She who found bonds of friendship

IX

Neither Romani nor Asia said a word as they watched the display in front of them, both acutely aware that the person they were spying on wasn't actually aware of their existence here either. That being said, their desire to call out was overridden by the desire to just sit back and watch whatever this was unfolding before their very eyes.

"Is this normal, Roman?" Asia asked the nurse with a puzzled tone of voice, not taking her eyes off Issei.

Romani made a small noise in response, placing his hands in his pockets and watching the boy from a short distance. "Not that I've noticed." He eventually answered the question in an equally distracted tone of voice, inclining his head to the side. "Then again, not that I'm going to disapprove of students trying to improve their physical condition…They just don't really do it here of all places."

Asia didn't reply, then turned and looked up towards him with surprise "Really? Then where do they usually do it?"

"A gym." Romani replied, then noticed the silence that soon followed did so for longer than he would have deemed acceptable without any sort of response. Turning his head to his right and looking down, he saw Asia staring up at him with a still puzzled face. Romani's own expression crumbled into an uncomfortable grimace "You don't know what a gym is?"

Asia shook her head.

"It's a place that you go to where you train your body to get healthier." He explained as best he could, not that he'd ever really visited them. "You can do the exact same sort of exercise at home or outside but a gym is normally better because they have the right sort of equipment."

Asia made a noise of understanding this time, her expression brightening up "Ah, you mean like the place the exorcists trained in." she reasoned with a nod of the head "One of the people who visited me talked about it once. I thought it sounded very hard…but she said it wasn't that bad once you got used to it."

Romani opened and closed his mouth several times "I…would like to say that it's probably a little different." he spoke in a slightly strained tone of voice "But at the same time, yeah. The principle of getting fit is probably, more or less, the same so…sure. We'll go with that." he sniffed before turning back to face Issei "But yeah, working out is usually the sort of thing people do."

"But they don't do it here?"

The nurse considered the question for a brief second before he responded "Okay, they might but usually they're a little bit younger than Issei." he explained "It's a playground for children."

Asia leaned forwards and squinted "How do they use it?"

"Well, it's called monkey bars." Romani explained, gesturing with his hands "The general idea is that you pull yourself from bar to bar like a sideways ladder to get to the other side. It's supposed to build upper body strength."

The nun was silent as she considered something, then looked back up at the nurse "Aren't those bars a little…high?" she asked after a few moments "What happens if the children fall?"

"...Then they fall?" Romani shrugged his shoulders, not sure how else he was supposed to answer the question. "I mean, that sort of fall doesn't really hurt. At least I don't think it does…" the longer he looked at the monkey bars, the tighter his frown became as he started to visualise the idea of a small six year old falling from them. Depending on how they landed there was a chance they could sprain something.

To say nothing if they were climbing along the top of the bars rather than underneath them.

"...On second thought." Romani voiced out with a bit more concern in his voice this time "Yeah…I assume there would be a parent or something underneath them in case they fell to catch them. Or maybe with a set of plasters in their pocket or something if they scuffed their knee." another shrug "Or they just walk it off."

Asia gave a sharp gasp "Truly?"

"Well, it's all part of growing up. There's always those little moments of playing in the park and falling over, hurting yourself by mistake. That sort of thing." He snorted to himself "There was this one time I was near the pond, when I was growing up, and I ended up falling in while trying to see the fish…" he grimaced "I walked home with soaking wet clothes after that. My mother wasn't all that pleased."

"Were you alright?"

"Oh, yeah. I was fine." Romani waved his hand dismissively "Sure, I got a little cold, but it all worked out in the end."

Asia just hummed in response, not sounding all that convinced but at the very least sounding a touch less worried than she had done a moment ago. "Roman?"

"Yes?"

"I thought you said that you were supposed to climb across the bars."

"You are."

"Then, can Issei not do it?" She asked, looking up at the nurse for elaboration "Because he just keeps pulling himself up and down."

The nurse almost laughed at how earnest her voice was, sure enough the pair had walked towards the park and quickly spied Issei trying to do pull ups on the monkey bars. His success in the endeavour was rather limited, the boy struggling to do even one. Not that Romani would ever have commented about that aloud.

He knew better than to throw stones in glass houses and all that, he didn't think he did all that much active work either. Though he'd always managed to keep himself relatively fit, now that he considered it.

Regardless, quite why Issei was trying to do pull ups was a rather bizarre mystery.

There was something else as well, Romani frowned as he watched Issei's left arm fall away and the boy winced as it dangled by his side rather uselessly. Despite that, the boy still made an effort to pull himself upwards all the while his face scrunching up with effort before it slackened and his grip loosened.

The boy, rather haplessly, plummeted back to earth and landed on his behind. Grunting as he did so and closing his eyes. His right hand moved to his left side and pressed against his shoulder, the boy leaned forwards in a pained sort of posture.

Asia was quick to speak up "I don't think he's-"

"He doesn't look good, no." The girl blinked, looking up to see the serious expression on the nurse's face as he stared at Issei from a distance. "Come on." Without waiting to see if she was going to follow him, Romani moved on ahead of her, quickly crossing the grass between himself and the playpark on a beeline directly for Issei.

Asia watched him move before her brain caught up with her, the girl's lip twitched upwards in a faint smile as she took off after the nurse. Speeding up into a slight jog in order to catch up with him.

Issei breathed in and out repeatedly, trying his best to keep his pained expression to a minimum so as not to cry out. He probably shouldn't have tried to do pull ups with his arm in quite as bad a condition as it was but Rias had made it clear to him that even the fastest healing techniques that the Devils knew would take hours to repair the damage inflicted by 'Light' or whatever it was called.

It was something regarded as Holy so it was bad for Devils.

He'd probably done well to keep it from showing during school and had avoided P.E. just so people wouldn't ask about the bandages. It wasn't like he could actually tell them when they asked.

What was he supposed to say if they asked "How did you get hurt, Issei-kun?"

"That damned crazy exorcist shot and stabbed me."

"He what!?" Issei flinched at the sudden volume right next to him, realising two things at the same time.

A) He hadn't heard that question in his head.

B) He'd spoken out loud.

His head snapped up, his eyes squinting shut as a shadow fell over him and blocked out the sun, he struggled to make out the details of the individual for a few moments, then raised his right hand to cover his vision slightly better.

The form of the person slowly revealed itself, the pale green undershirt, white t-shirt and dark trousers were the first indication of the individual in question. Then came the familiar tied up strawberry coloured hair and emerald green eyes. "Roman-sensei?" Issei blurted out in surprise, lowering the hand and looking up at the nurse in bewilderment. "What are you doing here?"

"Me?" Romani pointed at himself in surprise, then towards the young man "That should be my question to you!" he lowered his hand "What the heck are you saying about getting injured like that?" he then pointed at the metal bars above his head "And then trying to do this!"

Issei hardened his face, grunting under his breath as he rose up to his feet "I know it sounds bad, Roman-sensei but this is important to me." he stated, pressing a hand against his chest "I know what Buchou said but I can't just…" he closed his eyes and looked down "I got hurt because I was weak, alright?" he sighed, reaching up and palming his temples "I was a burden and I don't want to be like that so even if I am injured…I don't want to put everyone in that position again."

He looked up and stared at the nurse straight in the eye. "If I had been stronger then Buchou and the others wouldn't have needed to bail me out and Asia would still be here and not alone with those creeps."

Romani leaned back the longer the rant went on, sending a glance around their surroundings to see that, rather than stop and watch, the local people had instead opted to give them a wide berth so as to not get involved in whatever was going on.

Shaking his head, he turned back to face Issei and raised his hand "...There are a few things I could say about that somewhat worrying speech of yours…" he closed his eyes and exhaled, lowering the hand back to his side "But right now, I'm not going to for the simple reason that there is something more important than that right now."

Issei gave the nurse a bewildered expression "Huh? What are you talking about Roman-sensei…" the boy trailed off, his face going slack and his eyes going wide as the nurse stepped to the side and revealed the person who had been standing directly behind him. "Asia?" the boy voiced in surprise, pointing at her "You-but you were-" he turned around wildly, looking as though he had no idea what to even say "How did-" he then looked at Romani "Did you-"

"She actually came up to me when I was feeding the birds." Romani explained as he placed his hands on his hips, offering a shrug to Issei. "Don't ask me about it…" His lip curled upwards into a warm smile "She's actually very good at feeding the birds. It was her first time doing it as well." He switched back to Italian for the benefit of Asia, turning and looking at her with the same smile still present on his face. "I'd say that she would probably be quite popular with them now."

Asia flushed with embarrassment, a faint smile upon her lips as she soaked in Romani's words "You were feeding them first though, Roman." she pointed out, sending him a faint pout as her hands went to her hips. "So that means you're also one of their favourite people!"

Romani waved his hand dramatically "Nonsense. They probably liked you more than me."

"Roman…" Asia warned as best she could, going through the effort of even putting on a serious face. Though, if her attempt had been to brow beat the man into submission then she wasn't going to get very far on that front. Romani found the display more cute than threatening.

"I'm just saying…" He raised both his hands, not dropping the point.

Then Asia switched tactics, her lips dropping into a saddened frown and her eyes widening slightly. "...You mean you don't think the birds cared at all?"

Romani backtracked instantly "No, no!" he hastily explained, his eyes widening and his hands being waved in front of him in a rather panicked way. Desperate to try and calm the girl somewhat before she could start crying. "They did matter, I'm just saying they preferred you-" Asia sniffled slightly "-on second thought, I'm sure they liked us both equally!"

The girl brightened almost immediately "I thought so!" she nodded once.

Romani stared at her with surprise for a moment, then his shoulders slumped and he hung his head "...I can't even complain about that."

"Don't worry about it, Roman." Asia offered, stepping forwards and patting him on the head "Like I said, kindness is kindness. It means just as much from you as it does from me. Especially since you were doing it before me, so I'm sure that the birds didn't think any less of you."

Issei, meanwhile, was looking between the two of them with nothing shy of mystification "I am…so confused right now." he stated after a moment, focusing on Romani and, more specifically, the hand of the young girl currently placed upon his head.

"...Hey, Roman-sensei." Issei spoke in a blank tone of voice, his arms dropping to his sides "...I'm feeling that hatred of you again."

Romani blinked, looking at the boy and then towards the hand still pressed against his hair. His eyes widened and he straightened himself out, moving well outside of the reach of Asia and surprising the girl with the swiftness of his hasty retreat, especially as he suddenly made an effort to avoid her eyes. "That wasn't even my fault-"

"You still got a head pat, Roman-sensei." Issei remarked with an even tone of voice, levelling a fixed stare upon the nurse before his eyes squinted somewhat. "...It's like you exist just to mock me or something."

"Issei…" Asia's somewhat surprised voice broke him out of his musings, the girl staring at him with a surprised voice "You don't really think that about Roman, do you?"

The boy blinked at her in surprise, then chuckled and waved his hand "It's nothing serious. More like an in-joke between friends." he looked at the nurse "Right, Roman-sensei?"

Romani shrugged "Not sure how I feel about my friends being younger than me by a rather considerable margin but…I guess?" he offered, reaching up and scratching his cheek "But I don't see how you can get mad at me for that. It's not that big a deal-"

Issei pointed at him "See! That right there!" the boy exclaimed "You might not be a handsome guy, Roman-sensei! But you've been too spoiled with affection and love, you've been away from my position for so long that you've forgotten what it's like to be the awkward guy surrounded by attractive people!"

"Issei…I'm married and I'm still an awkward guy surrounded by attractive people." Romani spoke with a strained tone of voice "I didn't suddenly change after getting married, it's just that I now spend pretty much every day with an attractive person instead of just dealing with them a couple of days a week." he raised the flat of his hand, giving a wry smile "Trust me, it doesn't suddenly stop if you end up in a relationship. It just becomes something you don't think about too often…I think?"

"Well, thank yo-you think?" Issei did a double take at him "What do you mean, think? You mean I'm probably gonna be like this even if I get a girlfriend?"

"Well…I don't know…maybe?" Romani shook his head at the teenager "Either way, this probably isn't the best sort of conversation to be getting into right now." he sighed, reaching up and rubbing his face "I have a terrible habit of getting into those in the first place…I think the fact that you can still talk with me about this sort of stuff tells you all you need to know of what I'm like."

Issei opened his mouth, then slowly closed it again "You know what? Yeah…you're probably right." he admitted with a shrug of his shoulders.

The pair of them paused their conversation at a light giggling, soon turning their attention onto Asia stood next to them. The girl looked between the two of them with her lips pulled up into a warm smile, a faint laughter rippling from her throat and her eyes gleaming with mirth. "I'm happy to see that you're both such good friends to each other." she paused for a moment "...Sorry if that sounded strange."

"Nah." Issei quickly waved his hand from side to side "I don't think it sounded strange at all." he offered with a smile, staring down at the girl before tilting his head "Sorry, we completely ignored you there for a moment-"

"No, don't feel bad!" Asia actually jumped at the cut in point, stopping Issei from speaking further "I'm used to being the centre of attention so to just sit back and see something like two friends speaking with one another was very…" she paused, seemingly searching for the right words for a few moments before resuming her sentence "...Wonderful to see." she smiled further, "Especially between a human and a Devil."

Issei winced at that being brought up "Yeah…about that, listen Asia-"

"Don't worry, Issei." Asia shook her head at him "I don't mind that you're a Devil. Like I said to Roman. Kindness is kindness, no matter where it comes from." She placed her hands together, interlocking her fingers "Even if you are a Devil, then you showing kindness to me just means that you have a generous soul. You did so, even knowing that I was a nun as well."

"Hehe…" Issei made a somewhat dumb noise, a smile plastered upon his face as he rubbed the back of his neck. He then paused as he realised something "Wait, was this your first time coming to the park?"

Asia paused for a moment, then nodded her head "Y-yes. I haven't gotten the chance to have a look around properly since I arrived so I thought it would be nice if I just…gave everything a good look." her eyes swept around them, taking in the sights with gusto "If I am going to be here, I should at least enjoy the local area shouldn't I?"

She paused, then looked at Romani again "Oh, by the way!" her smile seemed to turn a touch warmer "Could you extend my thanks to Leona when you see her later? For giving me that brief tour of Kuoh." the girl then flushed slightly, looking rather abashed and diverting her eyes away from the man. "I know that I thanked her repeatedly at the time but it was just something I'm not sure I can ever really stop thanking her for…It was a very fun time is all."

Romani snickered "I'll be sure to let her know. I'm certain she'd appreciate the thanks as well but as long as you had a good time doing it, I'm sure she'd be fine with that." he placed his hands in his pockets "Speaking of which, what did you even do with her? If you don't mind me asking, that is." he made a face "Leo can be a little excitable at times, is all, and I didn't want to think that she caught you up in everything…"

Asia shook her head briefly, then paused as if something came to mind.

The brief flash of hesitation was all Romani needed, a groan came from between his lips "She did, didn't she?"

"No! It was just that she was taking me on the scenic route and we walked past one of her favourite cafe's, or so she said, then she offered to take me inside…" Asia fidgeted slightly, tapping the ends of her fingers together. "I didn't want to say no because I'd never been in a cafe either .So I ended up getting curious and it felt rude to say no after she invited me so we went in…I got some hot chocolate."

Romani exhaled.

"I'm sorry! Please don't be mad at her for-"

"No, no!" Romani waved his hand from side to side "I was actually expecting you to say she dragged you around to the local amusement park or something." he paused, then raised an eyebrow as he looked down at Issei "...We don't have one of those, do we?"

Issei gave him a weird face "...Do you not actually know? I mean. We don't, but do you seriously not know?"

"Do I really look like the sort of guy who goes out looking for roller coasters?" Romani inquired, raising an eyebrow at Issei and then shivering "I've been on them before, I get all queasy and stuff, it just ends up ruining it for everyone else…I like to try and avoid them as much as possible." he paused for a moment "I have been on the spinning tea cups though, those aren't so bad."

"Aren't those for really little children though?"

"Hey! Those teacups spin pretty fast, I'll have you know."

"Do you also go on the merry-go-round?" Issei inquired with a slightly teasing expression, Romani made a small noise before he swiftly countered.

"I bet you do as well!"

Issei stared at him blankly for a few moments, then turned his head down and looked at his feet. "Yeah…I do."

"Ha!" Romani gave a small grunt of triumph, then coughed into his hand as he saw Asia regarding the pair of them with clear amusement towards their banter. "A-anyway!" he moved to change the subject of the conversation back to the original dialogue "You don't need to worry about it, Leo…well, she'd actually probably take you to a workshop or something where you learned how to make a watch or something." Romani remarked with an odd expression on his face.

Looking up from his feet, Issei noticed the odd tone of voice in the nurses voice "Did she do that for you?"

"...Once, yeah." Romani admitted with a shrug "I didn't understand anything, so she went from giving me helpful hints, to pointing out the parts, then guiding me hands…then she just grabbed the tools and did it herself."

"Ah…Was that bad?"

"Well, it was a class for beginners." Romani explained "And it was for making wall clocks. She even had a small tool kit in her purse to make the wall clock more decorative. It came with romal numerals and little paints as well."

Issei creased his brows "Wait, wait…what? Why…did she?"

"Well…she said it would be in case inspiration struck her." Romani replied "Apparently inspiration struck her when I was reading through the first steps." his voice turned flat, though the man himself didn't look annoyed by it in the least. A smile soon worked itself onto his face "It was actually a lot more enjoyable watching her work with that goofy grin on her face than it probably was watching me fumble around. Although she did get me one of those wooden model planes on the way back. She said she wanted me to take a photo of it and then show it to her when we next met."

"...Did you?" It was Asia who asked this time, the girl leaning forwards with a vested interest in the story at this point.

"Yeah." He nodded his head in affirmation "She said it turned out exactly as she expected it would. Then pat me on the shoulder and told me she would get me another one so I could try a different colour combination."

"Awwww. You got each other's marriage gifts?"

"Ah…we…um…" Romani coughed into his hand, looking between the two of them somewhat awkwardly "We weren't married." a beat "Or going out." another beat "Well, I didn't think we were going out at that point but apparently, according to Leo, we were without me knowing about it. So that probably counted as our…um…It probably counted as a date or something."

Issei's expression had grown increasingly strained the longer that the nurse had been speaking for "...Roman-sensei."

"Yeah…" Romani sighed to himself, closing his eyes and nodding his head up and down "...I'm really trying here."

Issei gave him an incredulous stare for a few moments, then exhaled and shook his head from side to side. Turning his attention onto Asia once more "A cafe on the main street?" he inquired, the girl paused for a moment then gave an uncertain nod of the head. "Off the top of my head there are a couple around here. I think there is one European one, so I'd like to say that's the one you went to."

"Leona said it was french." Asia responded with, offering a faint smile in response "But I…don't really know enough about the town to tell you."

"Ah, that one." Romani nodded his head, smiling to himself "Yeah, Leo goes to that one every now and again. More often than not without me, I think she mostly goes after a morning jog or something." he mumble to himself "I've been a couple of times though, it's actually quite nice." he raised his right hand, scratching his cheek "I don't know how it compared with cafe's in France though because I've never been to the country…"

"Really?" Issei raised an eyebrow at him in surprise "I thought you said you used to live in Germany though?"

"I was studying medicine there at the time." Romani explained "Even then, it was mostly just to get the qualifications to be a nurse."

"How in the heck did you end up in Japan of all places then?" Issei asked bluntly, then raised his hands "Sorry if that sounds weird but Japan and Germany are pretty far apart…I think. I'm not actually that good at geography but I can at least tell by looking at a globe. Or a map."

Romani coughed "Well…I just figured it would be nice to visit?" he replied, then frowned to himself "It was just one of those gut feeling things. You know when you see something and you just go 'yeah, that's it' and do it because it feels right? That's pretty much how it goes."

"That just sounds like going with the flow because an idea sounds neat." Issei remarked before he smiled "That sounds like the ideal way to live life for the most part actually."

Romani grinned back "It is. You don't need to worry yourself about big things more often than not. You just accept that some things are out of your hands and everything else just comes to you." he paused for a moment, darting his eyes back to Asia "But…uhm…It probably isn't for everyone." he added on in a strained tone of voice "If you see Leo again, don't tell her I'm advocating for this. She just says I procrastinate through life and can't commit to anything."

Asia opened and closed her mouth, then furrowed her brows "But…aren't you married? That's the greatest commitment of all."

"I mean…I can commit to some things every now and again." Romani replied back with a sheepish grin "To be honest, it's gotten to the point where I just sort of treat Leo as part of my daily routine." he immediately cringed "Wait, no. That came out wrong, what I meant was-"

"Don't worry, Roman. I understood it!" Asia nodded her head, clenching her fists in front of herself and looking up at him with wide eyes "It means that you can't imagine your life without her because your love is so strong, right!?"

Issei slowly crossed his arms in front of his chest, the look he was sending Romani was slowly but surely turning more and more sour as the conversation went on.

"S-sure? I guess that's certainly…one way of putting it." The nurse muttered, glancing at Issei out of the corner of his eye and wincing at the expression of the teenager. Shaking his head, he looked down to Asia and tilted it for a moment "S-so…You wanted to explore Kuoh, right?"

Asia nodded her head in response, Issei's expression suddenly brightened as an obvious idea soon came to him. The boy stepped forwards and pressed a hand on his chest. "I'd be happy to show you around, Asia!" the boy didn't even make an effort to contain his enthusiasm at the notion, a confident smile appearing on his face.

Or confident by Issei standards, to everyone else it looked somewhat goofy.

Even to Romani.

"I've lived here all my life, so I know all the best spots to hang about and have fun." He exclaimed, nodding his head as though he was delivering sage advice.

Asia momentarily found herself stunned by the sudden excitement in the boys tone of voice, staring at him in surprise for a few moments before she pursed her lips, fidgeting slightly on the spot "I don't want to be a hassle-"

"Don't worry about it." Issei chuckled, putting a thumb against his chest "I wasn't going to be doing anything tonight anyway."

Both Romani and Asia stared at him.

"...That sounded a lot better in my head." Issei glumly admitted, grimacing slightly before he grunted and waved his hand. "What do you say though, Asia?" His focus returned to the girl, his voice shifting back into a more casual tone of voice, doing his best to hide away the slight edge of worry in his words. "I mean…I don't want to pressure you into anything-"

Asia cut him off with a light giggle, Issei left there with a dumbfounded expression as the girl covers her mouth with her hands, ripples of laughter leaking out from between her fingers as she looked at the boy and then to Romani several times. The nurse groaned, putting his head in his hands.

Issei fidgeted on the spot as the laughter continued "H-hey, I didn't say anything weird, did I?"

"N-no, Issei." Asia hastily assured the boy, her laughter dying down as she controlled her breathing. "I-it's just that Roman said the same thing about pressuring me so I thought it was funny how alike you two are." she smiled fondly at the pair, as though she was a proud parent. "It's nice you two are such good friends."

Her tone was similarly maternal, both Issei and Romani glanced at one another before the boy leaned towards the nurse with a blank expression, his voice shifting into an emotionless whisper. "If she mother zones me, I'm going to kick you."

Romani gave him a flat look "I can't be held responsible for that."

"Oh yes you can." Issei countered, stabbing a finger at the nurse "And I intend to do just that." He looked back to Asia and smiled, the girl tilted her head somewhat cutely as she looked between the pair in slight puzzlement from the rapid changes in their faces. "So…do you want to have a look around?"

Asia thinned her lips, pressing the tips of her fingers together and glancing between the pair. "If you two don't mind showing me around, then I can't turn away your kindness." she smiled at the pair more openly now "Alright. I'll come along with you!"

Issei nodded his head up and down before he leaned back to Romani, this time the giddy expression stayed on his face even as he whispered to the nurse. "Roman-sensei, can you-"

Romani exhaled "I can give you some space and let you…" he waved hand hand at the girl vaguely "Do whatever, but don't push her into anything. She's clearly not all that used to speaking with people so-"

The boy frowned at the nurse, "Hey, I wouldn't do something like that."

"Well, I know that." Romani rolled his eyes "But it's something that I just have to say before you go on your tour. She's a nice girl and she clearly doesn't like turning kindness away so I'm just a little worried on her behalf." he paused for a moment "That and I know that if Leo ever found out I met her and something happened, she would probably get annoyed at me."

Issei tilted his head "...Is she scary when annoyed?"

"She's scary when she's creative." Romani corrected "When she's annoyed, she's…well, it hits you differently." he grimaced "There's like this deeply unsettling feeling in your gut, like when you do something you know is wrong and your parents are just waiting for you to admit it. That sort of thing."

"Oh…" The teenager grimaced, "I hate that feeling."

"Yeah, me too." Romani muttered back, then leaned away from the boy "But I'll just hang back as adult supervision or something…I'm probably also going to end up paying for all of this stuff anyway, if…you know." he punctuated the sentence by widening his eyes and fixing the teeneager with an blank stare.

Issei made a noise of understanding "Ah, right. I actually forgot about that." he spoke in a surprised tone of voice "I just…didn't think about it and then you guys found me." the boy tilted his head "Is that what you meant by letting things play out?"

"Well, yes." Was the blunt reply of the nurse "But I wasn't expecting it to happen mere hours after that conversation. That would be weird." a sigh "Ah well. Good thing I always bring my wallet, eh?"

"Just let me know how much we spend." Issei offered "I'll be sure to pay-"

"I am not going to start taking money from a student, Issei." Romani flatly responded, shaking his head from side to side and raising up his palm to prevent any further argument. "Just think of it as me doing an act of charity. Not that you're a charity case! Just…um…good deed for the day sort of deal?" he paused, then nodded once with a resolute face "Yes. We'll go with that. I'm doing my good deed for the day."

"Riiight." Issei drew out the word with a raised eyebrow "...I mean, if you're offering I'm not gonna say no. Last chance to tell me not to pay you back though."

"It's fine, really." Romani breathed out with a light smile "But it's nice that you're considerate about this sort of deal. However, I'm the adult here so it makes sense that I pay for this sort of thing." he paused, then pointed to Asia who looked between the two of them with an innocent expression "Just as long as you make sure she has fun, I don't mind. She looks like she could probably do with a little harmless excitement."

"Don't worry, Roman-sensei." Issei nodded once, fixing the nurse with a determined gaze "I will make sure that Asia-san every moment of her tour!"

"...I don't think you needed to shout that last part out." Romani remarked with a single blink, then shrugged "But nevermind. You two decide where you want to go and I'll just trail on behind you."

Issei nodded once, then turned to the blonde girl before he paused, looking back at the nurse. "Wait, is this you just going with the flow again?"

"Yep." The man didn't even hesitate to answer, flashing Issei a guilt free smile and raising his hands to give the boy a thumbs up. "Good luck!" He paused for a moment as he realised something, then swiftly stuck his hand into his pocket "I just realised, I need to tell Leo that I'll be back later…I was only going out for a quick walk." he muttered, fishing his phone out and switching it on.

Issei, meanwhile, raised his brows at the nurse in surprise "You go for walks?"

"Sometimes, when I need to clear my-why do you sound so surprised all of a sudden?" Romani looked up from his phone to the boy, his face scrunched up slightly "And what's with that doubtful expression? I can go for walks if I want."

Stepping back, the boy bit back a laugh as he raised his hands in faux surrender "I didn't mean it like that, Roman-sensei. It was just that you didn't seem the type to go on long thoughtful walks."

Romani flattened his expression, then rolled his eyes and looked back to his phone "I usually don't but these last few days have been a little hectic for me so I'm branching out from my usual habit of just sitting in a chair and staring at the wall in silence for hours on end with a cup of coffee in my hand."

"...Wouldn't the coffee get cold if you stared at the wall for hours-"

"Yes, it would." Romani nodded tiredly, bringing the phone up to his ear, then moved it away slightly "And to be honest? That's only happened a couple of times for me. The first was when I was waiting for the results of my exams back and the second was when Leo told me she thought we were already dating." he gave a half shrug "I stared at the wall in silence for quite a while after tha-"

"Roman?" The familiar voice of Leona came through the device, Asia perked up at the tone before she closed her mouth tightly so as to not interrupt.

The nurse quickly moved the phone back, turning side on to the teens "Leo? Hey, listen. I was just phoning to let you know that I was going to be staying out a little later tonight. Is that alright?"

Issei creased his brows at the wording, slowly uncrossing his arms from his front and placing them on his hips.

"Well, you can stay out if you want." Leona replied in a slightly mystified tone of voice "...Are you asking me permission or something?"

"I was just phoning to let you know in case you got worried." He paused for a brief moment "Or if you had any plans."

"Not especially." Leona admitted, then her voice shifted to become slightly more concerned "How about you though…I'm sorry about earlier, that sort of situation is…" she sighed tiredly "I'm more used to it than you are. I should have told you about it earlier before it got sprung on you. I know you're worried about those children though and-"

"It's fine, Leo." Romani gently cut her off, turning his head slightly and glancing to the duo standing near him. "It's…well, I wouldn't say it's fine. I'm honestly still troubled by it but I guess it was routine for everyone else but me, huh?" he added the last part somewhat self depreciating.

"It wasn't like that, Roman." Leona assured him "It was just something…No. It was like that. I won't lie to you. Sorry."

"No, that was my bad." Romani responded "Anyway, I'll probably be back in…a couple of hours so maybe five or just after?" he spoke, moving his left hand to grab the phone while freeing up his right and glancing down at his watch. "Oh wow. Yeah, probably a little after half-five." he glanced at Issei and Asia, pulling the phone away slightly "A couple of hours is fine, right?"

Issei nodded his head up and down "It should be fine, yeah. I mean, me and Asia-san can go on around if you need to head back early." The boy didn't quite drop the odd tone of voice as he stared at the nurse, looking him up and down as if seeing something completely different than before.

Romani didn't catch the puzzlement in his voice, then brought the phone back up to his ear. "Yeah, a couple of hours."

"Are you going out with friends or something?" Leona asked in surprise "Because I just heard someone's voice…"

"Something like that, yeah." Romani replied back with a light tone "It was a funny story actually, I ran into them while feeding the birds. Well, I wasn't feeding the birds at first, I was sitting at the bench and then this guy came up and started feeding the birds next to me and then handed the seeds to me and walked off."

"...Okay?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Romani chuckled, missing Issei scrunching his face up in bafflement and looking around in confusion "But then I ran into Asia-"

"Asia!?" Leona gave a noise of surprise mixed with another emotion, causing Romani to pull the phone away from his ear at the volume.

"Yes, Leona?" Romani jumped and looked down, seeing the young blonde standing right next to him and staring at the phone in his hand, clearly having heard her voice being called out. "Is something wrong?"

"Of course not." Leona was quick to respond, her voice shifting from concerned to gentle in a moment "I'm glad to hear from you. How are you enjoying Kuoh so far?"

"I haven't been to see a lot of it yet…" Asia admitted shyly, Romani holding the phone in front of her while he looked at Issei sporting a raised eyebrow, both men shrugged as the Italians communicated with each other. "But both Roman and Issei agreed to show me around today so that I could see more of the town!"

Leona chuckled back through the phone "He did, did he? And calling him Roman already? I'm happy to see that you're making fast friends with-I'm sorry…Issei?" her tone shifted as she spoke out the second name, Asia's words catching up with her and the voice turning slightly strained. "As in, Issei Hyoudou?"

"Yes. Unless there is another Issei…Is there?"

"...Teenager? Light brown hair and somewhat dopey face?"

Asia gave a shocked gasp, clapping a hand over her mouth and shooting a look over her shoulder towards the 'dopey' faced boy in question. With his enhanced hearing, Issei had also picked up on the blunt wording, raising his left hand to point at himself somewhat questioningly.

"L-Leona!" Asia whirled around to the phone, stepping closer to it and dropping her voice into a hastily spoken whisper "You can't say things like that to people! It's very bad!"

"Ah." Leona made a noise "My bad. Although at least if I sin, I know a nun I can confess to and receive absolution from, right?"

"Leona!"

"Alright, alright." The woman let out a good natured chuckle "But I'm right, aren't I? In regards to the description."

Asia made a face "W-well…Issei does have brown hair."

"Hmmm." Leona gave an odd hum in response "Romani?" she called out, the nurse took that as his cue and brought the phone up to his head and placed it against his ear once more.

"Yes?" The man frowned at the tone of voice, Leona only really used that when she was slightly worried about something. Considering how infrequent that actually was, it certainly made it memorable.

"Did you run into Issei when he was with Asia or did the pair of you run into him?"

"The second one." Romani explained, then remained there with the phone pressed against his ear as silence came out from the other end. "...Are you still there?"

"Yes, yes. Just…Can you pass the phone to Issei for a moment?" She asked, earning a blink of surprise from the nurse as he looked towards the boy in question, Issei tilting his head somewhat questioningly at the puzzled look the nurse was shooting his way. "Just need to talk about some supernatural sort of business."

"Umm…Okay." Romani shrugged his shoulders, pulling the phone away from his ear and holding it towards the teenager. "She wants to talk with you?"

Issei made a face, then looked down at the device in the older man's hand, then back to the face of the nurse. To his credit, Romani looked as lost as Issei himself felt at the sentence. "She does?"

Romani silently nodded, shaking the phone slightly to emphasise it.

"...Alright then." Issei shrugged his shoulders, then reached out with his right hand and took the device slowly from Romani, almost worried as though the nurse was going to yank it away from him the second he touched it. That didn't happen, the teenager took the phone without incident and brought it towards himself. Staring at the screen for a moment as if to confirm it to himself.

This was a strange turn of events that he hadn't been expecting.

Then there was this odd trepidation he was feeling, like when he used to go around his friends houses and have to ask their parents if they were allowed to come out to play. Romani's earlier words with his wife hadn't done anything to dissuade him of that notion. Rather, they had enforced the image in his mind.

"H-hello?" Issei's voice cracked slightly as he spoke, wincing at how awkward he sounded "This is…um…Hyoudou Issei speaking?" he cringed at his stumbling words, the face of Romani looked supportive at the very least.

"I'm going to guess that your King isn't aware that you're currently consorting with a nun of the Grigori." Issei would have blanched at the tone of voice, it sounded stern and scolding as though faced with a teacher who knew he had done something wrong and was trying to get him to confess. He managed to control himself, but the audible gulp was answer enough. "I thought as much. I am also going to assume that Miss Gremory has already educated you on the relationship between Devils and the other two factions of the Abrahamic Sect, yes?"

"Arbra what?"

An exasperated sigh was his only response for a few seconds "The Fallen Angels and the Holy Church. Rias has told you that Devils don't make friends with them. Hasn't she?"

Issei debated whether or not he could plead ignorance, then he snuck a glance to Asia for a brief second before he answered. Mustering up his courage and giving a single word answer. "Yes."

"And that when these two factions typically interact, it is usually in the form of a violent skirmish." Her voice raised itself slightly before it died back down, however Issei could sense the underlying tone within her words.

"...Yes." His response was a bit slower this time.

"So you can explain to me why my husband is now telling me that both you and him are going to be walking around with a Nun of all things." The tone was hard and very forceful.

Issei swallowed, sneaking a glance at Romani before turning himself side on to the man and dropping his voice into a quiet whisper. "Because…Well…I was worried about Asia-san." Was the only response he could give her. Really, there was nothing else that Issei could actually say at that moment.

"The fact she's hanging around with those creeps is…" He sighed, closing his eyes "I just can't accept it. She doesn't really know a lot about doing stuff…Roman-sensei said she'd never even fed birds before today so…" the boy reached up with his free hand, rubbing his forehead.

Leona was silent on the other end of the line, prompting Issei to go on further.

"I know that it's not what we're supposed to do but I don't care about whatever that stuff is. It's just that…" Another sigh escaped the boy as he struggled to find the right words "I don't care about any of that right now. I just see this sweet little girl who hasn't been able to enjoy herself before so…I at least want to make sure that she can." his expression hardened "And I don't believe for a second that Asia would want to hang out with people who murder so casually."

"...Don't you kill Stray Devils?"

Issei sputtered "Wha-that is-wait a-"

"I know what you meant." A sigh came from the other end of the line, the woman sounded more exasperated than Issei would actually have pictured her being before. As though the earlier strength of her words had been sapped away from her body. "...Honestly, you and Roman. The pair of you are such a headache…" Her voice sounded further away than before, as though she had moved the phone from her ear.

"...Uhm…"

"Alright, fine." Leona's voice came back clear, clearly moving the phone back to her mouth once more. "I can't speak for your King or anything like that but honestly? Dealing with your hard headedness isn't actually my problem in the first place. However, considering you're also including my husband in the matter I feel as though I'm granted a certain level of influence over the situation."

"Righ-"

"So listen closely to what I am going to say." Leona cut him off, Issei going stock still as her voice sounded dangerously close to his ear. He might have appreciated it more if he didn't feel as though he'd stuck his head right next to a wasp nest. "I know for a fact that Romani is going to be dead set on this, probably as much as you are. He can be stubborn when he wants to be for someone with such a lackadaisical attitude."

Issei didn't understand what that word meant.

"So if you are going to do this, then I am going to hold you personally responsible if any harm comes to him. Romani might not know better at the moment but you've confirmed to me that you most certainly do. So when Romani tells me he's going to be coming back home, I expect him to come back without so much as a scratch on his person."

"...R-right…" Issei's voice cracked.

"If you want to break the norm in such a fashion, fine. However, if you're going to drag Romani into it then the least you can do is make sure he stays safe." There was a brief pause "Rest assured, I will know if anything happens to him, in case you were worried about me finding out after the fact or Romani thought of trying to cover for you. He's nice like that, isn't he?"

"V-very." Issei rapidly nodded his head up and down, not that the woman on the other end could see. "Absolutely."

"Right? If he does get injured because of this…Well…I'm sure that I can convince Rias to have a personal say in whatever punishment she places upon you." The woman's voice came out as light and jovial, despite the incredibly scary thing she just said. "Oh, and one more thing?"

"Yes?" His voice came out as a little squeak.

"Make sure that Asia has a wonderful time today. She's a nice girl, so I'll be equally upset if she doesn't have fun. Understood?"

"Yes, Mrs-Ma'am!" Issei corrected, virtually snapping to attention "Understood!"

"Good, good." Leona sounded pleased with the response "Ah, Romani also seems to trust you enough to keep his secret about his eyes. Considering you found out before me…Well, I suppose circumstances were a little troubling at the time. Regardless, Romani has put quite a bit of trust in you. So I would appreciate it if you didn't betray that trust by having loose lips around your King."

"I wouldn't tell anyone!" Issei hastily countered "I actually told him to tell you about it after he found out you were a…you know…"

"Did you? In that case, I suppose I should extend some sort of gratitude to you." The woman hummed "I'll keep this little expedition of yours a secret from Rias, alright? So make sure nothing goes wrong. That seems a fair enough favour."

"Yeah…sure…I guess?" Issei replied with an odd tone of voice, then winced as he recalled what Buchou had actually said when he brought up the Issei of Asia to her. More or less along the lines of how Devils and Holy figures were completely at odds with one another. After she told him that, he doubted she would be happy about the idea that he was going to be walking around town with a Nun.

"You guess?" The raised eyebrow from Leona was audible.

"I mean, yes." Issei corrected himself "Thank you. I'll also make sure that Roman-sensei comes back home on time!"

"Huh!?" He could hear the nurse let out a squawk of surprise in the distance.

On the other end of the phone, he heard Leona muffle her laughter "N-not quite sure why exactly you would phrase it like that but I can see how you and Romani get along. At least in regards to blurting out your words without thinking about them first."

"W-well, um…I…"

"I've said all I wanted to say though. So you can hand the phone back to Romani."

Issei made a small noise, then looked towards the nurse while extending the phone back to him "Umm…I'm finished." he simply said, Romani still staring at him with a scrutinous gaze as he took the phone back without removing his eyes from Issei once. "...Your wife is scary, by the way."

"How am I supposed to respond to that?" Romani couldn't help but comment as he put the phone to his ear, still looking at Issei for a few moments then turning his head to the side "Leo? What on earth did you say to Issei-kun? He looks like he just avoided getting hit by a car."

"I just told him to make sure you were safe is all." Leona responded in her usual innocent tone, Romani flattened his expression. She only ever used that tone of voice when she was trying to hide the obvious from him. "Also I told him to make sure Asia has fun."

"See, the second one I can understand." Romani responded "But aren't I the adult here?"

"Think of it as a more supernatural side of things." Leona explained to him, shifting her tone to be more tense "Devils and the clergy do not mix. By all accounts, neither you nor Issei should be within line of sight with Asia at all…But he made a somewhat earnest argument so I've elected to hold off tattling on him for the time being." a pause before she continued "If only because I know you'd have some problems with me telling you to leave well enough alone as well."

"Leo-"

"I'm telling you to go out and make sure Asia has fun, Romani." Leona gently cut him off "I can still keep an eye on things from here and can put a quick call in with Rias if things turn sideways. It's a little privilege of mine."

"...Right." Romani exhaled, nodding his head up and down, his lip quirking into a faint smile "Thanks, Leo."

"You can thank me by telling me how it went when you get back." Leona chuckled back "...Be careful, alright? Keep that watch on hand too. Don't want you losing track of the time now, do we?"

Romani huffed "That hasn't…" he trailed off, he could feel the pointed stare through the phone. "...Okay, that has happened before. Don't worry though, I'll be back soon."

"I've told Issei to make sure nothing happens to you-"

"You make it sound like a parent sending their kid out on a prom date!" Romani whined out somewhat childishly, he caught sight of Issei hiding his snicker behind his fist.

"You grow up so fast, Romani." The fact Leona added on an exaggerated sniffle at the end made it worse for him. An embarrassed goran leaving the nurses mouth soon after. "I'm joking, I'm joking! Have fun, Romani! Love you~"

"See you later-"

"Say it."

"...Eh?"

"Come on Romani." Leona pushed with her teasing tone of voice "Say it…You know you want to."

"I-I'm with company right now though…"

"You mean you can't admit you love me unless it's in private? That's exceedingly intimate of you, Romani! I never knew you to be such a bold man when we're alone!" Leona gasped out "Unless you don't want to-"

"Fine…" Romani sighed, sending one last glance to Leona before he paused as if to consider something. It would be a good opportunity to catch her by surprise. Not like he would get another chance to turn the tables on her. However, did he really want to risk the teasing that would inevitably occur when he got back?

…It was too good an opportunity to pass up.

Clearing his throat, he brought his hand over to cup his mouth while he whispered into the phone spear. "I love you, my universal genius."

The fact he whispered it in Italian likely had an added effect. He could hear a surprised cough on the other side. Then he quickly hung up before he could be pressed with any further teasing comments, stuffing the phone into his pocket and snapping his head up.

Despite his own confidence to say the words, his face was bright red and he was biting his lips to hold back the pitiful whimper he was likely to make. His left hand moved up to his face, clamping his hand over it and letting out a shuddering breath.

His heart was beating fast enough that Romani felt as though it was going to leap out of his chest, the last time he had done something like that was before he was building up the courage to ask Leona out on a date. He'd thought he was going to die of a heart attack at that point too. Evidently it had not changed a bit.

Sliding his hand down his face, he turned around to face Issei and Asia once more.

Then watched as the pair of them were virtually right next to him.

Issei was giving Romani a perfectly emotionless expression, akin to an unchanging mask.

Asia, meanwhile, had her hands cupped in front of her mouth with her eyes bright red. A tinge of colour upon her cheeks as she stared up at the nurse before slowly lowering the hands. "That's so romantic, Roman!" She whispered out in an emotional tone of voice, her words wavering with emotion.

"Yeah, Roman-sensei." Issei's words, meanwhile, were the exact opposite. Untouched by even the barest hints of emotion. "Real romantic. Very touching." He raised his right arm, then stabbed his index finger into his chest just above his heart and twisted it around as if trying to drill into his body. "Get's me right here, you know?"

Romani, meanwhile, was busy opening and closing his mouth as he realised what had happened. "Y-y-you he-heard that?" His words came out as a strangled gasp, taking a single step away from the pair as his eyes darted between the both of them.

Issei gave a single nod while Asia moved her head up and down as if on a piston.

At that moment, Romani felt like he wanted to vanish from the world entirely.

AN: The dynamic between Romani and Asia has been a joy to write for me.

Along with Issei as well, still surprised myself with how easy it is to write dialogue between the two of them.

Anyway!

Next chapter is obviously going to be the calm and most likely the storm as well!