She who found bonds of friendship
VIII
When Romani returned home, he found Leona in the middle of a cup of coffee and midway through a book. She seemed to be somewhat surprised when he burst in and started ranting about priests, serial killers and reckless students.
When he had finally finished his rant, Leona took a single gulp of coffee - making sure to lock eyes with him while she drank - before lowering the mug back down and placing it on the table. Folding the book closed, she rested it on her lap with the finger on the page to mark her spot.
She continued to regard him curiously for a few moments before humming "So what you're telling me is that the Student Council, or the Occult Research Club, might be going out to chase down an insane exorcist serial killer, and you're worried about them getting hurt in the process, right?"
Romani nodded his head several times "Yes…" he breathed out, feeling as if all the tension was starting to melt away.
"Good." She remarked in a casual voice, raising her book back up and flipping it open "That's why I told them in the first place."
The nurse stared at her in complete surprise before his expression slowly morphed into horror "Y-you told them so they would get hurt?" he took a single step backwards, Leona lowered the book once again with a huff of air.
"No. I didn't tell them so they would get hurt." She stated with a thoughtful look aimed at the nurse, then reached up and rubbed her temples "Look it's…I'm not going to lie, chasing down these sorts of people is actually their job."
"...Huh?"
"Yep." Leona nodded her head up and down "That's their job, that's what they do." leaning forwards, she tossed the book onto the table and rested both hands on her knees "Alright. So Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri are joint owners of Kuoh. That means that this entire town is a territory divided between the two of them." she raised her hand "Nothing along the lines of the normal political and mundane practices. Like making sure the buses are on time or that public toilets are cleaned and so on…more supernatural in origin."
Romani opened his mouth to speak, then Leona wagged her finger from side to side "Just…at the very least, wait until I finish, alright?" she asked "I'll probably answer a few of your questions anyway."
The nurse remained with his mouth open for a few moments, then he slowly closed it and moved to the seat just opposite his wife and placed himself down. Shifting his expression into something more along the lines of a mask, making sure not to show any emotion.
"So the way these territories work is that they are effectively governed by the Devils. It means they get free reign to go in these places and scout for contractors for the future or perhaps peerage members if they are so inclined." Leaning back, she waved her hand "That's just for around here, some other Devils might also get invested in a few things regarding the mundane. They have enough money and connections for it…I think there's this one Devil in America who owns a fastfood chain."
Romani made a face.
"Yes, a little odd but nothing too malicious." She agreed, then shrugged "That aside it's a point of pride for Devils. If you can manage a successful territory on earth, then you prove yourself to be somewhat capable in protecting your own assets. Like a business venture…" she paused for a moment "Or a bit like a gang sort of thing…or underground."
The woman hummed "All that aside, the reason that Gremory and Sitri are taking care of this personally is because they are expected to. A couple Stray Devils or a wacky out of control priest isn't all that unusual when it comes for responsibilities they are expected to deal with." she raised a finger "And it is them alone. If they go out and ask for their family for help it would be rather socially embarrassing and would all but announce they are unable to be independent."
"So yes." She looked Romani in the eye "When I told them about an exorcist, I was fully expecting them to deal with it. Fighting serial killers will perhaps be some of the tamest things they will ever have to do because politics in Devil society is so cut throat that it makes you almost wish for a time where someone makes it clear they want to kill you."
"That is…" Romani made a face "...They're just kids-"
"They're Devil kids." Leona corrected, though not unkindly "I know you're worried about them right now but…they've been doing this sort of thing since they arrived. I wouldn't be surprised if they've already taken out perhaps around a dozen stray devils before you started worrying about them." she raised a hand "And I think it's nice - I think it's wonderful - that you still care for them so much despite realising they aren't human."
Romani thinned his lips but did not say anything.
"But you have to remember that they aren't…" She exhaled "They have to do this sort of thing because it's basically how they work. What they do is basically run a shady underground business and kick anyone else off their turf if they don't think they belong." Leona bluntly explained "If you want to worry about them, I won't stop you, I don't even think I want to stop you…but you shouldn't try and stop them because what you're asking is impossible."
"...I see."
"Roman-"
"No…no…" He exhaled "Different culture and all that." slowly rising from his seated position, his expression was still a mask as he blankly stared across the room. "No sense in worrying about it but…Leo." Romani looked down at her "Issei was a normal human boy up until a couple weeks ago. He was fine…all he had to worry about was school gossip or bad grades or getting caught by the Kendo club for peeping." he managed to get that last part of the sentence out with a laugh "And now…he has to worry about dying?"
The nurse frowned and shook his head "You can tell me that Rias and her peerage or whatever they're called do this sort of stuff regularly…but Issei doesn't." he stressed, the mask breaking "He is basically a normal teenager who in the span of a week has been exposed to all sorts of-of messed up stuff and now gets told he has to go out and fight monsters and murders because Devil society says so?"
"Roman-"
"He was human!" Romani exclaimed "He doesn't know anything about Devil society…what if he gets hurt? What am I supposed to do about that!" He pointed at himself "I'm supposed to take care of all the students at Kuoh. I like taking care of all the students at Kuoh and now I'm being told to butt out and mind my own business when I tell them that chasing down killers is dangerous and expecting Issei - Issei of all people - to do exactly the same thing is…" he cut himself off, reaching up and rubbing his hands over his head.
Leona drummed her fingers on her lap, looking down towards the flooring before she exhaled and looked up "Roman…I can't say anything that can comfort you and I can't do anything in this situation unless Rias asks me to. That's how it works now…" she shrugged "Devils aren't humans and they have different expectations for their people. I get this is weird for you because you've been going through it at a breakneck pace but believe me when I tell you that everyone who ever became a reincarnated Devil went through exactly the same process."
Romani lowered his hands, staring at Leona in silence.
"It's just…one of these things they do." She offered a helpless shrug, because really there was nothing she could say. She'd gotten used to what Devils were expected to do and how they operated; she didn't think about how it would look from an outside perspective. Goodness knew how Romani would react when he found out Devils were expected to outright kill their enemies. "I'm sorry. I can't explain beyond…this is as normal for Devils as you going to work as a School nurse. It's just their job and they don't think about it."
Leaning forwards, Romani groaned and placed his hands over his face "You say that but…" he exhaled, slowly standing back up and turning to look at the door "...I'm gonna go for a walk." he announced, rising up from his seated position.
"Ro-"
"Just a quick walk." Romani assured her, smiling somewhat defeatedly in her direction "Just to clear my head is all."
Leona stared at him imperceptibly for a few moments before she nodded her head "Of course." she acquiesced, offering him a reassuring smile "Take as long as you need Roman." her lip twitched upwards slightly "That being said, don't take too long…I'd at least appreciate it if you were back before it got dark, you know?"
Romani gave a hollow chuckle, reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck "With an actual serial killer prowling the streets? Yeah…I'm not sticking around long." he lowered his hand "Probably an hour, maybe a little more but nothing too long." he moved towards the doorway "Just a quick walk…" he mumbled quietly to himself.
"Okay." Leona called out to him "Make sure to take your phone with you in case I need to call, or you need to call!" she added on "I worry!"
"I know." Romani answered back with a bit more warmth that time "Thank you." the door clicked open and shut behind him, leaving Leona alone in the house.
The woman thinned her lips, returning her attention to the book on the table before she exhaled and shook her head. Standing up, she stretched her arms to loosen her joints before placing her hands on her hips. She probably should have expected something like this from Romani sooner rather than later.
No use helping it now, she would probably have to explain some more about the different politics between the Three Factions when he came back to ensure he didn't get blindsided by other bombshells of information. The other factions could probably wait for a little while, they didn't have too much influence in Japan.
Well, except the Yokai and the Shinto but the latter weren't all that interested in the human world anyway. The Yokai mainly stayed in Kyoto and with Kuoh under the lease of the Devils they had little reason to come down here. If they did happen to come all the way down to Kuoh and visit, it would most likely be because something was terribly wrong.
Same with the Shinto Gods.
The woman blinked and rubbed her brows, those were worst case scenarios at best.
What she needed to do was just make sure Romani more or less understood the different cultures of the Three Factions and they liked to operate slightly differently to how most humans would do things. Like sending teenagers to fight flesh eating monsters would usually be regarded as something out of the norm in most societies.
Still, hopefully his walk would clear his head and make him feel a little better.
Getting stressed about these sorts of things was exactly the response she had been most afraid of and from the sounds of things he was still going through the transitional phase, if his breakdown had been any indication.
Romani wasn't sure why everything kept coming back to this park, he'd barely thought about whenever he passed it before. It had been nothing more than an ordinary park - if a little nicer than some of the ones he'd been in before - that he would see on his walk to and from work.
Sometimes he and Leona might wander through it but that was the extent of the amount of thought he had paid to it.
He exhaled, shifting on the bench he was currently seated upon and angled himself ever so slightly. Staring down at the patio that led through the centre towards the water fountain. His eyes remained focused upon the stone walkway without a hint of emotion within them. It felt somewhat surreal the speed at which his life had been changing within the last week or so, to say nothing about the speed at which it had been affecting Issei's life.
He couldn't make assumptions for the boy, especially given how he seemed to be handling things fairly well, but at the same time they had been experiencing the breakneck change without any sort of pause. Issei finally seemed to be having some pure moments of happiness and hanging around people who cared for him.
The problem was that he was only getting these sorts of things at the cost of, apparently, having to risk his life day in and day out working for the magical equivalent of the mafia. Even Leona had told him that this sort of thing was perfectly normal for Devils.
Was it really that normal?
He didn't think it was but apparently everyone else did, everyone in the know at least hadn't given it a second thought.
Even Issei had barely considered it before he defended that he finally felt like he was making a proper difference and being useful.
That felt cold to Romani, having to risk your own life to form connections with people.
It wasn't like he could even say anything about it either, Issei looked as though he was genuinely having fun or at least found a place that belonged that didn't seem to affect his standing with the school. Or if it did, he hadn't noticed, then again he didn't pay too much attention to the gossip around the school in the first place.
Either way, trying to tell Issei to just drop the matter and not do it felt as though it would end just as badly in an entirely different way. Even if he didn't do it this time, there was a good chance that he would be invited into the next vigilante hunt or something and apparently the Devils were the ranking authority in the area when it came to this sort of stuff.
Closing his eyes, Romani slumped further into the bench and tried to fight back the groan of fatigue that he could feel creeping up inside him.
Why did things have to be complicated?
And why did it all have to be centred around an otherwise dull park where nothing interesting ever used to happen, at least that was the case in the park. His left eye cracked open as he looked out amongst it, with it only just being the evening there were still plenty of people out and about. Especially with a few parents or such with children back from pre-school or whatever they called it here in Japan.
It was surreal, they were playing about barely a few metres from where Issei had been killed and brought back to life barely a week prior. Was it seriously how things usually worked around here? Something horrible happens and no one is any the wiser?
There was a slight appeal to that, now that he thought about it. At the very least he would never have been worried about anything beyond the odd sprained ankle or late paperwork. If nothing had ever changed, he probably would have gone about life without ever finding out anything. Romani didn't think he would have ever caught on with Leona and it was only because of his eyes leading him to the park that she even outed herself in the first place.
His eye shut itself once again and he leaned back, content to rest on the bench and empty his mind as best he could. Try and think of some more positive things to avoid freaking out about Devil business or the like.
Like Magical Girl Levi*tan.
His lip twitched upwards in remembrance, the tune humming away from the back of his throat as he tried to distance his mind from everything. If only for a few moments at least.
There was a slight creaking sound to his right, the bench groaned as the weight of another person was suddenly placed upon it directly next to him. Romani opened his eyes and turned them to the side.
A blonde haired man was sitting next to him, a westerner like himself as well. Black leather trench coat over the top of a light brown jumper, dark trousers and matching boots. In his hand was a small brown paper back, the man reached into it and pulled out a handful of sunflower seeds before he casually tossed them onto the patio.
A split second later, all manner of birds descended upon the treats from pigeons to sparrows and the odd crow. The larger black birds bullying away the smaller ones and grabbing much more of the seeds than their rivals.
The blonde haired man watched them with an almost disinterested expression, still holding the back in his hands.
Romani stared at him for a few moments, then turned his head away slightly and watched the birds alongside him.
He wasn't sure how long he and this stranger stared at the birds, it could have been a few minutes or it could have been a little longer. Either way, the pair of them seemed almost enraptured by the sight. Watching as the wildlife picked clean the pathway of food, there was a rustle as the man put his hand into the bag seed again and removed another small handful and tossed it to the hungry flock.
The feasting resumed as though nothing had happened.
"The lifestyle of the average avian seems simple, does it not?" The man spoke in an almost monotone voice, not taking his eyes off the birds. Romani was almost sure he hadn't spoken to him before he realised the man was speaking english.
It had been a little while since he heard English or spoken in it.
"...I suppose so." Romani admitted after a second of silence, tilting his head slightly "You just live by your instincts or something, right?"
The man didn't respond and Romani was almost nervous that he had answered a rhetorical question and spoken out of turn.
"One would imagine so." Thankfully the stranger responded, still giving the birds his full attention "However, there is very little that separates birds from people on a fundamental scale. Diogenes was not so far from his remark that a man is no more than a featherless biped." he inclined his head slightly "Birds display similar signs of stress to humans. They will pluck their feathers as someone would pull at their hair."
"Really?" Romani blinked, then looked at the birds. He didn't actually know that.
"They will also become fixated on items that make them more attractive to the opposite sex, relying on more than their natural gifts. Seeking out twigs or plant-life that gives their nests the added factor of attention." He tossed a few more seeds "They will raise their young with great care, depending on the species. Educating them to have the greatest chance of success in life and fretting over the best location they will call home with the greatest abundance of food and will move when a greater opportunity presents itself. They will even form large social groups akin to friendships."
Romani was silent for a moment, then made a small noise "Huh…I guess birds aren't all that simple then."
"Appearances can be deceiving, admittedly." The man remarked, his eyes moving away from the birds and towards Romani for the first time. Pale violet eyes locked onto him and Romani felt an odd creeping sensation down his back. As if there was something not quite right about the man sitting next to him but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Though there is one thing I have noted that separates humans from birds." The eyes flickered away and Romani exhaled, not even realising he had been holding in his breath to begin with. "Faith."
"...You mean like religion?"
"Perhaps, but I speak more generally." The man hummed "Faith in terms of belief in something. After a time, a bird will typically disassociate with its young and they will depart to have no further interactions. Humans will have faith their family will always be by their side. Belief in the pillar of support that it represents." he paused, raising the sunflower in his hands and examining it "There is belief in security, a bird will always be aware of danger at every given moment. Ready to alert all others or protect itself."
Romani watched the man toss the seed to the birds, watching as they squabbled over it.
"Belief in the kindness of strangers, that all humans will naturally do good by one another. Most birds will approach others of their kind with hostility and suspicion. Limiting themselves to small well known groups." The man turned his wrist staring at the watch for a few moments. "Two minutes left." he simply stated, then went back to looking at the birds.
"Faith in one's friends." The man finally stated "A bird might indeed form a connection with another, but it is built up over familiarity. They grow to expect a certain reaction and are alerted when this routine is disrupted. A human will have faith in the bonds they create, confident they will last lifetimes even when separated."
Romani hadn't been expecting to get into a philosophical conversation about birds of all things, but he had to admit it was a little more interesting than he had actually been expecting it to be. Or it was the fact the man was still so peculiar that he couldn't take his attention off him, one of the two.
"Then there is religion." Nodding his head in Romani's direction "A bird is aware of predators and a natural hierarchy. But these are physical traits. They cannot deny the existence of a cat, or the fact one type of bird is stronger than another. Their senses tell them these things. A bird is not aware of its place in the world, the origins of its being and species, the location it goes when it dies and whether their lives are predetermined. They exist without experiencing life."
"Hmmm. Sounds more complicated now." Romani admitted with a shrug of his shoulders, furrowing his brows.
"As I said. Appearances are deceiving." He glanced at his watch again, frowning and then looking away. "A bird is not aware of the kindness I might show it in gifting food, but does that make the kindness worthless? Between myself and the bird, only I am aware of the belief in charity. Yet, I believe it has value even if only appreciated by me."
"...Okay."
"Even with the difference between myself and a bird, that does not stop me from acting out of my own beliefs." He looked down at his watch again, then hummed and rose up from his seated position, turning to Romani and looking down at him.
He moved his left hand towards the nurse and held out the paper back of seeds, Romani blinked at him once before slowly reaching out and taking it almost gingerly. The purple eyes of the man glanced down at the wedding ring on Romani's matching hand as he did so. His eyes seemed to shine with intrigue for a split second before they returned to an almost bored hue.
"Twelve seconds to spare." He stated, then looked at Romani once more "...Good evening." then turned on his heel and walked off, leaving the rather befuddled nurse sitting on the bench somewhat dumbstruck as he watched the man wander off into the park without turning to look back.
Romani kept his eyes on the man's back, then turned and looked down at the bag of seeds before he looked up towards the flock of birds in front of him. Most now staring at him almost expectantly.
With a bemused grunt, he reached into the bag and picked out a handful of seeds before tossing them at the birds.
"You probably don't even realise the person feeding you has even changed, huh?" Romani spoke amusedly, watching as the birds once again returned to eating what he threw to them. Sometimes some birds would leave, only to be replaced by new arrivals.
"Hmmm." Romani hummed to himself, idly thinking back to the words "...Even if you don't understand it, I still show you kindness, eh?" he looked down at the bag, shaking it slightly and jostling the seeds inside. Sure enough, he supposed it made sense.
It was a bit more existential than he was used to, but it sort of made sense to him.
Like, 'if a tree falls in the woods and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a noise?' or along those lines. The answer was obviously that the tree still made a noise, it didn't suddenly not make a noise because no one was around it. It was whether or not anyone was around to hear the noise so did the noise even matter.
Romani blinked several times as he tossed another handful of seeds to the birds, his mind didn't really make sense of it all that much. Well, it did and it didn't. The answer seemed simple enough when he thought about it long enough but at the same time it also seemed a little arrogant of him to force his kindness on someone else.
"You know what, guys?" Romani spoke in a quiet voice, looking down at the birds and smiling almost jovially at them "I'm just gonna go back to feeding you and not think about it all that much." he decided, going back to simply watching the birds eat and relaxing into the park bench.
It was rather calming to just sit back and do nothing but watch birds eat, of course now he was thinking about the act of kindness whenever he tossed seeds towards them. It was an unusual topic and weirdly relevant, now that he considered it at least.
Could he do what he thought was right even if Sona and that disagreed? Well, that was a moot point regardless. He didn't even know what he was supposed to do in the first place and even if he did, it would no doubt make both Sona and Rias somewhat annoyed and probably wouldn't change the fact it would undoubtedly happen again.
At the same time, they were students at the school he worked for.
No matter what else, as a faculty member and especially as a nurse, he had a duty of care to ensure that all of his students were healthy and happy. A difference in species shouldn't change that for him, nor should it really change what he felt needed to be done. As long as they went to Kuoh and as long as he was employed by the school, he should look out for them.
Just because a student complained about an alcoholic wipe hurting when he dabbed their cuts, didn't mean he stopped doing it. They might not appreciate it, but he thought he was doing what was for the best. No, he knew it was for the best.
Like throwing seeds to birds, they might not understand he was being kind but he didn't really stop and think about it. He just did it because it was the kind thing to do, it was a little bit like that man said. Just because the bird didn't appreciate it, didn't mean that you didn't stop doing it.
He slumped.
All that was well and good, but he didn't think he could do it in the first place.
He looked down at the bag, tilting it to the side and watching the seeds. There were probably a couple of handfuls left at the most.
The birds as one turned their heads, Romani noticed them do so and similarly followed suit.
"E-eh?" A familiar blonde haired girl with bright green eyes, adorned in the dark robe of a nun with the white veil stared back at him in surprise. The two of them stared at one another for what felt like ages before Romani awkwardly waved his hand and waved at her.
"Umm…Hello, Asia?" He switched to Italian, smiling somewhat dumbly at her as he reached back and scratched his neck "...Good afternoon?"
"Ah!" She hastily bowed her head in greeting "Good afternoon to you as well, Signor Romani."
"You can just call me Romani." The man waved away her formality, his smile becoming more natural and less forced as he adjusted himself on the bench, sitting up straight and looking across to her. "Or Roman, I don't mind all that much."
Asia looked dubious for a moment before she nodded once, a gentle smile coming upon her features "Okay, Roman." she then giggled "Leona told me to be more informal with her as well when we spoke. You're very alike."
That earned a surprised blink from Romani "You think?" he rubbed his chin "Most people would say how odd we look together."
Asia merely shook her head at his words "No, you're both very kind people."
"...Well…shucks." Romani gave a sheepish grin as he rubbed the back of his neck, looking away from the girl "Now you're gonna try and make me feel good about myself, aren't you?"
Asia giggled at him, then looked towards the small crowd of avians in front of him "You were feeding the birds?"
Romani nodded once, then paused "Well, someone came up to me and started feeding them as we spoke. They left and gave me the bag so I just sort of…carried on, I guess." he shrugged, unsure of what else to say then paused for a moment, offering the bag in her direction "...Do you want to have a go?"
The girl looked somewhat surprised he had offered, looking towards the bag and then to the birds before back to him "W-well…I don't know…" she responded with rather nervously, looking around left and right as if to check that anyone else was going to drop in on them, her eyes kept glancing towards the bag in the nurses hands meaningfully "I've never fed birds before…what if I scare them off?"
Romani looked at her oddly "...Don't take this the wrong way, but you're not all that scary."
Asia pouted "That's not what I meant, I mean…birds always flew away when I went near them."
The nurse dipped his hands into the bag, pulling out a few seeds and then tossing them onto the path. The birds ducked down and greedily ate up all that he had thrown down, within a few moments the patio was barren once again.
"The idea is not to get near them, it's to let them get near you." Romani replied, offering the bag in her direction once more and giving it a shake before he paused, slowly retracting it "Sorry, that might have been a weird thing for me to offer…I mean, we only met once and didn't speak for all that long-"
"Alright." Asia nodded once, her face set in a determined expression as she clenched her fists in front of herself "I'll do my best!" she all but announced, marching towards the nurse and repeatedly darting her eyes to the pigeons, sparrows and crows that watched her approach, a few jumped backwards as she walked around the front of the nurse, then parked herself down on the bench next to him.
The manner in which she was still staring at them with absolute focus was almost comical to Romani, even as he handed the bag of sunflower seeds to her, the expression remained fixed upon her face as though she was about to do something extraordinarily important.
And not chuck plant seeds at birds.
"Not too many and not too roughly." Romani offered as she gently put her hand in the bag, pulling out a handful of seeds and looking towards the birds.
"Eep!" With a small cry, she gave an under arm toss and scattered the seeds across the walkway, then smiled as she watched the birds quickly went about eating them without even paying attention to her.
The enjoyment of the girl was almost infectious, Romani feeling his own smile creep up on his face as the pair of them watched the birds.
"This is…" Asia whispered slightly, tilting her head and watching with rapt attention, then looked to the nurse "You said you don't normally do this?"
Romani shook his head "I wouldn't say it's my first time feeding the wildlife, but I haven't really done it in a while…I think the last time I did was went I was still studying in Germany." he explained, putting on a thoughtful look "I…Yes, I threw some bread to the ducks in a pond. I just wanted to kill some time and I thought the ducks might have been hungry."
He looked from Asia to the birds "...Maybe I should do this sort of thing more often?"
Asia nodded her head "I think it's a really wonderful thing to do, showing such love to all manner of animals."
"Even if they don't understand it?"
"Eh?"
Romani waved his hand dismissively "Sorry about that, just thinking out loud is all."
Asia hummed in understanding, giving the nurse a curious look "Perhaps you should talk about it. I think it would be good if it is really weighing on your mind."
The nurse chuckled "You mean like a confession?"
"Yes." Asia beamed "Exactly!" her innocent joy was too much for Romani to actually say he had been joking about it.
He looked at her for a few moments, then sighed "I suppose it couldn't hurt." he nodded to the brown paper bag in her hands "It was something the person who was feeding the birds before me said." he looked at the birds once more "Even if they don't understand the kindness of what I'm doing, and it's only known by me, does that somehow make the kindness worthless?"
Asia looked at him oddly "...What does that mean?"
Romani made a small noise "That's what I've been trying to wrap my head around, it doesn't make too much sense to me either."
"Kindness is kindness. We don't do acts of charity to be lauded by others, or because we seek applause for them." Asia responded before Romani could continue onwards, the sheer certainty in her voice caught him by surprise for a moment. "If someone helps another with the expectation of a reward, then you cannot say it was an act of true kindness." she smiled "When I helped people…I didn't think about how loudly they would praise me for it. I was just thinking about what I could do to help them feel better."
The nurse blinked at her once.
Asia looked at the birds "So…I don't think feeding the birds is worthless because they don't understand charity. I think it's just as valuable as if you were doing the same to the starving. It is just kindness, doing good because you can is something I feel people should do. It's the type of love that I believe God wishes for us to be expressing. Kindness for one's friends, kindness for strangers and even kindness to the world."
Romani was silent for a few moments, then made a small noise "...I wasn't expecting that."
Asia blushed in embarrassment "Ah, sorry! I got carried away there and-"
"No, no!" Romani hastily waved his hands, calming the girl down "It's not that it was…it just sounded very nice was all. Being kind because you can and all that."
Asia exhaled "Thank goodness…I was worried that I might have said something strange is all." she looked down and noticed the birds still hovering around, then looked into the bag and smiled as she spied that there were still more seeds present. "Though…I do feel a little good when I make someone feel better, I admit." her voice was almost abashed as she dipped her hand into the bag and tossed out the last handful of seeds to the birds.
Romani's lip twitched upwards "I don't think that's something to feel guilty over. I feel the same way when I help the students at the school."
"Teehee." Asia giggled lightly "Maybe not." she paused for a moment as she realised something "School…" she whispered to herself, then looked at him "You…go to the same school as Issei-san, right?"
Romani nodded his head in affirmation "I'm the nurse there."
The moment the words left his mouth, he almost felt the need to cover his face with the way she was now sending a shining smile in his direction, her eyes now gleaming with awe "Really? You're the nurse there! That means you help injured students, right?"
Romani opened and closed his mouth several times as he tried to figure out how best to respond to that question. "I…I do my best." he shrugged abashedly, looking away to hide his embarrassment at the way the girl was now staring at him as if he just told her he saved dying children for a living.
"That's amazing!" Asia exclaimed, leaning back and placing the bag on the bench next to her so that she could clasp her hands together "To think that day in and day out you tirelessly work to ensure all those youngsters are healthy, truly you have a kind and charitable soul."
Romani winced ever so slightly "I-I think you're making my job seem way more important than it otherwise should be!" his hasty reply brought a puzzled frown onto the girls face "Really, all I do is put some plasters on a cut or two and maybe every now and again someone has a sprain. It's the sort of thing anyone can do-"
Asia shook her head at him "Even if you say that, you are still a healer aren't you? Just because you might not be saving lives as a surgeon does not detract from the work you do in the least. You are caring for God's children, even if only a little, and that makes you a good and kind soul in God's eyes."
Romani released a noise as he moved his hands up to clasp his face, hiding away his burning red cheeks "You're really serious as well…" his voice came out as a muffled whine through his hands "I'm getting a pep talk from a little girl, isn't this situation supposed to be reversed?"
"Ah." Asia made a noise as she stared at the man with wide eyes "I'm sorry, did I offend you somehow? I'm not used to conversations like this…um…I didn't mean to speak out of turn and say something unnecessary-"
"No, don't apologise!" Romani lowered his arms sharply and snapped his head up, the swiftness of the motion had Asia give a gasp of surprise and jolt backwards. "You didn't say anything wrong, I'm just not used to such praise and-ouch!" he cut himself off with a hiss, his right shoulder once again flared with pain as he clenched it with his left hand and muffled his pain with a groan.
"Roman?!" Asia looked at him in alarm, her eyes looking at the shoulder in question "You're injured? What happened? How badly? When?"
The speed at which she fired off question after question towards him briefly caught him in a spot where he was unable to answer. When his brain finally caught up, he pulled his left hand from his injured shoulder and held it up to quieten the girl down, making a motion for her to calm herself.
"It's not that bad." He assured her, though her concern didn't so much as fade even as he put on the most comforting expression he could manage. It wasn't actually all that bad, the pain had mostly receded at this point and it was likely his sudden movement of his limb that pulled at his injured muscles that caused the flare up in the first place. "I just bashed my shoulder earlier but it's fine, I'm not going to lose the arm or anything." he chuckled, leaning back into the bench "This sort of thing isn't anything to worry about."
Asia merely stared at him with an indiscernible expression, then stood up from the bench and moved around to be stood directly in front of the nurse. Her expression remained unreadable, even as Romani looked back at her in a somewhat questioning manner.
"Asia?" He raised an eyebrow at her, calling out her name which she didn't respond to. Then the girl leaned forwards and raised both her hands in his direction, extending the flat of her palms towards his body and kept them just a few centimetres from touching his clothes. "What are-"
"Just wait for a bit, Roman." Asia once again sported a serious expression, yet compared to the one he had seen before she embarked on her bird feeding quest, this one was more purposeful. As if she was doing something she was truly good at, though what he wasn't sure. "It will take only a moment."
Her eyes closed, Romani's gaze remained on her, then suddenly snapped to the left as he felt a warmth run through his entire body, originating from his injured shoulder. He couldn't describe the sensation as anything other than 'Anti-Pain' because that was what it was. If there ever was a feeling that was the opposite of pain, then this was it. Asia maintained her cool and unchanging visage, a faint green hue shining from her hands as a pair of rings just appeared on her fingers, one on each hand.
Romani himself stared with rapt attention, watching as the light danced upon his clothes and seemingly seeped through them before it started to fade away. The girl opened her eyes and lowered her hands ever so slightly, keeping her focus on the shoulder before she looked up to see Romani's dumbstruck face "...I think it's only fair that people care for you as much as you care for them, right?"
Romani's only response was to look between the girl and his shoulder rapidly, hesitantly moving the arm and blinking as he felt it operate without any sort of resistance in the least. The tenseness of his pained muscles had all but vanished as if by…
"Magic…" Romani looked to Asia with awe "Are you a magic nun?"
Asia made a surprised face for a few moments, then raised her hand to cover her mouth to muffle a giggle, her eyes shining with mirth at the comment.
Romani flushed "What? It's a legitimate question."
Asia waved her hand from side to side, trying to assure Romani that she wasn't attempting to offend him in the least "I-it's not that, Roman…It's simply that I wasn't expecting that response from you is all…" she paused as if to consider something, putting on a thoughtful expression "I've never actually heard that one before, now that I think about it…" she realised with a blank expression, then shook her head and looked back to the nurse "Ah."
"...Ah?"
Asia looked left and right, then over the top of Romani's head and then, rather obviously, looking behind her to check if anyone was watching. Once she was satisfied, she let out a faint sigh of relief and returned her attention to the nurse. "You…erm…can you not tell people about this?" she asked almost shyly "I know I'm not supposed to do this sort of thing in public but then you said you were hurt and…erm…j-just keep it a secret, right?"
Romani looked at her oddly for a few moments, then made a face of understanding and nodded his head "Oh, yeah…humans aren't supposed to know about the supernatural and all that." he mumbled, his words gave pause to Asia who regarded him more puzzled expression.
"Eh?" She voiced out in confusion "You…already…" she blinked as she considered something "You were with Issei and Issei is a…" she squinted at Romani "Are you also a Devil, Roman?"
"...No." Romani responded after a second to comprehend the question, shaking his head from side to side "I…apparently work at the same school as them but I'm not a…yeah…I've only been in the know a little over a week really." he drummed his hands on his lap "Is…that a problem with the whole…" he gestured to her attire somewhat meaningfully.
Asia looked down at herself, then understood when she made a small noise "It is…" she paused for a moment, looking at Romani "What about you, Roman? You're still friends with Issei?"
Romani frowned "Am I not supposed to be?" he tilted his head "I mean, sure, it sounded a little weird at first and I'm probably still wrapping my head around it but I guess it…well, it's changed a couple things but I'm still a faculty member of Kuoh academy and Issei and the others are still students for me to worry about." he declared with a nod of the head "So…Devil or not, I'm still gonna do all I can for them."
"...So that's how it is…" Asia whispered in a low voice, staring at Romani for a few moments longer than he was comfortable with.
Then her face split into a pure smile "I knew it." Asia then spoke with absolute certainty "You really are a kind person, Roman." she moved back around, gently sitting down on the bench next to him once again without the slightest hint of hesitation. "You said you haven't been in the know?"
"Not long anyway…" Romani regarded Asia curiously "What about you?" he paused for a moment before he continued on "With Issei, I mean."
Asia was silent for a few moments, the smile remaining on her face "I think kindness is kindness." she simply replied with, at least at first, then elaborated. "I was given this ability in order to heal people…If God did not want me to heal Devils, he would not have granted me the ability to." she looked up at him "I think Issei seems like a nice person, just like you. People should be viewed by their actions, rather than what they are. There can be kind Devils and cruel Devils, just as there can be kind humans and cruel humans."
Romani blinked at her, then chuckled to himself at her attitude "I seem to attract mature people to me…" he remarked, turning his head and looking skywards "Everywhere I go." he paused and then nodded once "That is very kind of you, Asia. Not judging Issei before you meet him…He really is a-" he paused, slowly closing his mouth.
Noticing his hesitance, Asia looked up at him expectantly "Roman? What about Issei?"
"He is…um…that is to say…" Romani opened and closed his mouth, cycling through different sentence starters as he tried to think of how to explain Issei to someone who had never met him before. Everything he tried to think about boiled down to all the times they had met in the nurses office after the boy had been on the receiving end of a beating from a rather aggrieved group of young women.
After nearly half a minute of stumbling, he eventually settled on "He's very honest." he stated almost dumbly "Very honest." he then realised something else he could say "And he truly is a kind boy. Always looking to make people he cares about comfortable…even if they don't realise it at the time." Issei's overjoyed face as he told Romani he had a date flashed through the nurse's mind, followed soon by a pang in his heart.
That was a somewhat bittersweet memory.
Asia didn't seem to notice the crack in his face when he spoke, instead nodding her head in a knowing fashion. "He is friends with you, Roman. So it makes sense that he is also a kind person."
Romani blinked "Am I being used as some sort of checkpoint to determine if people are kind or not?" he asked as he looked towards the girl in a puzzled way "Because I was listing the nice things-" he cut himself off, snapping his jaw shut and cringing as he realised what he had blurted out.
Rather than be put off, Asia tilted her head "Doesn't everyone have flaws, though?"
"...Yes…some might be considered more pronounced than others, however." Romani rubbed the back of his neck, muttering the last part of the sentence to himself, then exhaled and waved his hand at her "Still, you shouldn't use me as some sort of medium to determine if people are kind or not. I'm sure there might have been one or two people in the past who hung near me that weren't very nice."
"What about now?"
"Well…um…I…" Romani flattened his features, struggling to come up with any names or faces. Something he was actually quite pleased about, not least of all because he didn't want to have people think he liked to make rude comments about them behind their back. It also meant that he was friends with good people.
Asia was staring up at him, her expression becoming a touch more smug with each passing moment of silence.
"T-that's just a coincidence is all!" Romani hastily argued "A coincidence!"
The smug aura of the girl didn't diminish in the least, quite the contrary it seemed to rise as she soon became aware that Romani himself was aware of it, the man slumped forwards and sighed "Fine, fine…I have some good friends but that doesn't go the same for everyone, alright?" he informed her with a stern expression "Nice people don't always attract other nice people."
Asia didn't respond to that at first, a hesitant look flashed across her face before it morphed into one of acceptance. "I don't know…but if you say so, perhaps that is your experience, Roman."
Romani snorted, "That's just a polite way of saying I'm old."
"I didn't mean it like that, Roman!" Asia quickly exclaimed, her eyes wide and panicked with her hands swinging in front of herself in a frantic motion "I just meant to say that you would have more wisdom because you're older than me-wait, no! I meant that-"
"I'm joking. I know I'm older than you." Romani waved his hand dismissively "I mean, I'm not that old but I am older than you at the very least so…I guess you can call it experience or something along those lines." he paused for a moment as he realised something "You know, I don't think I asked how you were getting on in Kuoh anyway…" he trailed off as he realised something, looking down at her "I…talked with Issei this morning…"
Asia froze, slowly turning her head away from Romani and her expression shifting to be devoid of emotion "...Oh. I see."
"Asia…are you alri-"
"Roman." Asia cut him off, her lip twisting into a sad smile "I don't think it's a good idea for you to talk about this. I…I don't want you to get hurt is all." she released a gentle sigh "I don't know if I could forgive myself if someone like you got hurt because of me."
Romani groaned as he palmed his face, what was it with teenagers and constantly doing or saying things that he disagreed with completely. It was like his day was cursed to suffer from this sort of thing again and again. First with Sona saying she was fine chasing down killers and now with Asia all but screaming she was in danger but warning him away for his own good.
Normally these sorts of roles were reversed.
"Today really is…" Romani muttered in Japanese, Asia didn't react to the change in language but if her closed eyes and downward tilt of the head was any indication, she inferred the meaning of the words through the exasperated tone of Romani's voice instead. "Why do you all have to be difficult?" he asked, more to himself as he shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Asia would have answered him had something else not caught her eye, the girl turning on the bench and looking off to the side with a curious expression upon her face. "Issei?"
Romani noticed her change in topic, as well as the name, and swiftly altered his own line of thinking to match hers. His hand coming away from his face and back to his side as he leaned his body to glance in the direction the girl was now looking in. After a few moments of squinting his eyes he eventually spotted the young man in question.
Dressed in casual clothes, a pale yellow covered shirt over the top of a red long sleeved t-shirt along with grey chinos. Both Romani and Asia watched Issei from the bench, the boy moving with a certain purpose about him as he made his way across the park.
"He's alright…" Asia whispered more to herself before shaking her head and tilting it slightly "Wait…where is he going?"
Romani raised an eyebrow "I…I think that's the direction of the playpark."
Asia's only response to that was a puzzled glance, whether that was in response to the statement or because she didn't know what a playpark actually was, he didn't personally know and he didn't think it would be best to answer that either. Instead giving her a similarly puzzled look before he stood up.
"...I'm a little curious now." He made to take a step forward, then paused as he considered something. "Do you want to come with me?" He directed the question towards Asia, the girl blinked in surprise at being addressed, pursing her lips and looking up at the man somewhat shyly.
"...Is it alright if I do?"
Romani offered a gentle smile "You can do whatever you want to, Asia." he reassured her "If you want to make sure he's fine, then you can do that. I know he'd feel an awful lot better if he saw you were well." he then paused before he cringed "Great…now it sounds like I'm peer pressuring you."
Asia didn't look offended in the least, and that was something that should have worried him a little more than it did. "Don't worry about it, Roman. I wanted to make sure he was alright after yesterday anyway…" her expression turned downcast "...It was a-"
"You don't have to speak about it." Romani hastily cut her off, seeing her discomfort clear as day. The girl wore her emotions on her sleeve as if they were her clothes. "So…let's go then." he jerked his head in the direction he saw Issei leaving in "We can at least see why he's out and about."
Asia nodded once, then hopped up onto her feet, her previously disheartened expression vanishing and being replaced by a more positive one. "Alright, Roman."
Romani himself was considering why Issei was actually walking around, there was one answer that came to him relatively easily though but he liked to imagine that Issei was not genuinely just walking around Kuoh in the blind hope that he would just stumble upon Asia. Now that he thought about it, Romani realised that was exactly what he had done, or rather Asia had stumbled upon him via the strangest of circumstances.
"Roman? Are you alright?" The man was brought out of his musings as he noticed Asia calling out to him, the girl a couple metres ahead of him. Clearly having moved to go on ahead before noticing that the nurse hadn't actually made to follow her at all. Her expression turned troubled "Is everything alright?"
Romani nodded his head, offering a disarming smile "It's fine, just thinking about some stuff is all. Probably nothing important…" though he said that, the nagging thought in the back of his head was still present.
He quickly stomped it out, not even willing to entertain it further than he had to.
No way was he going to start another debate in his head and most certainly not on existentialism or the belief in a set path of fixed future or whatever else he was working to consider. No way on earth.
Instead, he opted to think on the simple things.
Like why Issei was heading for a park that children played around in during the afternoon hours of the day.
It was a little odd but knowing Issei, the reason was probably nothing to do with his location in the least.
With that in mind, he started to walk and quickly fell into step with Asia, the pair of them making for the path and turning to move after the direction Issei was moving off in. It was a good thing that Romani always kept his wallet in his pocket because he had a very, very good idea of how this day was going to go.
AN: Huh…what a peculiar man feeding the birds.
Sure it's nothing important.
Anyway!
You know what this means? We're in the final chapters of this Arc with Asia and all that!
As for how it will play out?
That is for me to know and all of you to speculate upon!