The Time of Isolation Hath Come
XV
He needed a drink.
Something strong.
Paint stripper would probably do, now that he thought about it. The type that was just pure alcohol. He'd like to have quite a lot of that at the moment. More than any human could ever stomach, but he wasn't human so it would be fine for him. It would taste like crap, but he wouldn't be craving it for the taste.
Just for the headache that was threatening to split open his temples as he stared at the Satan in the room.
The magical girl one, not the red headed one.
Though it was easy to tell just how serious it was because he wasn't smiling.
And his dear brother had a face as though someone had emptied garbage onto his front garden and then ran off without apologising. A face torn between frustration and concern, difficult to tell if you didn't know him. Michael was always good at hiding his expressions, but if you knew the tells, you knew the tells.
Azazel blew air out from his nose, dropping his arms onto his knees and rolling his lips inwards.
His eyes flickered across to where Roman was standing, the man doing his level best to blend into the wallpaper, all while his wife hovered right in front of him like some sort of wall. Oh, she was definitely in one of those fierce protective moods. She wasn't even smiling at the moment, just keeping her face devoid of emotion.
It reminded him of a cat.
In any other situation he probably would have started laughing, not right now though.
Smacking his lips, he brought his hands up and shook his head.
"I take responsibility for Vali. He said he was going to go for a walk and I probably should have kept a closer eye on where he decided to take the walk..but I would have thought he'd have gone to keep an eye on the Red Dragon Emperor…I probably should have seen something like this coming though."
He grimaced ever so slightly.
Really, looking back, he was surprised it had taken this long for Vali to even approach Romani. He probably should have thought about that the second he heard about what his nurse pal had been doing and getting up to in his free time. The man shot a dragon out of the sky, of course Vali would have tried to size him up like a slab of meat.
Leona's eyes darted over to him and narrowed ever so slightly.
He huffed out a laugh and offered a lopsided smirk. "I said I was sorry, but you know how teenagers can be, right? He's the White Dragon Emperor. I can't exactly say he's grounded and then keep him in his room."
She said nothing and just continued to stare at him.
Then she folded her arms.
Oh boy, he was in trouble now.
"Alright. Vali was my bad, but there might be a more pressing issue here." Changing the topic would probably be his best bet to stave off the inevitable. Funny as it might have been, he was coming from a place other than self interest.
Because it was the bigger elephant in the room.
"Because we all knew Vali would be here…"
"Azazel is right."
Michael cut into the room with a sharp voice, rising to his feet and folding his arms behind his back. The platinum blonde frowned, pacing away from the centre of the room and moving towards the window. He was definitely going through one of those moments where any second now he was going to turn around and say something profound.
"The situation is unprecedented. In their entire history, not a single of the Aztec pantheon have strayed beyond their borders and only now does one come here? And not just any of them, but one of the Tezcatlipoca's?"
Azazel snorted despite the situation, scratching his nose.
"Yeah, and that guy as well."
Black Tezcatlipoca.
The Smoking Mirror.
Not like they knew all that much about any of the Gods from that place personally, but at the very least what they got from the people who had been there and came back, there was a general consensus that had been reached.
Smoking Mirror was both dangerous and erratic.
Befitting the title 'Enemy of all sides' and he lived up to the name.
If he was here to just play audience for the peace conference…
His lips tugged into a frown, he rolled his jaw and looked toward the back of Michael.
His older brother turned around slowly, a deep frown etched onto his face and dragging lines right across his perfect skin.
"Our options are limited. We have put far too many preparations to change our venue at this critical juncture, nor can we ignore the sudden presence of a foreign God on this side of the world from a pantheon that has rejected all forms of contact with both peers and our factions for aeons."
He stepped from the window, eyes looking onwards.
"There is no telling what course of action he will take if we were to reject his presence, I doubt he would leave peacefully…which opens up the possibility of combat with him and if it were to come to that…"
Michael trailed off, but the weight of his words settled in a rather unpleasant way.
Azazel cringed.
If they fought him? Sure, they might be able to see him off if they jumped altogether.
But none of the Japanese Gods would sit idly by when something like that happened and the very last thing that anyone needed was them coming down on them like a sack of bricks on an umbrella. The words political shitstorm sprang to mind, such a fiasco that it would probably be remembered until the sun finally died.
And that might well put the concept of peace on hold for a while.
Sirzechs cleared his throat, drawing eyes to him.
"Indeed, our options remain limited." He began, gesturing between them. "Yet we can assume that he has intentions in being here and, as you have suggested, he will not be dissuaded. Far too much has gone into this process to be called off…I believe meeting with him and determining what his objective in coming here is must be our highest priority."
Sirzechs glanced down at Serafall. "Only then can we truly determine the best course of action available to us."
That wasn't a conversation that he was looking forward to, it was an exasperation he made no effort to hide. Serafall looked far from pleased either, wearing a face as if she had sucked on a lemon and desperately holding back from making the comment that she actually wanted to end up making.
"One of these days, Roman…" Azazel turned on the man and gave a strained smile, meeting the eyes of the nurse as he looked back with no small amount of trepidation. "One of these days you're going to invite me out and we're going to have the most boring day in the world. Where literally nothing happens and we accomplish nothing at all."
Leona sent him a wry look and said nothing.
Wow, not even a comment from her.
"You jest, but that would be akin to your own personal Hell, brother."
Michael commented from across the room, Azazel paused for a moment, then nodded his head in assent. He was right, the idea of sitting still and not actually doing anything at all was a rather torturous thought. He liked to be kept busy and the idea of wasting even a single day was far from appealing to him.
"Okay, fair enough."
Sharply standing up, he adjusted the cufflinks of his suit and let out a long and tired breath, hoping that it would drag out some of his exhaustion.
Unfortunately, it did not.
His hands slipped into his pockets, pacing across the room to where Sirzechs and Serafall were, focusing more on the latter than the former. "I'm going to assume he'll pick and choose his moments when he wishes to drop in then? Not like he left a number around…"
Serafall flattened her gaze at him.
He snorted and raised his hands in surrender. "I was only asking, but it's all well and good wanting to meet with him, but if we don't know where he is then we're a bit stuffed. Given he's been here for who knows how long and we've only just found out he's around? Then again…We weren't really looking before."
That was a rather major detail.
Now that they knew he was here…
Azazel cupped his chin and hummed. "Alright, I'll see if I can find him and then…oh, I'm gonna have to be there to meet him as well, aren't I?"
Michael at the very least offered a slightly sympathetic look when his plight was revealed. "Given that this is a matter which concerns all three of our factions and the peace conference itself…I would say that your presence for discussing the matter with Lord Tezcatlipoca would most certainly be expected."
A beat.
Then Michael smiled a bit differently than before.
"And it would be best if you were present, rather than absent and giving the impression that you considered the God… beneath your notice."
Azazel stopped smiling.
"...You can be ruthless, you know that?"
Blinking, Michael gave an innocent tilt of the head. "I'm not sure as to what you allude to. I am merely providing you with some advice to ensure you remain healthy. It would be rather detrimental to the peace conference if something were to happen to you prior to it even beginning."
With that little bit of wisdom dispensed, Michael turned towards the others still present in the room, namely the younger sister of the Satan, the pawn of Gremory and the two humans.
"I am grateful for this warning and offer my condolences that you experienced something like this under our combined watch. Rest assured, we shall take a far greater look at the situation. Nothing such as this will happen again. You have my word on that."
Leona gave a small hum as if she was humouring him, Azazel very nearly laughed at it when the brunette nodded ever so slightly and turned around, grabbing Romani by the arm and dragging him along with her, shouldering them both out of the door. She stopped only for a moment and then looked over her shoulder at them.
"I will hold you to that then."
Issei scuttled out of the room like someone had lit a fire under his ass, whereas Sona looked on for a brief moment at her sister, then took in a breath and bowed her head to them, making a far more dignified exit compared to her peers.
Only when they were gone did Michael choose to comment on what happened.
"I'm rather pleased to see the bonds of matrimony upheld so fiercely."
Azazel grunted, then nodded his head towards his brother. "Yeah, but I'd take her seriously on that if I were you."
"I fully intend to." With earnest words, Michael turned on him. "And if something were to befall her husband or anyone else after I have given my word, then I would take full responsibility."
He stopped for a beat, then winced and glanced to the side.
Azazel frowned and straightened up.
He rarely recalled his older brother looking so nervous as right now.
His eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
"...You have something else to tell us?"
Michael slowly nodded his head. "There is…another member of Heaven who will be joining me for the peace conference, but he is not going to be taking on an active role. He has assured me he will only stand in attendance."
Alright?
That didn't sound as bad as Michael was making it out to be, even if it was one of the detractors, they would have all still had enough respect for Michael to not start anything when it was in a position to undermine his authority. So that meant it wasn't himself or his position that concerned his brother.
It was the reaction of them to whomever this mystery figure was.
Azazel raised a brow and looked on, he wasn't quite enjoying the little cold feeling that was bubbling up in his gut.
"...Who?"
Michael closed his eyes and turned towards him, when they opened, there was a hardness within them.
"Azrael."
The temperature of the room plummeted.
Or it might have been him.
One of the two, it did not matter which.
Azazel dropped his arms down and gripped the desk to keep himself upright, staring with widening eyes at Michael as he dropped the bombshell. No, it could not even be called a bombshell.
Michael decided to just drop a flood on all their heads.
"A-A-Azrael?" He wheezed. "Y-you're bringing Azrael to a peace conference?"
"He insisted."
It wasn't even Michael's idea in the first place?!
Sirzechs stepped around the desk, arms folded behind his back as he regarded the Archangel with a bemused gaze, but still sharp.
"It was my understanding that Azrael had not departed from the centre of Heaven since the passing. That was the impression left to me by not only yourself, but the other members of the Heavenly Host. An individual who had been absent since the end of the Great War…and he has chosen now to emerge?"
Even that sounded ridiculous, but it got so much worse than that.
Azazel gathered his strength and pushed off the desk, rolling his jaw as the implications whipped through his mind.
"Wherever he goes, death follows. He is an announcement of death. A bell that tolls to signal the passing of someone…and you don't think that it's a bad sign that he wants to show up to a peace conference?"
Michael took the criticism with a stone face, looking back at them without even so much as a twitch.
With a calm tone about him, he spoke.
"I am aware of the domain of my brother, Azazel. Nor do the implications of his presence ring hollow to me, yet for centuries he has shunned himself from sight and now he emerges to stand before me once again…Perhaps his end does indeed spell death, but it could well refer to a concept rather than an individual."
Azazel jerked back and stared with naked shock.
"That's…that's being really optimistic."
"I am about to declare that Heaven is making peace with both you and the Devils." Michael gave the flat response, shaking his head and stepping to the other side of the room once more. "Speaking of optimism as if it is some form of curse will not do these negotiations good. They are built on that feeling. So is it wrong of me to offer my own hopes that the presence of Azrael will sway the final members of discord within Heaven to this union?"
It was not a question he was expecting an answer to, Azazel knew that.
All the same, he grimaced.
Sure, it could be viewed like that, but he'd never really known Azrael to show up to peace conferences before. Normally he attended all the stuff that came after it, but never a peace conference.
Then again, there had never been one quite like this before.
And he had been away from home for a little while.
"It's your entourage." He resigned himself, raising his hands and stepping away. "You can pick anyone you want…but couldn't you have picked Gabriel-?"
This time the dropping temperature wasn't imagined.
He glanced over at Serafall who was glaring at nothing, ice forming under her feet as she was clearly displeased with the suggestion. Sirzechs spared her a glance and then gave her a small nudge, the Satan jolted and then receded the temperature, furrowing her brows and sending him a sharp glare.
"No Gabriel."
It was less of a request and more of an order.
Yeah, perhaps bringing her up was a terrible idea.
Michael chuckled as if this was somehow funny to him, Azazel turned to the blonde as he shook his head.
"Though her presence would be a comfort to me, she is acting in my place in Heaven during these proceedings. More importantly, she needs to be in a position to be readily available if something were to happen during the conference and I am otherwise engaged."
Azazel raised a brow. "Something to do with burials?"
Michael did not rise to the probe.
But Azazel already knew the answer.
With a snort, he clapped his hands and turned.
"Let's find us a God then."
"I should have tied you to that bed."
Yeah, he figured she would say that.
Romani shuffled and shrugged his shoulders as they walked. "What was I supposed to do? It wasn't like I was going looking for them. They just sort of showed up out of the blue."
Leona placed her hand flat against her face and growled into her palm, he could tell she was more annoyed at herself rather than him. Really, he didn't think he had done anything wrong from start to finish. But most of it was a blur, he was having troubling actually remembering what even happened.
Sona stomped past him.
Yes.
She was still a little upset.
He called out to her. "I'm not apologising."
It was probably best he got that out of the way.
She stopped and went still as a statue, with her back still towards him. He heard the sharp intake of breath, she whipped around and marched back, her eyes glinting behind her glasses and her lips stretched thin. That was probably the most displeased he had ever actually seen her look before.
And she gave the impression of a speeding car rather than a teenage girl.
"You need to understand-"
"I'm the adult and you're a student." Romani cut her short, then raised his hand and pointed to himself. "It is my job to ensure the safety of the students when at school. That's what I am here to do…I'm…I'm not going to apologise for doing my job."
Sona clenched her jaw.
"Your job is to bandage cuts and nurse headaches. It is not to square up to the White Dragon Emperor or Gods on my behalf…"
Oh he was sure Leona was glaring at the back of his head now.
"I say all this and I am utterly dumbfounded as to whether any of it is even registering with you. I do not believe, for a second, that you truly grasp the severity of your situation. As though I could try to hammer home all of these points and then nothing would be achieved from it. Myself and Rias have a greater responsibility to keep you-"
She stabbed a finger forwards, pressing it into his chest.
"-safe from situations such as these. I am not some helpless schoolgirl-"
Romani lowered his head. "Then what…? Just stand there and let them intimidate you? Threaten you…?"
She was asking far too much of him if that was the case.
Sure, he might have made things worse, but what was the alternative?
Just being rooted to the spot and doing nothing the whole time? Completely ignore whatever was happening in front of him?
"It was stupid." He mumbled, raising his head and letting out a breath. "I know it was stupid. I know that most of the time I'm just in the way or a nuisance or whatever but…but it's my job to keep students safe. To keep you safe."
"I am not just some defenceless girl." Sona countered.
But her voice had lost the edge, it turned softer.
"Your dedication to your job is surprising and not unwelcome but…I am Heir to the House of Sitri. I am to deal with these situations a hundred different times in a week in my future. This is what I have been preparing myself for my whole life. You…you put yourself in needless danger for my sake and if something were to happen…that would be my fault."
Romani glanced to the side and dropped his head again.
"Come on."
Leona caught his arm and pulled him along.
"You've said enough."
That was probably aimed at Sona.
He did not resist much as he was pulled back towards the main building of the school, he didn't even care that Leona somehow knew the directions back to the nurses office.
Rather, it all passed him by like a flash.
Sona watched the pair walk back off.
Her eyes turned from them a moment later, unable to stare at the deflated back of the nurse. Especially on account of the mixed feeling she was experiencing right at this moment. She had certainly gone far enough and Mrs Archaman was right to chastise her for it, though she could not help but feel responsible for the situation.
With a shake of the head, she took in a breath and moved forwards.
"...Is that it?"
She stopped at the voice, if it could be called that. More of an incredulous whisper from behind her, perhaps the owner never intended for her to hear it in the first place. But she heard it all the same and something in his words, the manner of his speech.
It made her stop.
Drawing her lips thin, she turned around and slowly brought her attention onto Issei.
Searching for any further sign of argument or accusation within him, he wore his heart on his sleeve by the look he was sending her way. Something that she might have taken issue with at any other time, but she felt some small pang of sympathy towards him. Especially on account of how she had acted.
Her emotions had gotten the better of her.
A shameful display, really.
"Do you have something to say, Hyoudou-san?"
Issei did not look as though he would respond to her, instead he just ground his jaw and glared towards the pavement. Stiffly folding his arms over his chest and pressing them tight towards himself.
"I would advise you to speak freely, otherwise this shall simmer and worsen. The Student council is here to address all manner of concerns from the students."
His eyes rose.
"...Did you thank him yet?"
Sona blinked.
Then she blinked again.
Then she felt her expression twitch just a little bit. "Excuse me?"
"Roman-sensei." Issei repeated, as if she did not know what he was talking about. "Did you thank him for-"
"I know what you meant." She politely cut him short, raising her hand and holding it up. "And the matter of thanking him is not what concerns me at this moment, nor should it be what concerns you. He put himself in harms way-"
"For you."
Sona dropped the raised hand and frowned. "And is that supposed to excuse it? Whether I am grateful or not for his support, or his sudden bravery, he could not have picked a worse moment for it-"
"Right." Issei nodded his head, but his tone was flippant. As though he was just getting her to rush through her answer. "But did you actually thank him yet? I wasn't there, but you're making it sound like Roman-sensei stood up for you and…"
His face soured a little, he looked to the side and shook his head.
"...Whatever."
Huffing, Issei unfolded his arms and started walking past her.
Sona stepped in front of him, jaw clenched.
"What am I to thank him for? Imagine you were to fall upon train tracks and you watched someone leap down after you and hold up their hands to try and catch the train before it ran you down. Would you then thank the person for putting their own life at risk?"
That was what it was.
Whether she was thankful or not did not change what had happened.
Issei looked back at her, then he sighed. "I was gonna run into a damn church just to get Asia back. Fight a bunch of Fallen…I probably would have died if I didn't have any friends to support me. Or if I had been left alone."
He stepped past her, then stopped and looked at her.
There was a look in his eyes that seemed different to before, as if he was seeing something else.
"...Roman-sensei had your back against a literal God. Maybe you don't like that, it sounds pretty stupid when I say it out loud as well…but there it is. So perhaps you should thank him for sticking up for you?"
Sona grit her teeth and watched Issei move past her.
Thank him?
Thank Romani for…
Her eyes closed and she brought up her hands, pressing them flat against her face once more.
Issei couldn't possibly understand the ramifications of what happened. It was reckless behaviour that could not be encouraged and whether she was happy or not, whether she was pleased or not, that did not make her any less terrified.
She was in charge of the territory as a whole, her and Rias.
How could she ever call herself worthy of the position if she allowed those under her protection to enter harm's way on her behalf?
…How could she ever look at herself in the mirror again if Romani had died under her watch because she had been too frozen up to act?
Closing her eyes, Sona fought back the flood of irritation which threatened to break her composure. What she needed right now was not to lose herself, what she needed was to maintain a calm and dignified mind. Her peerage needed to be informed and she had to make certain Rias was consulted as well, if Lord Lucifer had not already done so, that was.
She found her feet rooted to the ground, her eyes fixed on the school not far from her.
And she…should probably make amends for the manner in which she scolded Romani.
That was certainly quite undignified of her and more than likely condescending to a man who, though human, was still older than her.
Entering the nurses office came without incident.
But it was the second they stepped foot inside of it that Leona found her eyes drawn to the far corner, raising a brow as she stared at the brief shadow from under the furthest bed. Leading Romani to his chair, she settled him down onto it and then paced across the room and angled herself for a better look.
A cardboard box.
A rather familiar cardboard box.
"Gasper?"
"Eh?" A muffled sound from within, the box shifted ever so slightly before popping open, a head emerging and staring at her in surprise. "Mrs Archaman? What are…wait…"
The boy trailed off, red eyes moving away from her and then narrowing in a sign she could recognise easily. A face that was set into alarm within mere moments, head snapping around from side to side as he scanned his surroundings. "Where am-?"
"Huh?"
Romani stirred, looking over and furrowing his brows. "Gasper? What are you doing here?"
"Roman-sensei?" Gasper turned on him, a flicker of relief managed to offset the panic, though it lasted very little time, confusion taking hold on him. "Where am I? How did I get here?"
Leona had a moment to wrack her brain at the ignorance of the devil.
Then it clicked, her fingers snapped as she pointed across to the dhampir. "I'd say that either Sirzechs or Serafall had you teleported here while they were all meeting in the clubhouse. Probably for one reason or another…or relating to the guests that happened upon us rather recently but…why here of all places?"
That was a rather weird thing.
Unless it was because of the occupant, rather than the location itself.
Her eyes slid away from the boy and towards Romani, who was looking between her and Gasper with gradual understanding. Then he made a noise of understanding and nodded his head, leaning back into his chair and cupping his face between his hands.
"That's definitely a relief…"
Gasper fidgeted in his box, a tense frown overcame him.
"Did…something happen?"
Leona froze for only a moment, rolling her jaw before shooting the younger boy an easy smile and placing her hands on her hips. Shaking her head from side to side. "Nothing that you need to worry about at the moment. The Satans are already taking care of whatever problems there might be, so you're fine."
"The…Satans?" Gasper furrowed his brows, seconds passed as his face remained scrunched up with thought.
It relaxed, the boy lowered himself back down into the box. "Oh, is it to do with the peace conference then? I know that Buchou was getting worried about it…"
"Buchou…?" Romani muttered, raising a brow.
"Ah." Gasper perked up. "That's what Issei-senpai calls her so…"
Leona snorted, then slid her eyes towards one of the beds and shrugged, sauntering over and lowering herself down onto it, folding one leg over the other and getting herself comfortable. Glancing down at the mattress and humming to herself. These were actually a bit softer than she was expecting them to be.
Clearly the academy spared no expense.
Or Romani put in a request.
She glanced back at him and raised a brow. "Do you ever sleep on these?"
Romani jerked and whipped his head towards her, but he was answering with his face.
Especially with the way his eyes were pointedly looking in any direction that was very much not hers. Barely even making an attempt to conceal the fact he probably had used them to sleep on once or twice.
A teasing grin crossed her face.
"How many times did you get caught?~"
Romani lowered his gaze, drumming his fingers on his knees.
"S-so how long are you going to be sticking around for?"
Leona hummed, that was probably one of the best questions he could have asked. Rather, Romani had a bit of a talent for avoiding these situations by asking just the right question. She raised a brow at him and smiled, conveying that she knew exactly what he was doing, but decided to humour him anyway.
Especially because she so very much looked forward to seeing his expression.
"Until you finish work."
It was a second or two that passed, she counted them in her mind, before Romani metaphorically blue-screened.
She almost laughed at the face, but she kept her amused smile.
He blinked at her several times, then rubbed his eyes before blinking several more times.
Only when he was done with that did he actually open his mouth and then snap it shut again. The rather unintelligible sound that came out of him was certainly one she hadn't heard for a while, she had missed that noise.
"...You…you can't?"
"Yes I can." She answered rather smoothly, pawing at the sheets of the bed and humming to herself. Making it look as though she wasn't actually as tense as she felt. But now she wasn't going to be letting him out of her sight until she could make absolutely sure that the second he walked out of the room he wouldn't bump into Zeus or something.
Which, given his track record in the last couple hours, she would not put past him.
"No-I mean…" Romani caught himself, then cringed. "Leo…you don't work here-"
"Only because they don't believe I don't work here."
There were solutions to that little problem, and even if there weren't, she was certain the heiresses held more than enough sway over the school for her to be allowed at least a couple days to sit in. Perhaps they could even give her a little lanyard and afford her a temporary position.
She cupped her chin, folding one leg over the other and let out a long and exaggerated hum.
"I think I'd make a very good art teacher, don't you?"
Romani made a rather complicated face. "Well, yes-"
"See?"
"No, that isn't the point…" Slumping in his chair, Romani spun it to the side and exhaled. "I get you're worried-"
"Mmmmmh."
"And I'm happy you're letting me come into work."
"You wanted to come into work, despite my reservations." She pointed out, flicking at her fingernails, just to avoid clenching her hands into fists. Even then, she glanced down towards Romani's hands and stopped.
She blinked and then frowned.
Shooting off the bed, she crossed the distance between them within a single breath and yanked his arms up, though he remained seated and very much shocked at the recent turn of events. Flipping his hands over, she stared at the palms of both of them in pure silence.
Then she twisted them up so that Romani was granted a full view of them.
He blinked once.
"Oh…I didn't even…" He muttered, then grunted and nodded his head. "Oh…Adrenaline."
Yes.
Adrenaline.
Because he somehow hadn't noticed he'd opened up his palms with his fingernails. She stopped and glanced in the direction of Gasper for a brief moment, only a temporary glance, but she could see the face of the boy twitch. A slight movement of his nostril before he grimaced and turned away.
Rather, he looked almost sick.
A vampire sickened by the scent of blood.
Imagine that?
Quirks aside, she was hardly going to let him go about like this.
Pulling on his arms, she dragged him and his chair over to the desk and set them down flat against the surface, palms facing the ceiling. Moving across, she held her hands over the top of his with only perhaps a half inch of space between them. Her eyes closed as she felt the thrum of her magical energy course through her.
It was a simple spell for something like this, but it was something she rarely wanted to use on her own husband.
Her eyes opened again and she pulled her hand to the side, the blood remained on him but the cuts which had been opened had sealed shut, looking a rather nasty shade of red from the raw skin, but otherwise fine.
Now then, where would he keep his tissues?
Her eyes swept over the desk and to the nearest draw, gripping it and yanking open.
"Ah, wait-!"
Romani made a startled shout to stop her, much too late as she swung the draw out and then stopped. Staring at the contents and flattening her features.
"...Romani…" Exasperation was all she really felt as she stared at the packets of opened cakes and sweets. Including some crisps as well. Hardly the sort of thing that a nurse should really have stocked in his draws.
She glanced up and he at least had the decency to flush bright red and look away.
Closing the drawer, she moved down to the next one and pulled it open. Half expecting some fizzy drinks to come tumbling out, though this time she was actually rewarded with medical supplies. Her hand delved in, pushing them aside until she found some tissues and pulled them out, sitting the box down on the table and yanking out the first.
Romani made for them, she caught his hand and sent him a pointed look.
He surrendered rather easily.
With that out of the way, nothing more than a formality, she started to wipe away the blood on his palm and between his fingers. Focusing more on that than anything else, it was a distraction from her otherwise tumultuous thoughts.
"...You weren't serious about the art teacher thing, were you?"
Leona made a face. "And run through all that paperwork? I might enjoy art, Roman, but you know as well as I that they have all these expectations for what students are supposed to be learning in art…they'd stifle my - and by extension, their - creativity…Though I am sorely tempted for it."
Romani made a small noise. "...I'm still not apologising."
"So you've said." Flicking the used tissue away, she plucked out another and continued onwards.
Because that was just what he was like.
"And you'll notice I've not asked for an apology."
"But you are upset."
She stopped for a brief moment, then looked up at him before her eyes roamed past him towards the direction Gasper was in. Romani caught her meaning a moment later, more so when she lowered her voice.
"Do you really want to do this now?"
Because she would if he wanted.
The faint shake of the head was her answer.
But leaving it like that felt wrong to her, too cold. Dealing with it sooner rather than later would be better, just to avoid letting any doubts simmer.
"I am upset." She agreed, nodding her head up and down. "But it's nothing to do with you. You just did what you always do so…really, you should never have been in that position in the first place. I could be upset for a lot of reasons but…that isn't one of them."
She blamed herself as well.
She should have been prepared for something like this to happen eventually, especially because the White Dragon Emperor had already been around for a pitstop once more. So of course he would have jumped in a second time. And she had been too confident in the idea that whomever marked Romani wouldn't come here.
But of all the beings she expected it to be…
Even then, the readings were not the same.
It was a different form of energy and not close to being divine which had marked Romani earlier. Not at all like the God he had been around moments prior.
It was just one big mess-
Blinking, she stared at her hand as she realised Romani had closed his fingers around her own, raising her eyes and meeting him. There was a faint hint of resolution in that gaze, a fire which - while not very large, was certainly striking enough for the one it came from. It made her stop doing anything else and focus solely on him.
"...It wasn't your fault either."
She huffed. "Oh? Who said I blamed-"
"Leo."
That was all he said.
She felt her expression twist and drop, lowering her eyes.
"...I know more than you." She murmured. "Of course it's my fault-"
"It's not." His head shook. "I came in knowing the risks, I wasn't that stupid and you let me. My choice. So it's no one's fault but the people who just sort of showed up all of a sudden. Don't start blaming yourself for it."
She huffed. "...Okay. I'll blame everyone else then."
"...I don't think they expected an actual God to show up."
Leona felt her face twitch.
Alright, he was fair.
"But Azazel did know about the White Dragon Emperor." She countered with a raised brow, then pointed at him. "So I am blaming him."
Romani didn't say much in response to that, just giving a faint huff and a twitch of a smile.
It was the most welcome expression she had seen in a while.
Eyes danced from Romani and towards the direction of Gasper once more, the little vampire looked a touch embarrassed to even be near them. Even the whispering was probably like a loud conversation happening near him.
Such a pity she was without shame.
Awareness struck him like a blade to the eyes.
A roar of agony swept through his being, a sensation he had not experienced in time uncountable.
How did one count time when it did not exist?
Which is why, when the pain struck him, he welcomed it with open arms. The proof that his spirit still burned, that his flesh could still serve him and that his light was not yet dimmed by madness. His mind was not so torn asunder by the years alone.
His focus shifted to the sensation, to the agony.
He moved with his newfound senses and embraced the shadow stretched across an infinite canvas of nothing.
How does darkness exist when there is no light?
What did creation look like before there was colour?
These were the impossible questions that he beheld the answers to, it was pure agony and it was beautiful.
It was a shadow he had not seen for such a time, since yesterday and since eternity.
He rose, as he was capable, and stood proud and strong. The infinite void buckled as he asserted his mind upon this cell. The shackles reminded him of the true prison, the cold chains which bound his body in place, which restricted his every movement and kept him fixed in place. But he rose to his feet against their desires.
The crackle of divine steel, the echo reverberated through nothing and reached his ears, as if they had never heard a sound before.
"Brother."
He greeted the shadow.
The shadow pulsed and moved forwards, without form of face, he saw beyond the mere constraints of the body and beheld the spirit. As perfect as the day it was made, before even he was granted the divine gift of existence. He respected them as his elder, as one who was old while the world was still young.
" Brother."
The shadow greeted in kind.
He strained his ears and heard only silence, the lack of any other sound save for the rattle of chains.
Loosening his posture, he gazed back and waited for further words.
"How long?"
" Long."
As such he knew it would be, yet he could see even now, the weariness that clung to his once proud and staunch brother. It was proof even now, given that they were standing before him right this moment.
"Have you at last come to your senses?"
" Thy words are founded on ignorance. I hast never once lost mine sense."
A flutter passed through the space between them, he felt his nerves temper ever so slightly, but he held himself back.
"Yet you stood by and did nothing as I was chained."
" And would again. Thy quest would have brought ruin to the Heavens."
The snarl slipped through his throat like a beast, swinging his body forwards hard against the chains. He ignored how they stung at his body, how they hissed at his flesh with their cold bite. It was an action that earned not even a twitch from the speaker.
"What is the Heavens without Him? What is a Kingdom without a King? We lost…I sought only to avenge us."
Silence greeted him, the shadow watched him in silence.
It moved closer, gliding through nothing until it pulsed and moved around him, his world was wreathed in darkness. He could look in any direction and it would be there, blanketing him from the chaos beyond. The torturous nothing that assailed his senses for so many years. He relaxed himself and fell back to his knees, twitching his wings ever so slightly.
" I didst not visit to speak of the past. The choices are set, the ink is dry."
Raising a brow, he rolled his jaw.
This was his first conversation in, apparently, a long time.
He could savour this.
"You came to speak of the future. What has befallen the ruins of Heaven that would drive you to stand before me now? What has the coward Michael done?"
It was a terrible thing to even consider.
That the brother he had loved for so long, that he still loved, was capable of such blinders. He did not doubt Michael's intentions, but his brother lacked the vision that he had. Lacked the understanding of what it meant for their race with the Heavenly Father dead.
Heaven died the day the Lord Father perished.
" Peace."
A single word banished all notions.
Eyes looked to the shadow.
"Peace."
The word tasted like bile, he could feel it burn his throat as it slipped out from between his teeth.
"...With the traitors?" He spat out, curling his lip in disgust. His spirit burned with the mere notion of allowing that swine and his flock back into the halls of Heaven. Ruin it might be, but it was still the domain of the Heavenly Father.
To dirty its halls by allowing the likes of…
No, he would not speak the name of the scapegoat.
It was a name he cut from his tongue.
No brother was he.
" Thou speak with venom, yet behold only half the painting. Tis not with the fallen ones alone that peace is to be sought with. Tis an alliance of all whom once bared their fangs"
His body felt as if it had been set aflame.
He charged up, the chains buried hard into his flesh, tearing open his body and spilling his ichor to the floor by his feet.
Burning with fury, his eyes glared at the shadow.
"Michael is the Sword of Father. The first blade carved from the Heavens. Speak falsehoods to me again and neither chains nor family shall spare thee."
The shadow remained unmoved.
" ...Doth thou truly believe me a speaker of falsehoods akin to the Morning Star?"
He could not answer.
Because he did not know which of the two would be worse to consider?
One was still more preferable than the other.
He fell back, ignoring the pain across his body.
The shadow continued onwards.
" I never expect thou to take mine words for gospel. I shall depart thy cell, yet I shall cast a shadow in mine wake. thou shall behold truth as it unfolds. Then thou may act as thou see fit."
That was where it ended.
But awareness of the world remained.
He could see it now as the shadow receded, a sliver of darkness before him.
Lowering his head, he gazed at it as though it was the brightest of stars, yet it promised no warmth of guidance. Instead he could feel only mounting horror at the words of his brother. For they had always been the one of greatest honesty, for what could be more honest than death itself?
If they could come to him and even in his shackled form speak such…slanders as if they were truth…
…What had they seen which could turn them on Michael so completely?
He gazed at the shadow.
The doubt coiled in his spirit.
In the void, he waited and watched.
"I can stay for a little bit after work."
"Roman…" Leona exhaled, he could hear the silent urgency in her voice and he turned on her. Wincing ever so slightly, he thought she might have argued a little more, but she shook her head and turned away, rubbing her hands along her temples and then shrugging. "Well. I suppose I'll still be here."
That sounded like an agreement if ever there was one.
"It's not going to be for more than an hour or so of extra time, right?" He went further, "I'll give me some time to do a little inventory of all the stuff I have here and see if anything needs to be restocked."
Leona paused, then turned on him with a raised brow and a twitch of a grin.
"Which inventory are you trying to keep stock of?"
Romani rolled his lips inwards.
Feeling very much put on the spot at the moment.
"No comment."
With a snort and a roll of the eyes, she leaned back on the bed and gave yet another exaggerated shake of the head.
Given that Leona was fine with it, his attention turned to the other person in the room.
"I appreciate this."
Romani shook his head at her words and waved his hand. "It's no real trouble, I can watch over Gasper-kun for a little bit. Besides, he can at least be comfortable with the fact that if he ever does start school properly, he can just come here and bunk off."
Rias raised a brow in amusement and glanced over his shoulder.
Oh, right.
Leona was here.
A jolt ran through his body as something cold touched against the back of his neck, squealing ever so slightly, he slapped his hands over his nape and whirled around, narrowing his eyes as he watched Leona withdraw a single finger, all while wearing a pointed expression.
"Roman." She began, "Should you be encouraging students to bunk off lessons?"
"...That wasn't what I meant to say."
She raised a brow.
"I mean if he ever wanted to bunk off then I would be fine with him staying here for a little while."
The brow crept just a touch higher.
"I'm not making this better, am I?
"That depends on your point of view." Came the teasing remark, though it was not from Leona.
Rather it was from the other person in the room who had a habit of doing that.
He turned on Akeno and flattened his features ever so slightly. "...You're just saying that because I'm being bullied."
Akeno briefly looked ponderous, cupping her chin with a hand and tilting her head to one side. The expression remained before she merely removed it and smiled at him, the perfect picture of innocence.
"I would never say something so outrageous."
"...Uh-huh."
He didn't believe her for even a single moment, he folded his arms and turned away with a huff, finding some small refuge as Gasper looked up from his little PSP and offered a faint smile, nodding his head. "I appreciate the offer, Roman-sensei…but…uhm…I don't think I could manage school with so many people."
Issei sauntered past, dropping down to a knee and placing a hand on the shoulder of the young boy.
"Don't worry about it, Gasper. As long as I'm around, they'll definitely be more focused on trying to save you."
Romani pinched his brows. "...Uh…what?"
Gasper just tilted his head. "Why would I need to be saved from you?"
Issei just kept silent, then stood back up. "No reason…Anyway! You'll see! We'll definitely get you comfortable with people eventually and then you can hang out with my friends! Trust me, you'll all get along great."
He raised a brow.
He actually knows what Issei's friends were like.
Akeno chortled. "Perhaps it would be better if he bunked out with Roman-sensei?"
Rolling his lips, he turned around and faced the desk. "I don't want to agree with you, but I don't want to disagree with you. So I'm, just going to open up a draw and have a-"
The second he opened up the draw and pulled out a cake bar, a small hand shot out of the corner of his eyes like that of a snake. Snatching it right out of his hands and vanishing once again. He stared at the now empty fingers with a strong feeling of listlessness, then closed his eyes and dropped his head low.
He could hear the sounds of crinkling wrapper and chewing.
"...I would have given you the next one."
"You can have it."
Another low chuckle from Rias. "I should have mentioned that Koneko offered to stick around and watch over you…in case anyone else should pop in for a surprise visit and you decide to roll up your sleeves."
Oh, so they were at the stage where they could crack jokes about it?
Wonderful.
Her words caught up with him, he turned his head and raised a brow, first at Koneko and then towards Rias.
"...I'm sorry, did you just say she's like a bodyguard?"
Rias pretended to think about it. "I suppose you could call her that…That being said, she and Gasper can look after themselves if you wish to-"
Romani waved a hand. "I did intend to go home, but if you need someone to keep them company then it's fine. Besides…It would probably be a little bit safer for me to be in the same building as the…you know…really strong people."
"Unless negotiations fail."
He froze, then turned a horrified look onto Akeno.
It vanished when he saw her mischievous smile.
"Please…do not joke about that."
That thought was terrifying enough.
Rias turned towards Leona and inclined her head. "Setting that aside, I believe it would be fruitful if you were to work with Gasper during the duration of the meeting. Unless you would rather-"
Leona cut her short by raising a hand. "I can handle something like that easily enough. Not that I have any of my equipment here but I can make do with only my hands."
A confident smile flourished over her lips as she whirled towards the young boy still in the box and raised her hands, showing him some thumbs up and grinning all the while. "Hear that? We're going to be working on some cool designs for your own little magical gizmo. Exciting stuff, right?"
Gasper just blinked twice, then nodded his head slowly.
His attention returned to the videogame a moment later, clicking away at the buttons.
Leona watched him, then leaned forwards. "What are you even playing anyway?"
With the pair of them engaging in a discussion over that, Romani turned back towards the trio in front of him.
"Be careful."
Rias nodded her head. "Though I doubt we shall need to worry, I appreciate your concern all the same, Roman-sensei. I would offer you the same thoughts but I fear all that you should live in terror of is Koneko stealing everything sugar based not nailed down…"
A brief pause, then she flashed him a look of playful warning. "And I say this on behalf of her health, but do not indulge her. I will be very cross if she gets an upset stomach because she has been gorging herself."
The girl in question stopped in the middle of eating the cake bar and looked across to them, briefly narrowing her eyes before she grumbled and continued eating. He could have sworn he very much heard something along the lines of ' I know my limits' but he wasn't quite able to be sure.
Rias just snorted.
"I'll echo your thoughts to Asia as well." She continued on. "I know she, Xenovia and Kiba would very much wish to be here as well but-"
Romani raised his hands. "You don't need to make excuses for that sort of thing. I'm just glad they're all alright…Well. I won't keep you and we'll make sure that nothing terrible happens to them while you're gone."
Issei looked over to him, there was a noticeable hint of relief in his face at those words.
"Thanks, Roman-sensei." The teenager gave him a thumbs up. "This'll probably be something that goes completely over my head for the most part so…"
Romani shrugged. "Same but I know it's important. I don't want you all to end up late."
Another blink and Issei turned on Akeno and Rias. "...Are we going to be late?"
The red head rolled her eyes in amusement. "No, Issei, we'll be quite alright. Though we should be heading off now. I shall see you all later then."
Romani waved. "Bye."
The trio departed, heading off to what Romani was pretty sure was one of the most important diplomatic events to happen in magic land.
And here he was.
Counting how many cake bars Koneko had swiped.
Life was throwing oddballs at him now.
Still…
…He didn't like this ominous feeling in the back of his head, nor did he feel comfortable with the slight twitching in the back of his eyes.
Though it could have just been him seeing the worst in things.
Yeah, that was probably just it.