He who was just an ordinary man
III
Romani continued to work in much the same way he had previously as the end of the day approached, or more specifically the end of his extended day. He was fairly certain that he was one of the last people left in the school aside from the track and field club at this point in time.
He stared up at the clock as he watched the clock wind down closer and closer to the half-way mark, his eyes occasionally drifting over to the doors as if expecting one of the students to come bursting in with an injury. Although he had the strangest feeling that there wasn't going to be any injuries. Some gut reaction that everything would be fine.
Romani was more than alright with that feeling however, since he was more accustomed to expecting the worst. The times where he wasn't actually needed were usually very calm and rather appealing to him. He heard steps approaching the door before it opened, the man paused in his work - still reading a magazine - and looking towards the sliding door as it opened up and the club captain stepped in.
"Finished up then, are you?"
"Yes, Archaman-sensei." The girl replied with a slightly out of breath tone to her and a few trickles of sweat decorating her brow and cheeks, clearly having put in the effort that her club was rather famous for. "We're just heading back to get changed but I came along first to let you know."
"Thanks for that." He gave her a grateful smile as he closed his magazine up and turned back to his desk "I'll let you go now, have a good evening Kazumi-san."
"You too, Archaman-sensei!" Kazumi waved him farewell as she closed the door and her footsteps rapidly receded down the hallway back in the direction they had come from.
With a gentle release of breath, Romani pushed himself out of his chair and stretched himself backwards, scrunching his face up in effort as he did so before he slumped forwards. "Probably need more exercise." he grumbled to himself, rolling his arms and feeling the tension work themselves out of the limbs.
Maybe he could take up running?
Then he thought about it some more and made a face at the idea, he'd probably forget about the runs after a couple weeks and he'd fall back into doing nothing in the way of physical fitness. His eyes fell down and stared at his body, his lips working their way into a thin line. He'd never considered himself particularly unhealthy either, he wasn't fat nor was he thin. He was just…average in that category and he was perfectly comfortable like that.
Regardless, the man shook his head and started to clean up his office as best he could before he headed home. Romani's eyes flickered back over to the clock on the wall, he frowned slightly as he stared at the time before he did the maths in his head. Even if he left right this second, it would still be a little while before he managed to get home and he knew he'd end up worrying Leo needlessly if he was late.
No sense in doing that when there was no real danger, but she liked to worry about his safety and he wasn't going to hold that against her.
He paused when another idea struck him, the train station was near enough the old apartment buildings which would shave a good ten minutes off his journey. He normally didn't bother with them because they were a little creepy but he could live with it if it got him home a little faster than usual. A little fear would probably encourage him to better improve his pace.
Probably.
Now if only his heart would agree with his brain as he couldn't quite control his rapidly increasing heart rate.
Finishing up the cleaning and sorting his bag, he quickly hung up his nurses jacked on the peg at the side before throwing his coat on and slipping the bag strap over his shoulder. Making sure to flick the lights off as he stepped out of the office, he closed the door behind him and locked it. Giving it a single tug to be sure before nodding to himself and departing, making his way down the corridors.
He was halfway towards the main entrance when he almost ended up running into Tsubasa, the teal haired girl sliding to a halt when she caught sight of him and then gave him a half-smile. "Romani-sensei."
"Yura-san." He politely greeted her with his own smile "I didn't know you'd still be here." his brows furrowed in slight concern "This isn't all student council work, is it?"
The girl placed a hand on her hips and gave him a shrug "It's a commitment."
"I know that but you don't even get paid for it." Romani blurted out, staring at her with wide eyes "You're probably as committed to the student council as I am to my job." he paused, cringing "I don't know if that's embarrassing or not."
Tsubasa answered with a light hearted chuckle and a shake of the head "Probably not, considering that Kaichou expects the highest level of commitment from us as if it were a proper job." she pointed at him with a slightly larger smile "If you're as committed as us to your job, then that's probably a point in favour of you."
"Hmmmm." Romani released a dubious hum in response as he gave the girl a slightly incredulous stare before he sighed and shook his head "Well, no sense in trying to spare my feelings. I told Shinra-san before that it is better to try and enjoy-"
"The time we have in School." Tsubasa finished his sentence with a smile "She told us about your talk."
"Am I really gossip worthy?"
"No, she was just talking about your tardiness-" Romani flinched "-and one thing just led to another." crossing her arms and leaning back, her expression turned more relaxed. "We're fine doing what we're doing, Romani-sensei." she assured him "No need to worry yourself over it."
"I'm a staff member." Romani replied with a lopsided smile "I'm supposed to worry about it, Yura-san."
"Hmmmm." This time it was the girls turn to release a dubious hum as she stared at him with a raised eyebrow "I suppose you're off home then?"
"Yep." Romani nodded his head before he pulled back his watch and paled slightly "And I'm probably going to be late if I don't head back now." He slid the sleeve back, "It was nice talking with you, Yura-san. Have a good evening and tell Shitori-san not to stay up too late in doing council work."
"I will be sure to pass the message of concern along." Tsubasa nodded her head with an amused smile playing on her lips. "Although she will likely say that we are well within the bounds of adequate working hours."
"...Are you?"
Tsubasa pursed her lips and looked rather hesitant to answer the question, her eyes darting left and right before she leaned closer to the man and whispered in a strained voice "It's a lot of paperwork."
Romani raised an eyebrow at her before mirroring the gesture, leaning forwards and dropping his own voice into a whisper "Really? I was never part of the student council when I went to school so I don't know how much work you do."
"Somehow that isn't surprising."
"I know." Romani gave an unashamed nod and a ghost of a smile before his face morphed into confusion "Why are we whispering?"
"Kaichou has ears everywhere. I don't want it to look like I'm complaining."
"...Now I'm really concerned she's a yakuza daughter."
Tsubasa slapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes flying wide and a muffled noise of laughter bubbling forth from her throat as she leaned back and looked to the side. Struggling to contain the obvious mirth at the rather careless remark as her eyes occasionally flicked back and forth between Romani and the corridor.
"N-no-hahahaha-s-she isn't." Tsubasa managed to get out in between laughs as she shook her head, lowering her hand from her face "But don't say that to her fa-you already did, didn't you?" the girl asked with a flat look when she saw the embarrassed dusting of pink on Romani's cheeks.
"M-maybe?" He vaguely replied, readjusting the bag strap to occupy himself and pointedly avoid looking at the young girl. "A-anyway. I will be heading home now. Have a nice evening."
"You too, Romani-sensei!" She waved him farewell as he strode down the hallways and around the corner, disappearing into the school, the young girl lowered her arm and shook her head in amusement. "Yakuza." she snorted to herself.
The figure pulled the rags aside, the light had died down and sunset was fast approaching. A black tongue emerged from the back of the throat and licked the sharp fangs protruding from the top and bottom of the jaw as two sets of eyes blinked. The humanoid face warped itself into a pleased snarl.
The beast turned away, stomping towards the opposite end of the apartment and through a large hole in the wall leading to the inner hallway, large enough to fit the entire body made through merely walking through it when they first arrived into their lair.
This would be their final meal before they moved on. They had to keep moving.
Couldn't stay in one place that long, that was how they survived. Move quickly to ensure they weren't found. They'd already been here longer than they would have liked.
They rolled their fur shoulders as they strode down the darkened hallways, the wallpaper chipped away further as razor sharp talons dug into the surface and carved another set of lines through to match the already growing number of previous marks. The talons flicked off the wall, slicing a small chunk of plaster and dropping it to the ground in a shower of dust, the creature examined their claws and released a low and pleased growl.
Moving further down the hallways, they came upon the abandoned lift, the elevator long gone and leaving only the shaft behind. The doors bent out of shape from having been torn open. The creature barely managed to squeeze through the door frame and dropped down, an echoing crash sweeping through the empty building as it made contact with the ground.
Romani shivered slightly as he hunched his body tighter, it was still a little chillier than he was used to. In retrospect, he probably should have checked the weather before he agreed to stay late after school but it was hardly a bother to him. The air being nippy wasn't really a grand motivator in stopping him from walking home all that much.
What would have normally stopped him were the rather dilapidated streets he was walking through and the complete lack of anyone around him. His eyes scanned left and right as he passed by the buildings before they landed on the distant structure of the old apartment complex. From what he had learned, no one had made an effort to renovate it in years so it had just been left there.
He wished they would do something about it if only to stop it from just being a creepy looking building in the middle of an already creepy looking street. Kuoh had a strange habit of some parts looking fantastically modern and up to date while others looked as though they hadn't seen an architect for three hundred years.
The only reason he knew anything about architecture was because of one of Leo's odd phases where she fancied herself a building designer for a brief period of time. Which was mainly what led to the decoration of their entire house. He wouldn't have minded if he hadn't tried to ask about the eye watering price of her renovations but she had dismissed it and said that her job took care of it. He never heard of graphic design paying so well but he wasn't going to question it.
The cawing of crows had him pause, his head instantly snapping towards a nearby tree and his eyes going wide for a split second before they closed and he released a long sigh of relief. Hunching himself in closer once again and shaking his head "Just nerves Roman. Just nerves." he muttered to himself as he continued onwards.
The large crow in the tree stared at him for a few moments longer, its head tilting to the side and shifting itself to get a better view of his face before spreading its wings wide and taking off into the air.
Pulling his wrist out of his watch, Romani stared at the time with a wince before he put the hand back into his pocket and leaned forwards slightly, picking up the pace as he walked down the street with a certain vigour. It was approaching five to six at this point and he really didn't want to worry Leo further. His eyes turned skywards as the dark already started to creep in, the man winced at the speed at which evening was turning to night.
Romani briefly paused as he considered buying himself a small pocket torch for situation's just like these. It would certainly be beneficial to him to at the very least own one. Shaking his head, he continued on as he walked past the entrance to the old apartment complex, the building standing at least six stories tall. He paused as he caught sight of the main entrance, the glass doors smashed to pieces and the metal frames bent out of shape.
His eyebrows rose up as - for a split second - it looked like something had forced its way into the building before shaking his head and dismissing the notion. Opting instead to believe that vandals had taken it upon themselves to let out some stress on the building. He pitied the contractor who would have to take over this job, especially if the kids had gotten inside with cans of spray paint. That would most certainly be messy.
He continued onwards, whistling to himself as he walked down the streets, passing the old building without a care in the world.
A heavy crunch caught his attention, the sound originating from behind him.
Romani paused, his whistling ceasing as he slowly but surely turned around to see what had made the sound. His heart rate beating faster and faster the further he turned before he found himself staring at the metal frames of the glass door.
Decidedly not where he had seen them last and they certainly hadn't been wobbling back and forth like something had kicked them.
An audible gulp emanated from his throat as his eyes remained fixed on the debris as it eventually stopped moving before they flickered away from the frame and towards the main entrance again. His breathing hastened, his eyes going slightly wide as he tried to pick out anything in the darkness.
After seeing nothing, he eventually opened up his mouth and called out "H-hello?" stuttering slightly at the first syllable and very clearly sounding nervous, almost shaken.
Nothing replied to him.
"I-is anyone there?" He called out again, still staring at the door again before a crunching sound behind him had him whirl around in a panic, his hands coming out of their pockets and his breathing now much louder than before. His eyes wildly danced around him as he continued to scan his surroundings, when he found nothing again he wet his lips and slowly started to back away. "Hello?" he called out louder this time, still uncertain as to whether he would receive an answer.
He stumbled slightly on a piece of uneven sidewalk and almost fell backwards, managing to catch himself at the last moment. "I-is anyone out-"
"Yes."
He paused at the voice, low and rumbling like a growl which shot through his entire body like electricity, every syllable causing him to shake.
"W-who's there?"
"Hmhmhmhmhmhm…" The voice rumbled in an amused tone which seemingly came from all around him. His eyes danced left and right as he started to hyperventilate. "Who? Never what…I like that…always so polite…always so ignorant."
A thud behind him had him turn around to find nothing once again "D-do you need something?"
"Need? Yes. I need something. I want it too. Want. Need. Want. Need." The voice mumbled to itself as it continued to echo around him, as if changing from position to position. Romani's eyes followed along with the voice, continually finding himself staring at nothing but air. "Always both."
"T-then…money?" He called out, slightly shaky "A-are you robbing me?"
"...Yes. I am robbing you." The tinge of amusement in the voice sent icy chills up his spine as the voice breathed in his ear. Romani virtually scrambled forwards and spun around to find himself staring at nothing once again.
"L-look, I haven't got much money-"
"Money? Ah, yes…money. Currency. Alms." The voice sounded confused at first before their amusement came back in force. "But that is not what I need from you…"
"Then w-what do-"
"I need you…little man…"
Romani stopped as warm air rushed over the back of his neck, his heart rate virtually exploded forth like an olympic athlete as he sensed the presence looming over him. It was as if something was just out of the corner of his eye, but every sense in his body was screaming not to turn around.
His breath hitched as the presence moved closer to him, he could feel warm air breathing directly against his ear as the voice dropped into a whisper and yet lost none of its potency.
"...To run."
He felt something rest on his left shoulder, something large enough to virtually engulf it and slowly turn him until he was facing the direction of the abandoned apartment complex.
"Run in there." The voice continued on in a patient tone as if explaining something to a child "Try and escape me…I'll give you a head start. Go on…run!" it hissed into his voice. The moment it released his shoulder he made to turn away in the direction of the street "Not that way." The voice replied in an amused tone as it took hold of his arm "Silly little human. Our game takes place there. If you last five minutes, you win."
"W-w-why?" Was all he could manage in a shaky tone of voice, forcing back the frightened tears that were already forming under his eyes.
"Because I can. Now then…run!"
He was roughly shoved forwards by something but he never made an attempt to turn back, his mind still screaming at him not to look as he charged forwards into the main lobby and stared at the ruins of the elevator shaft before his eyes scanned the signs at the top and noted the staircase. He rushed forwards and virtually threw himself through the doors and up the stairs.
Haunting laughter echoed out behind him.
Sona shifted through the papers as she placed them into their correct folders, humming to herself as she completed the work for today and prepared herself to head home for the evening. The work had taken longer than expected, however with Saji on the verge of joining them she had increased the workload thus it was expected.
What she wasn't expecting was Tsubaki to come bursting into the student council room with a panicked expression on her face. She raised an eyebrow and already felt something was off about the situation. Tsubaki was hardly one to show emotion unless something truly dire was afoot.
"What is-"
"The stray devil has left the apartment building." She blurted out quickly, composing herself as best she could but never once losing the concerned expression on her face "It's currently giving chase to a civilian."
Sona's expression turned frozen before she turned around fully to face them "Get everyone in here and prepare a teleportation circle. Keep track of both the stray and the civilian with your familiar and alert me to any and all happenings."
She saw the look of unease on her Queen's face and furrowed her brows "Is there more to this?"
Tsubaki opened her mouth to reply again "It's hunting Romani."
"...Text the location to the others and take us there now."
Romani was cursing his poor health as he continued to sprint as fast as he could down the up the stairs, clearing nearly two steps at every turn as he moved further and further up the building. The logical part of his mind was telling him that he was just running into a trap.
Unfortunately, the logical part of his mind was overshadowed by the fearful part which was telling him to just keep running. He only paused when a growling voice cried out through the building "Ready or not! Here I come!" The sound was soon followed by shattering wood, Romani's eyes peered over the railings of the staircase just in time to see the remains of the wooden door get blasted across the floor in splinters before a large shadow stepped into the staircase.
"I can smell you!"
Romani released a panicked cry and virtually scrambled up the stairs, nearly dropping onto all fours at one point as the heavy footfalls soon followed and he didn't need to be a genius to work out that whoever - or whatever - was chasing him was climbing the stairs and from the simple fact the sounds were getting louder, they were climbing the stairs much, much faster than he was.
His eyes fell upon the closest door to him, leading to the forth floor. He slammed into it and pushed it open with his entire body, almost falling flat on his face before he turned around and slammed the door shut, his eyes falling onto the lock and snapping it closed with a satisfying click.
He didn't wait long enough to see if it had any effect before he virtually bolted down the corridor, breathing heavily as he cleared the distance from one end to the other faster than he ever thought possible, doors on either end had been broken inwards or were flat out missing as he continued to run only pausing when he heard the shattering sound of wood behind him.
He instinctively turned around, freezing when he saw the muscled furred arm currently punched through the door. The fist at the end of the arm gradually uncurled to show the clawed fingers as it retracted backwards and tightly gripped the edge of the hole before the door was violently pulled inwards and disappearing into the stairwell.
Romani let out a shrill scream as he bolted into the next room, slamming the next door behind him and turning around to see what was near him. His eyes fell upon a bookcase, rushing forwards he grabbed either side of it before heaving with all his might and pushed it towards the door, tipping it over and locking it against the door before he stepped back, panting heavily.
"That's the spirit!" The sadistic glee in the voice was more than enough to cause him to release a panicked whimper as he backed away further as something large slammed into the door, jerking it forwards with a crunch. Romani stumbled backwards as something slammed into the door again, the wood crunching and splintering as it was forced further inwards.
Romani stumbled away until his back was to the wall, his eyes fixed upon the entrance to the drab room as another thud crashed against the door, puncturing it inwards and ripping a small hole into the door. A large glowing red eye appeared through the crack in the door and swivelled around before locking onto the man cowering the corner and narrowing at him.
"There you are…" The voice growled before it disappeared, Romani widened his eyes as he heard the footsteps retreat before rushing forwards.
The door exploded into shards, soon followed by the bookcase he had placed as a barricade. Romani released a scream as he threw himself to the ground as the doorway exploded, the man narrowly avoiding being caught up in the debris field. Romani cowered on the ground, staring up as the shadow ducked into the room and strode in.
Romani stared up in shock as the shape turned towards him, glowing red eyes fell upon him and a sharp tooth grin spread across the face as it stared down at him before the giant took a single step backwards and gestured towards the ruins of the door. Romani himself remained rooted on the ground as he stared up in horror.
The arms were covered in thick black fur with the hands ending in long fingernail claws, the legs were bent in two places much like a horse but rather than ending in hooves they ended in three sharp toes like a bird. The figure easily towered over him by a good foot and what was worse was the fact the face - despite all of that - was remarkably human looking despite the hideous features on the body.
"Go on." The creature ushered in the direction of the door "I'm having fun…you aren't tired yet? Are you?" its grin was positively vicious as it started forwards and earned a cry of shock from Romani as he crawled away from it across the room before he shot to his feet and rushed forwards.
A shadow fell across the ruins of the door as the figure stepped inside, the sound old glass crunched under feet filled the reception area and was soon followed by the butt end of a cane tapping against the floor. Eyes narrowed before they travelled upwards and the lip curled into a frown.
"Always in trouble, Roman." The man grunted out before he advanced forwards, pausing to look over his shoulder as he sensed something appear just at the edge of his detection field. "Of course they'd be here." he growled to himself in a disgusted tone before shaking his head and advancing towards the stairs, stepping through the ruins of the door leading to the stairwell and jogging upwards at a casual pace.
The man's expression remained perfectly still as he jogged up the stairs, he could already sense the two groups. The one within the building and the one just outside of it and more were arriving. So it narrowed it down to one of the two peerages skulking in the town.
He personally didn't care which.
He would be long gone before they arrived.
Sona looked towards the entrance of the building as the rest of her peerage teleported in one by one. She turned towards the devils standing behind her before she faced Tsubaki "Description?"
"It matches reports of Raul." Tsubaki dutifully replied "A Knight of one of the offshoots of the Uvall family." she replied "He was reincarnated but since left to pursue his own personal hobby of killing." she grimly informed the others "No sacred gear, however he was said to one of the faster Knights."
"I see." Sona replied before she stared up at the building "And he has not yet left?"
"No."
"Hm." She hummed in response before she walked forwards "Nimura, promote yourself to Knight. You and Meguri will match his speed and run interference. The hallways will limit his ability to utilise his full potential. Hanakai and Kusaka, you will use your magic to hamper him further. Tsubaki, defend from counter attacks and Tsubasa you will attack when he is slowed."
She got affirmations from her peerage before she advanced inwards, hoping she wasn't already too late. The report had at least said this was one of the two Stray Devils that had been estimated to enter their territory. Viser being the other one, at the very least Raul was known to play with his victims and - ironically enough - that might buy the nurse some time.
Long enough for them to save him at any rate.
Gnawing at her lip, she turned towards the ruins of the door at the far end of the room and frowned before advancing onwards. Her role did not just extend to protecting the student body in her own eyes, but also that of the staff and even as hopeless as Romani could be at times, she was in no way wishing him to suffer any sort of grim fate. Especially at the hands of a Stray Devil.
Romani panted as he stumbled down the stairs, pausing as he slumped against the wall on the edge of the third floor and continued to pant. The man pressed his hand against his chest as it felt as though his heart was about to explode.
His eyes travelled upwards as he saw the figure appear around the corner, staring down at him with poorly concealed amusement which only spurred Romani to release a whimper as he continued to run onwards, stumbling towards the next door and throwing it open, slamming it shut behind him and this time falling flat onto his back.
His body was screaming in protest as this time - instead of the door being violently ripped off its hinges - was instead opened in much the same way a normal man would open the door. The knob turned slightly before it creaked open and the giant ducked down before stepping in, even quietly closing the door behind him before turning to face Romani.
The man whimpered as he rolled onto his front, dragging himself forwards as he tried to climb up.
He wasn't nearly as fortunate this time, the clawed hand smashed into the side of his ribs with the force of a sledgehammer. Romani croaked as he felt something break before finding his vision spinning in circles and a feeling of weightlessness overcame him. The feeling was brief before reality came crashing down around him in much the same way he came crashing down to earth, roughly landing on his side and coughing out a wheezing noise as all the air was blown from his lungs by the single strike.
His eyes clamped shut as he felt pain wrack his body, tears streaming down his cheeks as the footsteps closed in once again.
"Shorter than I would have liked." The creature chuckled as they crouched down at Romani's side, sneering down at him with an amused grin before their red eyes drifted across his body with a hum. "Not much meat but…beggars cannot be choosers."
A mixture of exhaustion coupled with the agony of clearly having his ribs broken was starting to affect him, unable even to form words on the tips of his tongue, instead coming out as rasping noises of pain as his vision started to blur. The form of the creature became barely visible as it cocked its sharp claws back and speared them into a point.
"Already passing out? That's no good…Let's see if we can't wake you up a li-"
The voice cut itself off as another sound was heard, the sound of the door being opened and a blur moving just behind the creature. That was all he managed to see before he ended up passing out, his eyes rolling into the back of his skull.
Raul stared in confusion at the figure who brazenly strolled through the door and into the hallway with him. His brows furrowed as they stared at the man, taking a single sniff of the air before tilting their head.
"A human?" They voiced out in confusion as they rose to their impressive seven foot height and turned around, narrowing their red eyes "You do not look like an exorcist."
"Naturally." The man responded in a flat tone as he looked past the devil towards the unconscious form of Romani. "I sincerely hope you haven't hurt him too drastically, it will already be tedious to remove the last few memories from him without having to heal him on top of that."
Raul couldn't help but release a chuckle at that, their mouth parting as they revealed razor sharp teeth "Aren't you the bold little morsel. What manner of fly wanders so willingly into the web and expects to leave with the spider's dinner?" they questioned in amusement as they stepped closer to the strange man, not even bothering to use their speed.
"A spider?" The man tilted his head "Is that how you see yourself? I view you as little more than a maggot writhing in sludge." he tapped his cane into the ground and narrowed his eyes "And disposing of the trash you inhabit is something I take great pleasure in." his lip curled as he glanced around the location "Which is why after I turn you to dust like the pathetic little cretin that you are, I will reduce this building to cinders."
"A magician then." Raul commented with a grunt, tilting his head "And one so confident? Tell me, Magician?" they drawlled the word with such clear distaste that it was almost like bile "Will you still be able to cast your fancy spells when that tongue of yours has been ripped from your mouth?"
The man didn't respond to the question, merely raised a dismissive eyebrow as though he didn't even so much as care for the presence of the being in front of him. Raul merely sneered and disappeared in a blur of motion, rocketing towards the man who showed no sign as though he'd actually seen the being move at all.
Raul's lip curled into a victorious smile as he closed in.
Sona paused as she took another step on the flight of stairs, her eyes turned upwards as the mana in the air suddenly rushed upwards as if someone was about to cast a spell.
A very powerful spell.
Her eyes widened in alarm before she turned down to the others "Tsubaki, shield!" she called out with an alert expression, the Queen swiftly responded to the command and raised her hands, the magical circles already in the process of forming before an explosion ripped through the floor above towards them.
The Queen raised her hands and clenched her fists as the circles activated and the barrier came into existence above them. The two Bishops quickly acted to support her as the flames tore through the stairwell towards them and crashed into the barrier.
The outside of the apartment complex erupted in flames, the windows along the third floor exploded outwards in a ball of fire as they extended both up and down of the building, ripping through the shoddy walls and the rickety sections of the building as the fires erupted upwards before they dissipated just as quickly.
The explosion - however - could be heard across the neighbourhood with several lights already coming on in the distance as people rushed to their windows and managed to catch a glimpse of the burning building in the distance as the smoke poured out of the building and drifted across the evening sky.
The rumbling of the explosion even managed to go as far as the other end of town, the boom sounding like a clap of thunder which managed to attract the attention of nearly everything within the general vicinity.
The man stood in the inferno, staring down at the blackened remains lying on the floor as nothing more than a vague mark. His lip curled into a frown as he then scanned his surroundings before releasing a sigh. "Dear me, I appear to have unleashed a fair bit more damage than I intended."
His eyes fell upon the form of Romani, virtually untouched along with everything a foot either side of him. The rapid protection spells he had cast did more than enough work in protecting the nurse from the damage caused by his rather destructive spell. He could sense that the devils in the stairwell were still alive, however he was confident he was cloaked from their own senses. Thus he could complete the second part of his coming here.
Stepping through the ashen smear on the ground without even acknowledging it, he approached the unconscious form of Romani and gave it a cursory glance before giving a faint sigh of relief. It would appear that despite the man being unconscious, there were no grievous wounds to his body that could not be healed with a few choice spells. The memories would be easily enough locked away without concern.
Leaning down, he rested a hand upon the man's shoulder and then closed his eyes. The pair of them soon vanished with a flash of light and scorched the ground where they had been to match the rest of the corridor.
Barely a second later, several individuals stumbled into the charred hallway with varying states of alertness to them, each one of them looking around and frowning when they saw nothing at first. Then they paused as they noticed the ground near their feet and the thick layer of ash coating it, and the fact it was vaguely in the shape of a humanoid figure.
"I believe that was…someone." Momo commented as she stared down at it with furrowed brows before looking around "And the sense of the remains. I believe this was the Stray Devil."
Sona walked out of the doorway next, followed closely by Tsubaki and stared down at the remains with a grimace before she nodded. Then looked across the devastation. "It was a single spell and aimed for maximum destruction." she stated as she walked past the remains, giving the hallway a brief scan "The air is rich in mana here."
"What about the one who cast the spell?" Tsubaki asked as she looked down at the ashen shadow burned into the floor. "Where are they?"
"They presumably departed soon after. A teleportation spell if I were to presume and considering the devastation, the one who cast it was less concerned with a quick fight as they were with a show of power."
The others blinked at that "A show of power?" Tsubasa asked with furrowed brows "To who?"
"Us." Sona replied with a grim look "This was a Stray Devil within our territory and not only were they destroyed in such a brutal and rapid manner, but the attack also is difficult to ignore." her lips thinned "Unless Rias decided she would deal with this herself-"
"What about Archaman-sensei?" Ruruko asked as she looked around the corridor with wide eyes "W-what happened to him?"
Sona paused, staring down at the body of the deceased devil before wetting their lips "There are three possibilities." she replied after a moment "Either the third party who entered here…turned Romani Archaman to dust in the same way they did Raul." The manner in which she delivered the dire news was clinical, however the words earned a flinch of shame from the peerage "They rescued Romani Archaman. Or…Romani Archaman was the individual who slew the Stray Devil and escaped."
Tsubaki's eyes nearly bulged out of her skull at the final piece of news before she managed to stop herself from openly showcasing her disbelief.
"Romani?" Tsubasa was much less inclined as her tone was nothing shy of incredulous "As in the man who steals sweets from the cafeteria and hides them in the ceiling panels? Who has never once shown irritation with anything anyone has ever done and goes out of his way to be friendly. This Romani?"
"...A suitable talent for a spy." Sona replied after a brief moment before shaking her head "However, the last one is equally unlikely. Any spy with a sense of competence would have left the Stray Devil for us to deal with and departed rather than blindly wander into this mess and do…" she gestured around her "This." she turned to Tsubasa "Can you determine any specific spells used?"
The girl shook her head "It's like a bonfire of magical energy in here. Trying to discern if there was one spell or dozens is…not doable."
"...I see." Sona grimaced in frustration before her ears tickled and she turned around towards the blown out window at the end of the corridor, the others similarly looked in the general direction as they heard sirens blasting away in the distance. "...We shall depart from here and work out an excuse for this tomorrow."
"It's an unsupervised building." Tomoe remarked with a shrug as she looked around before tilting her head "Gas leak?"
Sona stared at her in silence for a few moments before she raised a dubious eyebrow "A…gas leak?"
"I mean…why not?" The girl asked with an innocent look on her face "It would work."
Sona merely gave a noncommittal hum in response before she looked around at the room. Any sufficiently high temperature - even if it turned Romani to dust - would have at least left a shadow of the man on the wall. The fact there wasn't one present meant that Romani wasn't dead and while she would have very much liked to search the building further, the approaching presence of local authorities would make that complicated.
The peerage gathered around into a group before the teleportation circle activated, consuming them and once again leaving the hallway vacant from any possible individuals.
Romani groaned as consciousness returned to him, the man clasped his forehead as pain instantly assailed him "What the…" he murmured out in a slur, still very much unaware of his current situation and now left wondering what exactly happened that he would be unconscious to begin with.
"Ah, you are back with us, are you Roman?" The deep - and faintly familiar - voice rang in his ears like a bell. The man hissed as he tightly clamped his eyes shut before blinking them open. He released a deep groan as he attempted to shift his body only to feel a hand press down upon his shoulder and keep him stationary. "Try not to move too quickly Roman, you took a nasty fall."
"Wha-?" Romani muttered out as his eyes managed to blink themselves open, showing nothing in front of him but a blurry mess of shapes and colours. "Where…fall?"
"You're in a bus stop." The voice informed him with a faint tinge of worry "You did have me concerned for a moment there but if the worst that you have is a slight spot of dizziness, then that is fine."
The blurs gradually refined themselves into more detailed shapes, Romani found himself staring up at a very familiar face before his brows furrowed "Wha-what happened?" he asked in a quiet tone as the pain came back although nowhere near as bad as before.
"I found you on the side of the street, near an uneven piece of sidewalk. From the looks of things you took a nasty tumble." His friend dutifully informed him with a sigh, then gestured to his head "On an uneven sidewalk and bashed your head, nothing serious but you blacked out for a short while." He chuckled "You were fortunate I was coming back from buying myself some groceries and spotted you."
Romani blinked at him, then slowly shifted his eyes towards the white bag lying just to the side of the bench he was situated on before his eyes drifted back "Oh…thanks." he groaned as he tried to sit up, two hands steadied him as he ascended into a sitting position "I feel a bit better…"
"That's good." The man gave a light sigh before shaking his head "I don't blame you though, I got a little spooked as well."
"...Eh?"
The man stared at him in plain confusion "From the blast?"
"B-blast?" Romani choked on air "What blast!?" he shouted before wincing and clasping a hand over his head "Ooooh…"
"I'm not sure." The man frowned at him before nodding past him, Romani followed his line of fight towards the black smoke rising up in the distance and just barely visible amidst the darkening skyline. "Looks as though it came from one of the old housing estates. They haven't been touched in years and it wouldn't surprise me if something gave way." a hand gestured around him "Although the entire street is in quite a frenzy."
Romani blinked at him before looking around and seeing around a dozen or so people standing in the street - or poking their head out of their house windows - and staring off in the direction of the smoke with a sense of enraptured curiosity.
"Well, the fire brigade was fast to respond though." The man continued on "So I'm sure we'll find out soon enough." giving a grunt, he rose back to his full height and stared down at the nurse "Do you want me to walk you home or do you think you would be able to manage it?"
Romani opened his mouth to reply before the man cut him off with a chuckle.
"I'll just walk you home and give myself peace of mind. We hardly need you falling over again and Heaven knows what Leona would do if she found out I left you all alone out here with that nasty bump on your head."
Romani rolled his eyes as he swung his legs over the side of the bench and leaned forwards, resting his hands on his knees and grimacing while blinking. The pain in his head was gradually subsiding to the point where it felt like it was little more than a headache, although he assumed there was going to be a bruise.
"Thanks…" He replied to the man with a genuine smile as he pushed himself up to his feet, the man in front of him raised a single hand to catch him in case he fell and was rewarded with a bland look for his efforts.
"I know I'm injured but it's not that bad." Romani replied with a sigh, shaking his head and rubbing his forehead "Just a headache is all…and probably a bruise." he paused "Do you think I have a concussion?"
"I'd assume you do not."
"You're not a medical professional."
"And you are." The man admitted with a nod of the head before staring at him expectantly "Do you have a concussion?"
"I mean…I don't remember falling over." Romani replied in a concerned voice as he scrunched his face up in effort before shaking his head "And I feel like I'm a little dizzy so…probably?"
"I assume you know more than me." The man replied with a wry smile, Romani gave him a mirthful huff in response as he swayed on his feet for a moment before steadying himself. "You can walk, yes?"
Romani rolled his eyes "Again, not that injured."
"I worry." The man replied with a chuckle before his expression turned more serious "Now then, let us get you back home before Leona calls and it's both of us on the receiving end of a rather stern glare."
Romani paled slightly before he looked down at his watch and winced, his expression faltering as he saw the cracked glass face and the hands frozen at ten past six. "...Oh man." He muttered in a quiet and slightly despondent voice "Leo worked really hard on this too."
The man leaned forwards and frowned, laying a hand on Romani's shoulder in a comforting manner "I am certain she might forgive you on this one instance of clumsiness." He replied with a somewhat sombre tone "Perhaps she might fix it."
"I'd rather it wasn't broken to begin with." Romani replied with a sigh before he put his hand back in his pocket and checked his phone. Then blanched.
His friend raised a lone eyebrow at the man as he continued to stare at the device before he wordlessly flipped the screen down and scrunched his face up in agony.
"Something the matter, Roman?"
"...Seven missed calls." Romani replied in a voice scarcely higher than a whisper.
"Ah." The man responded with a wince, looking down at the ground for a few moments before he gave Romani a half smile "Perhaps now would be a good time to call her back then?"
Romani stared at him in much the same way a man would stare at his executioner. In many ways he wasn't far off and Romani most certainly wasn't looking forward to that conversation. Taking a deep breath, he hit the dial tone and slowly moved the phone up to his ears. The ringing on the other end continued for a few moments before he heard a voice on the other end.
"Roman? Roman is that you?"
"Y-yeah…listen, I-"
"Are you alright? You weren't answering any of my calls and then there was this explosion across town and-"
"I'm fine, Leo." Romani replied in a soothing tone, slightly taken aback by the panic in her voice "I'm fine! Nothing wrong with me…well, erm…save a little bump is all."
"A bump? What do you mean 'a bump'?"
"Hehehe…funny story." Romani nervously chuckled "Turns out that I…may have…tripped on an uneven sidewalk and knocked myself out."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Erm…Leo? Ar-are you still there?" He looked away from his phone and towards the man standing barely a foot from him with a blank expression, the man merely shrugged at him before looking away. "A-anyway, listen. I'm on my way back now so I'll be home in around ten minutes, alright?"
"...Really?"
"Yep. I'm pretty close now so I should be-"
"No, not that…you…you really tripped on an uneven sidewalk?"
Romani winced "Yes…Really though, I'm quite alright. Well…I might have a concussion but that's to be expected so I'm going to try and take it easy." his friend snorted from the side and earned a flat look from Romani, raising his hands in surrender at the expression. "...Easier than I normally take it at least." he felt a swathe of relief course through his body as the tension in Leo's voice melted away into a light giggle from the other end.
"Hmmm~ Does this mean you're always concussed then?"
It was Romani's turn to joke this time, shaking his head at her antics "Very funny." he remarked in a dry voice "I'll be home soon. See you."
"Yeah…Love you."
"...I…" He sent a quick glance towards the man standing to his left before turning away from him and whispering into the phone "I love you too."
Smiling to himself, he closed the phone up and turned back around to see the man with his usual smile somehow wider than before.
"What?"
"Oh…Nothing." The man chuckled to himself "Now then, let us get you home to your family and watch out for any more uneven sidewalks."
Leona stared at the phone before she placed it back down into the port and watched the charging icon flare up, the woman leaned against the chest of drawers and let out a shaky breath before she turned to her visitor.
The purple haired woman in a suit stared back at her with a tinge of reassurance "Was that Roman?"
"Yes." Leona nodded with a relieved smile, shaking her head as she walked across the room and slumped herself down in her chair "Said he-hahaha…said he tripped over an uneven sidewalk and knocked himself out." she carried on with a light chuckle, earning a raised eyebrow from the woman in the chair opposite her and a shake of the head.
"That does sound like him." She remarked before her lips thinned into a line "...You're sure you weren't mistaken."
Leona's smile faltered, falling down into a quivering lip "...I wouldn't have called anyone out here if I wasn't." she sniffed to herself, rubbing the bridge of her nose "Least of all you."
The woman merely gave her a smile "Sorry to ask though, I just have to be sure is all. A territory such as this with the people living here?" she let out a long and amused sigh "You're lucky its just a former association we have with you and all." she paused "Well….long distance at any rate."
"I know." Leona replied "But I'm certain of it. The watch…it registered Demonic energy consistent with a Stray Devil."
"And yet Roman is alive and well from the sounds of things and will be strolling through those doors." The woman remarked "...So how is he getting on?"
Leona gave a light sigh "...He's really getting into it." she replied honestly "These last few months for him…I might tease him about being laid back but it's a lot better to how he used to be at any rate. Always worrying over something."
"And now look at you…reversing the roles." The woman replied before she flashed a teasing smile "Do you also reverse the roles in b-"
"None of that now." Leona cut her off with an amused smirk "...More concerned with how he got away."
The carefree expression on her conversation partner's face mellowed out "Could always have been the Devils." she replied honestly "They would have swooped in, saved him, then wiped his mind. Whatever else you can say about them they can at least take care of their territory." she paused. "Well…at least around here they have to unless they want Yasaka coming back down on them like a guillotine. That Belial incident already had some rumors floating about."
Leona raised an eyebrow "You always were rather well informed of Devil politics."
"Hey, it helps to be informed." The woman replied with a smirk before sighing "Anyway…I'll stick around until Roman gets back." she continued on with a chuckle "It's been a while since I've seen him."
"We did move to a town where you aren't exactly welcome." Leona pointed out with a wry smile before shaking her head "Again, sorry about that."
"A blow for girls night out." The woman replied with a sigh of her own before flashing a conspiratorial smile as if she knew something Leona didn't. "Well…maybe one day though, right?"
Leona narrowed her eyes playfully "You and your secrets." she muttered before leaning back into her chair and smiling "...Thanks for coming though."
"...What are friends for if you can't rush thousands of miles for one at the drop of a hat and into enemy territory?"
"You can stop in for a quick coffee as thanks." Roman remarked to his friend as they approached his house, the man raised an eyebrow at him in response.
"I'd hate to impose…"
"At least do this for me?" Romani pleaded slightly "For my own conscience that I've paid you back a little for helping me."
"I was hardly going to leave you on the street like garbage." The man responded with a roll of the eyes before eventually sighing "I suppose I might as well." he eventually relented "If only because if I don't, I know Leona will come rushing down the street hunting me down just to drag me back for the coffee."
"Leo is rather determined when she wants to be." Romani remarked as he stopped at the front door and opened it up "Really determined."
"You probably know more than me." The man replied with a shrug as he stepped up behind Romani "Good that these are fresh groceries too. Else you'd have cold water soaking into your carpets."
"Leo would probably try to build her own carpet steamer." Romani chuckled in response as he opened the door "I'm back Leo-" he cut himself off and stared down at the second pair of shoes in the hallway "Are we expecting company?"
"A sudden visitor is all." Leo's voice rang back through the house "She was just stopping by quickly."
"Ah, right." Romani nodded his head in response "Oh, we have another guest by the way."
"We're popular tonight, aren't we?"
Romani chuckled in response as he stepped into the house and removed his coat, setting his bag down on the ground "Don't I know it." he turned back around and waved the man in "Come on, I know you like to meet new people."
"Hmmm." The man merely hummed in response as he stepped into the house after Romani, the nurse closing the door behind him. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to meet any of your friends."
"Well…I don't know that many people who wear high heels." Romani replied with a chuckle "Might be one of Leo's work friends, she normally has a couple of them around but we haven't actually had a visit from them in quite a while. Not since we moved here actually."
"You hear that Leo?" Romani and his friend paused at the amused voice "Roman doesn't know that many people who wear heels! It means I'm special to him!"
"It means he doesn't get out much, is what it means." Leona replied with a hint of amusement in her voice.
Romani and his friend strode into the living room and found themselves staring at Leona and the new arrival. The woman had long purple hair and rather strong eyes of a similar colour, wearing a black office suit and sat up with red socks. She flashed the nurse a teasing smile "Hello Roman!"
"Penny?" Romani blinked at her in surprise before he paused and looked around with a hint of worry "...Az isn't here, is he?"
The woman, Penny, snorted in response before she shook her head "Nothing like that. Just me, I'm afraid. I know how much you two like each other."
Romani rolled his eyes at her in response before smiling down "Still, nice of you to drop by. Feels like I haven't seen you in months." he looked towards Leona "Although I wish I knew you were coming."
Leona gave him a shrug "It was a sudden visit."
"I was in the neighbourhood and thought I would stop by Leo's place." Penny remarked before her eyes moved past Romani and fell upon the slightly taller man, raising a lone eyebrow and giving him an inquisitive look "...Nice hat."
"...Thank you." The man responded after a few moments before looking towards Romani with an odd expression "Friend of yours?"
"Friend of Leo's actually-" Romani replied before the woman pouted.
"Really? We aren't friends?" Penny sniffed "I'm hurt Roman…"
Romani stared at her with wide eyes "Wha-no, wait a minute…I…erm…"
Penny snorted and devolved into a fit of giggles before turning to Leona "He's not changed at all."
Romani slumped before shaking his head and turning back to the man "Like I said, old friend of Leo's. From before we met."
"Ah, I see." The man nodded his head in response and looked down at her "...Pleasure."
"I know." The woman chuckled before looking between the two of them "Work colleagues?"
"Yes." The man nodded his head before turning to Leona "I'm just visiting quickly." he raised his shopping bag meaningfully "Happened to spot Roman on the floor and thought I'd better check on him."
Leona's face turned more worried as she flashed a look of concern towards Romani "Are you really sure you're alright?"
"Fine." Romani assured her, gesturing to himself "See? No harm."
"Quite fortunate in that regard." The man replied with a shake of the head "Cutting through the old complexes late at night? Fortunately I spotted you. Who knows how long you would have been lying there otherwise."
Leo stared at him wide eyed before her gaze snapped to Romani "You walked through there?" she frowned at him "I know I said I wanted you back early but really? There's a reason people avoid it, you know."
"Ehhhh…I figured it would have been alright?" Romani tried to argue back before he cringed at the expression on her face "Sorry…It just seemed quicker."
Leona stared at him for a few moments before her face softened. "Alright…I'm just glad you're safe." her eyes turned to the man "Are you staying for dinner?"
"Oh no." The man shook his head "I couldn't possibly-"
"Come on." Leona urged him "It's rare we have more than one guest over its normally one of my friends rather than Roman's."
The man looked between Leo, Romani and Penny in silence, his eyes lingering on the purple haired woman for a few moments before his shoulders eventually dropped. "Very well then…" he turned to Romani and gave the man an exasperated expression "So much for a single cup of coffee."
Romani chuckled wryly and shrugged "...Oops?"
"Well then." Penny smiled up at the man and climbed out of the chair before turning to face him, the man still had a few good inches of height on her, even without the addition of a tophat. "I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Peneume. My friends call me Penny."
The man stared at the extended hand for a brief second before he raised his own to clasp it in a gentle handshake, flashing her a closed eyed smile "Lev Lainur."
AN: Romani and Leona.
You two really have the strangest friends, don't you?