She who found bonds of friendship
XII
It was difficult for Issei to pinpoint the exact moment where everything had gone wrong, he knew the time frame it had occurred within. It was so short that the events all just sort of blurred together for him, but the fact remained that everything had gone so completely and utterly wrong that he couldn't help but freeze up for half a second.
The day had been perfect, or as perfect a day as he could possibly have had with a girl since the last time he went on a date. The ending of that one aside, it had been a thoroughly enjoyable experience that he wholeheartedly believed would have led to something deeper. The results spoke for themselves in what happened at the end, but that was not where his mind was at this moment.
The 'date' with Asia - if it could really be called that, and he personally would have been fine with either explanation of it - had gone exceedingly well for the most part. Sour news towards her circumstances aside, Issei would have said with absolute certainty that Asia had been given a fun time throughout the day, he'd seen her smile and laugh, watched as she experienced new things and relished in each and every one of them.
To describe how that made him feel would have been a little difficult, it would have been akin to asking him to describe a colour if he had to put it into words. There was just a warm and bubble feeling deep inside him that just sent waves of satisfaction rolling through his body every time he saw the girl smile. It hadn't just been because she was a cute girl who had a nice smile and a pretty laugh, it was because he felt…happy?
Yes, happy would have been a good enough word for it. It felt like he was personally sharing in the enjoyment of Asia, almost like the girl was a plague of euphoria.
That was probably also not the best comparison he could have made, but it was the closest one he could personally think of. The fact of the matter was that her happiness was pretty much contagious for both himself and, he imagined, for Roman-sensei as well. Which eventually led towards the revelation of her past and the damper it had put on the general mood.
Issei hadn't really felt that angry before in his life. He'd been angry before, but never quite that angry. It was like his entire body was on fire and he had to control every fibre of his being just to stop himself from exploding in a fit of rage. Well, his opinion had been solidified in that one moment. Asia was a girl who didn't deserve to experience any of that and regardless of what Buchou said about her, Issei would be damned before he left her alone with those creeps.
All of which had brought him up to this moment, the phone call to Mrs Archaman and the fact that Asia had been invited to the woman's house was something of a surprise to him. It was clearly just as much a surprise to Roman-sensei as neither of them had really known what to do at the time of finding out about Asia's circumstances. If Issei was honest, the timing couldn't really have been better for it. For the most part, Mrs Archaman seemed like a nice woman - if a little scarily protective - and gave the impression that she did care for Asia in some capacity.
That was perfect for him, just as long as Asia was with someone who actually cared about her was enough for him. Which brought them on the path back to Roman-sensei's house which Issei had realised he'd never seen before. Sure he'd seen the man on the walk to work but he'd never seen his house before. So it was one of those things he was idly curious about and perhaps a secondary motive to walking Asia back with him.
The first being to keep the girl company for as much time as he could.
All of which brought them up to this moment.
The moment where the world seemingly moved in slow motion for Issei as he beheld the impossible scene in front of him. It was impossible because he couldn't quite believe it was happening all over again. Once more he had experienced a perfectly enjoyable time that he would never imagine himself experiencing - even if Roman-sensei was sort of just there - and then something went wrong right at the end. For a moment, Issei had believed that the worst was behind them with the reveal of Asia's past.
It wasn't.
Watching Roman-sensei walk around the wall one moment, and then in the next watch as the man was sent flying back across the street, his body folding like a deck chair and his face frozen in a look of perfectly innocent confusion, something Issei imagined he would have mirrored perfectly if someone had shown him his reflection.
He didn't even hear Asia let out a scream of horror, all he was focused on was the outstretched hand that had virtually just appeared, his eyes remaining fixed ahead of him as the nurse just flew out of the corner of his eye and presumably struck the road if the cut off gasp and loud thud was any indication. Issei just stared at the leather glove with the fingers wrapped into a fist, blinking once as it started to fall and a figure walked around from the corner directly in front of him.
Issei felt his breath get caught in his throat, his eyes narrowed into pinpricks at the face that appeared. An sickeningly amused smile painted on those lips when the violet coloured orbs flickered in his direction and made contact with his own eyes.
"Ho?" That voice that flowed like a river, the mirth all but coating it like paint "I heard that you had been brought back as a Devil but I didn't think I'd be seeing your face so soon." the long raven black hair, the tar coloured black wings which flexed from her back, the creak of leather from her every movement and the skimpy outfit that was nothing if not an exhibitionists restrained outfit.
Amano Yuuma tilted her head ever so slightly, placing her right hand on her hip and leaning her body to one side. "Hmmm? Why are you looking at me like that?" The smile seemed to widen as she noticed his expression, one which must have been rather stupid looking if the fact her amusement grew larger and larger by the second was any indication. "Ah, I bet you just couldn't forget about me, isn't that right?" she blinked several times, her voice shifting from confident to diminutive in a heartbeat, her face moving from cruel to kind "Issei-kun~"
Issei felt as though his heart had stopped.
Asia's horrified scream started it once more "Roman!" she scampered away from him, rushing towards the downed nurse without even taking notice of the Fallen Angel now standing directly in front of the pair.
His body jolted, his lips pulled themselves into a stern snarl and he leaned back away from her in the event she tried to pull anything. Whether it was due to his mind catching up with him or Asia's panic, Issei didn't care. All that mattered to him was that the moment of freezing had passed him by and he could move once again. His body snapping into a posture of readiness.
With Yuuma immediately ignored as she inclined her head in the direction of Asia and raised a questioning eyebrow, her expression shifting into disinterest as she stared at the nun. Now acting as though Issei didn't even exist. "Huh? Did I step on something when I arrived?" She asked aloud, her tone of complete dismissal "I didn't notice because it was so small."
"You-!?" Issei spat the words out as though they were bile, whether it was due to him speaking or the fact she just lost interest in whatever Asia was doing, it didn't matter. Her attention returned to Issei with the same look of boredom that had been aimed towards the nun, her posture still loose and confident, not even making an effort to regard Issei as anything even remotely close to dangerous.
"Oh, yes. You're still here, aren't you?" She sighed to herself, the fact she went so far as to close her eyes and shake her head from side to side while speaking in an exasperated tone of voice only served to wrangle Issei's pride further. He could feel his emotions getting ready to boil over once again at her completely dismissive attitude. Both towards himself and the man she had just flattened without even caring. "Honestly, making me kill the same loser twice. Don't you know you bugs are supposed to stay dead when someone squashes you?"
Yuuma opened her eyes again, the look in those violet orbs making it obvious she regarded him as little more than scum. Then a glimmer of amusement returned to them, though it was still underlying to the disgust aimed his way. "Unless you're some manner of Devil Cockroach, I suppose that type of vermin is really hard to stamp out." Her lips pulled themselves up into a cruel smirk "Perhaps I can put in a little more effort to make absolutely certain your worthless face never curses my eyes ever again."
Her wings flexed ever so slightly, it was more than enough to spur Issei into action and move away from her. He glanced Asia and Roman out of the corner of his eyes, seeing the girl leaning over the prone form of Roman with her hands extended towards him, for a brief moment he could swear he could see a faint green light coming from her palms, though he quickly dismissed it and focused on what was important.
Without even a moment of hesitation, he stamped his foot down after completing his quick dash and halting his momentum. Whirling his body in the direction of Yuuma - who only made an effort to track him with her eyes - and placing himself directly between her and the pair behind him. His hands clenched into fists.
Yuuma turned her head to him, dropping it at an angle and giving him an utterly flat look, her lips set in a thin line and her brows and her eyes thoroughly unamused. "...You're being serious, aren't you?" She asked with her voice full of exasperation bordering on annoyance, Issei had heard that type of tone before though this held the promise of something a little bit worse than a lecture. "You're already forcing me to put more effort into stamping you out and now you want to try and waste more of my time?"
A huff of annoyance. "You're a really presumptuous little bug, aren't you?"
A wheezing cough from behind him had Issei tighten his expression, as much as he wanted to check on Roman-sensei he knew for a fact he couldn't take his eyes off the girl in front of him no matter what. He didn't know what it was, but he could tell that the instant he did it would be bad news for him.
"Roman!" Asia cried out again, though this one sounded much less panicked and far more relieved than it had done previously. Issei tightened his stance ever so slightly, raising his hands in something eerily similar to a clumsy style of boxing. Yuuma's expression curled from a deadpan to disbelief in a split second, as though she genuinely didn't know what he was doing. He didn't know how to fight at all, but he could probably throw a punch if push came to shove. "Why would you-?"
Yuuma cut Asia off with a scoff, turning herself to face Issei and placing both her hands on her hips this time, leaning forwards slightly and turning her head to the side and presenting him with her right cheek, her matching eyebrow raised. "Oh, please. Don't tell me you're going to swing at me." Her lip curled up slightly, looking as though she was fighting back a laugh. "No, please. Tell me you're going to try…I would very much like to do something entertaining this evening."
Issei clenched his jaw together, enough so that he could almost swear he heard his teeth crack inside his mouth. The fact she was just outright taunting him at this point made it so aggressively obvious how much she looked down upon him.
"Why are…?" Asia's voice came out as a quiet whisper, lacking any aggression or sadness, one of innocent bewilderment. "Miss Raynare…why are you here?"
Raynare thinned her lips and leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest and looking past Issei as though he didn't exist, her attention falling solely onto the young girl behind him. "That should be obvious." Her tone was hard, as though she was an irritable teacher dealing with an unruly student. "I can't have you running around as you please now, can I? So I'm here to take you back."
Asia took in a sharp breath behind him, Issei tensed at the quiver in her voice as her next words spilled forth in a rush. "I-I don't want to go back to a place where I have to kill people!"
Raynare(?) levelled an unimpressed look at the girl, then closed her eyes and sighed, opening them up once she had finished. "Is this about Freed? It was hardly as though he made an effort to hide his insanity." she waved her hand "Besides, you worked for the Holy Church until recently, do you have any idea what they're doing?" her lips curled into a smirk that Issei found detestable. "Honestly, complaining about working for a group that kills 'people' is a really hypocritical thing for you to do at this stage, isn't it?"
"That is…"
"And now you're palling around with Devils?" Her right hand came away, waving towards him as though he was a piece of furniture. "Why the sudden change of heart? You think all those exorcists and executors who came to you with grievous injuries got those from praying too hard?"
Asia didn't respond immediately, something that earned a huff of victory from the Fallen Angel as she returned the arm to its folded position. "Though I suppose I'm not without a token amount of understanding. A little girl like you had probably never seen anything like that before, right? It was my mistake to send you out with Freed but I didn't see how else you would learn."
"Learn?" Issei grimaced at the memory. His lips curled in disgust, his mind racing as images of that house, of that body, and the sadistic grin of that crazy priest came flooding through his mind. Asia was there to learn something? What the heck was there to learn from making her see such a horrific thing? "She learned something alright…She learned you're a bunch of creeps!"
"...Isn't there something about being seen and not heard? Honestly, you're much more tolerable when you're like that." Raynare scoffed at him, briefly glancing at him before dismissing him once more. "Really, I'm not even sure why I'm wasting my time engaging in a conversation like this in the first place with you."
She moved to take a single step forward.
That was all the incentive Issei needed, still standing in front of Asia, he felt the spark flash through him. His left arm tensed, his body jolted the rush moving through to his arm but all the same, he did it anyway. It was like electricity coursed through the limb, not painful but a little unpleasant.
"Sacred Gear!"
The widening of Raynare's eyes was a little satisfying as she stopped whatever she was doing and finally started paying attention to him. His left arm thrust in front of him, green light rushed through the limb before it solidified in the shape of a jagged metal gauntlet, crimson light burst through the cracks of green, the aura fading away and leaving behind the shape of his Sacred Gear.
It wrapped around his forearm, leaving his knuckles and fingers exposed, the smoothed red steel split apart towards the front end of it to showcase the dulled green orb, a burning orange just beneath the surface, twin yellow spikes jutting backwards from each side of the outer layer of gauntlet.
Raynare stared at him for a moment-
"Pfft!" Her features instantly twisted in genuine amusement, the shock vanished as she took a half step backwards and raised her left hand to cover her mouth. "Pffhahahaha!"
Throwing back her head, she let out a laugh straight from the gut as though she'd heard the funniest joke all day, Issei wasn't sure what was so amusing but it sort of wrangled him a little bit, his brows furrowed and his lips deepen their frown the longer he stared at her, already feeling the burning desire for her to just stop laughing.
"Hahahahaaaaaa~." Eventually the giggling died down, Raynare lowering the hand and blinking away the faint tears that had been building up in her eyes. "I'm feeling rather embarrassed of myself now. Going through all that fuss over something as meagre as Twice Critical?" the lip curled down slightly "Really…I suppose that's one victory you've gotten out of me. I now feel like a fool but it's more than been made up for with that little display of yours."
"What the heck are you-?"
"Twice Critical…quite frankly, it's one of the most common and weak Sacred Gears out there." She explained with a wave of her hand, her posture loosening once more and no longer making an effort to be as guarded as she had been previously. "Really, after all I was told as well…'He has a powerful Sacred Gear' and now I find out it's nothing more than Dragons Hand?" she raised her hands in shock "The power to double your users power? How frightening…but in the hands of someone like you-?"
Issei widened his eyes, taking a step back on instinct.
The instant in which she had looked distracted, she had acted.
Her body fell forwards into a dash, moving at speeds he could barely even register and finding the girl in front of him in the blink of an eye. Being barely midway through moving by the time she was already prepared, there was very little Issei found himself capable of doing when she thrust her right hand up, grinning at him in a face as cruel as possible.
His breath caught in his throat, his words failed to pass between his lips and he couldn't even make an effort to gasp. Whatever air he had inside him had been thoroughly robbed from his body, instead his eyes trailed down towards his left side, the area just around his ribs-
And to Raynare's hand which had speared through his shirt and his body, judging by the growing crimson red stain a shade darker than his shirt. His eyes remained locked on the hand, thoroughly dumbfounded and ignorant to everything else that was going on in the world.
"Doubling zero still gives you zero." Despite that, Raynares amused voice reached his ears, finding himself stumbling forward when she grabbed ahold of his jacket and used it to keep him standing on his feet, even as she ripped her arm from his chest and show cased her fingers now slick with his life force. She made a face as she stared at it, then reached back towards him with her hand.
Wiping her bloodied fingers on his clothes as though he was a towel, then unceremoniously dropping him on the floor.
"I suppose you Devils are funny roaches like that. A blow like that would kill a normal human but-"
"Issei!" Asia's words cut off whatever she was going to say, Issei felt something wash over his body. Air rushed back into his lungs in a cough, bringing him out of whatever muted state he was in and back into the lucid world, coughing in and out as the wound on his gut seemingly closed up, despite the blood remaining on his shirt. The boy scuttled backwards, his right hand moving towards his previously injured body and clenching over the now healed entry wound.
"...You're still going on that sort of thing, aren't you?" Raynare looked past him towards Asia, staring at the girl for a moment before she sighed and looked towards the sky. "I suppose it was a hasty bounded field, so I'm a little pressed for time right now and even squashing a bug like you would be annoying…" she looked back down at him once more.
"If you just lie back down on the ground like the worm you are, I can overlook your squirming and take Asia away with me." She offered with a disinterested wave of the hand. "It's not like she should mean anything to you, seeing as how she's a disgraced nun and you're a scummy little devil."
Issei felt red hot anger spike through his body at her words "You bitch!" he ignored the rush of pain through his body, he ignored the surprised calls of Asia and he most certainly ignored the irritated look on Raynare's face as he surged back up, stumbling a little bit with how fast he moved compared to how fast he really should have been able to in that moment. "Like hell I'm gonna abandon her to you!"
"Issei, don't-!" Asia called out behind him.
"Don't worry, Asia!" Issei called back to her as he readied himself once more "You're not going anywhere with this-!"
"Bitch?" Raynare replied back with a toneless voice "You'll never get a girlfriend if you go around calling women that sort of thing."
Issei heard static, swinging his whole body forwards at her smirking face, she merely leaned back and he was in the front row seat watching his left hook sail right past her face without even touching her. It was a little sad to watch, even for him, to see his punch just glide past her without even touching skin. He watched as she sidestepped, bringing up her own left hand with burgundy coloured light flashing around in her palms and solidifying, forming the shape of a thin jagged spear.
Her grin turned triumphant as he widened his eyes, already too far into the punch to even think about avoiding what would happen next.
Something slammed into his chest and knocked him back, oddly enough it wasn't followed by the agonised burning he had been expecting, something that caused him to blink in slow motion as he fell backwards. The spear that had been poised to strike him veered wildly off course, Issei remained transfixed on the sight as the weapon twisted rather suddenly.
His confusion was matched by the wielder, Raynare's violet coloured eyes widening in shock and her head turning to her left in surprise. Wrapped around Raynare's weapon arm was another hand, twisting her entire arm to ensure that the spear couldn't be aimed at Issei, the boy followed the direction of the new arrival and found his eyes widening as he saw the person who had saved his life.
Romani was already pushing Raynare away from him - his left arm outstretched from having pushed him out of the way - while his right hand was wrapped around Raynare's wrist like a vice, so much so that he could hear the creaking of leather from the tightness of the grip, the expression of the nurse being devoid of emotion as he virtually blurred past.
Raynare opened her mouth as it to snarl, Romani jerked the arm and twisted it around behind her back, her grip on the spear loosened as the construct shattered into motes of light, turning the Fallen Angel so that her front was now facing the wall they had been standing near and shoving her forwards, his left hand flew up and clamped down into the back of her head, his hands snaking in between her hair and clenching down tightly.
The fact he then followed it up by dashing forwards and slamming Raynare's face into the stone wall only added to his bafflement.
He hit the ground with a thud, eyes still wide and mouth parted in shock. "Roman-sensei-"
The nurse opened his mouth.
Whether or not he said anything Issei could understand didn't really register with him.
The second Romani opened his mouth and the first traces of noise passed through his lips, all Issei could feel was agonising pain, his eyes clamped shut and he fell backwards, a scream bursting forth from his throat as his hands shot up towards his head and wrapped around them, pressing so tightly against his ears to try and drown out whatever it was that was bringing this horrifying agony upon him.
It was as though someone had set fire to his head, that was the closest he could think of describing the sensation he was currently being assaulted with, he couldn't even hear his own screaming on account of the static pain racking his skull, burning away at his mind and just stamping down on his face for good measure. Twisting his body around, he curled up into a ball as if to try and make himself be as small as possible to the noise. He wasn't thinking clearly at this point, all he wanted was for the pain to just stop.
Raynare wasn't sure what she was supposed to think at this moment in time.
It had all been rather simple.
Find the lost nun, get her back and then maybe - if they were a nuisance - kill the Devil that had been hovering around her like a fly hovered around shit. It wasn't even something she would consider worth her time, but she had only done it once she found out that the little human had been reincarnated as a Devil.
She just wanted to go there and make fun of his stupid face to see what sort of expression he would make when she taunted him. If she was being honest, she was more than a little pleased at the result. The way his face had frozen up when he first saw her, the way it twisted and turned in pain and fury directed towards her when she pressed all those little buttons was worth every second.
Then she started to get bored of him, especially when he spewed all that nonsense and she just wanted to demonstrate the gap between the two of them. Just so he understood his place as nothing more than a little bug.
Then the human she had kicked out of the way suddenly grabbed her, she hadn't even been paying attention to him on account of her having more important things to concern herself with. If he had been smart, he would have just rightfully stayed on the ground like the worm he was rather than dare to even think about laying his hands on her.
It got strange when he twisted her arm around her back.
It got insulting when he slammed her face into the corner of the stone wall just as quickly, effectively stopping her from gutting the little devil roach, though it wouldn't take even a second to break out of this weak little hold of the hairless ape and break his neck as if it was made of twigs. She'd normally have savoured the look of despair on his face for this insult but she was pressed for time and this entire affair had been drawn out for far longer than it had any right to be.
All she needed to do was break out of the hold.
…
Why couldn't she break out of the hold.
"Roman-sensei-" The bug voiced out in a mixture of surprise and alarm, she was now a little annoyed that she knew the name of this stupid ape. She didn't want her precious thoughts to even spare a single second towards this scum. The only thing worth remembering would be his face as he died, but even that would probably leave her with a sour note for how she had been manhandled by a mere human. She could probably save face by killing both of them here and now and just taking Asia away. It's not like she was going to rat her out.
The idea of either Dohnaseek or Kalawarner finding out about this little embarrassment was downright horrifying to consider. Let alone what would happen if that nuisance Mittlet found out about it.
Whatever, as long broke free of this-
HEAR MY WORDS, FALLEN WATCHER OF THE GARDEN!
Her body locked up.
Eyes widening in a moment and all thought of resistance vanished just as quickly.
She became aware of the Devil now screaming at the top of his lungs and clutching his head as he writhed around in agony on the floor, the hand pressed against the back of her head and forcing her cheek to kiss stone never felt more heavy than it did in this one instance. In any other situation, she would have been more than happy to see a Devil rolling around in pain.
Not at this moment, however.
"You-!?" The words rushed forth from her lips in a panicked gasp, that wasn't possible. That just wasn't possible at all.
It had to be fake, it just wasn't possible at all.
Every aspect of her was screaming that it was just an illusion, that this was just a trick of the mind brought about by her shameful conditions. However, if this was a trick then her mind was playing a pretty cruel time to play it. Some effort to rationalise how a mere human was able to pin her like this.
But that feeling couldn't be fake.
That language just couldn't be replicated.
The language of the Angels.
They didn't have a name for it, the humans called it 'Enochian' but they just knew it as the language of their people. Something they spoke only to themselves, no other race could understand it.
So why…?
Why was she hearing it from a mere human!?
Her head turned as best she could, glaring behind her into the face of the man who was looming over her. There wasn't an ounce of emotion on him, just staring down at her with an almost mask like expression, his rust coloured eyes looking back into her own, not a trace of emotion to be found within those either.
It was like he was just…there.
"How did you-?" She couldn't help but ask, it was the only thing she could really ask in that situation. By all accounts, the nun had been abandoned by the Church and there was no proof that there was another Angel stationed her from the Holy Church to protect her and yet.
She mentally kicked herself.
It was stupid of her to assume that the Church would let a Sacred Gear as rare and valuable as Twilight healing escape from them, even with the fact the girl had healed a Devil, that didn't make what she possessed any less important. As for the man here. He had to be an Angel, there was no other explanation. No human could ever speak Enochian so fluently and the fact the Devil was now screaming in agony confirmed it in her mind.
He was an Angel.
And a powerful one at that.
Yet…
Why didn't he feel powerful?
Sure, he'd caught her by surprise and she was now pinned against a wall with an arm lock and with his hand pressing against the back of her skull, but she knew full well just how strong an angel could truly be. Especially one who could cripple a Devil just be speaking the language of Heaven, they'd have to be at least six wings, at that rank it would be a simple matter of just exuding a bit of effort and she'd be a full head shorter and this person would be picking bits of her skull from underneath their finger nail.
So then…
How come she wasn't dead yet?
All of these thoughts had rushed through her brain at near enough lightspeed, during which time she almost didn't notice the sensation of her bounded field shattering like glass and two new presences rushing towards her.
Almost didn't notice.
"Hm?" The head of the man turned in another direction, facing away from her and towards the road leading up the street where they had been heading before she ambushed them. His rust coloured eyes narrowed ever so slightly in puzzlement. His mouth opened once again.
Raynare reacted, her left arm might have been locked in place but her right arm was still free to move. She roughly scraped it across the stone wall, carving a trench through the brick as she did so and forced it to give way to her, arm folding up and rushing her elbow around her back and towards the man currently pinning her.
She drove her elbow into his gut, smirking to herself as she felt bone give way behind her and a wheeze escaped the man. The hand gripping the back of her head loosened ever so slightly and that was more than enough for her, she raised her right leg and pressed it against the wall, kicking back with enough force to send splintering cracks through the surface of the structure and launch her body backwards, her the back of her head collided with his chin and rewarded her with another grunt of pain.
That loosened his hold on her enough that she could pull her arm away from him completed, yanking herself free and spinning around as she did, the environment blurred around her as she moved faster than a normal human could react to, that the man was still in the midst of staggering backwards from the mix of the elbow strike and the headbutt was only proof that he probably wasn't a powerful angel.
An irregularity that was dismissed completely from her mind as she surged forwards, thrusting both her hands towards the man and grabbing hold of his coat before he could get too far away from her, she slammed her heel down into the concrete road and rotated her body while dragging along the additional baggage of a full grown human man, for all that he weighed to her, it might as well have been an empty tracksuit.
At the apex of her spin, she let him go and sent him flying down the road in a rough throw towards the direction he had been looking, which was also the direction she sensed the arrival of two new devils arriving from, well he was most likely their friend or something. Even if he wasn't an Angel or an affiliate of them he would most certainly be something they'd be more worried about than her, so it worked out either way.
She was already in the midst of turning before his body had gotten barely a foot from her, most likely unconscious from the lack of noise he was making as a result, though the Devil boy was still hissing and now sobbing from the sounds of things. She barely caught sight of a flash of red and white from down the road before she was surging forwards.
She certainly wasn't going to stick around anymore, all she was concerned with at this point was retrieving Asia. She sprinted towards the girl, using her wings to accelerate her movements.
Not before she lashed out and slammed her foot directly into Issei's face and snapped his head back, the sobbing fell silent as the boy abruptly slumped. She had been getting annoyed about that whimpering and didn't need a headache on top of the stress of finally being so close to achieving her goal.
Asia locked up like a deer in the headlights as Raynare was upon her before she could even register what had occurred. Quickly wrapping her arms around the girl, she spun in the direction of the approaching Devils, a snarl forming on her face at the descriptions which matched the ones Dohnaseek had spoken about, the Gremory and one of her little peerage members. Little being the optimal word in this situation given her small stature.
She was already in the middle of activating the teleportation spell and getting both herself and Asia out of there, not without giving the Gremory one final sneer before she level.
"W-wait-!" Asia's desperate calls were futile as she squirmed in Raynare's grip, not that she had much of a chance of escaping the grigori. "Roma-"
The teleportation spell activated, carrying them both away and leaving the street silent.
"I'm surprised that you invited us around to your house." Rias couldn't help but comment as she entered the abode, glancing around with a curious twinkle in her eyes as she inspected ever nook and cranny that she could spy. "I've always heard how secretive mages were with their research."
"We are, for the most part." Leona replied to her with a wave of the hand, not sounding at all put off by the stereotype, leading the younger woman through a short hallway and making a left away from the stairs and towards the living room, stepping inside and gesturing towards one of the chairs. "Though my actual workshop is still protected with a fair few spells and it's not like I'm going to leave anything dangerous just lying around."
Rias gave a light chuckle at that "I suppose not, it would be rather carless wouldn't it? Especially when you have someone who isn't all that affiliated with the magical world as your husband is."
"Yes. I have successfully 'Roman-proofed' the house." Leona boasted with a touch of levity in her tone of voice, though there was a slight edge of concern that made it obvious that despite the relatively light hearted nature of the comment, she wasn't actually joking about the context behind it. Rias couldn't say she understood it all that much but barging into personal problems wasn't exactly her forte.
"Romani, clumsy." Koneko lacked all that sort of subtly, the young girl following in the wake of Rias and entering the room, not making as much of a show as looking around as Rias had done but still letting her eyes lazily wander around the room and briefly pausing when she caught sight of certain pictures on the wall.
"Yes. 'Romani clumsy'." Leona remarked with a flat tone of voice as she glanced over her shoulder towards the pair of them, raising a curious eyebrow at the younger girl before she shrugged her shoulders and turned back around. "I don't suppose either of you would like something to drink while you're here."
Rias raised an eyebrow as she approached the sofa near the coffee table, reaching out and gliding her index finger along the fabric and pulling it away. It felt rather comfortable, but then Leona was the person who said that your place of work should be comfortable as well, so it made sense that she would pull out all the stops for her own little abode. Perhaps it wasn't quite up to the quality she was used to but - then again - Rias was the little sister of one of the Lucifers.
Perhaps her standards of quality weren't the same as everyone else?
"Do you suppose this little meeting of ours will take long?" The Gremory asked instead, turning her attention towards the back of the woman and cocking her head ever so slightly. "You seemed to be in quite the rush to invite us over to speak so I assume that you might be a little pressed for time right now."
"It was just quicker to bring you over here than to go all the way to the school." Leona replied without missing a beat, disappearing around the divider and into what Rias presumed was the kitchen. "I was just asking because I was going to make myself something to drink while we speak, you can take a seat if you want. I'm sure I have some biscuits that you can help yourselves to, if you're hungry."
Rias didn't even need to look to her side to see the pleading expression Koneko was sending her at the mention of edible treats. The Rook really did have quite the sweet tooth to her, not that Rias was going to make any complaints about it, she personally found it rather cute.
"If you're offering." She replied back, more on behalf of her Rook than anything else as she brushed her skirt slightly and lowered herself onto the sofa, sinking into it slightly as she did so and finding herself almost enveloped by the comfort of the seat immediately, blinking as she adjusted herself ever so slightly and glancing back at the sofa for a moment. Then hummed and resumed staring at the divider.
Koneko moved around the other side and quickly plopped herself down with a slight crinkle coming from the furniture, wiggling back and forth as she slid back as far as she could into the chair and then leaned her head backwards, resting it on the pillows behind herself and giving a pleased groan from her throat.
Rias did not snort.
She really wanted to.
But she didn't.
She praised herself for that.
"Still, I suppose this brings us back to the topic at hand, doesn't it?" Rias remarked, crossing one leg over the other, resting her right elbow on the armrest of the sofa and leaning over, her cheek propped up on her knuckles. Her posture looked exceedingly loose as if she belonged there. Rule 101 of speaking with people, act as though you being in the room is perfectly natural and show no weakness.
That went doubly so for Rias, on most occasions at least. Especially when something like this was concerned, the fact that Leona had been in quite a rush to call her over was already proof that she was going to be dealing with something rather interesting.
"For what reason did you suddenly extend an invitation to me to enter your house?" A pause "Not that I am ungrateful, you have a rather nice home here. Very…quaint?"
A snort from the woman in the kitchen "I'm sure it must look like a garden shed compared to some of the territories in the underworld." the comment was made in amusement, and there was also quite a lot of truth to that statement as well.
Rias was fairly certain that the garden shed of the Gremory mansion was actually bigger than this house. Once more, she was privately amazed by how people were able to live in such small environments, though she would never comment upon it publicly. Once again, the fact she had an abundance of wealth in the underworld reared its head and presented her with the disparity between herself and pretty much everyone else, with the notable exception of Sona.
"As for your first point…I suppose I don't need to beat around the bush with the news of what your latest recruit is currently getting up to."
Rias made a show of tilting her head, though a coy smile played upon her lips and she made sure to make its presence palpable in her words. "Really? To my knowledge, my precious pawn is currently spending his afternoon at home with his family, resting from having suffered a rather nasty injury earlier in the day. Why? Is there something going on with him that I'm not aware of?"
"Hmmm." The incredulous hum from Leona indicated just how little she believed her, and Rias hadn't been expecting her to believe it either. It was quite true that she was aware of what Issei was currently doing, acting counter to her instructions but she knew he'd do that in the first place. He'd found something to instigate a strong change in his presence and Sacred Gears reacted to their user.
It might have been a little cold blooded, but she was confident that the nun would act as a very strong stimulus to develop Issei further. A calculated risk but one she accounted for by having her Familiar watch over him, though how the initial plan had developed from that point was nothing shy of a comedy series.
She did catch Koneko briefly darting her eyes in her direction before they shifted back, there was a natural curiosity there.
"Alright then, we'll both assume that someone affiliated with us is not currently roaming around the town with a recent addition of the European variety." Leona voiced back as she came back around the corner with a mug in her hand and a plate of…
What were those?
Leona must have noticed her sudden attention falling onto the plate because she glanced at them for a split second before giving the Gremory the same sort of amused look that one would give a child, Rias quickly cleared her throat and pointedly looked away, making sure not to embarrass herself more than she already had.
"They're called Jaffa cakes." The Italian woman explained without a prompt, moving towards the chair adjacent to the sofa and sitting herself down in it, laying the plate of biscuits on the desk and sliding them towards the pair. "You can help yourself, I got them imported from Britain."
Rias paused as she reached for one "...Imported?"
"Yes."
"...You mean to suggest that you had biscuits smuggled into Japan?"
"Yep." She nodded her head without even a slightest ounce of hesitation, making sure to pop the 'p' as she spoke, not even a trace of guilt could be seen in her eyes as she stared at the two of them expectantly,her eyes moved passed Rias towards where Koneko was seeing, a pleased smile coming upon her face as she brought the mug of coffee to her lips.
The Gremory shot a brief glance at the Rook.
The girl paused in the middle of stuffing a third biscuit into her cheeks, her face puffing out to look more like a chipmunk or a squirrel rather than a cat. Her expression remained blank, even as she stared into the eyes of her King. Something Rias could give her credit for with an unflappable demeanour, even as she had been caught red handed in stuffing biscuits in her face.
"At least remember to chew." That didn't stop her from teasing her peerage member, fighting back a giggle that was building in the back of her throat, though it leaked out through some of her words as she spoke, shaking her head from side to side and glancing down at the plate. Reaching towards it and taking one of the soft cakes into her hands and staring at it for a moment. "Most mages have resources and other items delivered to them specially for their spells or their craft." She commented, shooting a look of mirthful curiosity towards the unapologetic brunette "I have never heard of someone smuggling in food."
"I'm something of a pioneer when it comes to doing the unexpected." Leona boasted with a twinkle in her eye, then lowered her mug slightly, the amusement disappearing from her face. "The state of my connections to baked goods aside, my earlier point still remains and we both know what I'm talking about. If I'm aware of it then I am absolutely certain that you are as well."
"Suppose I do know what you allude to." Rias remarked, taking a small bite from the biscuit and swallowing. She briefly paused and glanced at it, raising her eyebrow ever so slightly at the taste and the orange jelly that resided just underneath the chocolate surface. At least she knew why it was called a cake now, it was pretty much a flattened cake. Nevertheless, she wasn't talking about mini-cakes at the moment. "I'm curious as to why you would bring it up."
"Well, considering I am now affiliated with you, my previous routes have otherwise been closed to me for the time being." Leona admitted with a frown "Which leaves me with the current situation of informing you of my own plans in relation to the young nun with Twilight Healing."
"You figured that out already?"
"Asia Argento was a name I had recalled hearing so made a few inquiries." She waved away with her left hand "Everything else just fell into place not long after that. So we have a girl with a powerful Sacred Gear but who is otherwise without a place she can go currently in the middle of a group of individuals who have - let's face it - instigated enough trouble that they can be dealt with accordingly."
Rias stared at her for a brief moment, then hummed "I cannot say you are wrong. Whereas before the Fallen might have been able to claim they were merely the unwitting recipients to violence perpetrated by Devils, such a claim would be hollow at this point following the death of one of our contractors. Especially considering he then proceeded to attack a member of my peerage immediately afterwards with the intention of killing them."
The Gremory closed one eye, the other remaining half-lidded "But at the moment, I'm now a little curious as to what it is you're after."
"Well, Romani called me just before I called you. Once again, I'm sure you already know this, considering you were probably watching the whole thing and heard what Romani talked about in relation to Asia."
"You're bringing the girl back here. I'm sure you know what effect that will have on the Grigori stationed here, don't you?"
"Really, it's just a case of a couple hot shots running rampant and then losing something very valuable to the organisation." Leona paused for a moment, then chuckled "You'd be surprised how often that actually happens, I heard that they managed to lose one of the Vritra Sacred Gears a couple of weeks ago and it hasn't turned up since."
"So you've heard that as well?" Rias couldn't help but raise an eyebrow "I had initially written that off as gossip but I suppose there might be some truth to it after all. However, Twilight Healing and a fragment of Vritra are two entirely separate matters, aren't they?"
"True. But with all the fuss the Fallen at the old church have been kicking up, you would be well within your rights to both eliminate them and to take Twilight Healing as reparations for the damages that have been caused. It is hardly as though the Fallen could contest the issue because that would either mean they would have to admit to placing a number of Angels inside Devil territory despite the fact it's off limits, or they claim that the Angels there went rogue and chalk up the loss of Twilight Healing to being a tragic result of poor management."
Rias snorted "An amusing notion to consider. Though I'm curious as to why you're explaining this to me so thoroughly." The smile on her face turned a touch sharper. "It can't have anything to do with the fact that you're in the midst of trying to take possession of the young girl while also providing me with a justification for the inevitable aftermath."
"Who knows?" Leona just responded with a shrug "Only that the young girl is clearly unhappy there and I am more than willing to take up the role of becoming a guardian for her in the meantime. As she would be affiliated with me…there might be some allowance for providing you with an additional service in the form of a Sacred Gear that can heal Devils much faster than the spirit healing techniques you currently use."
"An interesting coincidence." The Gremory mused with a tilt of the head "But that comes under the assumption that I do not also see her value as a Sacred Gear user myself? What is to stop me from having her join my peerage?"
"Well, if she said yes then there is nothing I can do about that." Leona shrugged her shoulders "Given what you Gremory's are famous for, I have no doubt that her life with you would be a vast improvement compared to the life she has lived thus far, but it would ultimately remain her choice." she gave Rias a flat look "Honestly? You're not all that convincing when you try to play the role of 'evil overlord'."
Rias huffed, crossing her arms under her chest "Well then. I'll have you know I can be quite devilish when the moment takes my fancy."
"Hmmm."
"All that aside, you do make several compelling arguments and - in truth - I had already set my sights on the girl the moment her name was brought up. Sure enough, a girl excommunicated for healing a Devil is news that was well known even down in the underworld, though I had to make a few inquiries for the details." Oddly enough, Rias hadn't been able to find out the name of the Devil who had been healed, something that struck her as a little peculiar but otherwise not all that important.
"Hmmm. At least we are-"
The tone of the room shifted in that split second, Leona's eyes shrank to pinpricks, she shot up from the chair and snapped her head in the direction of the window behind Rias and Koneko's head. Her movement had been so rapid and so sudden that neither of the Devils had been prepared for it in the least, Rias jolting in surprise, especially at the now serious expression on the face of the woman.
"Wha-"
"Run out of my house and take a right and then a left. Now." Leona all but ordered "Romani's vanished-"
"A bounded field." Rias sensed it as well, the moment her Familiar passed through something and she could no longer hear their thoughts. While it wouldn't usually be much of an issue to her, this particular one was something she hadn't prepared to encounter ahead of time, or perhaps it was the work of a Fallen who didn't want anyone to spy on them. Either way, she didn't need to be told twice that her precious pawn was in danger. "Koneko."
That was all she needed to say, the girl was already on her feet and bounding for the door. It was a simple matter of suitability, both Rias and Koneko were faster by far than the woman, or at least Rias assumed as much. Also the benefit of flight let them get quite far as well. She wasted no time in brushing past the brunette and towards the door.
"Back soon." Rias chirped as she made for the door, pushing it open and being the first one out. She knew well enough that the situation would likely get troublesome, as he was, Issei didn't understand enough about his own abilities to really be a threat to a Fallen Angel. However, there was only so much that telling someone would achieve, very much a sink or swim moment.
For Issei, he'd started off being thrown into the deep end.
Koneko closed the door behind her, the pair of them already moving through the street with no small amount of purpose. A minor charm cast over herself a moment later, a perception filter so that nobody would be in a rush to stare at the pair of wings that abruptly sprouted forth from hers and her Rooks back. With a hop, skip and a jump she was airborne and moving towards the location of her familiar.
It would take a moment to re-establish a connection with her Familiar but it would appear that the Fallen Angel responsible had at least been a little bit smart in gearing the Bounded Field specifically towards Devils, or at least they had made an attempt of it. Considering she could still feel her Familiar remain alive but couldn't actually see what they saw, it only confirmed they'd blocked off visual links and even then, Rias was already in the midst of fighting through it.
So it was either a rush job by a novice or it was a hack job by an idiot.
Either one worked for her, the route there was also one that didn't take much in the way of time, perhaps half a minute if she was being honest with herself. It wasn't the fastest she could have gotten there but it was still a bit quicker than she otherwise would have done. Soon dropping down onto the street with Koneko behind her, the white haired girl landing with the grace of a falling leaf.
Placing her hands on her hips, Rias strode forwards with little regard for the bounded field she was approaching. Her lips curled ever so slightly as she came to a stop and stared at the shimmering wall of air directly in front of her. This was a rush job by an idiot then, the bounded fields she had seen Akeno set up were leagues above this, it was actually a little insulting that they could even bear the same name.
Without even a moment of caution, Rias walked right through the bounded field without concern for whatever might have been on the opposite side of it. Something that acted as a filter to prevent people from peering in, as well as compelling them to turn away from this street? Such simple tricks were nothing more than the clear work of amateurs.
Then again, she hadn't been prepared for whatever came next.
Her eyes widened as a scream assaulted her ears, it wasn't just a scream of pain it was a scream that came directly from the lungs, something that could only be achieved if someone was in true agony. The type of scream she had never heard before and would hopefully never hear again, especially because it came from the throat of Issei.
Her pawn currently lying on the road, his hands clasping the side of his head and his body rolled up into a ball, the scream already cracking away and leaving behind choked whimpers.
That alone would have been more than enough to send her into a fury to punish whomever had done this to one of her precious peerage members, but what shocked her and Koneko more than Issei screaming his throat raw, was the fact that Romani Archaman - the school nurse - was currently pinning a Fallen Angel to the wall, their arm twisted around their back and his hand clamped down on the back of their head, forcing their face into the stone wall.
The blonde nun hadn't noticed their arrival and it wasn't as though Rias or Koneko had done anything since they arrived beyond gawking at the sight.
"Wh-"
Whatever she was going to say died on her lips when Romani's head whirled in her direction, snapping away from the Fallen Angel and locking onto her, so caught up in the impossible sight that she didn't even notice the fact his eyes had changed colour.
The nurse opened his mouth.
Whatever he had to say never passed from his throat, courtesy of the Fallen Angel noticing his brief distraction and slamming her elbow into his gut, even at this distance there was an audible crunch of bone like someone snapping a chicken leg, the noise sounded hideous to Rias ears, the nurse loosened his grip on the fallen Angel who took the chance to press the attack further, kicking off the wall and slamming the back of her head into his chin.
Ripping herself free, she spun around and grabbed him by the coat and then hurled him in their direction, his unconscious body shooting through the air like a log with how little it moved and with the lack of noise he made. "Koneko!" Rias barked out the order, not that she needed to as the white haired girl was already in the middle of rushing to catch the nurse.
Rias focused her attention on the Fallen, blitzing towards Asia and not even stopping as she kicked Issei in the face and knocked him out. Rias saw red, her eyes flashed and she clenched her hands into fists, her wings spread wide as she brought her right hand up, the Power of Destruction danced between her fingers as she took aim towards the crow.
"W-wait!" The nun in the arms of the Crow called out in horror, though she wasn't looking in the direction of Rias, instead she was looking in the direction of the Angel herself, making a visible effort to try and free herself from the grasp of the Fallen. The blonde girl turned her head towards Rias direction, or rather in the direction of Romani now in the hands of her Rook "Roma-"
Before she could even finish the sentence, the pair of them were consumed with the telltale light brought about via a teleportation spell.
"...Tch." Clicking her tongue, Rias cut out the power of destruction and instead turned to her right and glanced down at Koneko "How is he?"
It had sounded bad, though for whatever reason Koneko had a face of surprise as she looked down at the nurse in her arms.
Rias saw it as well.
Romani's face was undamaged, not even a trace of a bruise. Something one would have expected from being headbutted by a fallen of all things.
"...Alright then, it would seem this got a little interesting."
AN: Well...Guess someone triggered the 'Deploy Jacobs Limbs' card, eh?
Then again, it's not like Romani was built for it or that Solomon ever practised it. It was just a martial arts passed down from generation to generation.