Shin walked silently down the street, enjoying the morning breeze upon his skin as he blissfully watched the beautiful sight of the sun rising from the horizon. The sky is painted red, reminding him of Rias, and his current predicament with her as well as every other devil at Kuoh Academy.
No doubt that not a single one of them expects to see him again, thinking he had already been cut open by Ajuka by now. He was looking forward to seeing their faces when they saw him again, alive and well. However, there still was the problem that they all thought he was some edgy emo.
He wasn't entirely sure how to fix that just yet. He could just let it ride out and fix itself, as it would eventually blow over. Or he could personally clear it up with them and tell them it was all a ruse. However, telling them that would bring up a whole lot of complications he didn't want to deal with it.
But now that the whole Raynare arc and all its problems were solved, he could focus on the Riser arc, which meant bringing forth the next stage of his plan. Then, once that arc was over, as a high-class devil, he could move onto bigger and better things.
However, he would have to come up with a way to get himself off of Sirzechs' shit list. There is no doubt in Shin's mind that Sirzechs would jump at any chance to kill him at the moment. However, Shin had essentially used Rias as a pawn, which no question, pissed him off to no limit.
Shin was suddenly forced to stop walking and lean up against a wall as he experienced a sudden case of vertigo, feeling the world spin around his as his vision darkened, black spots appearing all over his vision. After a few seconds of it, the feeling passed.
Shaking his head, Shin wiped his eyes of the black spots in his vision. 'The hell was that?' Shin thought to himself, thinking over everything that could cause him to experience something like that. The first thing coming to mind was having low levels of sugar, however, his hands were steady as a surgeon at the moment, so that wasn't it.
Another could be an ear infection, however, his ears weren't ringing, so that wouldn't make sense either. Which only left one other cause that he knew of, which was either drugs or alcohol, but he hadn't done either.
Something wasn't right, he could feel it. However, for the moment, he couldn't diagnose the cause for sudden vertigo, so he would have to move on. If it happened again, it would become a problem he would need to get checked out.
(Scene Break)
After going back home and completing his morning schedule, Shin was now on his way to school. He had two options, go to the student council room or the ORC. Both groups would be gathered at the moment. However, there was one thing that came to mind.
Knowing Sona, as she is expecting for Shin to be dead by this point, she has most probably already come up with a story explaining his death. That was something he didn't want to have to deal with, so he was going to have to nip that in the bud before it started.
Arriving at the student council room, Shin walked in like it was just another day in his life. However, the gasps of surprise upon his entrance were not something he was used; however, it was something he had expected.
Looking around at the confused faces, Shin smirked. "What's the matter? Thought I'd be cut open on a table by now?" Shin asked, Momo and Reya looking down in shame.
Sona, however, was by far the most confused. "H-How? My sister told me you were going to be given to Ajuka." Sona said.
Shin looked at her, not bothering to hide his disappointment. "You know, a move like this I expect to see coming from Rias, after all, it wouldn't be her first time leaving me for dead…" Shin paused. "But for you? Even after all we've been through?" Shin said, the genuine hurt in his voice causing Sona to look down in shame and self-hate.
"I-I'm sorry." Sona mumbled, refusing to look Shin in the eyes at the moment.
"Save it Sona, apologies aren't going to fix this. I'm disappointed, really disappointed. But even more, disappointed that you actually believed that whole lie." Shin said, walking to his usual seat in front of her desk and sat down.
Sona, despite being surprised, still refused to look up at Shin's face. "It's not like I wanted to do it. I didn't have a choice." Sona said.
Shin snorted. "Really? You didn't have a choice? Who are you trying to convince of that; me or you?" Shin said, resulting in Sona to sink even further in shame. "You had a choice; you always have a choice. And you chose to leave me for dead." Shin said; however, it held no spite nor anger, only hurt and disappointment.
"As I said, I'm sorry. If I could take it back…"
"Stop right there. Don't give me that if I knew then what I know now bullshit. You made your choice. Now stop making excuses and own up to your mistake." Shin said, irritated. Sona was acting like I child, blaming everyone and everything else but herself.
Sona, unable to say anything, just gave a small nod of her head. "Now, I'm going, I need to go have a conversation with Rias," Shin said, getting up out of his chair and slinging his bag over his back. "Also, I'd appreciate it if you shredded up whatever situation you made up about my death."
Sona was surprised he knew, but not that surprised. She knew Shin was a smart person, this level of prediction is childs play to Shin and she knew that. "How'd you know?" Sona mumbled.
Shin stopped in his movement of leaving the student council room. "I like to think that I know you pretty well Sona. However recent decisions have shown otherwise." Shin said, continuing his walk out of the room, he stopped right at the door, not looking back. If he had, he would have seen a few tears leak from Sona's eyes.
"Don't misunderstand Sona. I do not hate you nor do I hold any anger towards you. I still consider you a friend. However, the trust I once placed in you, and the respect I had, is gone." Shin said his final piece and left the room, shutting the door behind him.
After Shin left, the entire room was silent, no one spoke a word. The only sound in the room being Sona's tears hitting her desk. Abruptly getting up, Sona started to form a teleportation circle. "Excuse me," Sona said quickly before she left the room, not wanting anyone to see her break down.
(Scene Break)
Shin now stood in front of the ORC, preparing himself for the shitstorm that was about to ensue. He couldn't help but think back to what just happened in the student council room, however. The disappointment and hurt that was shown back there was all real.
He had not expected Sona to arrive at the scene of him killing the three fallen. However, her decision to leave him for dead; it did hurt him. Every word he spoke was the truth and every feeling he expressed was genuine. Which for Shin, was a rare occurrence.
Now, however, it was time to confront Rias, which unlike the confrontation with Sona, would not be so peaceful, that he was sure of. Knowing Rias, she would take no responsibility at all for her actions and would show very little if not no remorse at all for what she did.
Opening the door, he walked into the ORC, hearing the sound of a cup breaking nearly the instant he entered the room. His attention drawn to it, he looked to the side and saw Rias look at him in shock, a broken cup at her feet.
"Shin?!" Rias exclaimed in surprise.
Shin showed no emotion, remaining neutral. "Surprised?" Shin asked, giving even Koneko a run for her money at the emotionless tone and front he had put up.
"You! But… You are…" Rias stammered, unable to put together a complete sentence.
"I'm supposed to be dead. Cut open on a table, being examined under a microscope." Shin stated, still not showing any emotions.
Rias didn't know how to respond. This whole situation was surprising to her. She had not expected to ever see Shin again.
"I would say I'm surprised or hurt by your actions, by really it's not surprising at all. This isn't the first time you've left me for dead anyway." Shin said, surprised when Rias looked away in remorse. It was something he wasn't expecting to say the least.
"I'm sorry Shin. But I had an obligation to report what you said. It wasn't my choice to have to dissected." Rias said, this part not surprising Shin in the least.
"No, I get it. You had no choice. You had to let me die, again." Shin sarcastically said. "Tell me this though Rias. What did you get out of it?" Shin asked, Rias looking at him in surprise.
"What do you mean?" Rias asked, nervous and surprised.
"Well, you were about to have one of your peerage members taken away without any say in the matter. A strong one at that. Obviously, they would give you compensation for such a thing. So, tell me. What were they going to give you in exchange?" Shin asked, genuinely curious.
Rias looked away, not wanting to answer. "Rias, I'm going to find out one way or another. If not by you, then I'll have Sona ask her sister, and Sona would gladly do so in order to try and restore our strained relationship at the moment. Do you really want to add that on top of everything that you've done to me?" Shin asked, some anger leaking into his voice.
Rias sighed deeply. "In exchange for you, since you were reincarnated with eight pawn pieces, they would give me something I valued as equal value. I chose for my engagement to be nulled and all future ones as well." Rias said.
Shin chuckled, expecting something like this. "So, in the end, I served my purpose. You let me die the first time to annul your engagement anyway. And hey, look, I even got you future protection from other engagements. I more than served my purpose, didn't I?" Shin sarcastically said, causing Rias too look down.
"Tell the truth, you'd prefer it if I was dead. Wouldn't you? Then you wouldn't have to ever worry about situations like forced marriages ever again." Shin said. This was the reason why Shin was upset with Rias and not Sona.
Sona, although she told her sister about what she had witnessed, she didn't do it for personal gain, but instead out of a sense of obligation. Rias, however, fully used it to her advantage.
"Of course I wouldn't prefer that!" Rias yelled. However, Shin didn't buy it.
"So, you're telling me, you can look me in the eyes, and say that you don't have a shred of disappointment that your deal fell through?" Shin asked, unbelieving.
Rias, responding to Shin, looked him dead in the eyes. "I feel no disappointment at my deal falling through. You're important to me." Rias said, causing Shin to feel nothing but disgust.
"You disgust me. To so easily look me in the eyes like that and lie." Shin said, angered by her.
"That's not true!" Rias defended.
"Bullshit! If that was true, the deal never would have been made in the first place." Shin said, Rias looking away at being called out on her lie. "You dug your grave Rias, now it's time to lay in it. Own up to your mistakes, admit you were wrong. Otherwise, there will be consequences." Shin said, Rias snapping her head towards him.
"Are you threatening me?" Rias asked dangerously, narrowing her eyes at him.
Shin just rolled his eyes, expecting this from her. She needed to learn some shame and humility. "No, I'm telling you to grow up. If you want me to ever hold any respect towards you, then own up to your mistakes." Shin said, causing Rias to huff and look away.
Shin just shook his head. He didn't expect anything more from her. "Alright, whatever. Well, you should know I made a deal with your brother." This caught Rias' attention, causing her to look back at him in wonder. "I'll end your engagement with Riser…" Rias' eyes widened, surprised. "And in exchange, Sirzechs will make me a high-class devil." Rias was now thoroughly shocked.
"Once I become a high-class devil, I'll be cutting ties with you." Shin left the room after he said that, leaving Rias shocked. She couldn't believe what Shin had just said.
It was at this moment that Akeno came out from the other room. "He's right you know. It's your decisions that put you in this decision. You need to own up to your mistakes." Akeno said, reasoning with Rias.
Rias, hearing even Akeno reprimand her, finally realized her mistakes. "What am I to do now? You heard him, he hated me." Rias said, falling backward onto the couch by her.
Akeno shook her head at her master's naivety. "Shin never once said that. However, if you do nothing, that may come true. You have until your engagement is nulled to make it up to Shin." Akeno explained.
"How am I supposed to make it up to him?" Rias asked, lost. She had never had to fix a situation like this before.
"If I tell you that, you will learn nothing. I can't hold your hand through this Rias. As Shin said, you dug your own grave, not it's time for you to lay in it." Akeno said before going back to whatever she was doing in the other room.
Meanwhile, Rias sighed and sunk deeper into the couch. She had no clue how to make it up to Shin.
(Scene Break)
The school day was awkward for Shin to say the very least. Since Rias sat right next to him, she spent the entire school day sneaking guilty glances at him but never made any move to say anything. It was both irritating and awkward.
However, once school ended, the intercom had sounded out and called for Shin to come to the student council room. It would seem that Sona had something she wanted to talk with him about. He was curious about whether it would be an attempt to earn back his trust, or for other reasons.
Either way, Shin planned on going there. He just wished Rias would hurry up and get her head out of her ass so he could move onto the next stage of his plan as the next stage heavily revolved around Rias and her peerage.
Walking into the student council room, he took notice that Sona was the only person in there currently, which was weird considering school just ended. Normally everyone would be here at this time. This meant that Sona wanted to talk to him alone.
"So, what did you want me for Sona?" Shin asked, leaning up against the back wall. Sona pulled out a chessboard and set up the pieces, using her hand to signal Shin to sit in front of her. Shin sighed if she wanted to drag out this whole thing, that was up to her.
Taking the seat in front of her, they began their game of chess. Shin knew that Sona wouldn't call him here just to play a game of chess, be he was also a patient person, so didn't rush anything. Sona would talk to him about her reasons for bringing him here once she was ready.
About halfway through the game, Sona finally decided to come out with what she brought him here for. "Look, Shin, I know that betrayed your trust, and for that I am sorry. However, I am not sorry I told my sister what I heard. You may be my friend, but she is my sister. My loyalties lie with her, no matter how good a friend you are." Sona said, triggering a smile from Shin.
Sona was confused when she saw Shin smile. She was expecting him to be angry, hurt, or even storm out of the room. Smiling, however, was not one of the things she expected to see from him. "Why are you smiling." Sona confusedly asked.
"I'm smiling because you chose the right answer," Shin said, moving his piece on the chessboard and letting out a quick declaration of check. "In fact, I would have thought less of you if you had so easily betrayed your sister, your own flesh and blood. You acknowledged that what you did was a betrayal of my trust. But you also saw that it was the correct thing to do. You get an A+!" Shin said, Sona chuckling.
"Do you ever not manipulate people?" Sona asked, amused by the situation. She had figured out after Shin had left that what she saw the day before was all a ruse. For what, she did not know. However, she had realized that Shin was putting on an act to convince them, or rather Rias, that he was unstable.
Shin smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "What can I say? It would be a was not to put my innate talent of manipulating people to use." Shin said, watching bitterly as Sona made her next move in their game of chess. He was losing.
"And what of Rias? I am assuming you are also manipulating her into doing something." Sona said, causing Shin to chuckle at her deduction capabilities. Shin could not lie and say Sona was not a smart person.
"Yes, I am. However, it's not like the way I was manipulating you. I wanted to see if you would fold under pressure and betray your family. I wanted to see if you were a trustworthy person with good morals." Shin explained, Sona clicking her tongue once she noticed she had been played like a fiddle.
"However, with Rias, I want to teach her a lesson. More specifically, I want her to get her head out of her ass." Not expecting an answer like that from Shin, Sona couldn't stop herself from snorting in amusement.
"And how are you going to do that?" Sona silently agreed with Shin, however since Rias was one of her greatest friends, she would not openly admit say it aloud. That would be a betrayal of the friendship between the two of them.
"Well, I told her that I had made a deal with her brother. That deal is that if I end her engagement, he will grant me high-class devil status." Sona's eyes widened, catching onto the unsaid meaning to his words. "So, you realize I used Rias to get to her brother. She didn't seem to catch onto that when I told her, but she isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shack." Shin said, taking a dig at Rias' smarts.
Just like that, everything fell into place in Sona's mind. Shin's reasoning for doing what he did, how he did it, and how he executed it. "So, the entire thing was staged so you could make a deal with Sirzechs? So, you could cut corners and become a high-class devil much faster?" Sona asked, wanting confirmation.
Shin nodded; Sona had nailed the nail on the head. "Yes, that brings me to how I'm going to get Rias' head out of her ass. I told her that is she didn't own up to her mistakes, I would cut ties with her once I beat Riser. I'm interested to see how she will react." Shin explained, Sona rolling her eyes in response.
"Knowing Rias, she won't do anything. At least, not without the interference of Akeno or someone else. Rias has been spoiled her whole life, always treated like a princess. Because of this, she expects everyone to treat her as such. She has too much pride to ever admit to herself, let alone someone else, that she made a mistake." Sona said, accurately explaining Rias' mindset.
"Exactly. That's what I'm trying to fix. However, I don't have too much faith that it will happen. Shin explained, clicking his tongue when Sona took his last rook piece.
Sona smirked, acknowledging she had pushed Shin into a corner in their game of chess. "And if she doesn't? What will you do?" Sona asked, focusing on their game of chess.
Shin sighed. "I'm a man of my word, Sona. If she doesn't, I will cut ties with her." Shin said, causing Sona to stop and look up at Shin sharply, shocked.
"You would really cut ties with her?" Sona asked, surprised.
"Why shouldn't I? Because she's hot? I may be a pervert, but my dick does not control my decisions. I'd rather not stick around someone who has no shame or humility." Shin said, although there also was the fact that despite Rias being super-hot, there were people even hotter than her.
"Okay, then say you cut ties with her. Then what will you do?" Sona wanted to know what Shin's plan was in the case that Rias didn't react that way Shin wanted her to do. Obviously, once Shin became a high-class devil, the only people he will have to answer to is the four mauo since he isn't tied to any household or group. He would be free to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.
"Not sure, however, what I do know is that the supernatural world is a very big place. I think it would be nice to explore it, see what all it has to offer. Plus, I could even build up a strong peerage along the way." Shin explained, however, what he didn't say was that this was his plan no matter what happened in the future.
Ever since coming to this world, he had wanted to explore the unmentioned parts of the anime. Everything he had done up until now was in future preparation for that. However, there were requirements he needed to do before he went and explored the rest of the supernatural world.
The first being that he needed to be a high-class devil. If he wanted to go an explore the supernatural world, it would be essential to have a title to throw around for his own protection. Not to mention, it would be the perfect opportunity to find strong people to recruit into his peerage.
The second would be strength. The supernatural world was just as dangerous as it was big. If he wanted to live the life of a wanderer, exploring the supernatural world, he would need a lot of strength to protect himself. Otherwise, he would be killed.
The third and final thing wasn't a requirement, but rather a preference, and it was what his current plan was working toward. First, however, he would need to get Rias' head out of her ass. If all went according to plan, it would be completed before the Riser fight.
Shin deflated when Sona declared checkmate, knocking over his king. "Congratulations, you wind again. Anyways, I'm going to be going now, I need to take Asia clothes shopping and teach her some more Japanese." Shin said, standing up. However, when he stood up, he got a sudden headrush.
The head rush quickly evolved into the same feeling of vertigo he felt from this morning, however much stronger. His legs wobbled as he felt the entire world spinning, his vision blurry and obscured by black dots. Stumbling, he stumbled into the wall, using it to try and keep himself standing.
"Shin?! What's wrong?!" Sona asked alarmed, standing up and rushing over to Shin to try and help him in whatever way she could. Shin, feeling something wet hit, his lip brought his hand to it and felt it, then looked at his finger, seeing them now caked in blood.
"Something isn't right," Shin said, feeling more and more blood come out of his nose, even evolving when he felt trickled of blood come out of his eyes and trail down his cheeks. Suddenly, feeling his stomach churn, he fell to his knees in pain, as if someone had stabbed him in the stomach. Vomiting globs of blood, he knew something bad was happening inside of his body.
Vomiting even more blood, it now caked the carpet floor as he saw the veins in his arms bulge up before bursting. "Fuck. This definitely isn't good." Shin said falling onto the ground, distantly hearing Sona's panicked screams the whole way down as he lost consciousness.
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