He who was just an ordinary man
VII
Romani was barely aware of what was going on around him, vaguely aware of the sensation of being moved but beyond that everything was still a blur. He wasn't that stupid, likely due to the pain of being struck by whatever had struck him and the subsequent loss of blood that followed.
At least, that was what he imagined.
He would occasionally hear muffled voices and the blurry form of Issei looming over him and giving him what he imagined to be encouraging advice. That was a nice sentiment from him at any rate.
Romani released a hiss as he was laid down on something, his eyes clamping shut as pain flared through his back and he was rolled over, exposing the wound to the air.
"Looks like a glancing blow." He heard a female voice call out, then released another hiss as fingers touched the outskirts of the wound "Nothing too serious, with normal healing magic we should have this restored within the hour." There was a relieved chuckle that followed "A part of me is a little sad that it isn't that much more serious."
"What the heck do you-!?" An outraged voice called out, soon cut off by a different female voice.
"Now, now Akeno." The new voice sounded amused. "There's no need for that, you're giving poor Issei the wrong impression of us."
"Ah, perhaps I should explain myself better then?" Akeno giggled "I was just curious what sort of face he would make after the healing had finished."
"You do realise he's married, don't you?" A male voice chimed in sounding more resigned than anything else.
"""He is?""" Several voices spoke in unison and in equal amounts of surprise.
"Why does…everyone…find that…surprising?" Romani managed to mumble out in a pitiful voice before his head fell back against whatever he was resting on. Whatever it was, it was most certainly comfortable, it was certainly soft but also smooth. His eye cracked open and he found himself staring at what he could only guess was black leather. "Where…?"
"Hang on just a moment, Archaman-sensei." Akeno's voice whispered to him, his eyes darted to the side to see the dark haired woman crouched next to him with a gentle smile on her face "Don't worry, we'll have you healed up in no time at all." She stood back up and Romani released another hiss as she placed her hands on his back over the wound. "Well…no time at all for humans. For us, maybe a little longer."
"...Huh?" Romani groaned, trying to move, then pausing when Akeno gently pushed him back down.
"This will be much easier if you don't try to move, Archaman-sensei." Akeno whispered to him before she looked back around the room "I believe that will suffice, no?"
"We were fortunate the injury was so shallow." Rias sighed in relief as she crossed her arms under her breasts and gave Romani a faint smile "I suppose you were rather lucky in that regard, weren't you Sensei?"
"Still…not a teacher…" Romani mumbled out in a daze "Where are we…?" he tiredly asked, his eyes looking around the poorly lit room. He watched Issei move across towards him, then crouch down in front of his face with a relieved expression.
"We're in the old school building, Roman-sensei." Issei dutifully informed him before his expression turned more puzzled "But…ehm…I'm not sure why." he added on, looking over his shoulder towards the group behind him "Why are we here, Rias-senpai?" he asked, standing up and then pointing to Akeno "And what is Akeno-senpai doing to Roman-"
"Issei." Rias gently cut him off "Perhaps questions can wait until Archaman-sensei is in a state to understand them." she reminded him with a gentle tone, gesturing to the nurse lying face down on the sofa with Akeno standing over him with her hands pressed into the wound "It would be much easier, would it not?"
"H-huh?" Issei blinked once before he released a noise "Oh…right." he grunted, nodding his head and looking around. Finding a chair off to the side and looking back at Rias with the unasked question.
Rias blinked at him once before she released a light giggle that sent Issei's heart aflutter "Don't worry, Issei. You may take a seat if you wish."
"Thank you, Rias-senpai." Issei nodded his head at her once with a tired smile before he moved across the room and sat himself down in the chair. Turning his body to the left and facing Romani before leaning forwards, clasping his hands together and staring at the nurse with a concerned look on his face.
Rias noticed his expression and softened her features "Don't worry, Issei." the crimson haired girl assured him with a confident voice "Archaman-sensei will be quite alright." she explained, raising a hand to gesture at Akeno "While ordinary healing magic isn't exactly our forte, it is still useful for situations just as these."
"I haven't used it in quite a few years, however, Buchou." Akeno informed her from across the room, turning and casting a quick glance over her shoulder "I might be a touch rusty."
"I trust you." Rias replied before she paused. "Besides, there is also the other method if that fails, although…" she sucked in air through her teeth and looked as though she was having difficulty not to laugh. "I'm worried that method might just give poor Archaman-sensei a heart attack."
"U-uhm…" Issei gave a nervous chuckle as he raised his hand "Wh-why are you talking about Magic like that?" he asked as he looked around "Doesn't Roman-sensei need professional help? You know…doctors?"
"Trust me, Issei." Rias turned to him, giving him a serious look which had him rooted on the spot "Archaman-sensei is getting some of the best help possible at the moment."
In the face of her confidence, Issei felt his confusion start to melt away and he was left with little choice but to give a single, silent nod in affirmation towards her. Opting to turn back to Romani and bite his lower lip. Issei was under no real illusions as to why the nurse was looking like that at the moment.
He knew whose fault it was.
Issei's hands fell on his trousers, clenching into fists and as directed a glare towards his limbs before he closed his eyes and exhaled.
"Don't worry." He blinked at the voice, a hand rested itself on his shoulder in a comforting manner, Issei stared at the limb for a moment then looked up and to the right of him. Promptly blinking once before he squinted at the new individual. "Romani-sensei will be in good hands. Buchou and Akeno-Senpai will take good care of him."
"...What the heck?" Issei mumbled out, having just enough sense left in his body to squirm his way out of Yuuto Kiba's grip, the blonde haired boy seemingly winced at the contact being broken but otherwise didn't comment on it. The young man returned the arm to his side and sent another glance to Romani. "So…erm…"
Rias stared at him out of the corner of her eye with no small degree of amusement, her features soon softened into one of reassurance. The young man was still sitting in the chair with a rather strained expression on his face, she was convinced that if he was in any other situation he might have exploded by now.
Issei's eyes roamed around the room, examining everything around him and then pausing when he stared at the symbols and iconography on the walls with raised eyebrows, his lip wavered slightly before his eyes darted back towards the others in the room "So…occult research?"
Rias blinked at him before she smiled affectionately, the move had Issei's heart skip several beats, "Yes." she admitted, giving a brief wave of the hand and gesturing to the room "I suppose it might be considered a little on the nose for us." she chuckled at some hidden joke. Although when Issei saw the veiled amusement on the faces of the others present in the room - save Koneko - he wasn't convinced it was actually quite that well hidden.
Romani releasing a pained groan caused Issei to snap his attention back towards the man "Roman-sensei?" he called out, leaning forwards on the chair "Are you…how are you feeling?"
"...Sore." Romani murmured back, his eyes fluttering open as he twisted his head on the sofa to grant himself a better view of the room in general, emerald green eyes flickered around and occasionally squinted, trying to make out some feature in the low lighting of the room. "Where…?"
"The…um…" Issei coughed once "The occult research club." he informed the man, giving those in the room one more odd glance before returning his attention to the man "They…happened by?"
"...Huh?" Romani's eyes flickered to him, awash with confusion that Issei could empathise with. He had no idea what was going on either. "They…what?"
"Yeah." The brown haired boy nodded once, giving a nervous smile and a half shrug "They scared off the guy with the…erm…" he made a throwing gesture with his hands, then winced when he remembered the state Romani was in "...The guy in the douchey hate."
"Fedora…" Romani mumbled in response, his eyes drifted from Issei and towards the pair of legs at the far end of the room leaning on the table. He didn't even have the strength to blush at the possibility someone would accuse him of leering, instead his gaze climbed higher and higher until he found himself staring into sapphire blue orbs and crimson red hair. "...Gremory-san?"
"You can call me Rias, if you like, Archaman-sensei." The girl informed him with a polite smile on her face.
"Not a teacher." The man mumbled, Rias raised an eyebrow at his words and shared a glance of confusion with everyone else in the room. Evidently, Romani was either unaware that being a nurse could also earn you the title of 'sensei' but there was no reason to inform him of something he'd probably find out later. Especially when there were more important things to discuss.
"...As you say." Rias replied slowly before she allowed herself a victorious smile "I didn't hear a 'no' on calling me Rias though!"
Romani released a quiet sigh "...I had the weirdest dream." he mumbled back, Rias winced "...Why does my back hurt?"
Akeno jumped on to inform him before anyone else could, her tone was gentle and slowly spoken to ensure Romani could understand the words being spoken to him "You took a glancing blow from a light spear." she stated "You got it jumping in front of Issei-kun." the girl smiled down at him, "That was very brave of you."
"...Bravery hurts." Romani whined back, Akeno giggled at that "And what does…ah…right…" Romani's voice dropped into an exhausted one "So it wasn't a dream, huh?"
"I'm sorry to say it wasn't." Rias informed him from across the room in a guilty tone of voice "...And I'm sorry we weren't faster. This state you are in…it is my fault. I should have been more prepared."
Romani - even in his tired state - gave her a look that seemed to ask what she was talking about.
"We can address that in a moment." Rias waved her hand as she approached the man lying on the couch, then crouched down to look the man in the eyes, her orbs shining with clear concern "How are you feeling?"
"...Hurts a bit." Romani replied quietly, unsure of what else he could say.
"If you can feel it, then it's probably good, right?" Rias asked, tilting her head and giving him an innocent smile "That's a thing with injuries, is it not?"
Romani let out a quiet sigh of amusement "...Yeah. If you can't feel it, it's probably bad." he murmured back "Issei-kun?"
"Issei is fine." Rias informed him with a more genuine smile "I suspect that it is - in no small part - to your own efforts. I must express my gratitude for saving him, although I suppose you weren't thinking about that, were you?"
The man furrowed his brow "I didn't even know you were friends."
"I wish!" Issei exclaimed with a goofy smile on his face, then quickly flushed and looked away when the eyes of everyone in the room fell upon him with varying states of amusement. Or lack there of in Koneko's case, who stared at the young boy with an accusatory glance as if she knew what he was really thinking.
And was anything but pleased with it.
"I suppose if you're lucid enough, we can speak while Akeno heals you." Rias spoke, nodding towards the dark haired girl as she held her hands above the man "With any luck, you'll be fine within the hour."
Romani furrowed his brows at her.
Rias stood back up, turning around and moving towards her desk before she made an about face turn and leaned back against it, crossing her arms under her breasts and flickering her eyes between Romani and Issei "Considering you are now both involved - and no doubt have some questions - I shall speak frankly."
She closed her eyes, stretching her lips into a smile "All those in this room - with the exception of you, Archaman-sensei - are Devils." she opened up her eyes again and stared down at the reactions of the pair.
Issei blinked repeatedly at her, expression caught between being dumbfounded and being incredulous.
Romani just squinted his eyes at her "...You're not that bad." he mumbled out quietly, earning a light giggle from Rias, Akeno and Kiba in response. The dark haired girl healing Romani stared down at him with a wide smile.
"Well, I'm glad to hear you think so highly of us."
"I'm a little worried you think so lowly of yourselves." Romani replied.
"Well…" Issei coughed into his fist, looking between Akeno and Rias before he leaned towards Romani and dropped his voice into a whisper "You know Succubus are supposed to be devils, right? Maybe…"
Rias held a hand to her face, muffling her laughter.
Issei flinched when Koneko threw a sweetie wrapper across the room with such force that it struck him in the forehead hard enough to leave a small mark. The young man let out a gasp of surprise and pressed his hand to his forehead.
"Koneko." Rias rolled her eyes amusedly "You don't want to undo Archaman-sensei's hard work, do you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
Koneko pursed her lips, then nodded at Issei once "Pervert." she said the word as if that was the only justification she needed to cause the young man physical bodily harm.
Rias chuckled before she returned her sight to Romani "But as I was saying…as for proof."
The moment in which Romani's eyes bulged from their sockets was something that was rather amusing. Issei looked similarly caught flat footed by the sudden emergence of a pair of bat wings from Rias' back, he heard another flutter and jolted in surprise and turned to see Kiba with a similar pair of bat wings on his back.
Romani's eyes similarly shot towards Kiba, his eyes still wide and his breath caught in his throat. His gaze slowly drifted upwards to Akeno, the dark haired girl looked down at him and then flashed him a wink and a smirk. Prompting another pair of wings to emerge, this time from Akeno's back.
The nurse gave a quiet gulp, hesitantly allowing his eyes to move back over towards Rias "...Oh." he muttered quietly, then closed his eyes and scrunched them shut. The move earned odd looks from those present, then the nurse opened his eyes up again and stared at the wings still on the red haired girl's back.
A sigh escaped Romani's throat, the man slumped into the couch and seemingly lost any tension that had been in his body. The man released a quiet - but no less desperate - chuckle as he stared at the girl "I don't suppose this is where the camera's burst in, right?"
Rias gave him an understanding look but said nothing.
"...Figured." Romani quietly whispered, then exhaled quietly before he realised something "...Everyone but me?"
Rias expression became tight before she nodded her head once, then looked towards Issei "Everyone except you, Archaman-sensei."
Issei caught the way he was being stared at, then jolted out of his stupor and dumbly pointed at himself "M-me?" he asked in a shocked tone of voice and looked around "I'm…wait…" he leaned forwards and looked over his shoulder, trying to get a better look at his back. "Do I have-?" He was cut off, releasing a gasp and stumbling out of the chair when a pair of pitch black wings burst from his own back, seemingly phasing through his shirt and spreading themselves wide.
"What-?" Issei gasped as he stared at them, reaching a hand around his back towards them. Gently running his fingers along the surface and shivering at the odd sensation that ran through his body. "I'm…they're…real?" he whispered out, slowly turning a rather pale face towards Rias, his eyes flickered down to Romani and promptly widened.
The man was staring at him with nothing shy of abject fear.
Whether that was fear of Issei or fear of his situation, he couldn't tell. Either way it hurt to look at, biting his lip he looked away from the man and down towards the ground.
"How…?" Romani asked in a quiet voice, turning his head to look up at Akeno, then darting his eyes towards Rias "When…?"
Rias turned to look down at Romani "That - in part - relates to the man who encountered you both earlier tonight." her expression turned serious. "The man who tried to kill Issei and wounded you, Archaman-sensei, was a Fallen Angel."
"...Huh?" Issei blinked at her "Fallen…Angel?"
Rias gave a sombre nod "Angels who have been evicted from Heaven by God for turning away from his teachings. They come to earth in an effort to either manipulate humans…" she pointedly turned her eyes onto Issei "Or to hunt down Devils, like ourselves. This state of affairs had been the status quo since recorded history. There also exist ordinary Angels, those who remain within Heaven but will occasionally enter the human world for the purpose of hunting either Devils or Fallen Angels. A three way war between all of us."
She noticed the palling features of Issei and Romani and decided to switch tactics "Or at least, that was how it was until six hundred years ago." she explained further, uncrossing her arms and resting them on the desk behind her "As for the current state of affairs, it would be simpler to think of it as a 'Cold War' if you wished to. There exists a truce between the three factions in order to avoid an all out war."
Issei gulped loudly, then looked down at Romani and saw the man looked equally lost "S-so…" Issei's eyes turned back to Rias "How…erm…what…?"
"You are no doubt wondering why exactly you are a Devil to begin with and why a Fallen Angel would be interested in you." Rias carried on without losing any steam, ignoring the growing expressions of loss on the faces of Issei and Romani "Both of these points drift back to the same woman." she watched the pair tense "Amano Yuuma."
Issei's jaw snapped shut, his eyes went wide and all the tension in his body seemingly evaporated into nothing. "Yuuma…?" he whispered out, then looked down towards his chest, reaching for it with his right hand and gently resting the palm of his hand where he had been stabbed. "She…" his brows furrowed slightly "She had…wings as well."
Rias nodded her head slowly "A Fallen Angel." she confirmed "Much like the man who you encountered earlier."
"Wha…" Issei exhaled, then looked at Rias with a puzzled face "But…I wasn't a Devil then…right? Why would she-"
"Because of what you carry." Rias tilted her head towards him before she turned her eyes to the top of the wall and stared at the clock "Dear me, it is getting quite late, isn't it?" she realised with a half smile "I suppose I shall have to summarise it quickly." she turned back to Issei "Suffice to say, you have something known as a Sacred Gear. This could have made you a threat to them, therefore Amano Yuuma killed you before it could be awakened."
Issei blinked at her once.
Then twice.
Then fell back into his chair, staring off into the distance "Oh." He simply commented, his lips in a straight line and his face remarkably blank for the news that had been delivered. "...Why?"
Rias shrugged "I cannot say for certain and - in truth - the behaviour was somewhat unexpected for us as well." she smiled towards him "However, I arrived and saved your life. In doing so, you have been brought back as a Devil for House Gremory." her smile turned more prideful "Congratulations."
"...Y-yeah." Issei replied with a strained expression "Thanks…" his eyes drifted to Romani and locked glances with him, the man looked similarly lost as to the situation. Issei furrowed his brows before he looked to Rias "Wait…how come you remember-"
"She made an effort to avoid us." Rias replied as if the answer was obvious, despite that she didn't sound irate that the question had been posed at all. Rather, she spoke as though she had been expecting it from the beginning. "Even if she hadn't, the mind wiping techniques of the Fallen would not work on us as well as they would work on humans." she paused as she realised something, her eyes briefly flickering over to Romani "For the most part."
Issei raised an eyebrow "Roman-sensei…" the young man realised as he looked at him "You remembered her as well…so she made…" he gestured to his head "She made everyone forget?"
Rias nodded her head "Infiltration. She would arrive, get close to you, in this case - kill you - and then wipe the minds of everyone she had encountered before quietly slipping away into the wind."
Romani furrowed his brows slightly "Wait…how come…" he then cut himself off, his eyes darted to Issei "Issei-kun…" he voiced out in a subdued tone, the boy in question blinked at being addressed and looked to the nurse "...Are you alright?"
The brown haired boy stared at him for a few moments before he slumped in his chair "...I don't know. Roman-sensei." he replied simply before he gave a weak chuckle "A-at least neither of us are crazy though, eh?"
Romani continued to stare at him before he slowly looked towards Rias "So…how come I remember?"
"I am not sure." Rias replied, her smile tapered off into a thoughtful frown "It has not been unheard of for humans to recall experiences if they have strong mental fortitude but that is usually expected of high level exorcists and magicians. Even then, it depends upon the strength of the Fallen Angel in general. Amano Yuuma was probably rather weak in the grand scheme of things, she might have made a mistake in the spell when it came to you or…" she trailed off, her smile returning with a faint teasing edge to it "Or…you're a little bit more determined than everyone gives you credit for."
Romani gave a weak smile for a few seconds at the praise before his mirth vanished "...What now?"
Rias blinked "What do you mean?"
He jerked his head towards Issei, already feeling the pit opening up in his stomach "You have Issei as a Devil so…" his voice dropped into a quiet whisper as he closed his eyes "...What about…me?"
Rias raised an eyebrow at him and frowned, then watched as Issei seemingly put two and two together before he tensed himself in his chair. Quickly scanning the room and looking ready to shoot from his seating position at any moment.
Her arms crossed themselves under her chest once again, tapping her fingers against her upper arm "Now?" she left the word to hang in the air for a moment "You have already broken out of one memory blocking spell, there is no guarantee a second would work on you. In bringing you here, we have also revealed a side of the world that should not be shown to the uninitiated…so now?"
Blue eyes danced between the pair, Romani looked so very tired that he probably wouldn't put up a fight and Issei looked as though he'd throw a punch at the first person to try and threaten the teacher. It was actually rather endearing to Rias, seeing her latest pawn so defensive for his friend.
With a cheerful smile, she clapped her hands together "Now, we get you healed up and make sure you get home safely." she paused for a moment "We might probably invite you to speak with us a little further tomorrow as well, there are a couple more questions we'd like to ask-" like what you were doing at the park to begin with "-and I'm sure you have some of your own, don't you?"
Romani's expression was one of being utterly dumbfounded "...Huh?"
Issei looked like if he had been standing, he would have fallen face first onto the ground.
Kiba to the side pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head, already knowing that Rias couldn't have resisted the opportunity to tease the pair. Something Akeno also knew, if her light giggles were any indication.
"Why?" Rias gave an expression of perfect faux-innocence as she looked between the two "Was something I said strange?"
Issei just stared at her for a few moments before he let out a long sigh and let his head fall into his hands.
Rias giggled again, making to speak before she paused. Her eyes narrowed and then snapped towards the end of the room, staring at the door.
The others similarly sensed something was amiss, already they tensed themselves.
Rias pushed off the desk and strode forwards, stopping just in front of the coffee table and flexing her demonic energy. Someone had breached the bounded field around the outside of the clubhouse. Someone with hostile intentions. She felt a smile come to her face that utterly failed to reach her eyes "Kiba, Koneko." she spoke the two names, the pair went into a state of alertness instantly "It would appear we might have some late night house guests."
"Understood, Buchou." Kiba bowed his head once and turned to face the door, a circle flashed in his hand before a long steel blade fit itself into his palm and his hands comfortably wrapped around it.
Koneko simply punched a fist into her open palm with a small crack. The white haired girl narrowed her eyes and shifted herself into a battle ready stance.
"Buchou?" Akeno spoke in a curious voice, the unasked question of 'should I help' was apparent.
"Keep healing Archaman-sensei." Rias replied with a neutral tone of voice, her eyes darted to Issei "I'd advise you to stand up and step behind me, Issei-kun."
The boy jolted in his seat "Erm…why?"
"Because…" Rias remained patient as she explained to him the reason "We might be on the verge of an altercation but we might not." she shrugged, her eyes flickered back to the door. "Who can say?"
Whoever it was, they were human as well.
That made it slightly more challenging to determine their reason for coming here. A rogue exorcist perhaps? That was certainly a possibility. If it had been a Fallen Angel, she would have suspected it of being an attempt to deal with Devils without knowing quite who was living here, not that it was public knowledge to begin with.
The group remained silent as they heard footsteps quietly echo out from beyond the door, growing louder and louder in intensity until they came to a halt just beyond the entrance of the room. Eventually, there was a light knocking sound on the wood from their late night visitor.
Rias couldn't help but raise a surprised eyebrow before she swiftly composed her features "Come in."
The door slowly opened up.
A woman strolled in, bright blue eyes locked onto Rias's own instantly, she had dark brown hair that was well cared for almost like silk. It flowed down past her shoulders and over her outfit, a dark grey long coat with a button up red shirt underneath it with black trousers.
The woman stared at each and every single one of the devils in the room, despite her polite smile she made no effort to hide the sheer anger that was burning away in her - admittedly beautiful - eyes as they danced across, then landed on Romani and softened ever so slightly. A faint breath escaped the woman before her orbs narrowed when she caught sight of the large cut on the man's back,
Then the anger returned in force and her attention snapped away from the man and onto Rias.
The crimson haired girl remained undisturbed at the display, evidently the woman had confidence in spades as she didn't so much as react to Kiba stalking around the room to get a clear run at her, nor at Koneko bracing herself back ready for a charge.
"Good evening." Rias greeted in a cordial tone of voice, placing her hands on her hips and inclining her head ever so slightly "I don't recall sending invitations for late night visitors recently, so I suppose you can imagine our surprise." her eyes flickered meaningfully to the state of alertness in the room.
"Yes, well." The woman responded in a similar tone of sweetness with a smile that was a touch too sharp. "I hadn't been making any plans to be here at all."
"I imagine so." Rias responded back with a hint of mirth "Yet, here we are."
"Here we are."
"So." Rias gave the woman a curious look "Might I ask who you are and how we might help you tonight, Ms?"
The woman smiled back, "Mrs Archaman." she responded, Rias actually lost her composure at that "And I'm here for my husband." the smile vanished from her face as she turned a rather heated look onto Akeno "So I would rather appreciate it if I could have him back. Before any more harm comes to him."
"Oh." Rias blinked, quickly regaining her confidence despite the looks of bemusement going around the room "Well…I suppose we would be inclined to return him, he got into a nasty fall and-"
"Don't play games, Ms Gremory." Mrs Archaman shot back swiftly, narrowing her eyes as she did so "My husband goes fleeing off into the dead of night and then I track him down with slash marks across his back and in the middle of a full peerage?" her hands clenched into fists "Explain to me why I shouldn't assume the worst here?"
"...Leo?" A quiet voice called out, Romani shifted on the couch to incline his head back to stare at the door with wide and puzzled eyes "Why are-"
"Shh." Leo's voice dropped into a caring tone as she regarded Romani with worried features of her own "Just a moment, Roman. It's going to be alright." the concern vanished as she snapped her attention back to Rias "Isn't it?"
Rias straightened herself out "I had no plans to do harm to Archaman-sensei." she explained politely "In fact, I was in the midst of healing him. He got into an…altercation with a Fallen Angel." she continued on slowly, watching Leo's reaction. The creasing of the brows indicated that she wasn't unfamiliar with the term either "And a member of my peerage. He actually acted rather valiantly and saved him so…" she nodded her head to the man "I decided to return the favour and aid him."
"...Then thank you for that." Leo replied back, still sounding somewhat dubious but with a clear hint of gratitude "But I can take care of that from now on. So I would…appreciate it." she stressed the word "If I could now have him back so I can heal him."
The crimson haired girl rolled her jaw as she considered it "Of course." she replied with a smile "It would be rather cruel of me to keep a husband and wife apart." she added on "Although I would be similarly appreciative if you could find the time to visit the school tomorrow." she added on "Just for the sake of formality. I suppose you can understand my…surprise, that someone like you was here."
'Without my knowledge.' Went unsaid.
Leo made a slight expression of discomfort before it evened out into resignation "Yes, I suppose so." She made a point of looking towards Kiba and Koneko before looking at Romani.
"Ah, yes." Rias cleared her throat, the pair relaxed themselves and stepped back. Leo sent her a nod of the head before she quickly moved across the room and dropped to Romani's side. Akeno taking a step backwards in order to allow her space.
"Roman." Leo whispered quietly, reaching out and running a gentle hand through his hair "Are you alright?"
Romani stared back at her, still with confusion in his eyes "I think…" he muttered slowly "Leo…why are you-?"
"We'll talk later." Leo promised him as she gently moved her hands to his shoulders and flipped him over, cringing at his pained whimper before she slipped her arms underneath him and carried him princess style. She sent one final look towards Rias, before she started to make her way towards the door.
"Wonderful to meet you, Mrs Archaman." Rias called out after the woman "We're all very thankful that your husband is the school nurse."
Leo paused for a moment before she continued on, leaving the Devils alone in the room once again.
Issei was still standing stock still for a moment, then eventually blurted out the first thing that came to his mind "Roman-sensei's wife is that hot!?"
Despite the situation, Rias couldn't help but snort.
Leona clicked the door open, ushering Romani inside with the man still clinging onto her shoulder for dear life. If it were any other situation, she would have probably been more inclined to appreciate it. As it was now, she had bigger things to concern herself with.
Turning around, she shut the door with a quiet thud before dragging Romani further into the house. The man hissed with every step, Leona cringed and looked over the back of his shoulder to the nasty cut along his back before she grimaced at it and turned back around, pulling him further along and guiding him towards the sofa in the living room.
Leaning down, she grabbed the cushions and tossed them aside without a care in the world, then rested the man on the sofa and turned him over so his back was facing the ceiling. With practised ease - and minor reinforcement to her limbs - she grabbed the back of the shirt and ripped it open. The massive slice through the fabric made her job all the easier in removing it and exposing the wound.
She scanned the wound with a clinical eye, reaching out and pressing her fingers down on the outskirts of the wound. There were already some early signs of healing, likely from the Devils which lent some credence to their story. The injury itself didn't go too deep that she needed to pull out some of her more powerful creations but she wasn't going to take risks. This sort of damage was done by light spears and she most certainly wanted to know how Fallen Angels fit into it.
Leona leaned down towards Romani, brushing some of the hair out his eyes and looking into them "I'm going to be right back, Roman." she assured him in a gentle tone "Then we'll get you all patched up, alright?"
Romani nodded his head silently, not trusting himself to speak at the moment. He was more confused as to the series of bombshells that had been dropped on him within the past hour. It was a rather confusing time for him right now.
Leona gave him a faint smile before she stood back up, moving away from the sofa and towards the curtains and pulling them shut. After that was finished, she darted across the room and moved further along the house and into the hallways, darting past the staircase and towards the door at the far end that she had marked for her own little workshop.
She was fortunate Romani had dismissed it as a 'Leo-cave' and simply ignored it beyond that. It had been rather amusing that she didn't even need to debate putting up a field to turn the man's attention from the workshop.
Barging into the room, she swiftly moved across the length of it and started to open the cupboards and drawers, trying to find something that would help with her current situation. Pushing aside one of the jars, she froze when she caught sight of it and then smiled before grabbing the jar of clear goo and pulling it towards her. Giving it a once over, she turned around and made her way towards the door once again, moving through the room and back into the living room.
"Alright Roman." Leona spoke in a calming tone as she dropped to the man's side, unscrewing the lid of the jar and placing it on the floor. Moving her hand towards it, she took a large scooping of the cream into her fingers and then moved towards the wound "Everything is going to be just fine. Courtesy of patented Leo industries."
Romani managing a weak smile was all the reward she needed before she rubbed the cream into the cut.
"Gagh!" Romani let out a shout, Leona paused and sent him a panicked look.
"Roman!? Are you alright? Does it hurt?" Her voice was frantic as she recoiled her arm away from him on reflex, eyes wide and expression warped with fear.
Romani just clamped his eyes shut "It's cold!" he hissed out in discomfort "Why is it cold?"
Leona felt her worry flee from her just as swiftly as it had arrived, the woman gave him a flat expression before she exhaled and shook her head "I'll try to keep that in mind for next time." she muttered under her breath, silently hoping there wouldn't be a next time. Not if she had anything to say about it at any rate.
"It's just a little something to stimulate your body's natural healing rate." Leona informed him as she continued to rub down the wound with cream "It'll take a little out of you, so you'll need some rest as well." she paused, looking down at him and giving a half smile "I'll get you a blanket. You can stay home tomorrow for some added rest, alright?"
"Hmmm." Romani hummed in response, nodding his head once. His eyes continued to stare back at her with uncertainty "Leo…what…?"
"I'll explain everything when you wake up, alright?" Leona promised him, placing the jar down and grabbing his left hand with her free one and bringing it up to her lips. Planting a chaste kiss on his knuckles before caressing them gently "I promise."
"...Okay." Romani whispered back, his eyes slowly starting to flutter shut before he murmured "I'm…tired."
"You just rest, Roman." She whispered to him, sighing to herself and continuing to rub her thumb over his hand "Just rest. It's alright."
She wasn't sure who she was trying to reassure with those words, either herself or Romani. Frankly, she wasn't sure if it was convincing to either one of them, she watched as her husband's eyelids gently fell. The man passing away into the realm of dreams and soon gentle breaths came from a slight gap between his lips.
Turning herself around, Leona rested her back against the sofa, drawing Romani's arm close to her chest and closing her own eyes. Content to simply sleep through the night as long as she was by his side.
Watching him sprint out into the dark had been concerning enough, watching as the little present she gave him alerted her to physical harm being done to him and then having to track him down into the middle of Devil territory had been the final nail in the coffin. She suspected that the pair of them had their fair share of stress during the night.
She tightened her hold on the hand in her grasp.
It probably wasn't going to get much better either.
Romani groaned as feeling returned to his body, his eyelids gradually started to lift themselves open. The first thought to pass through his head as his surroundings cleared up was whether he had done something wrong last night. Considering he found himself staring at the carpet of their living room and part of his sofa.
Then he felt a numb sensation on his back, much like when he had a dead leg and he couldn't quite feel anything from it.
The memories of the night came rushing back into him, striking his brain like a sledgehammer to an orange. His eyes flew wide, his breath caught in his throat in a panicked gasp. The park, Issei, the strange man with the light weapon and what happened at the school afterwards. His rate of breathing quickened, soon finding himself panting but unable to draw any air into his body.
"H-hmmm?" A light groan to his left had his entire neck swivel around to the noise, his eyes locked onto a head of dark brown hair resting on the back of his legs. Sky blue eyes slowly revealed themselves to the world as their owner shifted in their sleep, then flew wide when they locked onto Romani's own emerald green orbs.
He wasn't sure what sort of expression he had been making but he was sure it wasn't a very good one, if the rate at which Leona's face suddenly shifted into concern and she dragged herself across the length of the sofa in a heartbeat towards him, gently caressing his face and pulling his head into her shoulder, her hands stroking the back of his head.
"Roman." Leona spoke in a gentle voice with a hint of firmness "Slow your breathing Roman, in through your nose-" she inhaled "-and out through your mouth." she exhaled "Come on.'' She ran through the exercise repeatedly, getting Romani to try and slow down his breathing as she continued to kneed the back of his head.
"Come on…there we go." Leona whispered calmingly as she slowly released him, drawing herself back and staring down at him with a tired smile "Are you-" she cut herself off, no doubt realising that asking 'are you alright?' was probably a stupid thing to do. Instead, she stared down at him "...How are you feeling now?"
Romani stared back at her, his breathing having slowed into slow bursts before he trusted himself to speak, his voice came out hoarse and a little more strained than he had hoped. "...Confused." he replied "...A little scared."
Leona nodded her head with a sympathetic expression "It's alright. You're safe now."
"...Really?" Romani's voice came out as a quiet - desperate - whisper as he stared up at Leona with pleading eyes. The woman looked back into them with resolution and gave him a single nod.
"They are."
"...Okay." He sniffled, then looked around "What happened last night?"
Leona did her best not to flinch, her shoulders slumped "That…would depend on what you think happened?" she asked with a slow voice "You ran out of the house."
Romani nodded his head slowly as he squinted his eyes "...Issei was in trouble." he muttered "I went to help him."
Leona tilted her head slightly, she already had a few questions but figured they could wait for the moment. Right now she just wanted to see how much Romani knew.
"There was a guy…" Romani bit his lower lip "He…um…threw this…thing at me." he slumped his head onto the side of the sofa and exhaled "I sound crazy."
"Keep going." Leona ushered him to continue "I'll believe you."
"Alright." Romani nodded his head once "I…" he looked away from her "...I got in the way of it." Leona's eyes flickered to the injury on his back briefly, hardening as they did so, before they returned to him "Then…um…students from school arrived and we went back." he let out a hollow wheeze "They said they were devils and even had wings too." he looked to Leona, expecting her to laugh.
She didn't laugh.
She wasn't even smiling.
Romani felt what little hope he had left in him that it was nothing more than a fever dream vanishing into nothing. "L-Leo?"
Leona kept his gaze for a moment longer before she sighed and looked away and let out a gentle "Merda." under her breath before she looked back to him. "Alright." closing her eyes, she turned her head up to face the ceiling for what felt like hours before she lowered it again "Alright…"
"Leo? What's wrong-?"
"Just…hang on a moment." Leona cut him off gently, pressing her hands into the ground until her knuckles went white "...Okay." she looked back up towards him "Okay. Yes." she replied after a moment "They…"
The woman seemed to struggle to find the correct words for a few moments before she eventually exhaled, strength seemingly leaving her body before she allowed a confident smile to come upon her face, then turn towards him "Okay then."
Romani stared back at her in bemusement.
"...They are devils." Leona simply replied "And…" she grimaced "You…probably were attacked by a Fallen Angel by mistake."
"...Huh?"
"How much did they tell you?" She pressed "Did they tell you anything?"
"S-something about three factions." Romani blurted out before he could help it, Leona let out a breath at that, nodding her head.
"Alright, they got that far then." She whispered out then looked back at him "Roman…you know all those myths and legends? Right?" Romani nodded his head "And all those different religions?" another nod "They're real."
Romani blinked once "...Oh."
Leona winced at the reaction, although Romani gave no indication that he was going to freak out, he was just staring at her "They…they don't interact with people as much as they used to but sometimes they do…mingle." she decided on the right word "And Kuoh is a town that is…" she rolled her jaw "...Run by Devils."
"...I see." Romani answered back, Leona winced at how empty his voice was. As if he was just running through the motions of an answer without actually taking any of it in.
"You know how I said I work in graphic design?"
"Hmmm."
"...I'm actually a freelance magus-slash-inventor." She blurted out, watching as his brows creased together "I get hired to make things for people. Who then use them. These gizmo's I make are also magical in nature."
"...Alright." Romani nodded again, then pointedly dragged his vision over to his right arm and looked at the watch on his wrist "...I see." he nodded again, then looked back at her. "...So, you knew?"
Leona closed her eyes and nodded once "I did."
"...How long?"
"...Since…" She took in a breath and opened her eyes once again "Since before we met."
Romani closed his eyes, falling onto the sofa "...Can I…" he shuffled on the sofa "Can I take a nap?" he asked "I'm feeling a little…"
"Of course." Leona assured him, running her hand through his hair "Take as long as you need. We'll…" she bit her lip "We'll speak later, when you're more awake, alright?"
"...Okay." Romani muttered back to her quietly.
"I'm just going to go out for a couple hours." She informed him again, standing up. Then pausing when his left hand slowly moved out and grabbed the end of her coat. Leona stared at the limb for a moment, then crouched back down and slowly took it into her own hands "I will be back."
"...Promise."
Leona gave him the best smile she could manage. "When a universal genius makes a promise, she keeps it." she kissed his knuckles "I'll be back and we'll speak some more."
Romani's lip twitched upwards, although his eyes didn't open. "Okay." He whispered back in a quiet voice before she shuffled again, Leona slowly moved the arm to rest on the sofa next to the side of his head, reaching out and giving his hair another stroke.
"Have a good sleep, Roman. I'll be back soon." She promised, rising up fully once again and steeling her expression. Moving around the sofa, she made her way towards the entrance to the house and unlocked the door, pushing it open and stepping outside. She exhaled once, then shut the door behind her.
She had some devils to deal with.
She was familiar enough with the route back towards the school she had visited late last night. It wasn't something she was going to forget in a hurry either, it was the sort of location that - despite being in a rush to get to the first time around - had firmly imprinted itself into her mind.
Leona was also absolutely confident she could say she had been watched since last night as well. The devils would be careless not to keep their house under surveillance after Leona had all but outed herself as a person of interest within their territory without being registered to them. It was unfortunate but it was a calculated risk.
She calculated the loss of losing Romani and decided it was worth the risk.
That was all there was to it.
"Leo?" She paused at the familiar voice, looking over her shoulder she was unsurprised to see Lev approaching her with a curious expression on his face. The man quickly gave his usual smile "Good morning to you, I suppose you are out doing errands today?"
"Something like that." Leona explained before she gave him a half smile of her own "Good morning, by the way Lev."
He nodded his head once in acknowledgement before he looked around "Where is Roman?" he asked with a trace of worry "He usually walks this way with me around this time."
"He's feeling a little under the weather right now." Leona explained, it wasn't a lie per-say "So I'm just coming into the school to let them know that he might not be in for a while."
Lev frowned slightly, his expression troubled "I see." he gave a low hum "I can pass along the message for you-"
"It's alright." Leona cut him off with a shake of the head and a wave of the hand "I can take care of it. Besides, I wouldn't want to cause you any sorts of trouble." she paused for a moment. "That and he might have been a little worried about a few of the students." she added on.
The man snorted at that, giving a fond smile "Yes, I suppose that sounds like Roman." he chuckled "Would you be willing to do me the honour of allowing me to accompany you?" he asked as he gestured forwards "I'd also like to hear how Roman is getting on."
"...Of course." Leona replied after a moment, allowing the man to fall into step next to her "It was a rather sudden illness." She explained, "Struck him last night, looks like he was doing another late night walk and caught something in the cold air."
Lev frowned at the explanation "I see. Roman and those late night strolls of his." he sighed, shaking his head and looking onwards "He should probably be more careful around that sort of thing, it can get awfully cold here and a proper flu is no laughing matter."
"Hmm." Leona hummed in response, "Well, I'm hoping to put an end to that sort of thing before it gets serious." she sighed, looking down at the ground "This might have been a wakeup call for the both of us."
"How so?" Lev asked with a raised eyebrow "You cannot say you are responsible, surely?"
Leona sighed "I might be." she replied, folding her arms across her chest and staring upwards "He's been having some bad nights the last couple days and…I trusted him when he said he was getting better. Looks like he was going on some late night walks instead to try and calm himself down…I should have done more to…comfort him, I suppose."
"You had no way of knowing the situation would get quite so dire." Lev assured her with a confident look on his face "And I suspect it could have been much worse. Roman is…a remarkably strong man underneath all of it." the man gave an amused chuckle "Besides, after this I doubt he will step foot outside the house if there is so much as a chilly breeze when this passes."
Leona gave a small huff of amusement "He isn't that scared."
Lev raised his hands in surrender "You would know more. Still, I hope you will pass along my best wishes in the hopes that he gets better." he added on, giving a dramatic sigh and an exaggerated shake of the head "I fear that my breaks will be rather more dreary without someone to speak with."
The woman turned on him with an amusingly accusing look "Hey. He's my husband. I found him first. Get your own."
"Hah!" Lev released a bark of laughter, soon joined by Leona's own light giggles as the pair walked.
As their laughter died down, Lev gave her a more comforting smile "Are you feeling better?"
Leona blinked at him "Pardon?"
"You were looking rather tense when I saw you." Lev explained, then gestured to her "Less so, now."
She paused, realising what he had done before she dropped her arms to her side and gave a faint smile "A little better, yes. Thank you, Lev."
"Think nothing of it." Lev informed her with a raised hand "Roman would be beside himself with more worry if he saw what his current state was doing to you. Think of it as me helping out a sick friend in my own way."
"I'm sure he'd appreciate it." Leona informed him with a wave of the hand as the pair stepped through the school gates, the courtyard already filling with students. Most of which paused and sent looks of surprise in Leona's direction. She caught a few of the male students stare at her and then whisper amongst themselves.
"Children are rather curious, no matter how old they might get." Lev amusedly commented at her side "They've never seen you before so they're interested."
"I'm sure Roman will be grateful for the gossip."
"Provided they even know who you-"
"Mrs Archaman!" A voice cut through the crowd, both Leona and Lev turned towards the voice and watched as a brown haired student sprinted towards them with a frantic expression.
"Mrs Archaman!" The boy called out again, sliding to a halt in front of the pair and ignoring the sudden increase in student chatter as they tried to determine the implications of the name.
Leona stared at the boy with a tense expression, recognising him as one of the devils she had encountered last night. The boy panted slightly, resting his hands on his knees and hunching over before he pushed himself up to make eye contact with her "How…" he gulped "How is Roman-sensei?"
Before she could even think to respond, something about the name caught her attention "Roman-sensei?" she parroted back with a raised eyebrow.
"Ah." The boy froze for a moment before he nodded his head. "Yes, he um…told me I could call him that." his expression turned nervous as he looked away from her "I'm…um…we met last night." he cringed as he caught her giving him a cold look from the corner of her eye "I'm Hyoudou Issei."
"Oh. Yes." Leona nodded her head once at him "He's mentioned you before." she recalled the name, one he had mentioned a number of times. "He was beside himself with worry about you last night." she informed him "He even went out at night because of it and came back with a cold. He's rather ill right now."
Issei wasn't so stupid that he didn't catch the hidden message, his eyes briefly darted towards Lev and then back to her before his expression scrunched up "O-oh…I'm…" he bowed deeply towards her "I'm very sorry for the trouble I've caused!"
Leona blinked at him once, then glanced around at the students staring at them with varying states of puzzlement before she looked back down at the boy. Her icy expression melted away the longer she stared at him, he was genuinely sorry about what he believed he was responsible for. "Alright, come on. You can straighten yourself out now."
Issei slowly raised himself again.
"Roman clearly worries about you a lot." She carried on "So you can't be that bad." she jested with a half smile "Besides, it was probably as much my fault as well that I didn't stop him."
"Is…" Issei pursed his lips "Is Roman-sensei alright?"
"He's fine." Leona assured Issei, watching as the boy visibly slumped in relief with a smile spreading across his lips "He's staying at home for today so I'm just in to pass along the message."
"That's…that's good." Issei looked as though he had deaged himself when she spoke, reaching up and rubbing his forehead with the back of his arm. "When do you think he'll be back?"
"...Hopefully soon, but I can't say."
"Alright." Issei nodded his head once, then dropped his arm back to his side. "Can you tell him I hope he gets better."
"...You really are worried about him, aren't you?" Leona muttered quietly under her breath before she nodded to the boy once, "I'll pass along the message to him. He'll be glad to hear you are still doing well, I should think."
"Right, rig-"
"Hyoudou." Lev spoke from behind her in a stern tone "If you're done with this pantomime, get yourself ready and go to class." Issei flinched slightly at the tone before he nodded his head, Lev then turned to the others in the courtyard "That goes for the rest of you! This is not a drama performance and you are not an audience!"
The students quickly scurried away, leaving the pair alone.
"Goodness me." Lev grumbled, shaking his head "Like you said. They love gossip."
"Hmmm." Leona hummed to herself "Well, as long as it stays harmless, it can't be helped."
As the pair turned to start walking again, they paused as a girl with shortcut dark hair and classes approached them, flanked by a slightly taller girl with long hair but also wearing glasses.
"Good morning." The front girl greeted with a nod of the head "I am student council president Sona Shitori." her tone was cordial enough and her expression betrayed nothing "Can I help you today?"
Leona gave her a smile to indicate she would play along with the show of ignorance "Yes, I'm Leona Archaman." she replied to Sona "I'm here today on behalf of my husband, he's rather sick."
"Ah, I see." Sona nodded her head in response "Follow me to the student council room, we shall just go over a few questions and then you can be on your way."
"I should hope so." Leona replied, still smiling back at her "I would prefer to be with Roman as quickly as possible."
"I'm sure we can accommodate your desires swiftly." Sona replied without breaking face, then turned towards Lev "We can take the situation from here, Lainur-sensei."
"...As you say." Lev grunted at her with a hint of dissatisfaction before he turned to Leona "Have a pleasant day, Leo."
Leona nodded back to him once "You as well." their parting words delivered, Lev started to stroll towards the school building while Sona, the girl behind her and Leona all remained in the courtyard for a few moments.
"Well." Leona looked between the two of them "Where to?"
"The student council room will suffice." Sona stated, raising her left hand and adjusting her glasses "Lady Gremory is already awaiting us there. I'm sure you can understand that this might not be an…" she paused for a moment, trying to find the right words "...expedient process."
"I don't see why it can't be." Leona replied simply, crossing her arms behind her back before she nodded on ahead "But that can be discussed when we arrive, can't it?"
"Yes." Sona agreed easily, turning herself around while the other girl kept her eyes on her "I suppose it can. Come along then, Mrs Archaman."
"Hmph." Giving a quiet grunt, Leona followed behind Sona, watching from the corner of her eye as the long haired girl waited for a moment then started to move, ensuring that she was behind her and most certainly watching her every movement.
Leona could already feel this being more stressful than it needed to be.
AN: Well...Things just got a lot more dicey, no?
And since it is going to be a question, I will answer.
"If a fight had broken out between Leona and Rias peerage, who would have won?"
As they are now? Leona would have handily beaten Rias Peerage. It's not always going to be like that, obviously, but Leona is just at a different level to them.