?

He didn't want to talk down Leona's instructions but it felt…Hmmm, maybe he was missing something?

It would probably be easier to figure it all out later, for the time being, he was still trying to work on focusing his magical energy enough that he could even manipulate it into spells, it was something to do with a mixture of imagination and numbers, unless that was more demonic power?

He might have gotten a little lost on the conversation because apparently some mages did use demonic power in their spells, but they were apparently really rare, or just not very common?

Well, to each their own.

He glanced at the door for a couple of seconds, then shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes, turning his focus towards his left hand and holding it open.

Visualisation of his magical energy?

That sounded like trying to visualise the air to him…unless…wait, people could actually do that though, couldn't they? Or rather, it was more like being able to see your cold breath because of the fact it was cold. Maybe if he thought of his own power mixing in with the magical energy of the world he would be able to see it better?

But how the heck did someone do that after never seeing magic before in their life? Leona did it as naturally as breathing from the looks of things.

How did she put it?

Switching fuel in the car or something?

His eyes remained shut as he focused in the palm of his hand, he tried not to force it, instead he imagined himself holding some frozen ice or something, or seeing a cloud of frost in the air. Maybe even some dust, no, it wasn't that he was visualising the air, he was visualising the things trapped in the current?

Yes.

It wasn't about seeing the magical energy, it was about seeing its impact on the world itself.

…Wasn't this a bit easy?

No, he was just imagining it, Leona's instructions had included some handy metaphors, so that was probably it.

His hand felt a bit warm.

His eyes opened and turned towards his left palm, then promptly widened as he stared at the flicker of light glittering in his palm, tiny little motes of light akin to someone sprinkling tiny little shiny beads and then keeping them hovering in the air. He waved his hand back and forth for a couple of seconds.

The glittering light faded away, leaving the natural air behind him.

"...Woah…"

He made glitter in the air.

Wasn't that…

…Actually really cool?

No wait, first he needed to see if it was a fluke, scrunching his brows he stared at his hand once more and tried to focus on the same sensation again. Maybe it was because he was trying to force it, but he found it a lot harder to bring it about this time.

No, maybe it was because he was trying to force it?

Natural as breathing, right? So if he just imagined it as being as natural as the air again…

Little bits of glitter fluttered around his fingers, sparkling golden lights.

He rolled his lips inwards to muffle the little giddy feeling that welled up inside of him as he stared at the tiny stars around his hand, they were without a doubt the most captivating things he had ever seen in his life, maybe it was a bit much given that he had seen the others do better but he wasn't sure if that would take away from this moment.

He could make glitter!

Swirling his finger in circles, the lights followed after him before he let go of the feeling, sure enough, the twinkling faded away.

He couldn't wait to show it off to people, he could make glittering with his hand!

He probably should have put more effort into keeping himself still and actually doing his job, but he couldn't help but work more on his new and amazing ability of making glitter effects appear on comment. If he worked really hard on it, he could probably make it appear behind his head and do something out of anime or something.

That thought shrivelled up in his head and died, he almost cringed at the thought of doing something like that.

A shudder passed through his body at the mental image of him cracking some cool smile and a pose at Leona while sparkles appeared around his face. While certain that Leona would probably find it funny…it was mostly a thought of how he would look from an outside perspective.

He probably couldn't pull something like that off.

But at least he had gotten better at making glitter, though he had probably gotten side tracked with his new and incredible power.

Was he feeling a little drunk with his success?

…Maybe? It was hard to tell, perhaps it was just because of the novelty of it.

A gentle click at the door, it opened and his head turned towards it, quickly swiping his glowing hand down and under his desk as he stared at the door with wide and a little panicked eyes. Hoping that he had been fast enough to hide it and avoid an awkward explanation.

Asia and Xenovia entered the room, the former leading the latter with a wide smile on her face.

"And this is the nurses office." Asia spoke, while gesturing around the room before she quickly turned her eyes onto him, smile widening as she stepped to the side and gestured towards Xenovia. "Roman-sensei, look who joined us? I found out earlier along with everyone else but she joined Rias-san's peerage and will be coming to school with us! Isn't that great?"

He nodded to the girl. "Morning Xenovia."

"Good morning, Roman."

Asia froze, then looked between the two of them for a couple of seconds, a slightly lost look on her face. "Eh…uhm…You…you don't look that surprised, Roman-sensei?"

Romani paused for a moment, then winced at the lost tone of the girl, he'd forgotten that to everyone else it would have been something of a surprise. Sliding his chair back, he spun it to face the pair of them, aiming an apologetic look towards Asia. "Sorry, I probably should have said earlier, but I met Xenovia yesterday while you were out…we sort of talked for a while."

He paused, then glanced between the two of them for a couple of seconds and clenched his jaw. "Did…she say why she joined or…?"

Xenovia cleared her throat, "I have explained that I held a difference of opinion with the Church that could not be rectified already, you do not need to be so worried, Mister Archaman."

The two of them shared a look with one another.

Clearly Rias was also keeping the potential secret to herself, then again it wasn't like anyone could really ask and he doubted it was the sort of thing you could just go around telling people.

"Yeah…" Romani nodded his head rather stiffly, then turned back to Asia and smiled down at her. "Sorry if you were looking forwards to introducing us together, though I figure that Issei-kun will probably be along soon to point at me and accusing me of knowing all along."

Xenovia raised a brow. "But you did know."

…She was right.

Oh.

Romani remained silent for a couple of seconds, then quickly held up his hands and clapped them together in front of him, slowly pulling them apart while he focused on that feeling once again. Smiling rather excitedly. "Hey, look what I learned how to do?"

The glitter sparkled in the gap between his palms, twinkling ever so slightly as if he held the stars of the night sky in the palm of his hand.

Asia immediately widened her eyes and looked at him in amazement.

Xenovia just gave him an utterly vacant stare.

Then the blue haired woman tilted her head to the side. "Oh, is that it?"

The smile on Romani's face fizzled away, the lights faded and his arms dropped down to his side and his shoulders slumped.

He had really thought that was at least sort of impressive.

"Xenovia-san!" Asia whispered to her rather loudly, with a clearly shocked look on her face.

To her credit, Xenovia was quick to widen her eyes and look between the two of them rapidly before catching herself, then clearing her throat loudly and lowering her head. "Forgive me, I meant to say that it is a very novel application of magical energy. I was just expecting something brighter because of what you had previously done. In regards to the dragon."

His shoulders dropped, it felt like he had been stabbed in the gut.

Xenovia winced again. "Ah…I mean…You have done adequately for a beginner? I'm sure it would be amusing to small children-..." the lips of the teenager smacked closed and then immediately stopped speaking.

"...Well…I did only start yesterday…" He muttered, as if that was going to save him from the feelings that were burning up inside him now.

"I think it's very beautiful, Roman-sensei!" Asia cheered, pumping her fists and smiling widely at him. "I'm sure that everyone else thinks so as well! I know that Leona-san will love it!"

Well, at least there was that.

"Still…" Xenovia started speaking again, giving him an odd look. "I must admit, you are more confident than I believed. Especially if you can practise magic so openly inside of a school with the door still open behind us and anyone capable of walking past and seeing what you are doing. Not to mention the use of magical energy in such an obvious way, I can detect the lingering traces."

Romani dropped further into a slump, while his brows rose higher.

Oh.

Right.

As awkwardly as he could, he nodded his head up and down while trying to avoid eye contact with the pair of them.

"...Please don't tell Sitri-san that I was doing this in the school. I get the impression she will be very upset if she finds out."

Both Xenovia and Asia nodded their heads up and down, though the latter looked a bit more understanding than the former. But that was fine, he was sure that Xenovia would eventually find out quite why he was so worried about the idea of Sona finding out about him doing something like that.

Dismissing the thoughts, he turned to Xenovia. "Not that you will probably need it, but the nurses office is always open for you to stop by in case you hurt yourself…or, well…if you want to just talk. A couple of people do that as well, just make sure it doesn't cut into lesson times."

Xenovia regarded him silently, then offered a faint smile. "Your support is appreciated, Roman-sensei."

"Glad I can help."

And he was.

He was just happy that he could start helping.

Something happened, the pair of girls perked up and turned their heads towards the door with matching expressions of bemusement for a couple of seconds before they glanced at one another.

Romani was barely able to ask what the problem was before a shape rounded the door and all but flung itself into the room, a second later a finger was pointed squarely towards his face. Romani sharply leaned back, his eyes ran up the length of the limb towards the owner and relaxed a little when he realised who it was.

"Oh, hey Issei-kun."

The brown haired teen shot him a look of utter disbelief as he pulled his arm back and down to his side once more, Issei's expression cycled through several emotions before it finally landed upon what he assumed was incredulity, rather tightly folding his arms and tapping his foot on the ground.

"...So I'm guessing that you already knew?"

Romani offered a wry smile and a shrug of the shoulders, pointedly throwing his gaze past Issei's shoulders and towards the pair of girls still in the room.

Issei caught on quickly, his posture straightened and he slowly turned his head about to look over his shoulder, then winced a little and turned back to face him. "Ah…I see. But wait, hang on, you knew already? What the heck is that about?"

"We met yesterday."

Another blink, this time Issei leaned backwards and looked more shocked than anything else. Admittedly, that was probably an earned response, given that Issei would probably have been expecting him to have seen her in a future vision or something.

"Oh…Alright then…uhhh…wait, then…" Issei's expression cycled through several emotions, going into confusion. "...No, I don't get it. If you met yesterday, then did that mean you knew she was already going to be part of Buchou's peerage? How come you didn't tell me about it."

Romani blinked, then raised a brow. "I mean, there was still a lot of bad blood between the two of you. Or Xenovia felt there was, so I didn't want to tip you off for anything. Besides, I didn't want to come across as meddling or try and talk you into giving her a chance. That would be a bit forced."

A faint cringe crossed the face of Issei, his shoulders dropped down and he placed his hands on his hips. "Alright, fair enough then…I can't really argue with that in the first place. Uhh…sorry for rushing over here suddenly then? I'll just…"

Issei turned around, giving a single nod to Xenovia as he walked past her and then back towards the door.

Silence reigned through the room for a couple of seconds.

Xenovia looked at him with a questioning look.

Romani just shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, I'm pretty much open to all sorts of visitors."

Today had been a good day, Romani was proud to say as such.

Well, perhaps proud was the wrong word to have used in this situation, but it felt a little better than the past couple days. Then again, he was probably still enamoured with the idea of making glitter. It just seemed like a really novel thing to do and aside from the slight hiccup regarding the reaction of Xenovia, the face of Asia made it seem worthwhile.

…Also he might partially blame Akeno for his whole reason for making a brief stop into town.

That damn coffee she had bought had been playing on his mind ever since then, he hadn't asked about it but he could probably just guess that it would have been expensive coffee.

Really, it just seemed the sort of-

Her hands glide along the shelves for a moment, a melodious hum escapes her as they come to a stop.

They move forwards, fingers gently slide around the rounded tub.

He can make out the words on the front of it, the beans are slid out of the shelf they rest upon and are taken into the hands of a dark haired girl.

Violet eyes scan the boy with interest before the tube is deposited into a basket and she carries on her way,

Romani blinked.

He stopped walking and found himself unable to comprehend what he had just seen.

No, it wasn't that he didn't comprehend it, the problem was that he knew what he had just seen and it was Akeno picking out coffee in the future. Which meant, at some point, she would get more coffee and bring it back to the clubhouse for the others.

…Why on earth would he ever need something like that?

Was something going to happen?

It didn't look like it.

Rather, it just looked like he had a vision of Akeno buying coffee at the exact same moment that he was wishing to know the brand of coffee that she had bought.

He didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but that definitely seemed really weird for him to do…

With a mental sigh, he carried onwards and moved through the street, glancing left and right before he finally took notice of the particular shot, with a smile he moved towards it and passed through the doors, briefly pausing as he glanced at the interior. Everything clicked a moment later.

This was the shop that Akeno had been in.

Huh.

That was weird.

Did that mean he was going to encounter her?

No, she would still be at the club at the moment along with the others, Asia had told him she were going to stay behind slightly later than usual in regards to something to do with Xenovia and all of that, so really, he couldn't say that it was something weird.

With an internal shrug, his feet carried him into the shop.

His eyes roamed the shelves for a couple of seconds before they snapped onto one of the signs at the top, then he turned and moved towards that particular row. Making another turn when upon it and briefly halting as he caught sight of the rows upon rows of hot drinks that lined it. Rolling his jaw from side to side, he perused down the aisle.

Sooner or later, he would probably spot the coffee that Akeno was bound to buy and if his vision held any weight, then it meant that it was probably the same one that she had served him before. This was probably going to be his treat that he got himself when he was in a good mood.

Celebration coffee, he would brand it.

His eyes snapped onto a particular tub with dark colouration and golden patterns embroidered on the front.

That was it.

He moved towards it with complete focus in his gaze, reaching towards it and taking it down from the shelf.

That was the exact coffee.

His eyes came up and moved towards the pricing.

…Yeah, that was about what Akeno had told him it cost.

…He could afford that.

"You're really still drinking that stuff?"

Romani stilled at the voice.

"Don't you know it's addictive? And going for the expensive stuff as well? I'm a little surprised, whenever I came around you were always stacking your shelves with some of the cheap stuff. Don't tell me that Leo finally wrapped you in the allure of quality."

Slowly but surely, his head turned towards the direction of the smooth but amused voice, he straightened a little as he stared at the man in the grey shirt, dark hair with golden bangs hanging down in front of his face, his lips pulled into a mirthful smirk, a wisp of a beard on his chin.

"Yo, Roman. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

The brief surprise quickly left him as he finally realised who was standing there. "Hey, Az."

Az pocketed his hands and nodded back to him in greeting. "Is that really the sort of plain hello I get from you? Well…I guess you've had enough time to process everything, but still. I was expecting a bit more of a reaction."

Romani wasn't sure what they were expecting him to do.

After a few moments, all he could manage was a shrug of the shoulders as he stared at the man. "Honestly, it's been one of those weeks where I'm not sure that anything else can surprise me. Though I'm now wishing I hadn't said that, because I probably just jinxed myself, didn't I?"

"Heh. Perhaps." Az didn't offer any sort of comfort in the least, rather he just looked more amused. "Still, it does feel a little better for us to speak so openly like this. Then again, I don't believe much would have changed between us, would it?"

"...That depends…" Romani leaned back, a wary look on his face. "...Are you still going to try and hide all those games and magazines in my coat pockets or something? Because I don't want Leo getting any ideas from them…Seriously. Don't. I mean it."

Az stared at him for a couple of seconds with an utterly blank face, then his lips twisted upwards into a smile as a snort escaped him. Shaking his head from side to side. "Really? The governor of the Grigori stands before you and the first thing that you're worried about is whether or not I'm going to slip an erotic game into your pocket? Your concerns are so refreshing."

Taking in a deep breath, he sighed and glanced towards him. "Anyway, I was just stopping around Kuoh for a bit and spotted you…Figured I should at least come and say hello, I realise it had been a while and with you being in the know and all…" removing his hands from his pockets, Az scratched the side of his chin a couple of times. "You can tell me about all the crazy inventions that Leo has made."

Romani flattened his features. "Seriously? You could probably just go and ask her."

Az rolled his eyes. "It's not like I can exactly walk the streets around here so carelessly, and Leo has herself some special attention right now. Basically, it's not quite the best time for me to be seen around her."

"But it's fine with me?"

The complete lack of a response didn't inspire confidence in Romani in the least, rather now he felt a bit more ill at ease in regards to everything. He leaned away from the man and pinched his brows together, looking them up and down for a couple of seconds before he sighed. "Aren't you going to get in trouble if you come around here?"

"Eh…I'll probably get a talking to from Shemhazai about it, but nothing too serious. I need to be in Kuoh anyway for a couple of days."

Az raised his right hand before Romani could ask. "Secret stuff, can't talk about it."

Romani just sighed and nodded his head. "Well, I figured that would be the answer. Anything to do with what happened last week?"

A wince passed through the face of the man. "Yeah, something like that. You probably don't get how big of a deal it really is for something like that to happen, but trust me, it is a bit of a conundrum for me…Not to mention that entire mess ended with a bunch of stuff with the Church, those are aren't really looking to shake my hand anytime soon."

"...I guess."

"Meh, this is all boring." Az announced, looking at the tube in Romani's hands and then to the man, a smile came upon his face. "So, want to go and get a drink? We can catch up for old times sake. And no, not too long and not that much to drink, I got another meeting I need to get to tonight."

Romani blinked, then made a small noise. "Busy evening?"

"Ehh…I'm going to an arcade."

"...Sounds fun."

"Oi…What's with that look of yours?" Az narrowed his eyes, Romani already could tell this was going to be trouble, made even worse when the man stepped forwards and placed a hand on his shoulder, rooting him on the spot. "You…You've been there, haven't you? That's the look of a man who's seen hell…"

"Alright, it wasn't that bad-"

Az merely grinned wider. "Sounds interesting! You can tell me all about it over a single drink! Come on, Roman…"

His eyes closed and his head dropped. "...Fine."

"Yes, guys night out! We're gonna hit all the strip clubs-"

"Eugh!?"

"I'm joking! Joking! Hahaha!"

Romani was getting a little late back.

She wasn't overly concerned about that, her bounded fields had gone through several dozen renovations and improvements since that whole fiasco and even above that, she had gone through the trouble of installing some round the clock surveillance - with the assistance of the heiresses - on the public transportation sites.

Nothing too Orwellian, but it was enough to activate when they sensed the arrival of a magical being, even if mages could hide amongst regular people pretty easily, it would be much too difficult for something on the scale of Fabro Rowan to enter without her knowledge again. Even the slightest hint of magic would set it off, more so if it was unfamiliar as well.

Some might have accused her of being a little too paranoid, but when the thousand year old man with the impossible magecraft just walked into town with none of them any the wiser, she believed they were due for some additional safety precautions.

That being said, she hardly expected it to be tipped off as soon as this.

"The town was much less fortified the last time I stopped by, I would like to extend an apology for causing you trouble, if I did so."

Waving her hand at the apology, she moved through the house with a chuckle. "None of that now, I figured you would eventually get around to stopping by. Though, I must admit, I am more than a little shocked that you actually chose to take the bus here, especially after everything."

A wry smile from the man sitting opposite her. "It was only after I sensed the added protections around the town that I opted to change tactics and go for a more direct approach. This way, none could accuse me of having malicious intentions or a need for secrecy."

Reaching out, he delicately took the mug from her and brought it to his lips, taking a short sip as he did so. "Given what happened recently, I believed that avoiding causing another panic would have been the best path forward, I hardly wished to cause alarm where I did not need to, as you understand."

She could understand that much, relaxing a little into her seat and smiling back at the person. "Well, I appreciate the need for foreknowledge. Though would it really have been such an ask to give me a call? Just so that I could find out before I stumble across you stepping onto a public bus and then waiting for you to arrive?"

Wodime paused for a moment, a flicker of unease cycled across his face. "In the interests of our conversation, I believed it would be for the best if the topic was not so openly discussed where others might eavesdrop."

That hardly sounded good.

She raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. "Was it not you who just said a moment ago that you did not have any need for secrecy?"

Wodime raised a single finger. "I said I wished to accuse the accusations, I did not say they were unfounded. As it stands, I am here purely as a favour for you so that you and the others are not so suddenly taken off guard when…" he trailed off, glancing towards the table and tightening his fingers around the mug.

Leona frowned ever so slightly. It was not like Kirschtaria to shy away from a topic of conversation, but it almost looked as if he was nervous about something.

No, she would never accuse him of being nervous.

However, he was clearly uneasy about something.

With a short breath, the man spoke once more. "I do not need to tell you that recent events have caused quite a stir in the Clocktower. Just the other day, I was summoned back to assist with the knowledge of Kuoh and provide my own interpretation on events."

He was?

Leona raised a brow. "Why would they need you? As far as I understand, you haven't been promoted to a Lord yet."

Wodime gave a light sniff and a faint smile. "Yet, she says. Truly, your confidence in my abilities is rather gratifying, but that is beside the point. Most figures of influence were summoned back and not simply just the Lords. It started out as but a rumour and has quickly swept through the Clocktower like a tidal wave."

She could guess what they were talking about.

"Fabro."

A single confirming nod of the head. "Indeed. Mages living for extended periods of time is not unheard of, there are certainly some prominent cases within the Clocktower itself, but on the scale of what was being described…" cupping his chin, Wodime rubbed it several times. "I myself found the reports difficult to comprehend, but there was no denying what it sounded akin to."

Leona rolled her jaw, leaned back and then folded her arms. "Are you waiting for me to confirm it then?"

"For the sake of personal confidence, whether it is true or not, the end result will hardly be changed now."

"...It was a bounded field contained within his body." She explained slowly, "Or rather, that was how it appeared to be. Combined with the accumulation of familiars, they appeared to be linked with his psyche while retaining some small portion of autonomy, carrying out his commands."

"...Having over a dozen familiars would have been disturbing enough to consider, the mental strain of so many contracts at once would require a mage of great focus to maintain." Wodime drummed his fingers on the table, brows pinched together and lips drawn thin. "But to have so many familiars of such powerful status…A dragon and a Hydra at the same time...Could they have been imaginary?"

She shook her head. "No, while I'm sure that he had some form of imaginary beasts within his collection, those were assuredly real. Possessing the strength to outgun even a Cadre Class Fallen Angel, combined with the endurance that they possessed…It went beyond regular toughness."

Wodime hummed at her words, eyes narrowed in thought. "Having so many animals within himself, it would be akin to an ecosystem unto itself. If they were contained within a Bounded Field enshrined in his own body, then it would certain…Still, to think that he was indeed correct. A Reality Marble…"

The man snapped his fingers. "An ecosystem unto itself. With such a diverse setting, he would have held the conceptual weight of an environment behind him."

Leona whistled, she toyed with that idea briefly but the thought alone was terrifying to consider, yet the endurance he showed when he was only just scratched by the damage of the Burial Agent. Yet when the Lucifer and Leviathan fought him, they dealt consistent damage, but nothing fatal.

"The regeneration as well…"

Wodime nodded his head along. "Trying to destroy a man with such power…No, but that is the problem unto itself." he frowned. "The work of Fabro Rowan and further investigations into Reality Marbles was discussed, they are being redesignated as a Taboo."

"That was fast."

"They have good reason to be concerned, the man who first proposed the idea was labelled as insane and then he returns a thousand years later with his principle proved in perhaps the worst manner possible." Wodime remarked, shaking his head from side to side.

Well, she could certainly see why it was the case.

It was not that she disagreed with the ruling, just that it seemed very swift.

Yet she got the feeling they were here for something more than telling her about some loose command from the clocktower.

"...What else is there?"

Wodime hesitated for a moment, then closed his eyes. "...I cannot confirm the veracity of the statements, but there is word that the Vice Director herself will be coming to Kuoh with her brigade to see if there is anything they might glean from Fabro Rowan at the sight of the battle."

Leona froze. "...What?"

The blonde man winced and glanced to the side. "I doubt she will pay much attention to the Devils, but I thought it best to inform you now before something happens. There is a good chance that she will come and interrogate you herself…"

That was just what she needed.

Leona pulled her lips thin and nodded her head up and down, thankful for the warning before the Vice-Director came marching into the town with a fleet of SUV's or something along those lines. In fact, it would most certainly be for the best if she kept both families away from the woman at the time-

Her heart almost stopped, though she outwardly maintained her stoic expression.

Roman.

There was no way that the Vice-Director would miss the fact the Leylines were recently drained, and they would notice how it happened in such a short span of time.

"Merda."

Wodime choked a little on his drink and looked at her with a touch of bemusement. "Excuse me?"

Putting on a bright smile, she waved her hand. "Nothing, just thinking about how stressful its going to be if its true."

"Ah, I see." Kirschtaria made a noise of understanding and nodded his head up and down, soon glancing around. "On another topic, do you know where Roman might be? I wanted to thank him for his advice."

"Oh…He should be back soon, but you're welcome to stay until he gets here." She offered with a smaller smile, leaning forwards and then raising her brows. "I believe there was something that you wanted to speak with me the last time you were here, hmmm?"

A blink, then Wodime made a noise and shuffled forwards. "Of course, it is relation to bounded fields, oddly poignant given the last few days. Myself and Daybit have been running some experiments and I believe your insight could be quite valuable."

Well…if it was the two of them.

"Alright then." She leaned forwards, smiling brightly. "What is it you have?"