Shino had finally gotten a chance to himself over the weekend as he rode his skateboard down the path in the park. After the whole training thing with Rias, she soon realized he was actually more athletic than she anticipated. Still, he knew he wasn't really powerful, at least not to the capability of his first life. The fact he was somehow able to be alive again was a miracle to say the least. After taking a break from his ride, he gets an unexpected phone call.
"Hello?" He asked as he sat down on the nearby bench.
"You better have a good explanation for ending up with Rias Gremory." A familiar voice answered as Shino sighed with annoyance.
"Mike, it wasn't like I was taken by force. I don't even know how this whole thing works. I'm a king in a chess set that doesn't normally do any fighting." Shino told his brother as he continued to listen to him.
"I don't even know how you were able to be accepted into the peerage, but this is serious news. You're lucky the other factions have no clue you're the archangel of death. We are all still at war, you know." Michael said sternly as he was busy drinking some tea in his office. "No one knows about your existence?"
"Sirzechs and Serafall do. Those are the only high profile people who know, but they won't tell anyone else. They're not stupid." Shino responded as he looked up at the sky. "Didn't dad tell you?"
"Father has been preoccupied with his dvd collecting to tell me anything. Ever since I've become his assistant, I've been swamped with keeping the faith afloat. Luckily with our fathers life, it stays stable." Michael remarked as he grabbed a piece of paper. "Do you seriously know the severity of your actions though? One wrong move and father's cover up will be exposed. It's bad enough that Father's continued existence keeps the devils and fallen angels at bay, but if the three factions find out you're alive once more…"
"A second war will occur." Shino finished as he looked towards the area where a flower bed was blossoming. "No one wants that right now. It's bad enough I was able to save father, but once I died, everyone was in shambles."
"It's because only our side saw your face. You insisted on wearing a mask to hide your identity. It's most likely the reason no one has caught on yet." Michael commented as he put the piece of paper down and looked towards the window. "You aren't as powerful as you once were. Considering you still have your sense ability you're more than capable of handling yourself. Be warned brother, if the other factions find out, they will come after you."
"Mikey please, if anything I'll do what I did centuries ago. Beat them to a pulp." Shino said smugly, to which Michael let out a sigh of disapproval. "How is Gabby doing?"
"Azrael, you know how much she hates it when you call her that." Michael said as he looked at the clock. "She is doing well. Unfortunately I have to let you go, there's a matter I have to attend to. Father asked me to tell you that Raynere might be hiding some sort of plot involving sacred gears. I would advise you to look into it. He is always right."
"Yeah he said that last time about buying a special dvd edition of Lady and the Tramp, and he bought the wrong version." Shino and Michael laughed at that joke. "But I'll look into it. See you later Michael."
"See you Azrael. God bless." The call ended. Shino put his phone away and got up from the bench to ride back to HQ, but that thought still weighed on him. Raynere already mentioned that to him. Was it some sort of ploy to keep him at bay? There was more than meets the eye, and he was going to get to the bottom of this…
At the clubhouse of ORC…
"I'm sorry, I have to do what?" Shino asked as Rias took a tuna onigiri from him.
"It's called a contract." She said as she took a bite out of it before speaking. "Normally, we usually manage these since we are kings, but considering you're a special case and we have to hide the fact you're a second king, I'm going to allow you to do these things."
"You're kidding right? I'm an angel. I don't do favors, nor am I an angel that answers prayers. Is it some sort of request or malicious activity? I'm not doing any of that shit." Shino said bluntly, causing Rias to laugh hysterically.
"Babe, you worry too much." She said as she gave him a piece of paper with an address on it. "They are regulars and normal people. You should be alright."
"Whatever you say, but I'm blaming you if anything happens." He said sternly, causing Rias to give him a kiss, to which he softened up a bit. "Okay, maybe I won't blame you. But I'll bail if it happens…" he then took his skateboard and walked out, going to complete his task, yet what awaited there would be an experience for sure.
7pm, Local neighborhood…
Shino finally arrived on his skateboard as he put it next to the fence so he didn't have to carry it in. Walking up to the door, he was about to knock, but the wind pushed the door open, startling him. "The door seems to have been open for sometime." He examined the lock to see it had been broken into. "Damn. Looks like I got what I thought would happen. More problems. What a pain…" Shino walked in carefully, examining the rooms surrounding him, only to find no one there. That was, until he stumbled upon the living room. Where he saw a guy with blonde hair stabbing someone or something repeatedly. "SERVES YOU RIGHT FOR ASSOCIATING WITH DEVIL SCUM BITCH!"
"Geez. Guys got a mouth on him. Wish dad still kept that policy of shocking heavens agents who cursed profusely. Then again, I was the reason it had to stop. I cursed as well." He thought to himself sheepishly. Unfortunately, he was then met by the crazed lunatic. "Who the fuck are you? How did you get in here?!"
"Uh…the door was open?" He answered, a bit unsure of what to say. He then noticed the man was wearing an exorcist uniform. "What's one of the agents doing here? Found a devil or something?"
"Agents? What are you-" The man asked before he stared deep into his eyes. "These scum were associating with devils. So, I did the right thing and cleansed their souls with death!"
"Hate to break it to you bud, but Dad didn't say kill all who sin." Shino answered, now a bit confused as to why this exorcist was even remotely able to be in gremory territory. "You don't seem like you're associated with the church."
"Not anymore! Those idiots wouldn't let me kill, so I said fuck them and ran off! Which begs me to ask…" He said as he pulled out a gun and pointed it towards Shino. "You must be the devil who was sent to help these low life creatures."
"Now that's a first. Usually they call me a monster." Shino adjusted his hands in his pockets, not even fazed by his whole situation. "So what? You're no better killing people. Must have been one of those zealots who took advantage of religion."
"SO WHAT?! THAT MEANS YOU'RE GONNA DIE, YOU DUMBASS!" The man shouted as he shot him several times, only to find the bullets bounced off of him like rubber darts from a nerf gun. "Huh? That's new.."
"Yeah, I get that reaction a lot." Shino answered as he jumped towards the exorcist, landing a square hook to the jaw, sending him flying into the wall. "I would probably ask you to leave but I'm still confused about this whole system thing."
"So you are associated with devils." The man said as he got up from his recent injury, "You don't seem like one. Pure strength like that with no negative energy doesn't seem like it's a devil's scent. You must be an angel." The man spit towards Shino, yet it obviously didn't even come close to him. "I can't believe one of God's own creations would commit heresy!"
"Like you're one to talk, moron." Shino said as he jumped up to deliver a flying kick, which the man avoided, impressing Shino. "So he's not a lightweight. Judging by his style he seems to be a juggernaut. Though this is probably what got him kicked out in the first place. No doubt dad will be asking questions soon."
Shino then saw the man charge towards him with a sword, yet when he landed the hit, the sword bounced off of him, as it was too weak to even leave a scratch. It was only a light sword, something that would have no effect on him. "Alright, looks like it'll have to call Rias…"
ORC Headquarters…
Everyone seemed to be gathering up their things when a phone rang out, prompting the crimson princess to answer. "Oh hey love! I assume the contract went well?"
"Not exactly." The voice answered as broken glass and brief pops could be heard. "Could probably use some backup. This guy's actually got some sk-" The phone line went dead, prompting Rias to look at her phone with the utmost concern.
"Akeno! Kiba! Let's go! I don't know how, but Shino might be in trouble!"
Back at the residence…..
"What the fuck is going on?! How strong are you?!" The exorcist shouted as they continued to fight.
"Even with a weakened state this guy is actually wearing me out. I'm rusty for sure. Better get my sword out to be safe." After avoiding the slashed and landing another punch to the chest, Shino held out his hand, summoning his signature weapon. "Mors mihi praebe manum!" (Lend me Death's Hand) A black bladed short sword appeared as Shino quickly unsheathed it. "This should even the odds a bit."
"What the hell is that?! God damn it! ASIA, GET IN HERE!" The man shouted once more, prompting another person to appear, this time a young girl who was wearing nuns clothing.
"Yes master freed! I've finished the traps like you asked!" She walked in only to find the bloody corpse and scream, causing Freed to sigh in annoyance.
"Oh that's right, you've never seen a dead body before." Freed said, yet Shino took advantage of this distraction and sent a kick into his upper chest, sending Freed outside the home. He then turned his attention towards the nun, who was clearly frightened by his presence. "See dad? Even when I'm good, people still hate me for no reason." "How did you even get into leagues with this man?" He asked as the nun said nothing. "Come on, this ain't no place for a holy saint." He grabbed the girl, causing her to shout again, and he bolted out the door, only to be met by two fallen angels, with one of them being Raynere. "Don't tell me it's true. I don't want to have to cut you down."
"Oh please." Raynere said smugly as she summoned a light spear. "You were always the naive one according to the other angels."
Shino put the girl down behind him before he pointed his sword towards Raynere and the other female fallen angel. "I wasn't naive, but I didn't think someone like you could actually go through with stealing sacred gears. That weapon won't hurt me. You'd be wasting your breath."
"Oh yeah?" The other girl said as she threw a spear at him, yet it bounced off him once again just like Freed's sword. "W-What?!"
"So the rumors are true. You're immune." Raynere said with a growl and sneer.
Suddenly, a voice shouted from behind him. "YOU FUCKER! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"
"Please. You aren't the first to try." Shino said as he adjusted his position. Luckily for him, Rias and the others finally appeared, well suited for battle.
"Damn it! Kala we must go." Raynere said bitterly as they both activated their wings. "Freed! We're leaving. Grab the girl!"
Just as Freed would try to grab her, Shino would finally snap. He grabbed the arm of the psychopathic freak and sliced it clean off, thanks to his sword's incredible sharpness. He then kicked him towards Raynere, who grabbed him while he was screaming profanity. "THIS ISN'T OVER SHINO!"
They managed to get away as Shino sheathed his sword, with the others gathering towards him and the girl. "Are you okay?! What happened?! Why did you destroy the house?!"
"That exorcist killed the client. This girl seemed to be working for him. I don't see why she could though. She was completely oblivious to his intentions." The girl looked up to him with shock. "You must have been taken by force or something. Michael wouldn't let a nun be so easily caught."
"Y-You know Lord Michael?" The girl asked as he nodded his head in agreement. "Oh thank God for blessing me with a savior. My name is Asia Argento."
"Shino. Just call me that for now." She nodded in agreement as Kiba went to examine her. "She seems to be in clean shape. You, on the other hand, look roughed up."
"Yeah, but he has no injuries. That's insane. Didn't they use swords or anything?" Akeno asked as he shook his head.
"They bounced off. Weak weapons like that won't hurt me. At least for now it seems. My state of power is not what it once was before. I'm still getting used to it." Shino admitted as he looked towards the broken down house. "We should go home for now. I'll need to make a call to someone so we can get some stuff in order…"
That night, in his house…
Akeno went to help Asia get cleaned up while Shino got on his phone and dialed Michael's number, much to Rias' surprise. "You have his number?"
"It's the 21st century. We're not prehistoric." Shino said as the line picked up. "Azrael, how unexpected of you to call at this hour."
"Michael, we need to talk. I just got out of a battle with some exorcist and managed to rescue a nun." This was serious after all. His brother would never call him by his full name unless it was serious. Michael checked the door before locking it. "What the matter?"
Shino put him on speaker so Rias could listen, since he knew Michael wouldn't overreact to her listening. "How did an innocent girl get caught up with fallen angels? You were right about the sacred gears plot. I was able to fend them off."
"An innocent girl? What is her name?" He asked as he searched his desk for missing sisters.
"Asia Argento." Shino answered, to which there was a slight pause in the call. "Mike?"
"That's the girl who was cast out by the church. I knew I should've intervened. Father should've said something." Micheal began as he grabbed her file from his desk. "She was blessed with sacred gears known as twilight healing, which can heal many injuries, bad or good. She was cast out for healing a fallen devil."
Shino fell silent as Rias looked at him with concern. It didn't seem like anger, but the look in his eyes sure made it seem that way. "This is why I don't force the law onto others. Why don't you reinstate her? And how the hell did she end up with them?"
"I would assume she was misled. Knowing from the girl's kind nature, she is naive to malicious intent." Michael put the paper down and grabbed a pen, writing down a sentence to set it straight. He would get her back into the church. "I'll get her reinstated, but I can't offer help with her safety. Any signs of our forces in devil territory and you'll kickstart another extinction…"
"Yeah I'm aware of that. If anything, the fallen angels might have started something small already." Shino said as he pinched his nose. "I'll protect the girl."
"Shino, you have to understand she's not a part of our clan. If we have to escape, I can't bring her with us." Rias warned as Michael heard her voice and sighed.
"Ah yes, do incite more trouble by allowing Rias Gremory to hear our conversations." Michael said amused by his brother's trust in her. "Hello Miss Gremory. I assume you're my brother's lover?"
"Yes he is, and I'm not going to inform anyone about this. Your secrets are safe with me." Michael chuckled as he grabbed the file and held it firmly in his hand. "This will most likely upset the Vatican, but I'm sure Father will knock some sense into them. He is not one for taking someone's word over yours."
"Those old farts are why the church could've been destroyed. Keep this between you and me Michael. Have Father give her heaven protection status, and I'll take care of the rest. Besides, you're head of the church. Your word is law."
"Fair enough. But that doesn't mean I'll be tyrannical about it." Michael answered sternly. "I'll take care of it, Azrael. Be safe."
"You too." Shino said as he ended the call before looking towards Rias. "Guess you're welcome into the family now." He chuckled as Rias looked at him with concern.
"Shino, I was serious. We can't protect her if we aren't there. She'll be vulnerable here." She warned as he scoffed at her words.
"It's a risk I'm willing to take, and I'll be damned if anyone thinks I'll let them get away with this." He said firmly. "Asia can stay here. I'll do my best."
Asia would be safe for now in his home, but Raynere knows of his location, so what are the chances his risks turn from favorable to deadly….
