She who found bonds of friendship
VII
"Wait so…burgers?" Issei's voice was still coloured with obvious confusion, as the euphoria of actually getting an nonviolent vision started to subside - coincidentally, the pain in his eyes actually started to magnify, now feeling as though he'd been staring at the sun without blinking - Romani could understand how Issei might have some level of bafflement to the words he had been shouting about.
The boy stepped away from the door, facing Romani completely and tilting his head to one side all while the look of puzzlement remained firmly painted upon his face. "You mean I'm going to get burgers with Asia-san?"
Romani nodded his head "You are-damn!" he hissed to himself, reaching up and pressing his forearm against his eyes to stem his tears, he released a sharp gust of breath as he controlled his breathing "This stings." he whined pitifully, using his left hand to find support on the desk and leaned into it. "Why does it have to hurt so much?"
"Are you alright, Roman-sensei?" Issei asked as he stepped forwards before he paused and made a face "That's probably a really stupid thing to ask, isn't it? Umm…do you need me to get you anything?" he instead went with after muttering to himself "Some tissues or something?"
"No, no…but thanks." He pulled his right arm away from his face and used it to wave Issei off, making sure to thank him for his concern though. That was quite touching to the nurse. "I'm fine…" he opened his eyes, blinking several times to expel the moisture from beneath his orbs and clear his vision.
"I'm fine…sort of." Romani corrected, shaking his head and turning to Issei "It's passing, it just really stung just now…but I saw…" he nodded once "Yeah, I saw me and you having burgers with Asia-san."
"Wait, me and you?" Issei pointed between the two of them, blinking "So we were both there having burgers with her?"
"Yes."
"Oh. Why?"
That brought the nurse up short, thoroughly unaware of what he was actually being asked "Do you mean why am I there or why are we-"
"Sorry." Issei hastily apologised, realising how it might have sounded otherwise "I mean does your…" he trailed off, cycling his hand as he searched for the right words "Vision, tell you why we were at a burger joint?"
"To…get burgers?"
"Oh! So it's just something simple like that." Issei exhaled in relief, looking as though the nurse had taken a huge weight off his shoulders, then his expression scrunched up in worry again "Is there something wrong with the burgers?"
Romani was now squinting at Issei dubiously "What do you mean 'is there something wrong with the burgers?' why are you asking me that?" he frowned "What's wrong?"
"It's just that all of your visions so far have been related to me and they…um…" Issei looked a little hesitant, reaching up with his left hand and scratching his cheek while he averted his eyes from the nurse. "They sort of all end really badly for me so with that sort of track record…" he offered the nurse a shrug and a nervous smile "I think I'm allowed to be a little worried, right?"
Romani opened his mouth to retort before he paused, a single blink followed and then the nurse snapped his jaw shut and stared at Issei with wide eyes "Oh…that's actually a good point." Now the man looked troubled, his expression scrunched up in thought as his mind drifted back to the image he had seen moments prior.
"Well, I didn't see anything wrong, per say." Romani made sure to emphasise the word, although Issei didn't know if the man was making a pun or not. Either way, he neglected to mention it in the event that the nurse wasn't. "But I get the feeling that Asia-san didn't get out all that much, like she was really sheltered."
Issei frowned, his hands going to his hips "You mean like sheltered or sheltered sheltered.
"The second one."
"Oh, wow." Issei gaped, then his expression turned more concerned, his lips curled down into a saddened frown "Seriously? I mean…she gives off the vibe of not being aware of all that much stuff but I didn't think it would be that bad." he mumbled before shaking his head, fixing the nurse with a determined look "But she looked okay? There wasn't anything off about her?"
"Other than not having a burger before, no." Romani shook his head, reaching up to his eyes one final time and wiping them down. The pain had started to subside at this point, now just being more uncomfortable than actually as painful as it had been earlier. That being said, it was not something Romani was going to rush into anytime soon if he could help it.
As good as he felt about not seeing something horrible, he didn't know if the pain was actually worth it or not.
"Do you know when we're going to meet her?" Issei asked, an eyebrow raised "Like, is it going to be today, tomorrow…next week?"
"You weren't in your uniform." Romani shrugged his shoulders, pointing to the clothes in question "And I didn't really pay close attention to what I was wearing at the time so…I don't actually know." The high started to fade as well, now being left with a series of questions. "I don't know when we're supposed to meet her."
Issei blinked once "So…what do we do?"
Romani shrugged, "I have no idea." with a sigh, he looked behind himself to the chair at his desk, sliding it out and thumping himself down into the seat. His arms falling onto his lap "All I really saw was us having burgers and I don't know how this vision thing works. It might be today or it might be tomorrow or anything but I have no idea…"
"Should we…look for her?"
Romani made a strangled noise "I don't know enough about future visions to know whether or not trying to make a future happen will affect it or not." That was actually incredibly hypocritical of him to say, given that when he had seen Issei in danger he had charged out of the house like a madman towards danger.
All of which led to him getting attacked which played out exactly like his other vision of the night in the park.
All in all, it was a terribly confusing time and he didn't want to get into a lecture about existentialism and if the future was set in stone or not. That sounded like a recipe for disaster if ever he had heard one and would likely never be answered in any meaningful way.
"So what should we do then?" Issei frowned, throwing up his hands "We can't do nothing-"
"That is exactly what I'm going to do." Romani replied, twirling in his chair and ignoring the shocked noise from Issei "Because all of my visions so far have come true." whether he liked it or not, was the unspoken words in his defeated tone "The less you think about it, the better and if recent events are any indication…we'll probably run into her at some point and then end up at a burger joint. Besides, it's either us waiting or us blindly walking around town for goodness knows how many hours for goodness knows how many days all in the desperate hope that we might encounter Asia."
Issei was silent, the nurse looked at him from the corner of his eye and saw the troubled look still present upon the young man's face. Romani gave a gentle sigh "I saw her in the vision and she looked perfectly healthy." his lip quirked upwards "More than healthy at that, she seemed happy. So you don't need to worry about it."
The boy shook his head "But I don't get it…she's a nun and I'm a devil-"
"My wife is apparently a super genius mage and I'm a nervous guy who looks at sprained ankles for a living." Romani pointed out with a wry smile, turning in his chair and locking Issei with an amused gaze "If you're thinking about how people should act, you're gonna be thinking for a while. People will do what they want to do and if Asia-san wants to hang out with you, then she will." the nurse smiled, "And there is nothing wrong with that."
Issei slumped "I guess, just sitting here and waiting for something to happen is really…" he then trailed off, then fixed Romani with an odd look "Wait…you're saying I'm basically set up with a date with a really cute nun as a certainty some time in the near future?"
"I guess you could look at it that way." Romani spoke in a slow tone, his eyebrows slowly lifting themselves up his forehead "But I feel as though I should remind you that I am also present at the time…" he then started to blanch "I'm now considering the social implications of me being seen alone with two young children." he whispered to himself, his hands going to his face once again.
This time for an entirely different pain that was running through his body.
The pain of an oncoming headache.
"I'm actually going to have a date with a cute girl…" Issei was still whispering to himself in an almost giddy tone of voice "And she was a nice blonde girl as well, she was basically my type."
Romani lowered his hands, staring at the young boy with a small degree of worry. Considering how his last date had gone, Romani hadn't been expecting Issei to be quite so upbeat about this one either. Worry filled his person the longer he stared at Issei, lost in his own little world.
The way in which Issei had behaved after the event and the way he was behaving now…
His lips pulled into a thin line.
He could ask about it but Issei was almost certain to say that he was fine, and pushing further than that would obviously make the boy exceedingly uncomfortable. Romani closed his eyes and shook his head, turning his chair away from Issei. The young man was finally starting to get back into the swing of things and by all accounts, it was at least a more positive influence on his life than before.
Romani didn't want to start dredging up terrible memories for the teenager when he was clearly so excited about this. Also he just couldn't find it in himself to confront Issei over the potential issues.
His first date had ended in him being stabbed to death, he…Romani didn't think it was normal to be over that so soon and Issei probably wasn't.
He might be trying to be, but he most certainly wasn't over it yet.
That might be why he still considered it a date even if a member of staff from the school was present with him.
Rias deposited herself behind the desk, arching her hands on the table and fixing the woman opposite her with a professional expression. "You will have to accept my apologies, Akeno isn't currently here else I would have asked her to make tea for you."
Leona shook her head, looking around and finding a seat on one of the chairs and facing the younger girl. "Don't worry yourself about it, I realise I came fairly early in the day so I was actually expecting to have to wait here for a few hours until you had time to speak with me."
"It would not do for me to leave my guests waiting for so long a time." Rias countered with a touch of a smile "Though I trust you will understand if I ask to make this a swift meeting, it is a school day and maintaining my image is an important aspect of it." She watched Leona arch an eyebrow ever so slightly at her, though she didn't say anything the woman clearly inferred that there was more to it than that.
Rias wouldn't publicly admit that she did also enjoy the attention she got from being a high grade student, it was attention she got for her own merits. Something she did appreciate, if only a little more mundane than she would ordinarily have liked.
"You had something you wished to discuss?" Rias continued on, inclining her head ever so slightly "I trust it to be a matter of importance, given your sudden appearance here of all places."
"I figured I could do with stretching my legs and speak with you at the same time." Leona effortlessly replied without missing a beat, a moment or two passed before her expression evened out "Also I am obligated to inform you of any lasting changes that I make to my dwelling, am I not? At least as long as they relate to your territory in a more open environment."
"Ah, yes." Rias nodded once "That is one such requirement, is it not?"
"Something along those lines, yes." Leona nodded her head "Though it is admittedly rather mundane as well." she admitted almost as an afterthought, reaching into her coat pocket "Which is why I also brought in some of the…" she rustled through the pocket before pulling out a folded up piece of paper "Little designs I came up with when you told me about something related to high powered flames." she paused. "It's just names rather than anything else."
She stood up, moving towards the desk and placing the folded up piece of paper down and sliding it towards the red headed girl. Rias looked down at the paper, picking it up and flickering her eyes back to the brunette. "What else was there to speak of?"
"I made adjustments to the bounded field around my house." She replied "So I would advise you to avoid making uncalled for house calls." she made a face "Just to avoid giving me the wrong idea and being subsequently on the receiving end of a rather potent paralysis curse."
"I would imagine that would be a rather unfortunate situation." Rias remarked with a hint of amusement, leaning back into her seat and muttering something to herself under her breath. Leona could vaguely make out the name 'Akeno' and something about ensuring she didn't throw people at her house.
"I assume this relates to the news you passed along to me last time we spoke?" Rias surmised, getting a nod of the head in response "Understandable. Rest assured we are examining the situation closely, Sona and her peerage have also been examined and are on the lookout for other instances."
Leona raised an eyebrow at her "Other instances?"
"There was an incident last night, it would seem that the disgraced exorcist wasted little time in getting to work." Rias grimaced ever so slightly, the loss of a client was something that affected more. More so that it was the loss of a client within her territory, barely a day after she had been informed that the man existed. Her fingers drumming on the table was the one evidence she gave of being affected by it.
"Hmmm." Leona hummed in response but didn't say anything, merely regarding the devil with a neutral gaze. She briefly debated informing Rias about Wodime's visit but she still didn't know enough about why he visited her in the first place to start ratting him out to devils. Plus she actually hadn't met him so she could neither confirm nor deny his brief visit within Kuoh.
"Rest assured, we will be dealing with this." Rias asserted in a stern voice, her expression flickering with something more resolute and her eyes hardening "It was one thing to allow his existence here, but for him to blatantly begin killing in my territory with impunity is not something I will even entertain the notion of."
"Well, if you're decided on it then that's good news." Leona's lip twitched upwards once before it thinned out "My personal advice would be to do so sooner rather than later." another pause "I do also make the occasional device that may or may not be utilised as a weapon."
Rias smirked, "May or may not?"
"Well, anything can be a weapon if you use it correctly." Leona innocently responded, teetering her head from side to side "Besides, it sounds more appealing than calling myself an arms dealer. Which I am not, think of them more like…stun grenades."
"Stun grenades?" Rias hummed quietly, her fingers stopped drumming on the table and she unfolded the piece of paper "Is that so-an electrified net gun?" she couldn't help but blurt out the first thing at the top of this list, looking towards the woman in surprise. "That seems effective."
"That is the general idea of it, yes." Leona gave a simple smile and a nod of the head "That is all I truly came for. Unless you would like more specialised equipment?"
That gave Rias pause.
Leona could see the way in which her eyes suddenly focused and gleamed with interest, she could tell she had the devil hook, line and sinker in that moment.
"What sort of…specialised equipment?" Rias spoke in a slow tone of voice, keeping her obvious interest from flooding her words too much.
"The sort of equipment based on personal strengths, be they inherent abilities or Sacred Gears." Leona explained, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest "As you can imagine, I can do my best work when I know what I am working with." she smiled "It means I will need to speak and I need to get an idea of how exactly they fight. I know how much you devils love your rating games."
"They are a remarkably important part of our culture and social standing, yes."
"And I would be more than willing to ensure that you succeed in them." Leona added on without missing a beat "As you can naturally understand. So then, I would need to speak with them and get a feel rather than just being told."
Rias looked back down at the list, nodding her head several times before returning her focus to Leona and placing the paper on the table. "That suggestion does hold a certain amount of merit and it would be prudent to be better outfitted, I suppose." she gave an noncommittal hum although it was already obvious to Leona what her answer was going to be.
"There we go then." Leona nodded her head once "I'll be available to call if you need anything else." she pointed down at the paper "In the meantime, be sure to let me know if anything on that list strikes your fancy." she grinned "Always happy to make something."
"A knife that toasts bread while it cuts it?" Rias blinked several times at that.
"I got that one from a movie." Leona shamelessly admitted as she made for the door "You can learn a lot from watching things, you know?"
"Um, wait a moment!"
Leona paused, then slowly turned around and raised an eyebrow at the devil girl.
"I have heard that mages can construct golem familiars, yes?"
"Some can, if they have a speciality for it." Leona admitted with a sage nod "I can do it, provided I am given sufficient materials to work with though."
Rias wet her lips, looking left and right almost conspiratorially before she leaned forwards "Umm…What about items that already have a humanoid shape? Can you give them the functions of a golem?"
The magus raised a curious eyebrow, an intrigued smile spreading across her face "That would depend upon what you asked of me to convert into a golem."
"And you offer complete confidentiality to your customers if they request it?"
"Absolutely." Leona nodded her head "The hallmark of a good businesswoman is to never sell out her clients." the smile became slightly wider "So, what is it that you would like for me to convert, I would assume into a small golem?"
Rias nodded her head several times "If I were to ask for additional features…could you provide them as well?"
"Within reason, of course. This is still something that you would pay for."
"Absolutely!" Rias replied slightly too quickly, soon closing her mouth again and assuming the air of a more dignified individual "I mean, naturally. I would assume nothing less."
"So then." Leona turned to face the devil fully, her hands going into her pockets and maintaining her rather amused expression "What are you wanting for me to build?"
Rias wet her lips "I shall bring you the object in question and then discuss it with you at a later date. In private." she hastily added on "Just so that there are no distractions."
"Naturally."
The red-heads' eyes flicked towards the clock on the wall before she thinned her lips "It would appear we are both out of time right now." Leona looked at the clock quickly, then nodded once. "Rest assured, we shall speak again at a later date and I will look into getting you those meetings with my peerage members for possible equipment."
"Very well then, I will leave you for the rest of your day." She chuckled, turning back around and opening the door up "Don't worry, you can approach me at any time for your second - more private - order to be fulfilled."
"...Your discretion is appreciated."
The average day brought about one or two surprises, Sona had come to expect. Even if you organised an extremely efficient schedule and worked along it accordingly, there would inevitably come a point in time during the day where something you had not been expecting was to happen.
That was just the way of life, Sona would never declare that she had complete control over her existence - because that was just not true - nor did she have the power to compel the world to bend to her own desires. Unfortunate as that might be sometimes, such as getting papers on time, students adhering to the actual rules and regulations of the school and, more recently, psychopathic exorcists not barging into their town and killing people.
Those were the sort of surprises she could do without, she imagined that everyone could similarly do without those kinds.
All that aside, it brought her to the present where the Student Council did most of its work during the day. Or rather, just after their lunch.
One thing that Sona would admit she had not been expecting was for a certain individual to come knocking at their door.
Especially since she usually had to go and collect him herself, or remind him to visit.
That this was of his own accord was an odd surprise.
Not unpleasant, simply odd. Though that would be subject to change depending on the nature of his visit.
"Hey…Sitri-san." Romani awkwardly waved as he poked his head and shoulders through the half opened door, his expression was as nervous as ever so it was entirely possible he was slowly getting back to normal. Which was good enough, a stressed staff member made for a poor image.
""Kaichou."" The entire room replied almost on reflex, from Tsubaki busy writing down something on a piece of paper, to Saji in the midst of eating, although that one had the effect of his words being muffled and some of his fool spilling from his mouth.
Sona levelled a flat look at him which the boy flinched upon receiving, his expression turned apologetic and worked to correct his mistake. Namely swallowing his food first before he spoke again.
Tsubasa snorted once, turning to greet Romani with a half amused expression "If being told in stereo won't get you to change, I don't know what will."
"I can't help it." Romani complained, in his usual whiny tone when he got caught out "I just see you as students and just greet you like everyone else." he mumbled under his breath, shrugging his shoulders lightly "Besides…isn't it better to treat all students the same rather than show preference?"
"Such as you allowing Hyoudou Issei to bunk off lessons in the nurse's office?" Sona fired back almost instantly, though her voice held no heat in it at all. It was as casual as her saying that the sun was in the sky during the day, or that it got dark at night.
Romani made a strangled noise, raising a single finger "That was one time!" he countered "And I told him not to do it again! That's good, isn't it? Right?" he looked around the room for support, nodding his head seeking affirmation.
Ruruko looked around, then turned to Romani and offered him a light smile "I'm sure it's good that you're learning, Romani-sensei."
"Mmmmh." Romani hummed instead, then looked to Sona and raised an eyebrow "How did you even find out about that anyway?"
Sona gave him a look "He is a Devil, Archaman-sensei. Unless he is having someone bless his food before eating it, he is unlikely to suffer from 'stomach pains' as your note claimed he did. Our immune system is infinitely superior to a humans, even for a reincarnated Devil, it would be perfect for avoiding illness."
"...Wait, seriously?" The nurse did a double take, then looked around the room once more and made another noise "Huh…I always wondered why none of you ever actually showed up at the nurses office for anything. I would have thought at least one of you would have gotten sick or something." reaching up, he scratched the side of his cheek "Heh, guess that might save me some paperwork, right?"
Sona's face was a perfect mask, displaying no real emotion as she moved her right hand from her desk and adjusted her glasses. "Indeed." She maintained her silent gaze on him before angling her head slightly "Are you going to remain in the doorway or do you intend to enter the room?"
"Hm?" Romani blinked, then made a face of understanding, turning around and stepping into the room while closing the door behind him. "Sorry, still not used to being in here all that often." he chuckled, turning back around to face the room "At least not when you haven't come and collected me."
"Well, your coming here by yourself tells me that you have something important to discuss." Sona remarked casually, leaning forwards and interlocking her fingers. "Would you care to speak in private or do you not mind if we discuss it in the open?"
The nurse coughed, "You make it sound a little suspicious."
"You are here to discuss Devil matters, are you not?"
"Well, yes I-wait, how do you know that!?"
"Most likely because you have never once come here of your own volition to discuss matters pertaining to the school or your office." Tsubaki dryly remarked, looking up from her paperwork and giving Romani an equally blank look to match the student council presidents. Fitting, then, that she was the vice-president.
"Oh…right, yes." Romani winced, a nervous laughter bubbling from between his lips as he reached up and scratched the back of his neck "So I…um…I heard that there was an incident last night…" he looked around the room and then to Sona "So what do you guys do in that sort of event?"
That got odd looks from nearly everyone, save Sona. The girl in question sighed lightly and closed her eyes.
"Did…did you guys not know?" Romani paled "Because I would have thought you'd all know as well…"
"I would say the bigger question is 'how do you know?' but I can already guess the answer to that." Sona spoke in a slow and controlled tone, not leaving much in the way of emotion in her voice "Considering it was Hyoudou Issei who first encountered the scene, it is little surprise he would share those details with you."
"Ummm…did something happen?" Saji raised his hand, looking towards the president with a tilt of the head "Because I feel like I'm missing some details here, Kaichou."
"I had planned on informing you regardless, but this will be as suitable a time as any, I suppose." The girl sighed, adjusting her position and straightening out her posture "Last night there was an incident with one of the Gremory contracts, as I informed you yesterday there had been confirmation that a prominent exiled exorcist entered Kuoh and is in league with the Grigori members who have been currently sighted as well."
Some of those went over Romani's head so he just tried to fade into the background as best he could, judging by the sudden change in tension in the room, he imagined that it certainly wasn't anything good.
"Last night, during a routine contract visit, Hyoudou Issei encountered the exorcist after he had killed the Contractor. Hyoudou proceeded to fight the exorcist whereupon he was saved by his peerage. However, the fact remains that the former priest - Freed Sellzen - had proven himself to be a clear and present danger and should never be engaged alone. If you should encounter him, signal for immediate aid."
Nods went around the room, Romani felt a little queasy about how easily the group of children in the room were discussing the murder of someone literally yesterday. Worse than that, they were actively talking about getting into a fight with the man who was an actual murderer.
His brows furrowed slightly, his lip pulled downwards as he looked at each and every one of them. The resolute expressions on their faces, the coldness in their eyes.
"I digress, an important fact to remember is that no matter how much they look like humans you must remember that they aren't. Their way of life, their culture and their values…they are completely different from humanity."
Shaking his head, he dismissed the words from his mind. With a sigh, he reached up and rubbed his face, desperately trying to wipe the image of children fighting a murderer from his mind but he couldn't quite get rid of it. No matter how hard he tried, he lowered his hand and opened his mouth "S-so." he hated the way his voice sounded squeaky. "What are you…um, do you call someone?" he looked around the room, bringing the attention back upon him.
The way their heads turned and regarded him with uniformity stuck in the back of his mind, almost like a gang or something. Suddenly the comparison he had repeatedly made about Sona being a Yakuza member didn't sound so funny in his head anymore.
"Call someone?" Sona raises an eyebrow "I believe you have misunderstood our role, Archaman-sensei. We are the people that you 'call' so to speak." her voice was as calm and measured as it always was. "As this is our territory, we shall deal with it accordingly."
"Hang on a second…" Romani raised his hand, waving them down slightly "What you're talking about is…but you're all just…" he waved towards them his face cycling between shock and apprehension "Isn't there some supernatural police or something? Or better yet, just the police?"
"The local law enforcement are ill-equipped to handle this situation, beyond that it is not a matter that directly concerns them-"
"Someone is dead." Romani blurted out with wide eyes, struggling to understand what they were talking about "As in murdered in their home by this guy, that is exactly the sort of thing that should be left to the police!"
"Archman-sensei-"
"You're all teenagers! You should be worrying about school work or gossiping and instead you're discussing this like it's-it's everyday business!" He looked positively shocked, sounding very much the same as his features would portray.
"Archman-sensei." Sona cut him off before he could say anything else in a firm tone of voice "I believe it would be best for all involved if you were to cease this line of inquiry, your concern is noted and appreciated, but it is not something you should be directly involved with."
Romani did a double take at her "...You're talking about what amounts to vigilante justice…"
"It is devil's justice, it would still be filed under the orders of our own system. I have the authority to dispense justice in the territory I was assigned with, therefore it is hardly vigilante."
"Wha-" Romani dumbly responded, looking at each and every one of them "So you're just going to get the student council together and go out arresting serial killers?"
"Not us, specifically." Sona corrected him "It was the contractor of the Gremory family, therefore it falls to Rias to deal with. Though that will change if he kills one of our contacts."
Judging by the horrified look the nurse shot her, that likely wasn't the answer he was expecting.
"Wait, wait, wait…" Romani raised his hand to them, his other hand covering his mouth "Wait a second here…so you know this guy is out there, he's already killed someone but you're not going to do anything because it…wasn't someone you knew?"
"That is a simplistic way of describing the situation." Sona curtly responded, her brows tightening somewhat "I am not as flippant with the situation as you would appear but I cannot lead out a brigade to chase down an exorcist as easily as that. The k-dispensing of justice would not be silent. The Grigori would be made aware and if I cannot provide a sufficient justification for why one of their operatives was dealt with by Devils, then we risk an incident that could very well lead to far more dire consequences than the loss of one life."
Romani stared at her in silence, lowering his hand "Do you…even hear what you're saying?"
"I do."
The nurse was silent, then frowned "You really…shouldn't be having to deal with this."
"On that, we agree." Sona nodded her head, not even attempting to argue the point "This is a situation that none of us should be having to deal with, and yet I must do all the same. If you have complaints about the expediency of dealing with the exorcist, then I would suggest taking them up with Rias. Else, simply allow us to do our jobs and you may return to living in blissful ignorance."
"B-blissful ignorance?"
Sona winced slightly, frowning "That was not phrased how I was intending it. I merely inferred that as you do not regularly think about how a policeman catches criminals, you should not be too concerned with our roles in this-"
"But you aren't a policeman! None of you are, you're just kids and it…"
"Do not think that my age somehow detracts from my competency, this is not the first dangerous situation that either myself or Rias have encountered before." Sona rose from her seat, placing her hands atop her desk "Make no mistake, Archaman-sensei. You would be far better off remaining ignorant to the comings and goings of the more mystic side of the world. It is less stressful for you and if the last few days have shown anything, it is that you are…troubled by these developments and easily scared."
She removed her hands from the desk, crossing them behind her back "I am telling you this as a student concerned for your health as well. Simply leave the matter be, let those with experience handle this as you have stated on previous occasions, we of the student council are more capable than you would give us credit for."
"That's not what I meant…" Romani mumbled, reaching up and cupping his face with his hands "I meant paperwork not…" he sighed, lowering his hands and looking at the group with his face scrunched up in discomfort "And you've all done this before?"
"We have." Sona nodded once, the others in the room followed suit. "Which is why I am not speaking from a place of arrogance, we are all confident enough in our abilities nor do we intend to act without thorough planning or half-hearted attempts." her expression hardened ever so slightly "Is there anything you came here to discuss?"
He opened his mouth to respond, then closed it. He could see that he wasn't going to get any further on this line of questioning and he frankly didn't want to try and force the issue any further either. That didn't mean he liked the answer he received, though.
But there was precious little to be done about that.
"...Not really, no." His shoulders slumped in defeat, his eyes darting to the side in order to avoid looking at anyone in the room. He felt a little ill being there, if he was being totally honest with himself.
"Have a pleasant rest of your day then, Archaman-sensei." Sona nodded to him once, the farewell being rather apparent given that their conversation was over. That said, she sat herself back down and turned her head from him and to her desk once more, already moving onto whatever else she had planned.
The nurse turned around, sliding the door open and stepping out into the hallway and closing the door behind him with a gentle click.
Tsubaki stared at the door for a few moments in silence, then turned towards Sona "Kaichou-"
"It is not worth discussing, Tsubaki." Sona cut her off, not impolitely but still firm enough to get her point across. "Archaman-sensei's response was what I would have expected from one not truly educated on the state of affairs within Kuoh." she then frowned, tapping her fingers on the desk "I doubt his mood would have improved had we told him the truth of the matter."
Especially considering that 'dealing out justice' was a fancy way of saying that they killed their enemies with few exceptions.
At present, the nurse believed them to be more akin to a vigilante group of teenage devils. His reaction to finding out they also served as an execution squad likely wouldn't have made matters better. Ignoring the simple fact that the things they did kill were often stray devils who actively preyed upon the ordinary human for food or enjoyment, or that they had a long standing feud with the Grigori and the Church…
For Sona, it was just a state of being. There was nothing worth thinking over when it came to their position on enemies of the Devils.
From and outside perspective?
That would obviously be subject to change, humans just behaved differently was all.
From that point of view, Romani's response was perfectly natural.
For a human, at least.
The rest of Romani's day had passed him as something like a blur, in truth it was more that he just wasn't aware of it in the least. His mind was elsewhere as he repeated the conversation over and over again in his head and kept arriving at the same conclusion each time.
He didn't get it.
He just didn't get it at all.
He really didn't get it and it just wasn't the sort of thing that he thought was particularly confusing to him. Again and again he went through the conversation and from his perspective it just didn't make an ounce of sense to him.
They were students, actual children - at least to him - and they were casually remarking about brutal murders and fighting serial killers as if it was perfectly normal for them to do. Which it wasn't.
It wasn't and there was no reason in his mind why the student council, of all things, were the ones who had to go out and solve this. Worse, it wasn't just the student council but also the Occult Research Club is what Sona said was accurate.
The Occult Research club.
Did no one else see just how insane it was? He felt like trying to argue the point to Sona was like banging his head against a brick wall and when he asked if there was anyone else to call, she had just shut down the possibility instantly. Sona seemed like a smart girl to him so he could comprehend just why she was so willing to put her life in danger.
To say nothing of the complete lack of police or whatever the supernatural equivalent was.
If the student council did 'handle it' then what were they supposed to say in regards to the recent murder?
What could they even say?
'Priest kills man, apprehended by local teenage Devils'?
Romani leaned forwards, resting his elbows on his desk and letting out a long breath as he continued to stare down. He was thinking again and again and it got worse and worse the longer he did think about it.
He was trying to imagine Issei, of all people, fighting a crazy exorcist or whatever and the image did not bring about any warm feelings from him. Concern at best and sheer terror at worst. What was Issei supposed to do in the face of a murderer? What were any of them supposed to do about that sort of thing?
They were teenagers whose main concern should have been worrying about upcoming exams or gossip from their classmates or something else.
Both the Student Council and the ORC should have been more concerned with the trivialities and stresses of student life.
Not whether they were going to come back home alive, that wasn't the type of thing that anyone around Issei's age should even be considering. There was a good reason that actual police existed and that Vigilantism was not a thing, because there were professionals.
He might have thought Sona more mature than him, but he most certainly did not see her as some sort of Batman-esque figure who patrolled the streets at night and beat up criminals.
Except, Sona wasn't going after them.
Not because that was the smart thing to do, but because he hadn't actually gone after anyone she knew yet so there was no reason to do so and leave it to Rias who actually had been affected by it.
That line of thinking was so far out there it was almost alien for him. It was apathetic to the situation and he didn't know if the girl actually understood what she was saying. She had claimed that she knew but he wasn't so sure.
She gave the impression that she just didn't care about it in the least and that if it had affected her in any way, she would currently be out there tracking them down rather than just throwing the ball in Rias' court and letting them do all the dangerous work. Neither sounded pleasant for Romani to consider.
He didn't want to, he really didn't want to but he did.
He considered them and he found himself feeling more than a little sick that he was thinking about the students like that.
Even if Wodime said so, he just couldn't help picturing them as human. He hadn't seen anything at all in regards to the 'inhuman mentality' that the man had spoken of. It was difficult to, considering that Issei seemed all gung ho on making sure that a nun was actually safe and in no present danger.
Sympathy from a Devil indeed, it confirmed that Issei hadn't been changed all that much so there was no reason to think about those comments from Wodime.
Sona might have told him not to think about it, but it was like telling someone not to look down when they were standing on a particular high ledge or something. They were obviously going to look down. So he had just kept thinking about it again and again and finding himself getting colder and colder the longer he had done so.
It was just something that he wasn't going to avoid thinking about, regardless of whatever she asked him to do. That and following up concerns on students was the sort of thing that responsible staff members were supposed to do. He might not be the most proactive member of the faculty but that didn't mean he treated his job any less seriously than anyone else.
Closing his eyes, he sighed loudly as his hands thudded on the desk, his fingers clenched into fists and his breaths coming out in irregular intervals. How long had they been doing this sort of thing without anyone noticing anything or doing anything?
Was this type of behaviour normal for them? He hadn't met any other Devils aside from those in school but he liked to think that it wasn't normal behaviour for them to allow teenagers to pursue violent criminals.
His eyes opened, he found himself staring at the wall for a few moments before he pursed his lips and swiftly rose from his seat. The force behind his sudden rise sent his chair rolling away from him and across the room, clanging against the frame of the nearest bed and stopping dead in its tracks.
Dropping this type of thing on them?
He'd have to at least tell Issei about it.
Turning on his heel, he marched towards the door and swung it open.
And practically bounced his forehead off Lev's chin as he marched out, staggering backwards and hissing in mild pain as his hand flew to his head. It felt like he had just walked into a solid wall or something. His left eye cracked open and regarded Lev, watching as the man rubbed his chin as though a fly had struck it instead of a full grown man.
"Quite eager today, aren't we Roman?" Lev remarked with a chuckle, lowering the hand and frowning "I hope you haven't hurt your head too badly. I was about to knock and…well…" he trailed off, the rest was more or less history.
"No, no…I should be asking you that." Romani hurriedly replied, rubbing his forehead and grimacing once again as he lowered the hand. "I shouldn't have been in such a rush to begin with." Well, that wasn't exactly true. He shouldn't have thrown himself out of the room so carelessly is perhaps what he really meant. His features shifted and became more concerned "What about you though? You're not too hurt, are you? I really should have been more careful leaving and-"
"Roman, calm yourself." Lev placated, raising his hand and simmering down the panicking nurse before he could go on further. Then moved the hand to point to himself "As you can see, I'm in no real pain, you likely just caught yourself at a bad angle is all."
Romani thinned his lips, looking up at Lev for a few moments before accepting the explanation "You're…probably right."
"Now then." Lev crossed his arms behind his back, raising a curious eyebrow "What exactly was so urgent that you couldn't get out of the room fast enough?" he looked past him into the office and hummed "It doesn't look to be an emergency relating to student health…"
"It's…um…" Romani stumbled mentally for a few moments. He couldn't really say that he was worried that students were going to try and chase down a serial killer. His brain raced for a way to answer that, he wasn't a very good liar so the best he could probably do was something that omitted all of the truth.
Or said it was personal.
At the same time…
"Um…can I actually ask your advice?" That prompted a surprise look from Lev, the man's eyelids actually rose up and regarded Romani with surprise. "What would you do if you thought someone was going to do something very dangerous and maybe a bit reckless?"
Lev was silent for a few moments, his expression shifting to become more stern as he seemingly considered the question before he replied. "That would very much depend upon my level of trust in that person. As well as the danger they were in. Why?"
"...No reason, hypothetical is all." Romani coughed into his hands, tapping his fingers together. "So…in this hypothetical situation, what do you think would be the smart thing to be done?"
The teacher exhaled "Roman-"
"Just…humour me for a moment."
"...Alright." Lev acquiesced "As I said, it would strongly depend upon my level of trust in that person. If, despite the risk, I can trust them to remain safe then I will do just that. I would assume that no one would fling themselves into danger without first evaluating all their options before they continued. If you have already made your stance clear and they are still insistent upon this course of action…then the smart thing to do is nothing."
"...Huh?" Romani did a double take "Wait, nothing?"
"Yes."
"Wha-why!?"
Lev didn't appear disconcerted by the outburst in the least "Roman, we are talking about a person who is free to make their own choices. Regardless of what you or I believe, they have the freedom for that. Therefore, the smart thing to do is nothing."
"But-"
"However…if you were less than smart." Lev continued on, giving Romani a pointed look "And were still worried. Then the remaining option would be to take a long, hard look at yourself and think 'what can I do to keep them safe?' and then go from there."
Romani thinned his lips "...Okay." he nodded to himself "Thanks, Lev." he turned away, then paused "Actually, shouldn't you be in lessons?" he remarked, turning around and looking at the man in surprise.
Lev chortled "Roman, it is the end of the day. The students are going home." he jerked his head at the nurses office "You've been cooped up in there for the entire time, were you so concerned about this that you managed to miss the bells?"
Romani gave a nervous shrug accompanied by an awkward laugh as he took off down the corridor.
"If you're leaving, you probably shouldn't forget your bag!" Lev called out to him, chuckling under his breath as Romani did a complete heel face turn and almost slipped over, rushing back towards the office and darting inside, the teacher took a single step backwards to avoid being struck by the nurse a second time. "And Roman, Leona is lucky to have you!"
As Romani was putting his bag over his shoulder and grabbing his coat, his neck swivelled to face Lev as he dragged the chair back towards his desk and made his way back to the door "Leo? What does she have to do with this?"
Lev blinked, looking genuinely dumbfounded as Romani stepped outside of the office and slid the door closed, locking it and pocketing the key. "Isn't she the one doing something reckless?"
"No. I'm worried about the occult research club." Romani corrected, turning around and missing the expression of sheer disgust planted all across Lev's face at the mention of the club. Not that he would have caught it at the distance anyway, it lasted for a fleeting few seconds.
Lev himself watched Romani depart at a hasty speed, turning the corner at the end of the hallway and vanishing out of sight.
"If I had known you were going to help that trash, I would have kept my mouth shut." Lev grumbled under his breath, reaching up and rubbing his temples in exasperation.
Romani practically flew down the corridors, ignoring the general rule against sprinting in the halls to begin with. The simple fact of the matter was he didn't care too much about that sort of thing at the moment, he was more concerned with getting back home and having a long talk with Leona about this sort of thing.
She knew more than he did, so she probably knew about the correct procedure or people to call or whatever the case was when it came to it. Anything to stop the children from being somewhat reckless, he supposed.
He personally didn't want to imagine Issei having to fight serial killers and he imagined the young boy didn't either.
"Hey, Roman-sensei-woah!" Speak of the Devil, literally in this case, and he appeared. Issei widening his eyes and leaning backwards to avoid being barreled over by the charging nurse. Romani himself gave a panicked cry and swerved to avoid the student, dropping his coat as he tripped up over his over feet and fell into the wall, wincing as he crashed his shoulder into it.
"Ouch." Romani quietly mumbled, then turned his head to face Issei and raised his brows at the boy "Wait, Issei-kun? What are you still doing here?"
"Me?" Issei raised his own brows at the nurse "I was just heading off to see you, are you alright by the way?" he asked, leaning down and picking Romani's coat off the wall and handing it to the man, Romani extended his right arm and then recoiled it as he felt his muscles play up, presumably from the impact.
"...I am going to answer no to that question." Romani tried to find a bit of humour, although it failed quite miserably if the concerned look on the teens face was any indication. Reaching out with his left hand and taking the coat instead as he pushed himself from the wall, wincing as fresh pain surged through his arm. It was probably bruised from the fall, he assumed it would be nothing serious but he would most likely need to take a look at himself when he got back home. "Thanks." He slung the coat under his arm "Guess we now know why Sitri-san says no running in the halls, right?"
Issei opened his mouth to respond, then paused and made a face of understanding before his jaw closed again. "Huh, I guess so." Reaching up, the boy scratched the back of his head with his left hand as he leaned down and picked his schoolbag up once again "I didn't think about it before but now it makes sense. Although I just thought it was one of those things they always tell you about."
"You mean like swinging on your chair?"
"Yeah, yeah." Issei snapped his fingers and gave a half smile. "Then they tell you about a story of some kid they knew who fell backwards and banged their head or something."
"They still tell you that?" Romani couldn't help but be a little surprised. "They used to tell us that when I went to school and everything."
Issei shrugged, "Must be a very unlucky group of kids."
"Yeah…or it's just a really common occurrence." Romani remarked, rolling his right shoulder and then pausing when he got to a certain angle and then scrunched his face up. "Ouch. Yep. That stings." he remarked in a strained voice as he lowered the arm again, turning to the wall he had hit and giving it a once over.
"Do you need to go back to the nurses office, Roman-sensei?" Issei asked, sending a pointed glance in the direction he had come from.
Romani raised his left hand slightly "Nah, it's probably fine." he waved away the concern "I can just put a frozen bag of peas on it when I get back or something."
"...A frozen bag of peas?"
"Yeah…? Did I say something weird?"
"No, I was just expecting something a little more medical." Issei ventured, tilting his head at a slight angle and furrowing his brows. "You know, like a…an ice pack or something."
"I mean…a bag of peas works exactly the same way." Romani shrugged his left shoulder "And I can eat it afterwards." he added on, smiling lightly "I can't eat an ice pack…well, not really."
"...Fair enough." Issei accepted the argument, then frowned "So what were you in a hurry for?" he asked "Because you looked like you were really in a hurry. I don't think I've ever seen you move that fast…well, I have but that was…" he suddenly blanched "Am I in danger?"
"Huh?" Romani did a double take, giving Issei a horrified face "Why would you think that?"
"Well, the last time you sprinted around was in the park and that was when-"
"Ah, right, right! No, I mean yes, I mean maybe, I mean-this isn't very comforting, is it?" Issei rapidly shook his head from side to side. "It's…um…it's a little complicated." he jerked his head to the side, already starting to walk. "Come on, I'll explain it as we go…unless you have somewhere else to be?"
"Nah, I was coming to see you anyway." Issei remarked with a wave of the hand, following after Romani "I was gonna ask if you got anymore…you know…"
"No, not since this morning." Romani explained, allowing relief to seep into his words. The complete lack of his vision being spoiled by violence or other types of horrifying actions was something that comforted him a great deal. The idea that his eyes could let him see more than just suffering.
"That's…that's good, right?"
"I'd like to think so." Romani nodded along, the pair moving out of the front entrance and into the courtyard "It means that we probably did go for burgers and then go our separate ways or something." he added on, then thinned his lips "I actually wanted to talk with you about that…"
"Really?" Issei looked up at him in surprise, then moved his hand to his head "Do you think I should style my hair or something? Maybe gel it?"
Romani stopped walking, staring at Issei in complete bafflement as Issei stared back "...Are you being serious right now?"
"Yeeees?"
Romani shook his head and resumed walking "Trust me, Issei-kun. It's not worth worrying about." he dismissed, ignoring the mildly irate frown the boy sent his way. "But I wanted to talk with you about the…the guy."
"...The guy?"
"The killer." Romani dropped his voice into a low whisper "The crazy guy."
Issei's grimace informed him that he was aware of who he meant "That guy…what about him?"
"So I had a talk with Sitri-san about it and she said that it would be up to either them or you guys to deal with." Issei put on a troubled face but didn't appear as panicked as Romani would have imagined him being. "...Why don't you look scared? Don't you realise what I'm talking to you about?"
"I mean, yes I do." Issei nodded his head several times "But there was this thing a couple of days ago with this big monster and-"
"Monster?" Romani blinked at him.
"Yeah, turns out all the missing people were being eaten by this-" He cut himself off, closing his eyes and wincing as he realised what he was actually talking about, he slowly cracked his right eye open and chanced a look at the nurse.
Yep, he looked pale white and his face showing clear horror.
"E-eaten?" He squeaked out "You mean all those people in the papers for the past couple weeks got-"
"Yeah…" Issei nodded his head, then waved his arms "But it's okay! Buchou and everyone else took care of it!" He spoke in an upbeat tone to try and calm the nurse down. "It's fine now so it doesn't…I mean, I didn't actually do anything, it was all Buchou and the others, but they looked really cool while doing it."
Romani didn't look relieved in the slightest "You're telling me that your school club goes monster hunting?"
"Not normally." Issei gave a half shrug and a crooked smile.
"Issei-kun!" Romani gaped at him "This isn't normal! This isn't even safe its-its-"
"I mean, it is kinda normal, for Devils at least." Issei replied with a slightly calmer tone than before "At least, that's what Buchou said but it doesn't happen that often."
"But why do you have to be the ones to do it?" Romani pressured, tightening his grip on his coat "It doesn't make sense to me, isn't there literally anyone else that can deal with this sort of thing?"
"Buchou said she did it before-"
"That isn't comforting in the least. It's actually incredibly concerning." Romani sighed "Issei-kun…this isn't the sort of thing that you should be spending your evenings doing, a couple weeks ago the worst you had to deal with is getting caught by the kendo club and now you're telling me you're going monster hunting and have to fight serial killers?" he looked at the boy with a shocked face "How does that make sense?"
Issei opened and closed his mouth several times as he struggled to find a way to answer the question, he stopped walking and frowned slightly. "I…I guess it is a little crazy when you think about it."
"A little?"
"But it's like…" Issei reached up, scratching his neck "It's…you'd have to see it for yourself Roman-sensei but everyone really…they all looked like they knew what they were doing and I was only there to watch. Buchou is taking it slow with me, or so Akeno-senpai said, to make sure I didn't get too hurt or something."
"Issei-kun-"
"I mean…" Issei sighed, moving his hand around to rub his forehead "It's just one of those…it's hard to explain it. I guess you can call it gratitude to Buchou for saving my life but it's just…I feel like I'm really helping, you know?" he pressed the hand onto his chest, smiling slightly "Like I'm doing something good so I…I can accept a little bit of danger to go along with that…I think."
"Issei-kun…" Romani sighed, shaking his head and looking away "Hmmm. Well, I was going to talk with Leo about it anyway so…I suppose I'll let you know tomorrow. Just don't do anything reckless, alright? Also pass that message along to your club mates!"
"I'm not that careless, Roman-sensei." Issei rolled his eyes, jerking a thumb towards himself and cracking a smile. "I'll be fine."
"Hmmm." Romani hummed in response but didn't answer, opting to instead think on what he was actually going to ask Leona when he got back home.
Whatever she had to say on the matter, hopefully it would at least be something to calm him down.