Chapter VIII

Rias didn't consider herself to be vainglorious, either as a woman or a Devil.

Certainly, there was much she could be, and was, proud of.

She was proud of being the daughter of two doting and at times embarrassing parents. Proud of the happiness that they had always tried their best to shower her in. Proud of the name whose history she would one day carry on her back with dignity.

Without a doubt, she was heiress to a family of loving, powerful, and wealthy nobility, themselves the inheritors of a mantle that stretched back to the origins of Devil-kind itself. Rias Gremory was proud of her ancestry, of their struggles and triumphs, and of all the sacrifices, compromises, and exaltations it had taken to raise their children and their children's children to the status of Pillar.

And her parents, as people who eschewed those very games, who compromised their own potential for the sake of giving their children a future… if in all ways but one. She was still proud of them, too.

Then there were other types of pride.

She was proud of her beauty. Although not something she commented on often, it was something she did put a measure of effort into. She was proud of her abilities, even if she couldn't hold a candle to her older brother, Rias had always reassured herself that time and experience would be her allies.

That she still had the time to be free and experience everything the world had to offer before she was eventually needed back home.

Above all else, however, Rias was proud of her peerage.

Proud of the love and care she held for them. Proud of how they looked towards her for leadership and support. Like any good Gremory, there was clearly no distinction between the family she was born to and the family she had come to build around herself.

More so than anything, that was the thing she was the proudest of.

And that precious peerage, that pride, had been trampled underfoot.

"Is it done?" She asked, tone measured and cool, small flickers of her gifts still flashing into existence for one moment and blinking out in the next.

"I know you're angry, Rias. But I need to focus."

Her friend's response was strained, annoyed, too, but refusing to give in to anger.

So what if it had been only two minutes since Sona started disassembling the barrier? From the moment she'd been released from that… abomination's restraints, Rias had tried to hammer her way through the barrier left behind by the Heretic God. Throwing blasts of power that would have reduced all but the strongest of mortal defenses to ash and decay.

But her friend was smart and her skills with magic far more advanced than the redhead had realized. So, despite her leaving the barrier was still active and surging with raw, divine power, even if it was not reinforced by the Heretic directly. Some small part of her even acknowledged that it was likely a sign of genius on the part of Sona that her magic could handle that much raw, foreign power rushing through it.

That had only stoked the heiress's rage higher, though, and driven her to attack more viciously.

Sona, however, pleaded with her to not destroy her hard work. Having pointed out that any bleed through from the Power of Destruction risked injuring Gasper… or angering the others trapped in there with him. So, in as much hurry as the other Devil could manage, began taking control over the defense mechanisms once again and deactivating them one by one.

'We can always put them back together later.'

Her foot tapped the ground impatiently.

"Rias…"

Head snapping to the side in annoyance, the redhead's temper cooled at the sight of Akeno's concerned frown. The Queen looked just as disheveled as she did, with pieces of her uniform tattered and others stuck to her body by that spider's sticky threads that couldn't be cut off without risking injuring her.

To the side, Kiba and Koneko watched the two of them silently, though she could tell they were probably bothered by her state.

It was… humiliating.

Rias had never thought herself the strongest. How could she when her older brother ruled over the underworld? But there had always been a part of her that thought that only those chosen few were beyond her. That when she chose to make her debut in the arena, there would be none but the best capable or willing to stand in her way.

Only that wasn't the case anymore.

"Sorry, Akena, I'm just…"

"Worried for Gasper. We understand." The raven haired Queen stepped beside her, a reassuring presence in a sea of conflicting emotions that made Rias' eyes burn red.

"How is the situation in town?" She asked, distractedly, letting Sona and Tsubaki continue their work.

Fortunately Kiba was quick on the uptake and provided her a distraction.

"Whatever curse was put on the locals is gone. They seem confused and some are still a bit scared, but outside of a few close calls, the damage has mostly been to cars and a few buildings."

"Close calls?"

Kiba winced.

"Miss Sona's peerage got to the scene before us but… a few of the older folks had heart attacks from the wide area effect. There were a few who got caught by the stampede too, but between the Vice President and the Bishops, no one is dead." He tried to sound reassuring, but even the often cool tempered knight seemed frazzled.

Koneko looked down, less enthused than him.

"Too close. Could have been dangerous."

Great, now she could add guilt to the list of unpleasant feelings that had her wanting to tear the hair out of her scalp in frustration. Never mind her school, the city she was in charge of protecting had been attacked and was still in a state of disarray.

Had it been just the humiliation, she could have swallowed her pride and let it slide.

But to have one of her precious servants, her family, dragged into some sort of warped experiment by that Heretic God was enough to rekindle her anger and fan it to new heights. Not just because they had been completely ignored and then soundly defeated by that incarnation of disaster, but also were forced to watch as whatever scheme she had concocted unfolded before their very eyes.

With Rias' bishop stuck in the middle of it.

Gasper had never been the… most courageous of men, to put it mildly.

Most nights she could barely get him to speak to her, let alone try to get him out of his room. The seal had been a necessary precaution, and she was loath to disobey her brother's orders, but even so… part of her wished she could have been a better friend, a better King to the half-vampire boy.

And then there he was, running for his life, crying his poor heart out as he was chased by whatever creature that goddess had unleashed on their school.

So yes, she was stressed, angry, and impatient.

But above all else, Rias Gremory felt defeated.

"Rias… the barrier is down."

But that would come later. The shame and self loathing could wait until she was back home. The sound of her wings unfurling behind her doing little to deafen the sound of her heartbeat in the red headed devil's ears. The shrill whistling of the wind dead to her ears as she frantically looped around the school property.

"Gasper!" She called.

To her relief a head of familiar blonde hair poked out from a few bushes near the gymnasium, teary red eyes zeroing on her as the half vampire ran out of his hiding place. Dirty and tattered, but otherwise alive.

"Pres-"

She didn't let him finish, swooping down, Rias embraced the young vampire before he could so much as say a word, pressing him against her bosom in a vice grip as a great weight she didn't know she had been carrying slipped away and a sigh of relief escaped her.

She wasn't done fretting, however.

"Are you fine? Were you hurt? I don't see any bleeding. Did you hit your head? How many fingers am I showing?"

A barrage of questions came out with little time in between, the devil content to flash a light at the boy's eye while checking him all over again from head to toe to make sure she didn't miss anything.

She swore, if he was so much as bruised, that Heretic would rue the day-

"Oh my, oh my… Rias, you are smothering him." Flying over to where the King was, Akeno came into view with a giggle. "Its good to see you, Gasper, are you well?"

"Mhmm!" A nod, though the boy did hug Rias back. "There was a really cool guy! He was like a Kamen Rider! He charged at the crazy lady and the giant snake and kept me safe… h-he's also really hurt! We have to help him!" Gasper tried to pry himself off the King's hold to no avail.

Emergency or not, she wasn't letting him out of her sight.

Sona and Tsubaki joined the group, touching down nearby.

"We completed a scan of the area and Tsubaki visually confirmed my results. No one else is present - none of the staff or any other students."

There was a pause and Tsubaki in particular looked worried, speaking up when Sona opened and closed her mouth, unsure of how to speak.

"We did find blood, tainted beyond recovery, and the magical signature attached to the large amount of debris has not been registered before with an extraordinary amount of energy still left in it, too. The amount and quality is far in excess of what should be possible to conjure with a simple spell." A rather pregnant pause. "I ran into a similar scene while in town, and can only guess that whoever was trapped here with Gasper and those Heretics likely came here to lure them away from the city. "

Her long time friend sighed, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Given these findings, the nature of the culprit behind this incident. And the likelihood that Gasper was only collateral caused by that Heretic's plan. There is one reasonable conclusion as to what her target might have been. Her natural enemy."

Rias froze.

"Campione?"

It was the only conclusion.

"Ah, dear heiresses, I'm so glad to see everyone is ok!" A slightly frazzled looking salaryman suddenly found a glowing fist, lightning sparking fingers, multiple weapons, and a water dragon aimed at him. "Ah, sorry, sorry, didn't mean to sneak up on you."

Throwing up his hands, the middle aged man backed up a couple steps and began rapidly bowing his head.

"My apologies, sirs and madams, my apologies."

"Who are you?" Kiba, sword drawn, slowly began maneuvering to flank the man while Koneko and Tsubaki both positioned themselves in front of their Kings. Akeno, silently, began to levitate, ready to seize the high ground as thunder began to gather above. "And I would suggest speaking quickly."

"Touma Amakasu, of the History Compilation Committee." A formal bow, dipping down past his knees. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Elsewhere

"Well now, I didn't expect you back so soon."

Blinking, confused, and with his head in the lap of a very pretty lady he had never seen before-

"Wait… I know… you."

Grunting, feeling a pull in his side, Issei adjusted his position. Though he most definitely didn't actually get up. It was a very, very soft pillow, after all.

"Young man, you're really not supposed to make your elders work this much, you know?"

A manicured finger poked at his cheek softly, the smile on the lady's face seeming more surprised and indulgent than her words sounded. Looking at her, Issei tried to recall where he'd seen her. All of this felt so familiar yet so alien that he couldn't tell whether it was a dream, a memory, or both. Even reality itself seemed to be a bit weak - as if he wasn't really where he was.

There was a field, Issei felt sure of that, and there were grasses and flowers under his back. But the colors weren't real, in fact he wasn't entirely sure there was color.

"Have we… met?"

The pink haired woman blinked owlishly, confused, but in focus, real, solid. He reached up and grasped her hand where she'd been poking his cheek.

"Oh? Now what do we have here? You remember me?"

Kinda? He couldn't exactly place a name, but he knew that this wasn't the first time they'd met.

And if it wouldn't have sounded weird, the teenager would have admitted to recognizing her scent. Mild and gentle as it was, it was like smelling… fresh cooked rice and salty air and the stinging exhilaration of climbing Mt. Fuji when he was a kid. She smelled like Hope, as silly as the thought was.

"Oh my… you actually remember. Well isn't that a welcome surprise. Then again… perhaps the act those three-who-were-one put on has made it possible for you to recall our first meeting? Or perhaps the circumstances of their birth and your own latent potential have filled in the gaps. You certainly don't appear to have any links to the spiritual realm like Annie."

Annie?

Had he heard that name before? It felt familiar too.

"Sorry, I'm… kinda hurting."

She waved him off with a pleasant smile, helping him scoot up and lean back against her. For some reason, it seemed neither forwards nor inappropriate to be held like a small child by a girl who was undoubtedly smaller than he.

"No, no! Don't worry! You actually got really hurt this time. Not as badly as when I put you back together, but those two definitely pushed the envelope this time. Why, if they hadn't decided to play nice at the end, I'd have shown them my patented Pandora Punch!"

She delivered an upper cut at an imaginary target.

"Those two? Stheno and Euryale?"

Were they here?

"Sorry to say they have already moved on. Not before making a bunch of demands of me, mind you! You'd think they'd show some appreciation but troublemakers like those girls never think before acting. Though… I can't complain."

Oh, so they already left. That was a shame.

"Now now, no frowning. Even if those two barely counted as an individual god they still went through the entire trouble of setting this up. Don't let your brothers and sisters know, but I'm kinda bending the rules here just because those three technically count as the same."

Rules?

Siblings?

Issei didn't get it. And he sure as hell didn't remember having siblings, no matter how much his parents tried.

And they tried. A lot.

"Yes ma'am." He agreed anyway. That seemed the sensible thing. "Will I meet them some day?"

"Your siblings?" Her eyes twinkled and they both sat there silently, as her grin grew into a smirk. "And your girlfriends, too, yes, you will~"

Blushing, the teenager wanted to protest, that was his instinct, but the truth was he didn't… feel lust for them. Just a bit of regret and melancholy. Pity wouldn't be what either Medusa or Euryale wanted, though Stheno seemed like she might have enjoyed being spoiled.

"Well, I suppose I'll wait until then. Thank you, um, Miss?"

"Missus, actually. Mrs. Pandora, though you may simply call me Pandora or Mama! That would be very much appreciated. Formality is a bit pointless and my husband, Epimetheus, would adore you, too."

"Ah. Pandora. Thank you. Can I meet Epimetheus?"

That got a small sigh from her.

"Possibly. I would like that. For you and your brothers and sisters to sit and listen to his stories. It would be nice."

"But that's not going to happen?"

"No. I don't think it will. Not unless a great deal changes."

They sat there, quiet, Issei enjoying the hug. It was nice. And, at the very least, he doubted he'd be able to murder Pandora.

'I shouldn't think like that.'

He knew he'd been acting in defense of himself and others - innocents who needed to be protected. But what little he knew of Heretic Gods told him they were pitiful things, warped by human ideas, changed and mutilated and distorted beyond any and all reason and tormented by their incomplete nature.

Death was probably a mercy.

"But I still feel guilty for making a girl cry."

"Yeah, you do." His sudden outburst was taken in stride and the lilac haired girl squeezed him tighter, a great deal of warmth in her small arms. "But you're young, you'll learn that life isn't fair and some things must be done. As tragic as it is, a Heretic God's very nature will invite disaster. Their existence will cause plague, famine, war, or worse, given enough time. Besides, you Campione, you champions of humanity, defy Gods and Devils alike."

She rubbed his forehead and gently ran her fingers across a few, new scars… and the stitching in his side he just noticed.

"Even the ones that want to love humans torment them by their very existence. No matter how much anyone might wish it was different. So long as there is no All-Mighty, then Faith shall gather and form someone or something to fill that role."

"I see."

It was a lie.

Issei didn't understand what any of that meant, but it was true. Pandora's words were something he understood instinctively to be correct and without disassembly. However, no matter how right they might have been… that didn't mean he believed in them.

Somewhere deep inside, he still couldn't accept them.

"Shh. Rest." A kiss to his forehead. "My son, you have been through a battle and your wounds are not yet healed. So sleep. I will hold you until it is time to wake."

Issei woke up confused, but not upset or even disoriented per se.

A strange sense of dejavu as his consciousness slowly crawled its way back to the forefront of his mind and the world started coming into focus once again. From the side, orange light peered through thin drapes and onto him, a faint breeze rustling the cloth as the teen pulled himself up right, arm scraping against rough sheets and sinking only a little ways into the cot he found himself on.

'What happened?'

He… remembered a lot.

The date, Athena, the chase all over town and into the school, and the fight that ended with him nearly dying again… and killing a goddess again. For some reason the thought had him frowning, the side of his stomach felt tender and painful, like moving too much would pull a muscle.

There was also a migraine.

'I had a weird dream again… didn't I?'

This kind of thing happened last time with Dusa-chan. A weird dream.. something with fluffy clouds and a lap pillow? It was hard to remember, and he couldn't help but feel… sad despite that sounding like one heck of a good dream. Instead Issei found himself sighing, leaning against pillows as he finally noticed that this wasn't his room.

"The infirmary?" Vocalizing his confusion helped him put things in order, but there was no sudden, all consuming flash of inspiration as everything rushed in.

Off, across the way and outside of easy view, he could see the ruins of the old building through the window, and the smell of disinfectant meant someone had dragged him to the nurse's office after he fainted.

Man, talk about looking lame.

'I'm gonna have to thank her later.' Or thank whoever went through the trouble of patching him up and dragging him to a bed. Right after he got around to calling his parents.

He told him he would be running late, but neither accepted his explanation of a date.

They probably thought he was out with his friends.

Adding that to his pile of things to do, there was also the whole thing with being attacked by a pair of goddesses… after he took a third one out on a date. He hadn't seen Athena since they separated but Issei assumed that she had gotten away after the fighting started.

Talk about a terrible first date.

Getting interrupted by killer monsters must have set a new record for bad first impressions.

'I should have asked for her number.' Did goddesses even have cell phones?

Mourning at the lost chance of a second date, the high schooler considered whether he was cursed to be attacked by pretty girls for the rest of his life. Even when he somehow took one of them out, the others still somehow interrupted it.

Knock!

Knock!

A noise at the door drew Issei's attention, the teenager spinning around in place to see an adult, perhaps a bit younger than his parents, standing at the entrance to the school infirmary. Her hair was long, long enough he suspected it took her a rather inordinate amount of time to care for, and she was wearing a pair of sunglasses… indoors.

Normally, he might have made a comment about that, if only in the privacy of his own head. However, more pressing than that was the rather… generous display.

'OPPAI!'

Wearing an almost unassuming, and yet devastating combination of black skirt, blazer, tie, and white blouse, she was a knock down, drag out beauty! With hips that didn't quit, legs that went on for miles, and the top two buttons of her blouse were undone!

'And she's smiling at me!?'

While Issei tried to come up with something to say, she simply brought a latte cup up to her lips, a small, half smile hiding behind the cup, and took a drink.

"My, my. I see you're an early riser, Issei~"

There were so many things he wanted to say!

'There are about three different things I wanna do!'

But, before the young man could absolutely humiliate himself in front of a stupidly attractive woman, way, way outside his league, a very important thought occurred to him.

"Is that girl ok?"

Seemingly confused, for just a moment, the woman almost but did not quite frown.

"Girl?"

"Blonde, ah, a middle schooler, I think? She was crying a lot."

"Oh!" The almost frown turned into a smile quite quickly. "Why yes, Mr. Hero, you did manage to save her… but what kind of champion falls asleep as soon as he beats the boss?"

He swallowed.

The lady had bent over.

He wanted… he wanted to reach out… or at least stare.

"No, no, no." Screwing his eyes shut, he tried to focus. "I didn't get her name. But she was hurt. And, well, the other two, uh, well, they're gone now. Athena too, I suppose."

"Hmm. You know, your profile says you're an irredeemable pervert that likes to peep on girls and harass women."

Tone completely shifted, the wonderfully beautiful woman had stood up, set her coffee down, and buttoned up her top.

"But I have to admit even profiles can be wrong. Both because you're a Campione and because it's a bit silly to peep on girls in this day and age. That's just… so old school in this age of information." Bowing, the black haired woman introduced herself, pulling out a badge attached to a document from her pocket. Which she promptly handed him over.

Agent… 5M17H?

Smith?

"Seriously?"

She smiled impishly.

"Picked it myself. Still, on behalf of the History Compilation Committee, allow me to offer our sincere thanks for your actions. We hope that our tardiness hasn't been an inconvenience."

"I…"

Something turned over in his head.

"Agent… Smith?"

"Yes."

"You knew my name."

"I did."

"You have a profile on me."

"I do."

Issei tilted his head, confused.

"Why does the government have a file on me, other than my insurance stuff and registry, I guess."

"I see someone here is fond of their police dramas. Or maybe you were playing that copy of 'Lady Prisoners Rehab Clinic II' that you and your friends downloaded illegally? Don't you know all sorts of unscrupulous folks can get your information like that?" The older woman's teasing smile curled up further, eyes asking him whether he really wanted those questions answered.

Issei wisely shut up.

This lady was dangerous!

"Choice of entertainment aside, you have been very busy in the past month. Really, first a fight aboard a cruise ship and now a brawl that demolished an entire school building? Did you wait until we breathed a sigh of relief before nearly giving us a heart attack again?"

Sipping from her cup, the dark haired lady breathed out a moan of delight that made his spine crawl.

"I guess you guys know about the ship, huh?"

Handing him the second mug of coffee, Sumi took a seat beside the bed.

"Yes, we do. It's not everyday that a ship goes missing like that. We have a vested interest in trying to keep the public from realizing there are things going bump in the night. So big incidents like this and the ship one month ago are the situations we treat very seriously."

Issei hummed in thought.

So there really was someone covering up all the magic stuff after all.

"Yeah, you guys make it very hard to find anything. I spent a whole week trying to figure out if I was the only one with weird magic powers before I gave up." He grouched, lamenting the hours he lost rummaging through stupid conspiracy theory websites.

The agent smiled indulgently.

"Thank you. We put a lot of effort into scrubbing the web. Really, you wouldn't imagine the amount of time and money the committee had to invest on our cyber-division. With the ease of access these days, it's a miracle people haven't noticed yet."

He nodded, begrudgingly.

If anyone could learn about the secret magic side of things, things would get crazy really fast.

"So, is that what you're here for? To cover up the fight?"

"Good guess! But you get half marks. We're here to help clean up, sure, but the actual reason we're here is actually a covert operation that could land our folks in hot water any other time of the year." Issei blinked, confused at the admission.

"Should you… be saying that?"

"Probably not, it is top secret. In fact, if not for these precise circumstances, my head ought to be put on a platter."

Issei swallowed dry at the admission.

"Then-"

"Why tell you at all? That should be obvious. A ship goes missing as a result of a Heretic God, only for said ship to arrive safely, if damaged. And now, a month later, a town is attacked by two more Heretics only for them to be defeated just as promptly. If the cause for their appearance can't be investigated… then that only leaves investigating the cause for their vanishing, right?"

Where there was smoke, there was fire.

Where there were gods dying… there should be someone killing them.

"Oh." Blinking in realization, Issei felt his stomach drop.

They were here for him.

"I don't suppose I can just confess to a few illegal downloads and pay a fine?" He chuckled. "And I should probably ask you guys not to look at my search history."

A small snort and a pat on his hand from the agent.

"Too late for that, I'm afraid, Issei."

His cheeks burned.

"I… I see."

"If it makes you feel any better, your taste isn't the worst I've ever seen." His cheeks deepened any more. "And, besides, you're a healthy young man. I'm sure our Prime Minister would approve of your… enthusiasm."

Hands balled up in the infirmary blanket, feeling a sense of intense shame, he bowed his head.

"Please don't bring that up anymore."

Smith made a sound of agreement.

"I assume you have been made aware of your station." Sipping from her mug, she leaned back.

"Yeah, yeah. Campione. God slayer. I was in a bit of a rush the first time but I got the jist of it." The look she sent him was searching, as if trying to figure out whether he was trying to keep something out of the story. Which he kinda was. There was no way they were gonna believe him about taking a goddess out on a date.

They would think he was stupid.

"So, what? Do I have to go out and fight angry gods every time they show up?"

Smith smiled thinly.

"We would prefer if you warned us of any impending fights if possible. But yes, there are very few capable of handling those problems in Japan and we would like you to work with us if possible. With due compensation of course. You should know, however, that others do, or soon will, know about you. A Demon King isn't the sort of information that ever stays private."

A few things percolated through Issei's mind and it took him a moment to realize something.

"Do I… have to tell my parents about this? They don't remember anything about the ship so I didn't tell them but… are they gonna be okay?"

Seeming a little sad, the agent nodded as if understanding the hidden question.

"We, of course, will do everything in our power to protect the citizens of Japan. But it's quite possible they will be targeted."

Issei sighed.

So he'd have to break the news to them somehow, huh?

That wasn't a conversation he was looking forward to.

"In the meantime, is there anything you would like to ask? I imagine you have questions."

Lots of them.

But he'd get the important one out of the way first. After all, no matter what, there was still one thing above all others. One thing that stood out, clear as day.

"Do Campione have harems?"