She who found bonds of friendship

III

Leona nodded her head as she sipped on her coffee, giving the young girl sitting opposite her an odd frown as the young girl spoke. "Really?" Leona raised an eyebrow, lowering the mug back onto the table "You didn't get to visit the big spots around Rome?"

Asia slowly shook her head as she stared at the hot chocolate in front of her "No." she confessed "I spent most of my time inside the Monastery I was stationed at, I didn't leave all that often so I wasn't able to see many of the sights that Vatican City is famous for."

The older Italian woman tapped her fingers on the table several times, humming to herself and staring off for a few moments before she returned her attention to the young blonde "What about the Sistine Chapel? Surely you'd have been able to visit that as well? It would probably be just down the road, wouldn't it?"

When the young blonde didn't respond and opted to take a quiet sip of her hot chocolate and pointedly avoid Leona's gaze, the brunette woman understood that Asia hadn't - in fact - visited the Sistine Chapel. Which meant she hadn't been able to see the ceiling of it, which in Leona's opinion, which was one of the great wonders of the modern world.

"Dear me…" Leona sighed aloud, reaching up and rubbing her brow and prompting Asia to give a guilty look and shift her eyes down to stare at the table "What on earth are they doing over there? How can you let anyone live in the capital of Italy and never take them to any of the greatest tourist spots and wonders of the country." she then paused and lowered her hand "Wait…does this mean you've never been to Venezia either?"

Another slow shake of the head from Asia as she took another sip of the hot chocolate, her expression brightening ever so slightly which indicated that she quite enjoyed the taste of the warm drink. Leona briefly paused in preparing for her rant about having a child devoid of understanding the culture of the city she was living in in favour of just allowing the young nun to enjoy the drink itself.

"Are you enjoying that?" Leona chuckled quietly, Asia paused and looked towards the woman before her eyes darted back to the drink which she slowly lowered to the table. Then noticed Leona's lip wobbling as though she was struggling not to laugh. Before Asia could ask what the problem was, Leona raised her hand and pointed towards her upper lip while sliding over the napkins on the table.

Asia glanced down at them before reaching up and touching her top lip, drawing the finger away and seeing a single drop of hot chocolate sticking to the top of her finger. The blonde flushed bright red as she quickly peeled away one of the napkins and brought it up to her lip, dabbing away at it in order to clean it off. "Sorry…"

Leona snorted "Don't apologise, at least you're enjoying yourself." her eyes pointedly fell upon the crumbs of pastry that littered the plate, the young girl having all but devoured the brioche in a few seconds. The woman looked away and glanced around the cafe itself. "This is actually one of my favourite places to stop by every now and again."

Asia glanced around at the interior as well, it was a sudden contradiction to the rather modern aesthetic that was outside. The interior of the cafe was more rustique, the tables and chairs were from an older era and very much in line with a different sort of architectural style than the japanese styles she had seen thus far.

"It's actually french. Or based upon it anyway." Leona explained as she nodded outside "Hence the 'Petite France'." she paused for a moment as she stared out of the window, then furrowed her brows and turned back to Asia "Actually, calling this place Little France does seem maybe a little…Cliche? I suppose there's nothing wrong with that but it's not what I would call a cafe."

Asia looked towards Leona and tilted her head in surprise "Have you ever thought about owning a Cafe, Signora Leona-"

"You can just call me Leona, you know." The brunette gently cut the young girl off before she leaned back into her chair and folded one leg over the other and gave a gentle hum to herself "As for owning a cafe? I don't know…The thought hasn't really occurred to me to do something quite like that." she reached out and grabbed ahold of her mug before drawing it back towards herself, taking another sip and lowering it again "But I think I could pull it off if I really put my mind to it. Maybe blend in a few European cultures and mix them up a bit."

Asia slowly nodded her head "I think that sounds nice, bringing everything together under one roof in a sense of harmony."

"I was just going to cherry pick the best parts of European food and add my own little twist to them. Well, use them as inspiration and then make my own dishes from them." She chuckled, placing the mug on the table and tapping her chin "Then again, I don't cook nearly as often as I should." a pause "By that I mean I don't cook as adventurously as I really should."

Asia giggled "You are a very excitable person, aren't you Sign-...Leona." she remarked with a smile "I can tell you're very passionate about making new things."

"Well…I do consider myself an inventor of sorts and that means I can just limit myself to making the odd little contraption. I need to study all avenues of beauty in order to find my own little muse before crafting my masterpiece." Leona drew her hands out in front of her as if to unveil a painting before she lowered them onto the table and looked down at the young girl "Have you ever thought about using that little creative side of you?"

"Ah…um…" Asia fidgeted on the spot for a few moments, Leona gave a saddened sigh and an exaggerated shake of the head.

"Now that's just tragic to hear. I think that everyone should be able to have the opportunity to have at least one attempt at art. Whether it be singing, painting, baking or even dancing. A person's creativity emerges in different ways and to not even have the chance to express yourself? Dear, dear me…"

Asia thinned her lips for a few moments before presenting Leona with a gentle smile "I like to express myself by helping those in need. I…That type of thing makes me happy."

Leona stared at Asia for a few moments in silence before she nodded her head "Well, that's fair enough then. As long as you make yourself happy doing what you love, then there is nothing to really complain about but I like to think you should be able to make a little time for yourself." she pinched her fingers together in a small point "Even if only for a little while."

Asia remained silent before she slowly looked across the cafe and up towards the clock, her eyes widened ever so slightly as she read the time "Si-" she briefly halted once again to correct herself before she pointed towards the clock on the wall "Leona, the time!" she hurriedly exclaimed, waving her hand towards it.

The woman raised an eyebrow at her before slowly shifting her head over to the clock mounted on the wall at the far end of the cafe and reading the time as well. "Huh, I suppose we might have indulged a little too much." she admitted with an uncaring shrug before directing her attention back to the blonde girl "We really should try and get you to that Church, shouldn't we?"

Asia quickly nodded her head in response before looking around "Umm…How do we pay?"

A snort from her fellow Italian was her response, causing the young girl to flush in embarrassment.

"Don't worry about that." Leona waved her off as she reached towards her pocket in her hoodie and withdrew a small purse, smiling towards the nun "I always bring a little money with me when I go jogging. Namely for getting myself a little reward snack at the end of it." she paused for a moment before shooting Asia a teasing grin "I don't suppose you could absolve me for giving into temptation, could you?"

Asia was silent for a moment before she let out a melodious laugh, reaching up and covering her mouth "I-hehahah-I'm sure that you can be forgi-hahaha-forgiven for that."

"Good." Leona grinned back as she stood up and moved towards the suitcase next to the young girl, folding the handle up and gripping it tightly "I was worried there for a moment."

The morning had not been pleasant to Romani Archaman, aside from the grizzly images that once again assaulted him, his eyes had been hurting for a considerably longer duration than last time and he could feel the headaches coming and going every now and again.

Whether the two were symptoms or the headache was just the end result of his nasty visions was something he couldn't be sure about. Once again he reminded himself that he really should try and find someone with some know-how to talk to about this sort of thing. The problem this time around was how vague it was, despite its detail.

Being shown the aftermath of a horror movie wasn't anything he could work off but so far all his visions had been related to Issei in some capacity.

Which meant the vision of the bloody room was also related to Issei in some capacity as well, it didn't explain the feminine scream he heard but dwelling on it wasn't going to make him feel any less sick right now. He could still see it every time he closed his eyes and with how bad the headache was, he was closing his eyes rather frequently.

The moment they had crossed the school gates, Romani had parted from Issei and virtually charged into the nurse's office so that no one could see him throw up. That would raise some unpleasant questions but it wasn't like he had kept how sickly he was looking hidden. It wasn't like he would have been able to either, it was only a matter of time before someone came into the office and saw the state he was in.

Either an injured student or someone who cared enough about him to visit.

Which meant it was either going to be Koneko looking for snacks or Issei being Issei.

Romani rubbed his eyes, grimacing to himself before he slowly lowered the hand and stared at the plastic cup full of water being held before his face. He raised his head ever so slightly in order to see the owner and was greeted to the sight of someone he hadn't actually been expecting to arrive. He blinked at them several times, his eyes dancing between the water in their hand and their tranquil expression.

"Ummm…"

An eyebrow was quirked at his dumb response, yet the twitch of the lip and the look of mirth in their violet coloured eyes indicated that they found it anything but insulting. "Is that your usual response when someone decides to show you a little bit of kindness?" Akeno asked in her usual sweet voice, still holding the water out towards him "If so, then I'm rather honoured to be your first time-"

"Don't phrase it like that!" Romani whined before he winced, the amusement in Akeno's face cracked ever so slightly as she saw a look of genuine discomfort flash across the nurse.

"Are you alright?" She asked after a few moments of observing him "It wouldn't do for the school nurse to end up becoming a patient in his own office."

Romani chuckled weakly at that, reaching out and taking the water cup from the teenagers hand "Nothing like that, just have headaches every now and again." he responded with, looking down at the cool water in silence and staring at his reflection.

"And still you show up to work?" Akeno's voice turned amused once again "My, my. Perhaps our dear student council has grossly underestimated your resolve, Romani-sensei! To bravely travel all the way to work while suffering under personal duress, surely there can be no beacon of dedication that shines brighter than you."

Romani gave her a deadpan stare.

"Pffft." Akeno's composure broke, the girl raising the back of her hand to cover her mouth as she giggled softly "It's difficult to praise you when you look at me like that, it's almost as if you doubt my words?"

"Hmmm." Romani gave an incredulous hum in response "You know, I wonder if everyone finding out that you love to tease people would make you more popular amongst the students." he gestured to her as he sighed to himself.

Akeno tilted her head in a perfect display of innocence "Tease? Nothing of the sort. I am nothing but honest, the picturesque 'ojou-sama' as my fellow students say."

"Student trends never made sense to me even when I was a student." Romani closed his eyes and shook his head as he leaned back into his chair, reaching up and rubbing his forehead once again.

"You know, maybe you should take a drink of the water I gave you." Akeno pointed out, her eyes flickering to the cup of water.

Romani paused and looked down at it, then back towards the dark haired girl, Akeno smiled innocently at him with her eyes closed. Romani squinted at her for a few moments before slowly raising the cup up to his lips, then halting his movements just shy of it touching.

Akeno was still smiling at him, although this one looked as though it contained something within it. The same smiles Leo would give him moments before she did something that would destroy his composure.

The smile of a predator.

"...So um…I know I'm supposed to trust students and all but you didn't…you know…" He held the water away from him "You didn't do anything to this, right?"

A look of hurt flashed across the girl's face "Romani-sensei…" she placed a hand on her chest "I am shocked that you would accuse me of something like that…It isn't because…" her expression of hurt turned to a look of dismay "It isn't because I'm a Devil, is it?"

"W-wha-"

"Is that what it is?" Akeno shook her head "I expected better of you, Romani-sensei."

"N-now hang on!" Romani hurriedly replied, sputtering as he stared at the girl opposite him with wide - now slightly panicked - eyes. "That isn't what I am-"

"After all that effort I put into keeping you healthy." She sniffed, shaking her head "And you won't even accept a simple cup of water from me without the accusation of me poisoning you?" she looked back towards him, the man blanched as he saw what looked like tears building up in her eyes. "Is this how you treat your beloved students, Romani-sensei?"

"It's fine! It's fine!" Romani all but exclaimed, taking the water to his lips and downing the entire cup in a single gulp before bringing it away "See? I trust you not to poison me!"

"Good." Akeno's tears vanished in an instance "It would be rather silly of me to poison my own bath water, wouldn't it?"

"..."

The innocent smile returned.

Romani blinked once, his eyes slowly turning towards the cup before drifting back to the girl opposite him "...You're teasing me, Himejima-san."

"Hmmmm. I wonder…" The girl trailed off, tilting her head to the side and resting a single finger on her chin as she did so. "I've heard that boys like that sort of thing, but I understand you might be behind on the current trends of students, Romani-sensei." she pointed out "You did admit as much."

Romani closed his eyes before his shoulders slumped "...I just can't get away, can I?"

"I'm not sure what you mean." Akeno replied with an idle shrug before her expression shifted away from a rather pleased grin into a more content face "Although you do look much healthier now than you did before. Perhaps having a sudden shock was good for you?"

The nurse paused for a moment before he sighed and looked down "Really?" his eyes opened back up "Well, it got me distracted for a few moments but did you have to do that?"

"Isn't a sudden fright good for the body?" Akeno wryly pointed out with the beginnings of another amused smile dancing on her face "I would say you were suitably frightened."

"That's for hiccups, not headaches…" Romani groaned, placing the empty cup on his desk while he rubbed his forehead with his other hand. "And that doesn't even work with hiccups to begin with…" he lowered his hand and regarded the girl with a tired expression "You just came here to have a little fun, didn't you?"

Another innocent smile.

"Well…" Romani shrugged his shoulders "I suppose I should at least thank you for that, although I'm really questioning why you had to scare me in that way." he whined "Most people just settle for jumping around a corner and saying 'boo!' rather than…you know…that."

Akeno nodded her head "Yes…But I wouldn't have gotten the chance to see the terrified face you made if I had just said boo and decided that was enough." she giggled "I do need a more refined way of scaring someone, as befits a 'great lady' such as myself."

"That's not refined! That's just sadism!"

This time the smile was much sharper and her eyes almost looked as though they glowed "Why, Romani-sensei! I'm surprised you could accuse a student of something as scandalous as being a sadist…" she placed her hands atop one another in front of her body "Especially since you haven't been that perceptive before."

Romani whined and slumped once again "...Did you actually come here just to pick on me or are you injured?" he paused for a moment before looking up "Actually, if you get injured what am I even supposed to do?"

That got the girl to blink and raise an eyebrow "What do you mean?"

"Well…I'm trained in helping human kids and you're…well…"

"Not?"

"...Yeah." Romani offered an awkward shrug "So is there even anything I can do for you if you get hurt?"

The girl stared at him in silence for a few moments before her eyes softened. "We are quite a bit more durable than humans, Romani-sensei and we do have our own methods of healing our injuries if such a thing did occur." she paused for a moment before smiling more genuinely at him "Though it is considerate of you to ask."

Romani sighed, reaching up and scratching his cheek "If you say so but I don't like the idea of actually being needed in the first place."

"Because of the work or because of the injuries involved?"

That got the nurse to pause and regard Akeno with an odd expression "...Is that seriously something people consider when they talk about me?" he sounded more hurt about the accusation "Definitely the second one. I might not be the most proactive staff member around Kuoh but I wouldn't be lazy when it really matters."

Akeno nodded her head "If it makes you feel better, I believe you."

"I'm a little worried that it's actually something people can doubt." Romani mumbled quietly as he leaned forwards in his chair "So there isn't anything wrong with you then?"

"No, but I suppose the same can't be said for you." Akeno pointed out "I spied you coming into school and charging off to be alone without so much as a good morning to the students. I suppose I got a little curious and wanted to investigate."

Romani thinned his lips "...I was actually expecting Issei-kun, if I'm being honest." he paused for a moment "Or Toujou-san coming here looking for food and just finding me looking a little under the weather."

Akeno rewarded his guesses with an amused huff "Those are equally likely, although dear Koneko would have probably offered you half her muffin as consolidation."

"It's less comforting when it's technically my muffin in the first place." Romani muttered before he sighed "Although considering how she normally is with the food I bring in, that's actually better than nothing."

"You would be surprised." Akeno countered, earning a confused look from the nurse "Koneko won't even share her sweets with those of us in the Occult Research Club, not even Buchou."

"...Wait, seriously?" Romani blinked several times "How stingy is she?"

Akeno gave him a dull look "I believe it has more to do with her value on sweets than being stingy, given that you have managed to get her to share with you."

"...Maybe it's because I buy them?" Romani offered with a half shrug "And I don't actually make that big of a deal when she finds them in my hiding spots. Then again, she did take more this time around." he realised with a suspicious tone of voice "Is it because she helped hide more this time or because I bought something she actually liked?"

The girl opposite him rolled her eyes in amusement before fixing the nurse with a mirthful gaze "Romani-sensei, I believe that Koneko has gotten attached to you in some way. She would be somewhat distressed if her source of baked treats was to miss out on a restock."

"Ooooh." Romani made a noise of understanding "So you came on behalf of Toujou-san?"

"In part." Akeno admitted to him "Another part was because I was concerned, you've been having rather frequent troubles since…" she trailed off, thinning her lips and a somewhat dark look coming across her face.

"...Well…It's a lot to take in, I suppose." Romani chuckled weakly, looking off to the side and staring at the wall "Nothing to really worry about though…"

Akeno narrowed her eyes ever so slightly at the nurse as he spoke. Either he was still slightly nervous in her presence or he was lying to her - or to himself - about something. "Is it really nothing to worry about?"

"...Yeah." Romani nodded his head, pursing his lips and turning back to Akeno "Really. Nothing major, it'll probably get better eventually so I don't want to be a bother." he nodded towards her "Besides, Issei-kun said that your club looks out for each other, right?" he frowned "Although I'm still not sure why you need to do that in the first place…"

"You're probably best off not knowing." Akeno gently replied "Leave the more…fantastical side of the world to those with more experience and I'm sure you'll have fewer headaches."

Romani sighed "You say that but I'm still a staff member, I'm suppose to be worried about the students of the school even if they are devils from Hell."

"...You really do live up to your title, Romani-sensei."

"Still not a teacher." Romani corrected her, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Akeno tilted her head at him and raised an eyebrow "Romani-sensei?"

"Hmm?"

"You do know that Sensei doesn't just refer to teachers, right?"

The nurse paused, slowly lowering the hand and giving Akeno a blank stare "...It doesn't?"

She shook her head. "It refers to one who is a senior professional in a certain role. Such as Teachers, politicians, lawyers…" she smiled at him "And physicians."

"...Seriously!?" Romani exclaimed with wide eyes "Everyone just let me run around making an idiot of myself for a whole year!?" he paused for a moment before he groaned and slapped his hands into his face "I bet Lev figured it out immediately and just let me carry on…"

The girl tilted her head ever so slightly at him "You think so? That seems to be somewhat more…" she paused, searching for the correct words to use "He does not give the impression of being like that."

"Really?" That got Romani's attention, giving the younger girl a puzzled look "Lev is always doing stuff like that. Why, what's he like around you?"

"...Distant." Akeno responded with a shrug "Perhaps it would be more accurate to say professional, I believe he keeps his interactions with me to a minimum."

"Hmmmm." Romani reached up and rubbed his chin. "Well, he is a Homeroom teacher before being a science teacher so I guess he likes to keep things more professional with students he doesn't interact with regularly?" he hazarded a guess before he sighed "I don't actually know, maybe I'll ask him if it worries you."

Akeno shook her head at that "I don't mean to cause strife between you and your friend, Romani-sensei. If that is how he is around you then that is simply how it is. It's no real concern for myself or Rias."

"If you say so." Romani shrugged, then leaned back into his chair "Just strikes me as a little peculiar though…" he reached up and scratched the side of his neck though "Seriously though…Sensei really can also mean nurse?"

Akeno nodded her head.

"I've got it as an ingrained response now."

"Almost like a dog."

"Yes, almost like a-" Romani levelled a flat look at the girl who was muffling her laughter "You just don't stop, do you?"

"I'm not sure what you're referring to."

The nurse rolled his eyes "Right…" then paused, his expression became tense and he looked back at the girl "So um…I was wondering something recently and wanted to ask you a question."

"What sort of question?" Akeno inclined her head at the nurse and raised an eyebrow, her laughter dying down.

"...Magicy."

"Magicy." She parroted before her expression turned more troubled "Would it not be more prudent to ask Mrs Archaman about this?"

"Yeah but you're here now so I figured that I could at least get an answer." He countered, giving her his best attempt at a casual smile. Akeno seemed to scrutinise his expression more closely for a few tense seconds, the sharpness of her gaze almost had Romani break out into sweats for fear she was seeing through him or something.

"...I suppose if its nothing serious." She eventually responded with "What is your question?"

"Is…um…fortune telling a thing?" He asked, his right hand moving towards his left shoulder and rubbing it "You know like…predicting the future sort of stuff?"

"Future tellings." Akeno blinked "What brought…" then she gave an amused sigh "Are you wondering if fortune cookies have some basis in actuality?"

"...Yes!" Romani hurriedly answered, Akeno jolting at the way the man virtually flung himself onto the reason she provided, his eyes wide and his expression slightly strained but perhaps due to embarrassment because of the nature of the question. "I always see fortune cookies so I'm just wondering if you can actually predict the future with magic."

Akeno thinned her lips "You can…but not in the sense you would likely understand."

"What do you mean?" Romani licked his lips to wet them.

"You would think of it more as narrowing down the paths you can take." Akeno explained, raising her hand "Suppose you see fifty paths before you and at least half of those lead nowhere. Prediction magic allows you to narrow the paths down considerably - depending on your skill - but you can never eliminate all the paths." she lowered her hand "At least, that is how it operates to my knowledge but such things differ from magic system to magic system."

"...There's more than one?"

"Yes." Akeno nodded her head "But that isn't so important."

"So…it's like a general idea of what is going to happen rather than actually knowing?" Romani ventured with an odd expression.

"It might operate differently for Gods-" Romani blanched "-but to predict the future with absolute certainty is not something I have ever heard of before." Akeno responded before she paused and gave the man a half smile. "That and I'm certain fortune cookies are somewhat vague and not really based within any magic system."

"Hehehe…" Romani chuckled, nodding his head "Makes sense I guess…so you don't get people who can see the future then." he pointed at his eyes "Like future vision or something?"

Akeno furrowed her brows "Not to my knowledge…But there are many legends in history of those who could predict the future with a certain degree of sharpness. But there hasn't been anything in the last few hundred years of anyone even coming close to being a clairvoyant."

"...Ah…Alright then." Romani leaned back, resting his arms on his knees and frowning ever so slightly "...There goes my chance to just skip ahead and watch next week's show before it airs."

There was a brief silence.

Then Akeno snorted "I-I doubt someone would use Clairvoyance to just watch their favourite show before it aired." she got out in between giggles, shaking her head "That would seem like a rather odd thing to do if you had that power."

Romani shrugged "I guess but it's what I would do if I had any control over it." he thinned his lips before he turned in his chair and dragged himself back towards his desk. "You should probably get going, your other friends are going to miss you soon enough and there are definitely better places to hang out than the nurses office."

The girl chuckled, "I don't know, Issei-kun seems to hang out here often enough."

"He also got injured often enough." Romani pointed out with a nod of the head "Which meant he had reason to be here most of the time."

"He does come here for more than treatment." Akeno pointed out "...He does think of you as a friend."

"...Yeah." Romani nodded his head, then quirked his lip up "I like to think of Issei-kun as a friend as well." he swivelled in his chair "Still though, I'm sure you have got better things to be doing than hanging around here, surely?"

"Are you really in such a rush to be rid of me, Romani-sensei?" Akeno placed a hand on her chest and leaned back "Are you really so cold as to-"

"You know, it's less effective when you do it twice." Romani pointed out with a raised eyebrow "Something about the boy who cried wolf?"

"Which of us is the wolf in this situation though?"

"...Ummm…" Romani paused for a moment before he slowly turned away from her "I don't feel confident in answering that question."

Akeno chuckled lightly at him before she turned away and towards the door "But I suppose you are correct enough, I wouldn't want to take up more of your time and I can at least soothe Issei-kun's worries about you."

The nurse blinked and turned back towards her "Worries?"

"Though I haven't seen him today, I'm sure he's worried about you." Akeno replied "I'm actually surprised he didn't come to visit you before myself."

"I'm sure he'll show up." Romani waved his hand "Although he might have gotten roped in with Matsuda-san and Motohama-san." he realised, grimacing ever so slightly "And I'm a little worried that if he gets caught doing something he shouldn't, then the girls might take his newfound resilience as a challenge to just hit him harder…"

"In which case, we'll be there to help him…" She paused for a moment "Probably."

"...Seriously?"

"Well, he can't be seen to recover too quickly." She argued "People might ask questions."

"...Huh…Good point." The nurse realised, furrowing his brows and humming to himself "Guess being magical isn't really all that great, is it?"

"There are a few perks." Akeno remarked with a half shrug "Though I won't try to talk about it further. Your wife was rather insistent we at least keep you out of our business." she quickly raised her hand when she saw his expression shift "By that I mean our more political side of things, the day to day runnings of the town and everything in between, rather than a few innocent questions."

Romani relaxed slightly "I don't think I'd understand half of what you were talking about anyway." the man thinned his lips for a moment before he waved towards Akeno "Still though, I suppose I can thank you for visiting me and if you see Issei-kun before I do you can tell him I'm fine." he paused "Also I'm still worried about you all saying you have each others backs covered. People don't normally say that unless they're in trouble!"

Akeno gave him a playful smile "Don't worry about a thing, Romani-sensei."

"Now I'm really getting worried."

"You're quite difficult to comfort."

"I panic easily." Romani quickly replied while throwing up his hands "I can't help it and you all being deliberately vague doesn't help me much, you know?"

Akeno sighed "Honestly, I'm not sure what else I can tell you. As a peerage, Rias thinks of us more as a family." she gestured to him, "And families often stick together…" she paused for a moment, an odd look flashing through her eyes "At least true families do if they really love each other."

Romani stared at Akeno for a brief second in puzzlement at her wording.

"What I mean to say is that as a peerage, we will always look out for one another because that is what it means to become part of one." She lowered her hand "At least, that is what it means to Rias. She's rather enamoured with the idea of it."

"I mean…that sounds nice?" Romani hazarded a guess with a strained expression "I think?" he sighed "Sorry, I still don't get it but that might be my bad."

"It's something you have to experience firsthand, don't feel guilty over it." Akeno assured him, resting her hand on the door and slowly sliding it open "Still though…I'm rather surprised by how you're still…" she trailed off, then chuckled to herself "On second thought. I suppose I can't really be that surprised."

Romani tilted his head at her in slight puzzlement "What do you mean?"

"Ah, nothing." Akeno quickly dismissed as she stepped out of the office and back into the corridor "At least nothing to really worry about. Have a pleasant day, Romani-sensei."

"You as well, Himejima-san." Romani waved to her as she departed, the girl paused midway through closing the door and poked her head around the corner ever so slightly.

"You can call me Akeno, if you like."

"...Akeno-san." He nodded towards her, prompting a flat look in response.

"It isn't as fun if you don't at least show a hint of embarrassment."

That earned a faint laugh from the nurse "You're about ten years too young to pull that off." he leaned back into his chair and grinned "Leo has a lot more experience when it comes to embarrassing me."

"Is that something to boast about, Roman-kun?"

"..." Romani slowly closed his eyes and raised up his hand to rub his forehead "...Probably not. Also please don't call me that…"

"Worried about scandalous rumours?"

"Hah, nothing like that." Romani lowered his hand and levelled her with a tired face. "Just…makes me feel a little strange is all." a pause "And by a little, I mean a lot."

"...Alright then, Roman-sensei." Akeno corrected, although still kept to Issei's abbreviation of his name.

A faint huff came from the nurse, "Have a good day, Akeno-san."

This time the girl did close the door with a gentle click, leaving Romani alone once again in the room.

The peaceful expression on his face slowly disappeared and was replaced with an expression of slight tension as he turned towards the table. Resting his arms on his desk and lowering his head to the point where it was nearly resting against the surface. It looked like he wasn't going to be receiving much advice in regards to his eyes then.

He didn't want to directly bring it up because…

The man frowned.

Why didn't he want to bring it up?

Every time the thought occurred to him he just never quite followed through on the instinct to openly speak about it. That was a little strange but he had the general idea that standing out in the magic world probably wasn't a good thing.

Having magic eyes that may or may not show him visions of the future probably counted as 'standing out' in his opinion.

Leona stared up at the hill as the pair of them continued their walk towards it, the path leading up to the church through the forest was poorly cared for. However, that was rather expectant from her own perspective.

To her knowledge, while this place had once been the location for a Grigori outpost they hadn't actually been present here for many years now. Although it would seem they were trying to re-establish some presence within Kuoh. Their tactics could obviously do with some work though, which meant that Azazel wasn't overseeing this personally.

Probably one of the lower end of the command chain who wasn't that big a fan of Devils and didn't see the need to keep to a whole cloak and dagger approach. As if brazenly marching into the territory of two heiresses to major households and starting trouble with them wasn't a surefire way of causing a big ruckus that would undoubtedly get some very big names involved.

…

Well, not that it was Leona's concern anymore. At least not really, she was now employed by the Gremory family - or rather by Rias Gremory's peerage - and therefore it was in her best interests to keep professional contact with the Grigori as a secret. Not that anyone stationed here was liable to know about here.

Her eyes drifted to Asia as the young girl walked by her side, the blonde gazing at the patches of bush and other weeds that had grown over the old stone path with a troubled expression on her face.

"It's not that well cared for." Leona responded to the unasked question as she shifted her attention back ahead of the duo "Then again, I did say that no one has really been here for a while. I hope it's not going to be just you here."

"No." Asia shook her head, doing her level best to try and reassure Leona "I was told there would already be a few others here expecting me to arrive but…" she paused as she stared at the path once again "I suppose I hoped it would have been better cared for…"

Leona shrugged "They might just be waiting for a professional gardener to come around and sort all this out. Licences and all that." she gestured around them to the forest "Especially with trees this old you probably have to go through all sorts of different forms and then there's the local government to think about when it comes to authorising this…" Leona gave an exaggerated sigh "It's probably something they're getting around to."

The young nun was silent for a moment before a relieved smile came to her face "You might be right, Leona…" she shook her head lightly "I'm probably just letting my emotions get the best of me right now but seeing the path to a house of Lord being so run down just made me a little sad."

The brunette remained silent before she reached out and placed her left hand atop Asia's veil and rustled her hair through the cloth, prompting a noise of surprise from the young girl.

"As long as you don't lose that smile of yours, I'm sure everything will turn out fine." She retracted the hand and dropped it back to her side, turning back to the path and narrowing her eyes ever so slightly. A subtle feeling crept along the back of her neck, something akin to being watched.

She didn't react to it though, otherwise that would have likely set off a reaction from whomever was watching her right now. That wasn't to say she was going to forgo making some preparations but nothing that could really be noticed. As long as she played the role of innocent traveller then no one would ask funny questions.

As the pair passed out of the forest and directly in front of the church, they both paused as they found themselves directly in line of sight with a man in the outfit of a priest.

Wearing a long black cassock with a white undershirt and trousers, the man faced the pair with a peaceful smile on his face that seemed a little too sharp. Leona also didn't miss the way his eyes seemed to linger just below her neckline for a few seconds longer than was socially acceptable.

She wasn't that surprised though.

The type of priests who usually ended up associates of the Grigori more often than not had a couple of screws loose.

"Sister Asia!" The white haired man exclaimed, his beady red eyes darted between the two of them for a moment before he paused and tilted his head ever so slightly at the young girl's lack of reaction to his words. His arms lowered to his side before he nodded his head "Ah, right. You can't speak Japanese at all yet, can you?"

The man sighed before shaking his head, placing his hands on his hips and looking marginally disappointed but not overly upset "Well, it might have been some time since I spoke the language of Rome but I can still manage a few words." he raised his head again and gave Asia a half smile "Not to worry, newbie. We'll be able to have you speaking the language of the locals in no time."

"Ah, thank you for the help, Father."

The man's expression twitched ever so slightly "You're quite welcome, dear little Asia." he turned towards Leona and his eyes sharpened ever so slightly "And who are you might I ask? A good samaritan who sought to guide our lost little lamb back home?"

Leona responded with a calm smile "Something like that." She slowly handed the suitcase back to Asia as the white haired man approached her, never once losing his wider than average smile and odd glint in those red eyes of his. "I saw her wandering the town without being able to speak the language and thought to help her along to where she needed to go. Especially because I didn't see anyone around to help her."

The man stopped walking a few feet from her and sighed loudly, raising his head up and staring at the sky "Dear, dear me! Sometimes people can be quite careless can't they? Leaving little Asia-chan all alone is really something that reflects poorly on all of us!" the head lowered back down to fix its gaze upon Leona once again.

"Still though." His left hand slowly came up to rest itself on Leona's shoulder in an almost gentle fashion "I cannot express how grateful I am to find someone with some manners in this far flung town at the edge of the world. Truly…The Lord has worked in a mysterious manner this time around."

"...Something like that."

"Well. I, for one, am glad that whatever problem we had with Asia-chan has been resolved. She is where she should be now and can finally begin her new life." He continued on, however his tone was still coloured with a hint of something Leona wasn't quite pleased with.

That and his hand was still on her shoulder.

His red eyes darted away from Leona and towards Asia "Why don't you head inside, Sister. The others are already expecting you."

Asia nodded her head, then turned towards Leona "Thank you once again for guiding me here, Leona! I hope you come to visit the Church!"

"We'll see." Leona smiled back to Asia and winked at her, prompting a surprised look from the man in front of her.

"So you speak Italian do you?" He paused for a moment "Leona…" he spoke as if tasting the name before his expression turned more peaceful. "A charming name for a kind hearted woman, it seems as though your soul might be as beautiful to match your personality."

"Hahaha…You're very kind, Father." Leona chuckled merrily, watching just over his shoulder as Asia dragged herself up the steps of the old Church and towards the doors, opening them up and disappearing inside. The moment the thud echoed out across the woods, it was followed by a silence as both Leona and the priest opposite her merely stared at one another.

"Once again…my gratitude to you for bringing Asia-chan here." He spoke again, lifting his hand up to pat Leona on the shoulder "You don't know how good it feels to still see the work of kindness in a land full of non-believers." he chuckled, although it sounded more like a cackle than anything else "Honestly, you wouldn't believe what half the people in this town can get up to after hours. It might end up making your hair turn white!"

Leona pointedly looked up at the mop of pale hair sitting on the man's head.

"Pffft!" The man cackled once again as he sensed where she was looking "Exactly!" his right hand raised up and pointed "Look at me, already going grey just thinking about it."

"I'm sure you'll be fine." Leona assured him with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I've heard that all sorts of people can make white hair work at a young age and they can be somewhat charming." she paused for a moment "From a certain point of view."

"...That is very kind of you to say."

His hand was still on her shoulder.

That was quite enough of that.

"Well." Leona reached up, taking a hold of the man's wrist and prying it off herself with casual ease. Although the man didn't do much to try and stop her, maintaining that same expression. "I should be going now, odd to see the Church finally getting used but I suppose it couldn't sit around empty forever now."

"We're always welcoming new visitors." The man chuckled, gesturing to himself "I, for one, would love to have your company."

"I'm sure you would." Leona smiled back at him "But I do have other places to be." she responded with, backing away calmly so as to show she wasn't put off by him at all. No need to alert the crazy man you suspected him of being crazy.

"Well, I-"

The door to the Church opened up once again, this time a man in a dark grey trench coat looked outside "Freed." he spoke in an irritated tone of voice "How long do you intend to-" he paused as he caught sight of Leona, staring at her blankly for a few moments from underneath his fedora.

"Morning." Leona casually nodded back to the man.

"...Just get back inside Freed." The man ignored her greeting entirely and focused back on the Priest, a flash of irritation danced across his features for a moment before they settled out.

"Well, it seems we shall part ways here." The man, Freed, sighed dramatically as he shook his head "But I hope to meet again. I'm sure Asia-chan would as well!"

"Just be sure to take care of her!" Leona called back as she was already halfway back through to entering the forest "She's quite the nice girl."

"I'm certain of that!" Freed called back in a knowing tone of voice "We'll treat her right."

"Freed!" The man barked out again from the entrance to the Church. The priest rolled his eyes and turned around as he marched back towards it.

"The fuck are you doing?" Freed hissed as he approached, dropping his act and going straight into anger "You trying to cockblock me or something?"

"We have better things to do right now than have you enact your flights of fancy." Donasheek spoke in an irritated tone of voice "And right now with the girl still inside? Are you utterly stupid?"

"So? Who the fuck-" Freed sighed, slapping a hand over his face and dragging it down "She's gonna be gone soon, isn't she? Ain't that the whole point of this little gathering?" he shrugged "So what if she's a little panicky? Ain't like she's going to do anything."

"You want to engage in acts of depravity? Fine." Donasheek huffed "Do it on your own time and when you aren't working." he opened up the door fully "Now get inside and do your damn job in making the girl comfortable. She needs to be ready for the ritual and perfectly comfortable until then."

"Fine, fine." Freed grunted in annoyance as he stepped inside "I was this close to scoring, I tell you."

"Then perhaps you didn't see the ring on her finger. Oaf." Donasheek flatly responded as he closed the Church door.

"The what?"

Leona maintained her calm expression as she walked back through the forest towards the town once again. Though she didn't react to the name openly, she wasn't so ignorant as to not know who Freed was.

Then again, the name and the appearance were virtually a dead give away.

Freed Sellzen.

Though he wasn't exactly an Executor, he was still a skilled exorcist and was rather infamous amongst Church circles for a little while for being rather overzealous. It was probably because he wasn't an Executor level that they ended up cutting him loose in the first place, not being skilled enough to tolerate that much crazy.

Not only did he kill Devils, but he also killed everyone who might have been affiliated with them and prone to letting his more primal desires run wild.

All in all, he was insane and was now in the town where she lived.

And knew her face.

And made no attempt to hide his interest in her.

"Great." Leona sighed to herself quietly as she continued her walk down, if nothing else she had something to inform Rias about. As much for her own safety as it was for the Devils. With someone like Freed around, it wouldn't be long before bodies started to turn up.

What she was concerned about more than that was Asia being left with someone like that. She most definitely wasn't suited for being associated with that side of the Grigori.

The faction attracted two types of people.

The type like Azazel who didn't like the rules of Heaven and wanted to have a lot more freedom and the type like Freed who were way too crazy for the Church and were just dumped without any consideration.

She cast one final glance over her shoulder towards the direction of the church before turning back around.

She was going to have to make a few improvements to the house, namely a slightly better bounded field.

"You've had problems again, Roman-sensei."

"And good morning-" Romani paused as he looked towards the clock "...Good afternoon? Yeah. Good afternoon, Issei-kun." he turned in his chair to face the young man and raised an eyebrow "So how was your day anyway?"

Issei paused for a moment, his expression brightened slightly "It was actually alright for the most part." he admitted with a smile before it dissipated slightly "Although there's also the problem with some of the girls freaking out because Kiba sometimes comes to talk with me." he sighed and threw up his hands "It's not like I wanted him to do that, he just does!"

"Yuuto Kiba, right?" Romani inquired before nodding his head and frowning "Yeah…I remember him…sort of?" he sighed "I haven't actually seen him all that much though. Although all the girls say he's a very nice young man-"

"He's a handsome bastard is what he is." Issei grumbled as he marched into the room "I bet he's had it easy with looks like that."

"You can't assume that sort of thing about someone's life, Issei-kun." Romani gently reminded the boy, prompting the teenager to flash him an odd look "Everyone has their own problems that can't really be solved by looks." the nurse scratched his cheek "But I guess you didn't come for that, did you?"

Issei shook his head "Akeno-senpai said she came to cheer you up." he pouted "Damn…I'm actually a little jealous."

A bead of sweat ran down the side of Romani's head. "I don't think you'd be saying that if you were on the receiving end of her 'cheering up' but I suppose she took my mind off what I was worried about."

"Hmmm." Issei hummed and nodded his head before crossing his arms. "You had another vision this morning…and you didn't want to talk about it."

"...Sort of." Romani admitted with a slow nod of the head "It doesn't actually make a lot of sense if I'm being honest." he paused, then looked back at the clock "Wait a minute…" he stared at the time before looking back at the young man "You should be in class! What are you even doing here?"

Issei gave a nervous chuckle "W-well…I told Sensei I had a bad stomach ache and they let me go…"

Romani rewarded him with a slightly disappointed look "Really, Issei-kun?"

"Hey! I was still worried about you from this morning and you running off didn't help that much, you know?" Issei pointed out, gesturing at the nurse while sporting a frown of his own "...Also every other vision you've had so far sort of involves me…" he pointed out with a more worried expression "So I've been sort of freaking out all day because of how sick you looked after you had it…"

The nurse winced at that "Ah, right…yeah…Well…I didn't see you at all." he offered with a smile he didn't really feel "So there's that."

Issei exhaled "That's a little relieving…isn't it?" he took notice of the pale expression on the nurse's face "...Right?"

"...Not really." Romani muttered back, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back into his chair as far as it could go. The back even creaked the more weight the man put on it "It's…it was…" he gulped loudly and closed his eyes "I don't want to think about it."

The teenager in front of him grimaced "Was it bad?"

"...Yeah." Romani spoke in a shaky tone of voice as he opened his eyes "...Um…room full of blood like something out of a horror film." he explained with another crack of his voice, reaching up with his left hand and rubbing it over his eyes "Y-yeah…not um…not…"

"You don't need to tell me anymore, Roman-sensei." Issei hastily assured him while waving his eyes, looking somewhat sick himself "I get…I get the idea."

"Thanks…" Romani nodded his head, lowering his hand "So after that I…felt a little queasy."

"I do as well and I haven't even seen it…" Issei remarked as if trying to bring some levity into the situation but ultimately failing. "So…" he sighed and gestured to the nurse "Roman-sensei, I think you need to talk to someone about-"

"I sort of did…with Akeno-san."

Issei paused "Really? You told her about your eyes-"

"Not." Romani cringed "Not exactly…I asked her about future readings by talking about fortune cookies."

"Oh…do those things work by the way?"

"No, they're still just vague guesses it seems."

"Ah…I guess that makes sense." Issei remarked in a mildly disappointed tone "So…future telling?"

Romani gave a hum of acknowledgment as he continued on "Yeah…turns out it's a more vague prediction on something that may or may not happen. Akeno-san said it was like narrowing down the amount of paths you could take to find the correct one but it isn't completely accurate." He sighed "And um…more accurate predictions are more within the power of Gods."

Issei blinked once, then twice "...Ah."

"Yeah…that was my reaction." He chuckled weakly "She said there might have been something like predicting the future with complete accuracy in the past but there hasn't been someone like that for a long time so…" Romani looked back towards Issei "I don't think standing out is really a good idea…"

Issei thinned his lips "But these eyes are messing you up, Roman-sensei." he pointed out "At least…" he pursued his lips "At least talk to Mrs Archaman."

"Leo?" Romani blinked before he shrugged "And tell her what? I have terrifying visions of the future that revolve around bloody deaths?" he looked off to the side "I'm already freaking myself out enough with this as it is and I don't…" he closed his eyes "I don't want her to have to worry about me even more…"

"Roman-sensei…" Issei looked at him with a concerned look on his face.

"Oh…" Romani suddenly spoke, his eyes widening slightly as he looked back towards Issei "This might be what Leo meant…" he grimaced "...It's not easy to think of…" he sighed "Just…I don't know, I'll probably sort it out…"

"...Alright." Issei nodded slowly "Just take care of yourself, Roman-sensei."

The nurse chuckled weakly "That's the sort of thing I'm supposed to be telling you, isn't it?"

Issei merely shrugged "Probably. I don't think that makes it less true, right?"

"Hmmm…You also shouldn't lie about illnesses." Romani pointed out, giving the boy a troubled face "I do appreciate you coming to check up on me but it shouldn't come at the cost of your education."

The boy looked down "...I know that but I doubt I'd do that well anyway."

"You won't know until you try your hardest, Issei-kun." Romani cheered him up before turning towards his desk "...I'll just say I have you an antacid to help you and send you back with a note so you don't get in trouble." he remarked, swiftly writing something down on a piece of paper "...And you're probably right about the visions involving you…"

"...So that means…?" Issei trailed off meaningfully.

"I don't know what it means but be careful, Issei-kun." Romani turned around and handed the note to him "Then again…I did hear a girl scream so maybe it doesn't involve you at all?" he offered a strained smile "...But um…ju-just in case…have one of your club mates look out for you, alright?"

"...Yeah." Issei nodded his head at the nurse and cracked a half smile "But I'm sure I'll be fine…maybe." he paused. "...I'll be on the lookout."

"...If I get any more I'll try and let you know." Romani replied before he looked at the clock "Before the end of the day anyway but it's…not very helpful to be honest."

"You shouldn't try and force yourself." Issei pointed out "Buchou said that you being involved was a mistake to begin with so-"

"Can't really worry about all those 'what-ifs' now though." Romani remarked sullenly as Issei took the note from his hands. "...Just got to try with what we have to work with, I guess."

"Hmmm." Issei nodded his head slowly as he looked down at the note, then at the nurse "...I hope it gets better, Roman-sensei."

"...You and me both."

AN: Well then…

Rias is gonna find out about Freed a little earlier than in canon and yes!

Mentions of Executors…Scary, scary.

Anyway, Romani naturally freaks out about seeing a room full of blood and surprisingly Akeno comes to cheer him up!

…Also to get her daily fix of sadism but mainly to cheer him up!