He who is no longer an ordinary man

II

He had those bags again, right under his eyes.

It was the first thing she saw as she walked through the door late at night.

Not only that, but he was still awake.

Something that he really should not have been in the first place, and so engrossed was he that he never even noticed when she walked up beside him.

So close that she could touch him and not even so much as a glance.

Crouching down to eye level, she leaned across and wrapped her arms around him. Encountering only a slight stiffening before she had pulled him into a hug, burying his head into the crook of her neck.

"Leo-?"

His voice was muffled into her shoulder, she kept him there for perhaps a little longer than she should have done.

But it was hard not to.

"Leo, I'm happy to see you too but-"

"Just…"

She knew what he was going to say, it was the same thing he had been saying every other time she asked.

But he had work to do.

That was what he said.

"...A little bit."

The please in her words was unspoken, but Romani heard it all the same and he relented a little. At least that part of him was the same as he was very weak to her requests. Almost enough to bring a smile to her face, but she pulled him in a little tighter to the embrace and closed her eyes.

When she did that, it was a little easier to imagine things were back the way they were.

That everything was normal.

Just for a bit.

Sitting there with Romani in her arms felt as if it was something she had waited to do for so very long.

How had it gotten to the point where this felt like some sort of rarity?

She wanted that feeling gone, just so she could…

…Take for granted was perhaps the wrong choice of words, she supposed, and maybe she had taken that peace for granted.

But-

Romani pulled away from her first, she blinked as he peered down at her with a very small but very genuine smile. His hand brushing aside the hair from her face as he muttered in a soft tone.

"Hard day?"

…He was asking her if she had a hard day?

"...A bit."

Nodding, he stood up and slid his chair back under his desk. She was rising with him, mainly because she still had her arms looped around his shoulders and was feeling pretty adamant with herself that she wouldn't be letting go any time soon.

Not if she could help it.

"What about you?"

Romani made a small noise before answering. "Not too bad."

She didn't know if he was just saying that so she wouldn't try to say something to him.

That only made her worry more though.

"A couple people stopped around for some appointments."

"They could get a doctor in for that." A brief pause. "A real doctor, not a magical one. Someone else…"

Because having Romani do all this certainly wasn't fair, regardless of what he said about it.

Romani exhaled. "Leo…"

Oh, he could make that tone all he wanted.

Yes, they had this conversation before and they would have it as many times as they needed to do so.

"You picked a nurse job precisely because-"

"-because I wanted to avoid the stress of being a doctor, and that was before all of this happened."

Stepping just beyond reach of her hands, she briefly found herself tempted to just leap back and wrap her arms around him like some sort of barnacle. Yet she just about managed to hold herself back from doing so.

For some inexplicable reason that didn't actually see fit to reveal itself to her.

Romani waved his hand about and looked on with tired eyes, dropping his hands to his hips.

"Besides, it would be a little late for me to back out of this now. A lot of people are relying on me and it would be…pretty bad if I decided to just up and hand them over to someone else just so I could get a little bit of shut eye."

Turning about, he started to walk back through the house.

She was hot on his heels in doing so, ensuring he never once strayed beyond line of sight.

"I don't think anyone needs to feel as though they're just getting passed around to the next person."

"That isn't what is happening though."

"Sort of would be." Romani shrugged his shoulders.

Why did he have to go and make it sound like that?

His obligations didn't include running relief efforts for what amounts to a refugee camp in the middle of devil territory. They were, quite literally, in the very heart of the Gremory territory and not only that but it was a shared operation with the Sitri household. There were hundreds of contacts.

It was not his responsibility.

And he was suffering because of his volunteer work.

She could see it, even if he refused to do so.

"It's a rush couple of days. That is all."

Again with that excuse.

She might have been convinced by it once, but this was something else.

Romani wasn't giving her the whole truth of the matter and while he was not lying, he was certainly omitting key details.

The sort of details he had shared with absolutely no one at all.

Least of all with Issei.

Because that kid could keep nothing from her, out of some strange sense of fear that she could see whenever she looked at him.

Apparently she intimidated the Red Dragon Emperor.

Not all that amusing now, but it had it's uses.

At least he still had yet to spill what he knew of Romani's eyes-

She stopped as she considered something.

Something that she had not once thought of until this very moment.

Her hand snapped out and caught Romani by the shoulder at the foot of the steps, and he did not so much as even flinch.

…Like he had been expecting it.

Her hand curled and tightened, refusing to believe it, she spun him around and looked deep into his eyes. Narrowing her own and leaning forwards immediately, she went so close that their noses were touching but she could see that Romani was aware of her proper intentions here.

At least he didn't turn away but…

She could see it.

Nothing more than a small dot in his left eye, amidst the deep sea of green, she could spy a single hint of rusted gold.

That was all it was.

Something so small that it would have been impossible for anyone to notice otherwise.

Utterly insignificant.

"...Romani…"

And she didn't know what she was supposed to say.

He'd been…

"You…"

He hadn't told her.

Her hands slipped away from his shoulders and down to her side, struck silent by the fact that was undeniable now.

Romani had been using his eyes.

"Have you-"

"They work backwards."

What?

"I've been seeing the past."

He stopped, then raised his hand and everything he spoke of came with some sort of resigned acceptance.

Rubbing at his forehead and exhaling, he turned ever so slightly.

Oh yes, there were still some hints of hesitance and the same nervousness she would have expected from him, but it all carried a hint of exhaustion. Like he was just going through the motions of doing that or was merely instinctive rather than something he actually felt at the time. She could not even say because of how tired he looked.

Drained, even.

"...I've been seeing a lot of the past."

"...You didn't…"

She wanted to claw out her own hair as what felt like ice water was dumped over her entire body, like every single part of her skin was drowned in frozen water. She wanted to scream or to shout.

To do anything more.

What she instead did was leap forwards and wrap her arms around him, dragging him forwards and halfway up the stairs-

No, forget that.

Pulsing her strength, she lifted him up and off the ground and held him at equal level to her, holding him tight in a hug as she refused to look at his face. Refused to let him see the sort of expression she was making right now.

Because she could imagine it as clear as day.

Her own eyes were stinging, warmth was running down her cheeks and her throat felt as if it was blocked up.

"...Don't do that."

Damn her voice for sounding so small.

"Stop doing it this instant."

She couldn't even beg him without having her tone crack.

Thrusting her head down, she buried it into his shoulder.

"Please."

Stop using your eyes, she wanted to say.

Stop using them like that and just go back to the way you were supposed to be.

They were all things that she wanted to say, things that she had bottled up since the very moment it all began. Ever since any of this had started, from before they even knew about Devils to right this moment.

…It was selfish of her, horribly so.

But she could be a selfish person, that was fine.

She knew she was selfish.

That was just who mages were, selfish people.

She wanted her Romani back.

She wanted their life back.

…But that wasn't possible anymore and she could not beg the impossible for Romani because it would never happen.

The door had been opened and could not be shut again.

Damn it.

Damn it all.

"...Sorry."

Yeah.

She knew he was going to say that.

"Me too."

"So."

Romani forked at his dinner.

"What's working with Az like again?"

Glancing up, he saw a flicker of emotion on her face.

Yep, that was sort of the reaction he was expecting, a briefly strained look before she sighed and shook her head from side to side.

"Like I never left. He's not dropped any of his crazy little inventions over the years, you know? And with Sacred Gears as inspiration…"

She trailed off but it felt like she had more to say.

"That bad, huh?"

"Not bad." Her words were almost hasty, hands raised briefly. "It's just that he doesn't need to sleep and I do. There's a bit of a difference when it comes to an enthusiastic human and an enthusiastic angel."

With a roll of the eyes, she returned to her food.

"One of us has a couple decades to set aside inside a lab and one of us doesn't."

Ah, that probably bugged her then.

She was really competitive when she wanted to be.

"How are things coming along with that stuff you were making Issei-kun and the others?"

Leona winced. "That's…well…a lot of research notes got destroyed so I had to start again from scratch. Really, I was more bummed about the drawings I did of their thoughts because I was really pleased with those."

Now she was pointing across the table at Asia.

"She even gave me the design for a magic wand!"

"Hrk!?"

Romani gulped down the wrong hole, coughing and raising a hand to his face as he choked and looked with wide eyes.

Had he heard that right?

Beating a fist against his chest, he wheezed out as he dived for the glass of water beside his food and hastily gulped it down.

A final cough at last let him get some words out.

"M-magic wand? It works?"

Leona sent him a dry look.

Ah, right.

That was a poor choice of words.

Raising his hands in surrender, he gave a nervous smile. "I mean does it work with her Sacred Gear or…is it a separate thing?"

And the dry look vanished, instead there was a buzzing in her eyes.

Except she looked across with a rather pleased gaze at Asia.

Romani raised a brow as the girl spoke up. "It…Leo said that I could be able to heal people at a distance and then I thought about Miss Leviathan and…well…"

She fidgeted on the spot and glanced nervously towards him, lips curled into a tiny smile.

"...I thought it looked really nice."

Asia wanted to be a healing magical girl?

Alright, he was convinced.

Nodding his head, he looked down. "Sounds cool."

Damn it, why did his voice have to crack there?

He was trying not to show how much that was actually an amazing thing and not gushing over it all.

His charge was going to turn into a magical girl!

Was she going to get a transformation as well or-

Wait a second.

Snapping his eyes back up and across the table, he squinted. "Is she getting a proper transformation as well?"

Leona only rolled her eyes once again.

Hey, it was a serious question!

These were the essential parts of being a magical girl.

"I'll see what I can do."

She spoke like she was the one indulging him or something along those lines.

Romani huffed and went back to his food, glancing across briefly to Asia for her response to all this.

"I…well…"

Asia was fidgeting a little, then leaned forwards.

"I thought it would be nice if you helped design it."

Oh? She wanted him to help her design it?

Well, that sounded nice.

…Huh?

Romani blinked, then turned his head towards her and stared with wide eyes.

Had he heard that right just now or was it a trick of the mind? Because for a second it had sounded as if Asia was asking for him to help her design a magical girl costume. Which would be really weird because of all the people to ask, he would have thought she would have gone right to Leona.

So he probably just misheard her.

Except she was giving him this earnest pleading look.

He coughed.

"What?"

Asia blinked, then tilted her head and looked sadder now. "Is it…no good?"

"N-no? Wait, I mean no! Wait, that's not a denial!"

Why was he picking now to start rolling over his tongue or something? And he could definitely see Leona just smirking away to herself right there. He raised his fork and pointed it towards her as a warning that he knew what she was doing.

All it really achieved was convincing her not to be subtle about it.

Well, that was just her being herself so it was fine.

But he turned back to Asia and furrowed his brows.

"I mean…you're asking me? I'm not exactly the arts and crafts person in the family here."

Asia shook her head. "That doesn't really matter to me, Roman."

It was touching but he was still at a loss.

What if it ended up looking really tacky or bad?

That was one of his main concerns.

"If I'm going to be a healing magical girl then…I thought it would make sense if I had help from someone like you."

Now she was looking at him with those wide sparkly eyes.

So she wanted a magical girl outfit made with the help of a nurse because of healing powers?

Well…it made sense.

In a strange way it made sense.

Though having Asia look at him like that made it hard to refuse her, even if the thought had never occurred to him at all. It was always going to be a case of him helping her if she wanted his help but the look just made it an even greater certainty.

Romani slowly nodded his head up and down.

"I guess we can put our heads together and come up with something."

He was a little excited about this.

And it was nice to see Asia so passionate about something, he glanced across the table and then pointed at Leona once again.

"In that case it's going to be up to you to make sense of the scribbles."

That earned a good natured chuckle from her, eyes rolled as she shook her head.

This was nice, Romani figured.

It was just nice.

A little something to forget about everything else for a while.

He smiled, more to himself, and went back to eating.

At least until he felt a nip at his ankle, his leg jerked up and struck the underside of the table, lips rolled inwards and he hissed into them and closed his eyes.

"Rassei, no! Don't bite Roman!"

Well.

It was fun while it lasted.

Cracking open an eye, he turned his head and peered over the edge of the table and right down.

Rassei glowered up at him.

Did they want his food or someth-

"Woah!"

He jolted back as they spread their little wings and vaulted up to the table, giving a menacing growl and prowling towards his plate. Romani might well have been a coward, but it was still his food that was on the verge of being stolen here.

Reaching out to grab the plate away from the small menace.

It then let out little sparks from between its teeth.

"No, Rassei!"

They both stopped.

Asia plucked the small dragon off the table and frowned down at them, full force of disapproval turned against the top of the little animals head.

"That's very mean. Don't bully Roman for his food."

Like that, the dragon slumped in her grip and looked almost like they were pouting.

Was that what happened here?

Were they really trying to target him because they thought he was easy or something?

He turned on Leona. "How come he doesn't try this with you?"

Leona just stared back at him.

Oh.

Right.

"Nevermind."

The dragon probably did try it at one point and then was probably told to never do that again.

Fair enough.

He glanced across to the little sprite dragon and then thought about it all for a moment, cupping his chin and humming.

"...Maybe you should give them a little something as well for your outfit?"

Both Asia and Rassei turned to look at him, both with this lost puppy look.

"I mean, most magical girls have a little mascot character that hangs around with them."

Gesturing to Rassei, then across the table to Leona before he smiled.

"I'm sure you can definitely come up with some small animal related gadget for them?"

He was rewarded with a very slow blink, then it crept out into a smile. "Oh Roman. You say such the sweetest things."

Did he?

This was just him trying to get the dragon away from them both while he and Asia worked on future designs for her magical girl stuff.

He didn't want to get electrocuted because the dragon was getting jealous.

Another punch to the face rocked him back.

Ouch.

He crossed his arms over his chest, anticipating the gut punch.

Which of course meant he got punched in the face once again.

"Come now, Hyoudou-san." That voice came next, polite and very out of place for the beating that was getting unleashed on him. "Try going on the attack instead. Letting me get some blows out is-"

Issei sort of blanked out after the words 'going on the attack' and then launched himself forwards, catching another punch across the war as his eyes snapped upon the still speaking man. Though he registered the flash of surprise in their face when he closed the distance.

Hand clenching into a fist, he lashed out with a jab.

…Which they dodged.

Because of course they would dodge.

"Good speed."

The jab was batted aside and Issei took another cross to the chin, slumping forwards as his vision whited out.

"Guwah?"

Had he bitten his tongue there? It felt like he had bitten his tongue.

His mouth was pretty numb at the moment.

"But being faster than your opponent doesn't help if your moves are predictable."

A hand came down in the corner of his eye, he glanced at it for a mere second before clasping it and being yanked up to his feet.

"Fighting is just as much about thinking of what your opponent is going to do as much as it is what you are going to do."

Issei huffed and rubbed his jaw. "I know that already."

Grumbling, there was a brief flash that swept over the face of the man before they winced and rubbed the back of their head.

"Ah, right. Yes. Sorry."

Yikes, it was hard to be say anything that didn't send this guy off into some sort of depressed state and made Issei feel like he was a bully.

It was like Roman-sensei but also not.

"That's…I mean I still struggle with that." Issei corrected, mostly hoping it would at least get the guy to perk up a little.

They did, thankfully, and the air of sadness vanished quickly.

"Oh, it's something that takes years of fighting to master and it works better on some opponents rather than others. Most of the experienced fighters are going to be as proficient in that as you would be."

He stepped back and tapped the side of his head.

"At which point, you might think of it as a game of chess. The one who wins the battle is the one who forces their opponent to follow down their line of fighting."

That…didn't make sense to him.

"What?"

"Hmmm. Ah, a demonstration then?"

Beowulf took on a stance and raised his hands.

Then Issei's head snapped to the side, a ringing pain in the side of his head as his left cheek burned, he staggered and raised a hand over his face, clapping it there and whipping his eyes towards the man.

What?

"Did-did you just slap me?"

Beowulf nodded. "I did. Yes."

Then he was slapped again, this time from the other side.

"What the-"

"Try and anticipate which hand I'm going to slap you with."

He didn't even get the chance to grasp what he was being told before he was slapped in the face once again. Impact after impact had him taking steps back just to give him some breathing room against them.

Of course, it didn't work because they just jogged after him and kept slapping him in the face.

"Do you see?"

Another slap.

Then another.

Issei did not see.

Not at all.

"Will you-"

Another slap.

"-stop that!"

He raised his right arm, catching the wrist before it could strike him.

"Ha-hah! Ooof!"

A punch to the gut came out of nowhere, he folded over and clasped his hands over his chest.

"...I thought…you were…"

"Relegating myself to just slapping you?" Beowulf asked from above, "Not at all. But I made you believe I was doing as such, did I not? From the very beginning I controlled the engagement. You were focused more on the power of the slap and not what would happen when you blocked my attack. You left yourself wide open for an entirely different attack."

How the heck was he supposed to know any of that?

Still gripping his gut, he turned his head and stared up at the man.

Beowulf at least looked slightly guilty.

"I do apologise for the rough treatment, but you did say you wished to learn quickly."

Once again, the hand was extended down to help him up.

Yeah, Issei had said that, hadn't he?

With a sigh, he took the hand and was helped back up to his feet.

Fighting sounded a lot more complicated than just throwing punches.

Was that why Vali had spent most of the fight kicking his ass? Did they know all of this already?

His work really was cut out for him then.

"But it's just about time."

About time?

About time for what?

Beowulf turned away from him and raised his hand to start waving.

Issei was quick to follow his line of sight, then his brows shot up as he watched a pair come traipsing across the field towards himself.

"Saji?"

"Issei."

"Don't forget me!"

He hadn't forgotten her but it wasn't like he actually spoke with her all that much in the first place. Rather, it wasn't actually until recently that he even knew her name at all.

So addressing her as a friend or even on friendly terms felt like something he shouldn't do.

"Hey, Nimura-san."

She blinked, then dropped her arm and stared at him for a few seconds with squinted eyes.

Then she turned to Saji. "Why does he speak with you all casual but suddenly he's so formal with me?"

Saji furrowed his brows. "Did you want him to suddenly act casual with you? That gives most girls nightmares."

"Fuck you." Words Issei said with no real heat in them, he folded his arms and rolled his eyes. "Alright so how come the two of you are here?"

Now Saji looked a little surprised. "Oh? Were you not told? Kaichou managed to get an agreement with Lord Lucifer for us to be included in training. Gremory-Senpai agreed to it and here we are."

Issei turned towards Beowulf and raised his brows.

That was what this guy was waiting for? Then how come no one told him about this?

It wasn't that he was going to complain and it made a lot of sense to have them all training, but did that mean Nimura was a pawn like himself and Saji as well? It seemed rude to suddenly ask her because that felt like information he really should have known before today.

So he would just assume she was and then nod his head sagely.

"How come we started before they showed up then?"

Beowulf inclined his head. "I wanted to get a feel of how far along you truly were before I could gauge you with the other Pawns. Your fight with the White Dragon Emperor showed that you do have a tremendous amount of power, your mind is still lacking when it comes to battle tactics and strategy…though from no fault of your own."

That last bit felt as though it had been added just so he didn't feel like he was being insulted.

But it was true.

"As these two are members of Miss Sona Sitri's peerage, I assume they have already undergone some level of tactical training."

Issei glanced towards the two of them.

The words 'Saji' and 'Tactical training' went together about as much as oil and water.

Like someone said hot snow.

It just didn't make sense.

He couldn't say the same about the other girl, Nimura Ruruko, but he was fairly certain there was a reason that there had been rumours of a muscle head in the Student Council. Except he had never once thought about it before today.

But here they were.

And the girl looked like she was about to start shadow boxing.

Saji caught his stare, then narrowed his eyes. "Why do I get the feeling you just insulted me in your head?"

"I'm just shocked."

Saji sighed and placed his hands on his hips, shaking his head. "I did take my work very seriously when I became a Pawn and listened through all the lectures of Kaichou."

"That's true!" Ruruko stopped bouncing on the heels of her feet and nodded along. "And Kaichou does do a lot of lectures on them. Sometimes she even gets out a board and a pointy stick."

That was certainly a mental image.

And one that Issei was not at all surprised by.

"Huh. Well."

Rubbing the back of his neck, he glanced at Beowulf.

"So what now?"

"Well-"

Issei went reeling once again, his nose exploding with pain as he clasped it in his hands.

"Why!?"

Beowulf offered a faint smile.

"I don't recall saying I was going to stop."

The worst thing was that this guy looked vaguely apologetic as well.

Saji snorted and Issei glared at him through tearing up eyes.

As soon as he got slapped in the face, Issei would point and laugh at him.

He would laugh very loudly.

"Oh, so we're fighting?" Why did Ruruko sound so excited about it?

And why was she actually shadow boxing this time.

"I was looking forwards to getting some training in with an experienced pawn so thank you for the opportunity, boss."

Boss?

Beowulf looked a bit stumped as well, mouthing the word 'boss' to himself before shaking his head and looking back up.

"Right, well. As I was explaining to Issei earlier, we were running through the art of controlling the engagement and making your opponent fight on your terms."

He stepped back and waved a hand.

"Which, as I'm sure you all know, involves fighting on different landscapes as well."

Issei looked down.

This was a grassy field.

He looked back up.

Beowulf clearly read his mind because the man gave a strained but still polite smile. "We will, of course, not just be fighting here."

Oh, that was good.

So where were they going to fight?

He stepped back, arms folded behind himself, and then rolled his jaw.

"Firstly, we're going to go to the woods."

The woods.

Were they going to fight in the woods or something?

They did not fight in the woods.

They fought with the woods.

Or as close to doing so as was allowed.

"Block my field of vision."

The fact the guy sounded so calm about this was really laying it on thick that their best wasn't doing all that much, but Issei wasn't going to quit.

So he threw an entire bush right at the face of the guy, recalling how he had done as such against that Rider guy.

"Good."

And then Beowulf backhanded the bush, eyes flicking towards him with a slight frown.

"But if you are not attacking at the same time, then the distraction is pointless."

Said who?

Ruruko jumped down from the branch behind his head-

"Ooof!"

Ouch.

And received an elbow in the gut, got grabbed by the knee and then-

Ah.

Issei had half a second to stare right ahead of himself - huh, pink - and then he acted as the cushion for Ruruko's body as she collided with him and sent them both rolling across the ground.

Well, he rolled for a bit and then hit a tree.

Ruruko seemed to just plummet head first into another bush, a muffled groan echoing out of the leaves a moment later.

He sat up and shook his head, looking on ahead and narrowing his eyes as he shot up to his feet and spied a low hanging branch.

[Boost!]

He yanked down and snapped it off, drawing it back like a javelin and then throwing it.

About half a second later, he regretted doing that because he really was not an expert in throwing anything and managed to awkwardly chuck it upwards and into the trees above before it fell back down. Beowulf watched him with an impassive stare, then tilted his head to one side and raised a brow.

Him not saying anything sort of made it much worse.

With a nervous smile and a shrug of the shoulders, he darted left into the undergrowth and amidst the bushes, hands snatching out whatever greenery he passed by and ducking down, gripping the leaves which had fallen during their clashes.

Now running around with a bundle of leaves in his arms, he burst back out and hurled them up and into the face of Beowulf, then dropped low and went for a kick to their shin.

Which they backstepped to avoid.

Alright.

So an uppercut?

Which missed.

Grabbing him?

The back of his hands were slapped down as if he was some sort of kid, then he was being slapped in the face again same as before.

Could Saji not hurry up?

"Hyoudou!"

Finally!

He rolled out of the way from the groaning, Beowulf turning as the tree behind him started to kilter forwards and drop right down. Issei took hold of another shattered branch and yanked it up, this time wielding it as a club and swinging for the chest of the man distracted by the tree.

The branch was slapped out of his hands, Issei blinked as it soared up and over his head.

A fraction of a second later, all he could see were knuckles mere inches from his face, and then the still image vanished and he was falling backwards with another sharp gasp.

[I think at this point you might as well wear a 'please punch here' sign on your forehead with an arrow pointed down.]

Yes.

Ddraig was very supportive.

"Got you!"

Issei saw the tangled line from Saji's Sacred Gear wrapped around the wrist of Beowulf and stretched up and over the branch. He charged forwards as Saji jumped off the branch and used it as some sort of pulley.

Or, well.

That might have been the plan.

Until Beowulf pulled back and then Saji was yanked upwards into the treeline.

But Issei was already charging, so he committed.

And using a new move might not have been a bad idea.

"Dragon pellet!"

He thrust his fist forwards, gem glowing brightly, as a burst of green light shot from his gauntlet and right behind his opponent. Rather, they leaned out of the way of it rather casually.

But it was fine.

Because he wasn't aiming for them in the first place.

The shot struck true and the trunk of the tree broke apart, then groaned and whined as it pitched towards them. Issei continued his charge and threw himself bodily into the pawn, shoulder checking them a fraction of a step and driving his palm into their chin.

"Better!"

And Beowulf still sounded so casual.

Pain lanced into his chest as he pitched forwards, then a tight grasp found its way onto the back of his neck.

Issei had barely a second to understand what was happening before he suddenly found himself in the air.

Was that a tree branch-?

"Grk!?"

His face collided with the branch and he felt his body continue onwards, flipping backwards and spinning before he dropped face first onto the ground in an almost body slam.

Behind him, somewhere, came the rumble of the falling tree and then a shudder across the ground. Issei sniffled and pressed against the ground to push himself back up.

He had been hit in the nose so many times that if he could ever smell anything again then he would be seriously surprised.

Turning his head over his shoulder, he sighed and pushed himself back to his feet, rolling his shoulder and blinking through the tears once again forming in his eyes. Damn, his nose was really stinging now.

Rubbing away the tears, he shifted his jaw back and forth as he stared at Beowulf.

Then he looked around, eyes narrowed.

Alright, perhaps something else?

His gaze dropped down to where Saji and Ruruko were picking themselves up, then he swung a fist behind himself and jerked a thumb, then twisted about on his heel and started to sprint away.

He had a cunning plan.

"Cunning plan my ass."

Saji grumbled as Asia healed away the nasty black eye on his face.

The doubt was not appreciated.

"It could have worked."

Saji looked squarely at him and continued to stare for what felt like hours, each passing second intensifying the doubt that they apparently felt was worth his plan. He huffed and folded his arms, looking away from Issei.

Issei, meanwhile, was convinced that it could have worked.

"Did it at least catch him off guard?"

He glanced across to Kiba, that guy looked like he had gone through a good pummelling as well from the cuts and bruises over his body. Behind him was Xenovia, slumped out against a wall and looking as though she had fallen asleep inside of a bin and woken up the next morning.

In the back of the bin lorry.

He didn't know what the heck Vlov was teaching them but he was really glad that it wasn't what he had been teaching Issei.

"It did!" Issei defended, puffing out his chest. "He looked really surprised."

Ruruko giggled. "I would be surprised as well if, in a rather open space, I found a conspicuous pile of leaves."

Issei scowled and folded his arms tightly over his chest.

They were all just jealous that they had not thought of a plan first.

And really.

"Aren't ambush tactics a thing?" He glanced between the pair of them.

Saji looked up at him with lifeless eyes. Disappointed eyes. "...Issei. There was only one large pile of leaves we encountered in the entire forest and the branches of every tree in the immediate vicinity had been stripped clean."

"Then why did you go along with it if you doubted it so much?"

At that he blinked and then looked away, rolling his lips inwards and looking a fair bit awkward.

Issei pointed a finger accusingly towards them. "You just didn't have a plan at all, did you?"

"W-well, I…I was being rushed!" Saji quickly defended, looking back towards him with some faltering resolve. "If I had time-"

"What time?"

Issei smirked at him, then sighed and looked down.

"I know we should have gone with the pitfall."

"None of us have shovels, Issei."

"We can dig with our hands, can't we?"

Ruruko blinked very slowly, then tilted her head, staring at him with this strange expression like she was having a hard time understanding what he was saying.

"What? He said to use the environment against him so a pitfall would have worked, wouldn't it?"

"I…suppose?" She didn't sound all that sure to him. "...But wouldn't it take a while even with our hands?"

…Ah.

Mmmm.

"So what you're saying is that we need prep-time?"

Saji snorted. "Okay, Batman. We'll ask politely next time."

Jackass.

"At least we didn't get stomped, you know?"

Even Saji could not argue against that, giving a slow nod of the head and turning just enough to show a tiny smile on his lips. It was enough for them to say they fought against one of the strongest guys and actually manage to accomplish a little.

Though Issei was certain they were holding back, but it didn't feel like they were doing too much.

Then again, none of them used promotion during the battle so…maybe another time?

That being said…

Turning his head about, he furrowed his brows.

"How come Koneko-chan and Yura-san aren't back yet?"

Saji shrugged his shoulders. "Can't say that I know…Then again, if you're training with a clone of Surtr…"

His words ended with a shudder and a slight look of terror on his face.

Issei, meanwhile, just blinked a couple of times. "A clone of who now?"

"What, you didn't know?"

Ruruko looked at him as if he had said something surprising, her brows raised high.

"I thought that…oh, well. Do you know about Surtr?"

Did he know about Surtr?

"...See, I want to answer that but I get the feeling that the Surtr you're talking about and the one I'm thinking about aren't the same at all."

Because he didn't think that actual characters from visual novels and anime would really count.

He'd noticed more recently that a lot of names were being shared here and it was getting really awkward to play through those games without associating with the people.

Ruruko tilted her head. "Well, that is the point, right? They aren't actually the same person."

No, he still wasn't getting it.

"Surtr The Second."

"There's a Surtr the first?" Issei blurted out. "So he's like Surtr Jr?"

Kiba snorted rather loudly, though by the time Issei looked over to him, the blonde had already fought back the smile on his face and was just staring out with some placid looking smile as though he was zoned out.

"He's a clone of Surtr." Saji tiredly explained, rubbing his brows. "So he's a clone of a large fire giant who is basically supposed to be the strongest rook in the entire underworld. Not really surprising given who he's a clone of but yeah…"

He lowered his hand and shrugged.

Issei blinked very slowly.

"...Koneko-chan is fighting someone so tough?"

Saji just shrugged, then frowned. "Hey. Tsubasa-san is there is well but…uhm…yeah. Basically."

Were they allowed to go and offer moral support?

He was.

Issei stood up and heard something crack the second he did.

That definitely didn't sound all that good.

"Should we go and check on them to see how they're doing?"

Saji blinked, then shrugged and stood up. "Couldn't hurt…Guess I might be a little worried as well."

"Awww, Saji." Ruruko, giggling, stood up and poked him in the side. "You big softy."

Why was this guy blushing and pushing away her hand like that?

He didn't want to see this obvious flirting in front of him.

Did Saji not know what she was doing either? Issei did, he had seen all of these tropes before on dense protagonists.

…Wait, did that mean those were real as well?

…Nah, he was probably just imagining it.

Maybe?

He glanced across to Kiba, then down at the still unconscious Xenovia, pointing towards her. "I meant to ask, what happened to her?"

Kiba thinned his lips. "...Vlov can be brutal when he fights…also she didn't know he could make flames."

He could make flames?

"I didn't even know he could do that, what the heck? Doesn't this guy realise there is such a thing as being too overpowered?"

"Man, what the heck are you complaining about?" Saji gave him a light slap on the shoulder. "You are literally the Red Dragon Emperor. You are overpowered by default."

[Hah! Someone has some sense about them! Though I never would have expected the words to come from one of Vritra's hosts.]

Issei glanced down at Ddraig for the comment. "Alright, yes. But I'm not feeling all that overpowered right now. I'm feeling underpowered."

[Because you are, obviously.]

Some real support he was getting here.

Real great support.

Issei sighed and threw up his hands, turned on his heel, and strolled towards the door.

At least until he realised that he had no actual idea where Koneko was training, making a half turn back to the others, he tilted his head. "So…where abouts-?"

"Come on."

Saji walked past him.

"I'll show you."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Making rounds at training grounds.

Romani snorted to himself at the rhyming in his own mind.

But it was about the only way he could probably contain himself here as he strolled past the distant sight of fire and raised the binoculars to his eyes, peering through and into the distance at the sight of the figures.

They were easy enough to spot.

Koneko, Tsubasa and a guy who looked rather intimidating.

Big was the predominant word.

Tall spiky orange hair and rippling muscles, like he had been ripped straight from some old greek history book.

Romani lowered the binoculars down and handed them back across to the person beside him.

"She's braver than I am."

Rias gave a faint chuckle at his words.

What? Did she think he was making a joke here? He was serious.

"Did you see the size of his hands?" Romani held up his own and stared at them with some growing sense of shock. "It was like he could fit my whole head into them or something…that's just…"

Lowering them back down, he frowned.

"Is she-"

"Surty is a bit eccentric but he knows how to hold back." Rias assured him, hand waving backwards as if she had considered and dismissed it already.

Then again, with the way she just called him Surty, they probably knew one another for years. He'd defer to her on how much the guy could actually do then, if that was the case.

"But…"

Rias face turned pensive.

Romani had an idea of what this was about. "Asia is around in case something happens."

That made it sound like he was expecting something to happen, now that he thought about it, and he found himself grimacing a little bit before shaking it away. Even if he was worried, him showing off how he felt would probably make Rias even more worried about it.

A lot of worrying leading to more worrying.

Terrible.

"I know…" Rias mumbled, then shook her head. "...I just cannot help but feel as though I have let them all down."

"What? No." Romani shook his head.

She turned to him and thinned her lips. "Seeing them all throw themselves into training as rigorously as they have done, can you truly say such a thing? I am glad - pleased, even - that they are taking it so seriously but…"

Biting her lower lip, her eyes turned down.

"But I cannot help but feel as though they are making up for my failings."

Failings?

Romani raised a brow, then shook his head. "I don't think you did anything wrong here. Even Sona, with how serious she is, has her peerage out and doing the same amount of training as all of you."

Which bothered him.

Oddly enough, Rias smiled at his words. "Well…Myself and Sona have always been competing against one another, perhaps she is merely rising to my level of commitment…or maybe I am doing the same to her?"

Blue eyes flicked back out across to the distant as a jet of fire shot upwards rather suddenly.

Romani jolted a little at the pillar of flames, tightening his features to avoid showing his unease.

He doubted it worked, he felt his hands shake.

It seemed he still wasn't used to fire.

No surprise there.

"Let us talk about something else."

Rias suddenly declared, he glanced at her rather suddenly just in time to see her eyes dart away from his trembling hands.

Ah.

So she had seen it then?

That was a little embarrassing.

"...Alright."

Romani nodded his head all the same.

"I'm helping Asia make a magical girl outfit."

Several seconds of silence followed that statement.

Then Rias whipped her head up and stared at him with wide and shocked eyes, mouth agape in a true display of surprise.

"You-what-when? Really?!"

At least she sounded enthusiastic about it, breaking out into a short burst of giggles.

"Just wait until Sona learns about her sister inspiring more magical girls."

Of course it would be enthusiasm for teasing friends, but it was a pleasure to see that all the same.

They acted their ages in those moments.

"I don't actually know if Levi-tan knows yet."

"Really? Perhaps you should keep it as a surprise then?"

The thought had occurred to him.

And he had thought better of it for good reason.

"Yeah but what happens when she finds out and then realises I kept that a secret from her? You know how excited she gets over magical girls? She'd probably be heartbroken that I was helping someone else turn into one and didn't ask for her advice as the supreme magical girl."

Rias let out a faint chuckle. "Since when were you two on such talkative terms?"

Romani shrugged his shoulders. "She says she's grateful for helping her sister."

Rias expression turned strained, so she probably noticed his own face.

Being thanked for something he didn't remember doing and wasn't conscious for was like a stab in the chest.

It seemed everything worked out when he wasn't there.

…Romani was starting to wonder what the point of him even having powers was.

Sure, he had been training in his spare time but that was still about strong enough to hold up a mug of coffee for about fifteen minutes.

The best he could say was that this eyes were-

"I can't say I approve of that face of yours."

Romani sputtered.

What?

"What?"

Coughing, he turned down and stared at Rias.

His face?

It wasn't like he could help it. He was born with it.

And now she was laughing at him.

"I meant to say that seeing you look so serious is rather strange. It's a rather alien look, I have to say."

Did she have to say that while examining him like some sort of petri dish experiment?

"I can be serious sometimes, you know?" Romani folded his arms. "And it's hard not to be serious."

"Mmmmh."

Rias nodded silently.

"...So you speak with Lady Leviathan often then?"

"Not as much as you'd probably think." With that, he held up his phone and waved it about pointedly.

"She calls you?"

"Texts me, actually." He sighed and put the phone back into his pocket. "Most of it is normally asking about Sona when she can't visit. Apparently she's under the impression that I am somehow the person to ask for how she is getting on?"

Rias gave him a pointed stare, hands on her hips. "Romani…you tend to come across as a bit doting at times. Or perhaps the better word would be something along the lines of mother henning?"

"I don't…do I?"

He'd never once heard of that before.

"Sona would sometimes, at length, complain to me that you were trying to encourage the student council to become lazy like yourself."

"...I didn't realise I was such a headache." He slumped his shoulders.

Rias shook her head. "No, I do not believe she meant it in a cruel way. Rather there was something expected about it all? Not that I am going to complain."

That was…a loaded response.

"You're just teenagers to me. Sorry."

"Just teenagers?"

Rias sounded amused by his words.

"I've known you as students longer than I've known you as Devils so that's never going to change."

"And is that why you look so unhappy?"

Ah, she caught that then, did she?

"...You're kids."

"With responsibilities."

"Still kids." Romani remained adamant. "But it's not like I can…"

No, that wasn't true.

He sighed and turned his eyes towards the field of flames and the rather boisterous laughter of whom he assumed was Surty.

It sounded jovial if a little thunderous on the ears.

Bursts of flames continued to match the laughter, stretching higher and higher before they dropped back down.

His words slipped away from him as he stared at the sight.

It all became sort of muted to him not long after, a sense of disconnectedness when he looked long into the fires.

Had he been here before?

It felt like he had.

Standing and staring at the flames as people died.

Just staring.

Always just staring.

Yes.

It bothered him.

He was not going to lie and say that it did not bother him and he would not give excuses about how he could justify it in his mind.

Romani was troubled by it.

Staring into those flames, even as the logical part of him understood it was for training, that meant nothing to seeing it all over again.

Of the thought of seeing more children smothered under that bright orange blanket and vanishing without a trace.

His jaw tightened.

Sharply intaking breath, he plunged himself back into the present and turned his eyes down and onto Rias.

Yes, she had clearly noted his silence and looked up with concern.

So he did what he seemed to do best.

Flashing her a strained but present smile, he changed the topic quickly.

"So how have things been going with you lately? I hope they've been well?"

Yes, it was a rather clunky and blatantly apparent way of changing the topic but it would at least move them away from a conversation he had no further interest in having. Not when he knew it would lead nowhere.

Rias clearly noticed it, but decided to humour him.

Or perhaps the better word was indulge him.

"I have been making efforts with my own power." She replied, folding her arms and wearing a brief look of dissatisfaction. "But with my brother recovering from his injuries, there are few who can truly help me with my own strength."

Yes, that did sound like it would be a problem for her.

"Few." He noticed. "But there are a couple?"

"It was an ability of the Bael family first and foremost, so it hails from my mothers side of things. She's…been there to speak of her own experience and help me where she can."

That was a neat bit of trivia.

He briefly - very briefly - recalled meeting with her mother but that had been on his initial arrival and the meeting hadn't lingered in his mind.

"That's nice." However, with the topic of her brother brought up. "How is Sirzechs anyway?"

Rias noticeably slumped and he hoped he hadn't just stepped on some sort of landmine or something.

"He's been…getting better." She replied slowly, "But I know he's trying to hide just how much pain he is in. I…the attack he suffered would have killed any other Devil and…and they think it would have even killed Lady Leviathan if she had been on the brunt of it."

That was a sobering notion.

"He's tough though, right?" Romani replied, "And with all the people he has fretting over him, then I'm sure that your brother will be back on his feet in no time. Especially because he…well…lived."

No, that was not the sort of thing he meant to say like that.

Whatever happened to his bedside manner?

"I think that what your brother would appreciate during his recovery is the knowledge that his little sister and his family are there by his side in case he needs anything. I can imagine that you being there and pulling out hairs over him would make him feel pretty guilty."

Rias, oddly enough, started to chuckle and send him a strange but knowing look. "He said that seeing me with tears in my eyes was somehow worse than the pain."

"Well, if he can make jokes like that."

"Joke…heh…" Rias leaned back and closed her eyes. "With how my brother is…I'm not even sure."

Yes.

Well.

"Lady Gremory."

He jolted ever so slightly and snapped his head about.

When on earth did this guy get here?

He looked like a butler, head bowed low and slicked back.

Rather, he looked like the archetype of all butlers.

"Yes?"

"The presence of you and your peerage has been requested back at the manor by your brother."

A brief pause, then the Devil butler with slicked back dark hair slowly rose up, grey eyes flicking onto him.

"As well as the presence of Mister and Mrs Archaman."

Wait, he and Leona were invited back as well?

"We shall be along shortly." Rias replied. "I'll collect my peerage, thank you for the message."

"Of course."

And then the guy just vanished, his body just fading away like he had never been there.

It also felt like he had walked outside and been struck by a strong wind in the instant that he left, which granted him a sobering notion.

"That was speed right now, wasn't it?"

Rias answered only with a smile.

Yeah, that was the guys raw speed.

"...Cleaning must be done around here pretty quick, huh?"

"Not as quick as you would be assuming." Rias replied, shrugging her shoulders. "But that is because the cleaning staff are all perfectionists as well. Now then."

She took in a breath.

"I believe we have some people to gather…if you would be content with joining me for a stroll?"

"I'd probably get lost by myself."

Rias grinned. "I was trying to be polite about my concerns, but yes. I feared you would wander off and we would find you several days later, lost in the forests."

In the what?

"...How much land do you own anyway?"

Rias placed a finger on her chin and furrowed her brows for a brief moment.

The fact she even needed time to think was leaving him a bit breathless already.

"I…believe it is considered around the size of Honshu?"

Honshu.

Romani blinked.

Then slowly turned his head and looked around for a few seconds.

…Wasn't that pretty much the main island of Japan?

"...Oh."

Well.

Slipping his hands into his pockets, Romani rolled his lips inwards.

He was going to not think about the scale of that.

It would be easier for his brain.