He who is no longer an ordinary man
IV
"You…you're friends with them, right?"
Romani looked towards them at the comment.
It was different.
Their posture was alert, hidden in.
He glanced about and frowned rather quickly at the way they were acting, as if they were afraid of what they were next going to say.
"I talk with most of them, yes." He answered evenly, eyes darting back.
He knew their name, of course.
Shibuya Yumiko.
Middle aged and…recently widowed.
He had a photo and graph of her husband already on the wall with some small facts about him.
He liked to play the flute.
She glanced back at him with a nervous gaze, but deeply saddened as she took a hesitant step forwards, her voice falling even lower into a whisper.
"I…I want to…leave."
Romani watched as she sniffled and ducked her head as though she was expecting some sort of repercussion.
But he understood what she was saying and was surprised it had taken as long as it had for someone to come and step forwards to ask it.
Very slowly, he nodded his head up and down.
"Do you…have anywhere you can stay?"
It was the first thing he could ask when she said it because that was his chief concern, whether there was a place that she could stay - live, even - or if that had been her only home. There might well be some parents or distant family that could take her in, but he wasn't under any illusions about what her life would be like.
Her husband was dead.
It was just her and her daughter left.
She flinched when he asked the question and he feared that would be an answer.
"I'll look into somewhere-"
"Does…"
It was a swift interrupt, her eyes snapped up and gazed into his own before they broke away. Her voice now contained a hint of an edge to it.
"...Does it have to involve them…?"
"No more than necessary."
They were currently living in the underworld with Devils, but he was sure that there would be some way of sending her off to Japan again with her daughter and so that they could enjoy their life in whatever way they could away from all of this.
And he could promise her this much.
"Just enough for you to have somewhere to go."
"...A-and no more?" Her lips wet and she shuffled a bit. "They won't…ask for more after that?"
"No."
He could be certain of that and, if not, he would make it certain if it was even possible.
"I'll talk to them about it and make sure that this will be the last time they really need to have interaction with you, if that is what you want…it might take a little while, but I'll make it my top priority, okay?"
Visibly, she slumped and dropped forwards.
"...Thank you…"
He barely heard her whispered thanks, and nodded his head all the same.
There were very few words of comfort he could offer her and he doubted that she would believe much of them either.
So he would say the very best he could.
"I'm going to do everything I can for you and your daughter, alright?"
She twitched a little but gave no verbal response.
At the very least, she did not reject or dismiss his words.
"We can hash out all of the details later, okay? When you're feeling up for it. I'll be back with you the very second that I know anything…Take care of yourself in the meantime, alright? And Shibuya-chan."
The woman sniffled, sounding close to tears, as she nodded her head up and down and then started to back away, turning off and speeding away from him with a very rapid walk. Either because she just couldn't get away from him fast enough or because she wanted to get out of line of sight before she just broke down.
Romani watched her run off for a brief moment, then turned about.
Or made to, at any rate.
He managed no more than half a turn before he noticed someone standing off to the side and watching him, her eyes lingering on the retreating woman before they darted off back to him.
"Penny."
Greeting her with a nod of the head, she stepped off and out of the shadow of the alleyway she had been standing in and strode forwards.
"Roman."
Heh.
Well, at least she wasn't trying to sound all joyful.
But this place hardly invited much joy.
Still, he gave her a smile all the same which she reciprocated.
"...You handle that sort of thing often?"
"No." Shaking his head, "She's the first one to come to me."
"...First one?"
Ah, so she had caught that little implication as well, had she?
No real surprise.
He felt his smile slip away a little as his shoulders dropped. "...I wouldn't be surprised if more of them are coming up to me before long. I'm pretty much being known as the guy who talks with the Devils around here…or I'm the closest thing to an authority they have when it comes to getting their concerns across."
Penny folded her arms and looked at him.
It felt like she was really looking as well.
"...You, huh?"
"Heh. Yeah."
Rubbing the back of his neck, he placed his other hand on his hip.
"...I don't mind it if they need someone, though. But there are probably quite a few better people they could be talking to about it but…well…until they find someone else, I can step in until that happens."
Penny frowned. "That isn't normally how that sort of thing plays out. Once they start treating you like that, they're never really going to stop."
Ah.
Well.
He figured that might have been the case as well.
Or they would eventually find someone who could achieve a bit more than him and would move off as soon as.
Or they would all be gone before long and back away to live their lives.
He was sure it was a priority anyway.
"So how long are you going to be staying?"
Penny puffed out her cheeks and released a long breath, hands on her hips and a far off look in the eye.
Yeah.
That was an answer he could empathise with.
"...As long as my presence is needed, really. Or until Azazel calls me back. I came here for a favour on behalf of someone else and ran into Gabriel along the way. Not sure how long she or your friend will be staying here but I doubt it will be as long as me."
For whatever reason, she paused and sent him a coy smirk.
Oh, no.
He could guess the reason why she was smiling at him like that.
"Well…that lovely Kiara might stay longer-"
"You joke, but I remember her being this tall." Holding his hand up next to his waist, he shook his head. "Honestly, it's more weird for me that she's tall."
Penny cocked a brow, the smirk grew. "Don't you mean bigger?"
He cringed at that and rolled his eyes. "Heh…please don't…"
"You're the one who said it."
"I knew her when she was a sweet and innocent little girl who liked me reading her the little mermaid."
He could only throw up his hands in exasperation.
All the more he was shocked by how someone who turned into a nun could possibly go around making jokes like that.
He really hoped that Asia didn't pick up any habits of that.
There were enough of those types of women in his life.
"Awwww~"
With a flat gaze, he watched Penny coo for a brief moment before her face reverted back to it's previous casual one.
"I joke, I joke. You have strange friends, Roman…not like I'm one to complain about that but back to what you asked and it's good that you did, actually, because I wanted to talk with you about the favour I owe someone."
Oh?
Alright then.
He wasn't sure what sort of help he could give, but if he could give it then he would do his best.
"Sure."
"Thanks." As she said that, her eyes were sweeping all around them as if she was searching for something.
Or someone.
"Can we talk in private? Not really the sort of conversation you can really be having in the open like this."
"Okay."
He jerked a thumb over his shoulder.
"I need to go back to the house and work on some stuff anyway."
Penny reared back in shock. "These Devils really are corrupting you! You never would have been so bold to invite me back all by yourself."
Romani grunted and shook his head.
"Yeah, yeah."
Turning around, he started to walk off.
And he was also trying very hard to ignore the burning feeling on his cheeks.
"Not sure when Leo will be back."
He said as he entered the house and held open the door for the purple haired woman.
"Her hours are varying these days, and with these projects she's got going on for Issei and his friends it's…definitely taking up a lot of time."
Penny's gaze turned soft. "It won't be forever, you know? Everything is just hectic because it's recent but sooner or later, you'll be back to cuddling under the covers or being guinea pig to her latest fad before you know it."
Romani snorted.
He missed those times.
Closing the door, he made for the living room.
"You want a coffee while we talk?"
"Sure."
Good thing he remembered.
"Your tastes haven't changed, have they?"
"Nope."
Pure black.
He wasn't sure how someone could drink something that tasted like it had been ground out from the deepest and hottest pits of lava known to the world, but Penny was just a curious person like that and it made so much sense.
It was something no human could drink.
Maybe he should have seen the signs all those years ago when she gulped down an entire mug in a single go?
"I get the feeling you're thinking about me."
"Do you have a sense for that!?"
"So you really were!"
Ah.
He went and admitted it?
Damn it.
"Just thinking about your coffee."
"I've not heard that euphemism before."
Romani stumbled as he went for the kitchen, hearing the giggling behind him and ducking his head and moving forwards.
Yeah.
She was still herself.
"...It's weird seeing this house like this."
Romani hesitated as he got the mugs out and set them down.
Finding himself nodding along with her words. "It's probably not going to be something I get used to."
"...We can probably find the time to get some new photos to fill them all up, you know? At least you can take another one with that girl, couldn't you? Maybe have her and Asia together just so you can compare and contrast the people you're going out of your way to help?"
Romani chuckled. "Leo suggested the same thing when we had the time…she talked about how she wanted to go and see some of the major cities and see the art museums."
"Devil art, huh? Can't imagine it being all that different."
Neither would he.
But he wasn't the type of person when it came to art that Leo was.
"What about you? Would you want to go and visit those places? I hear Lilith is a fairly large city."
Was that one of the big ones then?
Lilith.
That sounded fairly important to him.
As for visiting?
The thought never even crossed his mind, not until Leo mentioned it in passing but he had hardly remembered it until now.
"...Maybe if I got the chance, but it's not a big priority for me."
The kettle clicked as it finished boiling.
"What about you? Now that you can go around without needing to worry about getting into fights with them? Would you like to go and visit the cities?"
Penny let out a chuckle. "Perhaps when this next wave of fighting is over I might get the chance…but stepping away from Azazel for more than a day would let the worst of his impulses out and before you knew it, you'd come back to find half the headquarters on fire and the other half owned by robots."
For a brief moment, he thought she might have been joking.
Then he thought about it a little more and thinned his lips.
The image did not exactly strike him as out of place.
"...Maybe you'll get the chance at some point?"
"...I'd like to think so. At least so I can say that I went and did it."
Romani knew that feeling.
Finishing up the coffee and the black mess from the deepest abyss, he took up the mugs and turned around, striding back through and into the living room.
His finger jumped out and above the coffee table, one two separate sides close to him and Penny, there came into being thin sheets of a glassy substance which rested atop the wood. There was only a brief jolt from her as she looked down in front of herself, then towards him with a bemused face, or slightly perturbed.
Was it strange?
He didn't have any coasters at the moment.
"It's strange seeing you do magic and…"
She reached over and flicked the little spell before leaning back.
"...And using barrier spells as coasters? That would seem like some sort of power move for anyone else."
Romani thought about that.
Power move?
Like what?
"...I just needed some coasters."
He shrugged, setting down the mugs on either side of the table.
"And it lets me get some practice in with all of them, so it works out pretty well."
Penny was still transfixed on the pseudo-coaster, head cocked to the side and brow furrowed a little.
He didn't think it would be worth her staring so much.
This was a pretty small scale thing to what he had seen plenty of other people do when it came to magic.
He was definitely a real novice.
"...The favour?"
"Hmph?"
Penny blinked and looked up at him, then made a small noise of understanding. Not before casting the spell another glance and a raised brow. He was starting to think that there might have been something he was doing wrong and that was why she was so visibly interested in it.
Like seeing the magical equivalent of graffiti or something.
Was that what he was doing?
Maybe Leona hadn't said anything to stop him getting embarrassed.
"...I'm here on behalf of someone else regarding one of Rias Gremory's peerage."
Romani stopped just shy of bringing the mug to his lips.
He could make several guesses as to who she was talking about.
"...It's not Asia, is it?"
Penny slowly shook her head from side to side.
It left him with only one guess.
"...I'm not sure what you want me to tell you here."
Penny shrugged. "I told him as such when he asked me to check in on her, but I suppose I did owe it to him to at least check on my niece. Well, one of, and I guess it is my own little way of worrying as well."
Mmmmh.
"...Can you help her at all?"
"Not with her lightning, only her father could do something like that." She grimaced and took a long sip from her mug, her eyes closed and she released a small moan as she pulled it away.
"Aaaah~ It's good."
…How could someone enjoy that stuff?
He sipped from his actual coffee as he stared.
"Where was I? Ah, right." Clearing her throat, "My area of expertise would mostly relate to the distribution of her magical energy. She might be a reincarnated Devil now, but she still retains most of the traits of a fallen and she probably hasn't had a lot of practice with it…which I am going to offer to help."
Romani really hoped the advice wasn't going to be to try and convince Akeno to accept the help.
Or to try and force her into it.
He grimaced a little before smoothing out his face. "What are you asking me to do here?"
Penny shrugged. "I was mostly wondering if you had any idea if she would even accept my help to begin with. I don't quite know all that much about her, to be honest, other than the fact she clearly does not like me and certainly doesn't like her father."
Her father.
Who Romani knew next to nothing about.
He didn't know what they were like as a person.
Akeno clearly wasn't fond of him, given she never once mentioned him and seemed to sour at the sight of the Fallen in general, more so at one of the names that was used which he sort of forgot about.
He could ask Penny about it but that felt a bit like prying.
…At the same time though…
"...What's her father like?"
Penny went quiet for a moment, then she thinned her lips. "...He's like a plank of wood."
That sounded not all that flattering.
"On the outside, I suppose. Baraqiel has always been like that, even before he fell. One of the most stern faced Angels who would have given Maalik a run for his money when it came to being stiff and humourless…I think those two always had some weird respect for one another when it came to doing the job."
She cringed.
"...At least until he fell and then I think…well, Baraqiel liked people."
That wasn't what he was expecting.
"A little like Kokabiel at first. Just believed that not enough was being done for mankind and perhaps he felt a little responsible for the fall of the tower of Babel and then he was down there teaching them things…mostly because Azazel went first but he followed right alongside him."
Nursing his mug, he took another sip as she continued.
But already he was getting a strange image of this man.
From the way Penny talked, he didn't sound all that bad.
But then she was mentioning him in some very disturbing company as well.
"...As for what he's like now? Well…"
A silence followed.
"...He's still very serious. Doesn't express emotion all that much - or at all - but at the same time he does care. There are few things he cares about as much as his daughter."
"...But she hates him."
He hoped that didn't sound like a critique or something.
Penny thinned her lips.
"I don't think he cares she hates him, just as long as she's…no, I know he cares, but he just cares more about her living. If he's certain that she's strong enough to live, then he doesn't mind her hating him."
That sounded sad.
Really sad.
He also hoped it wasn't that biased either, but he wouldn't ask about the context of it all.
That would have definitely been prying.
"Though this isn't what I came to talk about."
Penny ran a hand through her hair, letting out a breath that was definitely betraying her exhaustion.
"I'm just trying to think about the best way to approach this…mainly seeing if you had any advice for making sure she didn't immediately shoot me down or…you know…spit on me."
Romani blinked.
Then blinked again.
He was aware that Akeno wasn't a fan of Fallen, but he doubted that she would have gone quite that far. Especially if it was something related to right this moment.
It was a bit harder to get a read on her than it used to be.
Much harder.
He thought about it for a couple seconds.
It was clear enough to him that Penny had put some thought into this, but he could only really think about one answer for it.
"I think your best bet would be just going up to her and coming clean about why you're there."
Penny cocked a brow and sent him a dubious stare.
Yeah, admittedly, there was a lot that could go wrong with it.
At the same time though…
"I think that right now what she - what everyone - needs, is a bit of honesty and just up front actions. Maybe don't mention the stuff about her father because she's bound to say no just because of that…but if she does ask, then I would tell her."
Penny leaned back, thinning her lips. "Tell her its a favour but don't say from who unless she asks? What are the chances she says no?"
"...Fairly high, I would say." He wasn't going to deny it, "But it at least shows that you're willing to be honest with her. A lot of her problems seem to be that she thinks of Fallen Angels as liars as a rule of thumb."
He shrugged.
Whether or not he could deny that was another matter.
He did not think that all of the Grigori he had met were liars.
But pretty much all of the ones he had met hadn't been entirely honest.
Except Kalawarna.
She had been fairly honest, but that was overtly negative and she made it clear she didn't much like him.
"Would she benefit from it though?"
Penny cocked a brow. "Well, I'm not her father and I can't shoot lightning from my fingertips like he can. I can at least teach her some basic Grigori stuff that she could probably do with learning…making light spears and all that."
Romani blinked and cocked his head.
Didn't those hurt Devils?
"Can…uh…she even do that?"
Penny grinned. "Who knows?"
"..."
The smile dropped. "Alright, her being a Devil would probably make that a pretty terrible idea…but I can still teach her some other stuff. Like using your wings to throw quills or reinforcing them to be shields for yourself. Some high level techniques that she would definitely benefit from."
Romani teetered his head from side to side.
He could at least see the appeal of it.
Mostly from the perspective of letting Akeno interact with a Grigori so she could lose a bit of that anger.
Because that really wasn't healthy.
Especially if the Devils and the Grigori were going to be allies from here on out.
"...Let her refuse if she wants but keep the offer open."
Penny nodded her head, lips pursed.
"About what I figured, but I thought asking you would confirm it."
By all rights, that should have been the end of the conversation between them.
Yet it didn't feel like it to him.
There was some overhanging cloud of a heavier topic looming above them both.
It left Romani feeling more than a little nervous about it because he very much doubted that it was going to be a topic that was interested in discussing.
Though perhaps if he ignored it then it would all work out?
Or, at least, didn't acknowledge he was aware of the other reason.
That might be for the best.
"I didn't just come to talk about Akeno."
Unless Penny decided to speak about it first.
He hid a quick grimace behind his mug as he brought it to his lips and glanced away.
That was exactly what he was afraid of.
"...Really?"
"No."
She drew in a short breath and let it out again.
"...There is something else I wanted to ask you. Guess I was just searching for a chance to get you alone so that we didn't need to worry about eavesdroppers."
Considerate.
But now he felt like he was being trapped in a room with no escape, like the walls were closing in on him.
His eyes ducked down further, focusing on the vague reflection in the surface of his coffee.
"...That right?"
"...Roman…I can't ignore it."
Ah, so she could see his discomfort, could she?
"You sure?" He managed a nervous chuckle and glanced up, giving a shaky smile. "I could."
Penny gave him a pitying look. "Not even for you, Roman."
His shoulders dropped.
"...Oh."
"...You warned me about Michael and Azrael."
He thinned his lips.
Ah.
Right.
He thought - hoped, really - that she might have forgotten about that.
Slowly, he nodded his head, even though it wasn't a question.
"How did you know?"
He couldn't think of either a lie or a convenient excuse.
"Well…I…erm…"
Tripping over word after word, his eyes flew about the room as if he could find some way of escaping the interrogation.
She watched him as he floundered for a few moments.
It was perfectly normal behaviour for him.
Yet the context disturbed her as he seemed to be searching for some method of escaping her. The blatant way he was looking around the room was already starting to eat away at her.
She didn't think she was asking something unreasonable of him.
At least, not at first.
But the way he was acting now definitely showed that he had something to hide from her - something that he kept hidden from a lot of people - and whatever it was…
It was something she was sure that she could not ignore.
And then, all at once, the flight posture escaped him.
Romani dropped back down into his chair, shoulders slumping and his eyes closing.
With his head hanging low, he mumbled out a response.
"...I can't tell you."
She should have figured that was what he would say.
"Can you at least tell me why not?"
"Because you'll…expect things from me."
She blinked rather abruptly at that.
Expect things?
Well, that was probably not the wrong choice of words. She supposed at least, but he made it sound as if that was one of the worst things in the world to happen. Adjusting her posture, she leaned forwards ever so slightly and watched his downcast expression.
Romani did not meet her eyes, nor did he hide anything away from her with his expression.
Anxious and somber, he looked borderline depressed at the moment.
"It would be a little late for that, wouldn't it?" She quipped with mirth that she didn't really feel at the moment. "You know…shooting a dragon and making a barrier-"
The response was immediate and made her pause.
His face scrunched up and his hands closed into fists. For all of a few moments, he remained there as some bound up elastic band of frustration that she just waited to snap. But it never did, instead he deflated once again, already moving across to his left hand and idly circling his finger around the wedding ring.
"...Those weren't me. Not really."
"Sure looked like you-"
"Penny."
He sounded tired, perhaps a little small as well.
But there was a pleading in his voice.
She frowned and nodded her head slowly up and down, she wouldn't pretend that Romani and whatever impulses from the soul were the same person. There was a lot that happened with reincarnations or inheritors that wasn't much understood.
Not even by the factions that the reincarnations came from.
"I know what you're looking for but it's just…not me."
Romani looked up to meet her eyes.
"And what you're asking for…that…that is my and it's…"
His jaw rolled and he looked down.
"If I tell you, then you're going to have these expectations for me and I can't live up to those. I can't start doing the things that you want me to do because I'm not that sort of person. It won't work."
She hated how sure he was of that.
"You've done plenty of things already, Romani."
Pointing a finger at him, she continued.
"Plenty of good things that were all you. No one would expect you to suddenly-"
"Not with this."
Penemue went silent as he just spoke over the top of her. Voice curt but not unkind, she wasn't sure who he was trying to convince at this point. Either himself or her, but as she looked back at him. Staring at his bunched up body like he was a mouse under the eyes of a cat and fearing for his life, it was becoming increasingly hard to not believe him.
"Because…look…I just can't."
He sighed and leaned back, turning his head off to the side.
"Because Lev tried to kill me over it."
The aura of the room dropped immediately. "...What?"
Romani looked up and met her shocked and bordering horrified stare and repeated the words.
"Lev knows. He…"
She didn't know if he realised it or not, but Romani started fiddling and pulling at his collar with one hand while the other started to paw at his side. Pressing further and further into his shirt like he was trying to grab something.
Or patch it up.
Forcing the words out, because that was certainly how it looked to her, she sat there as he stumbled through a half-coherent explanation.
"He…the bombs at the school he…knew I knew about them and how…tricked me into confessing and then he…"
He went quiet once again.
Reaching across very slowly, she took hold of his wrist and watched him flinch at the contact. At least he didn't immediately start shouting or trying to shake her off, but it was a bit hurtful to see him recoil at her like that.
Slowly, she pulled the hand away from his chest before he did something worse.
Though his response was a sharp gasp of air like he was struggling to breath.
Her brows tightened. "Romani…you're not there…you're here."
Maybe using a little bit of mental hypnosis to calm him down was a bad thing, but she struggled to find reasons to complain about the morality when he started to calm down. When he stopped having a panic attack before it even started.
Silence passed them by.
How long was he just sat there staring at her like that?
However long it was, it soon came to an end.
With a shrug of the shoulders, he turned his head and looked off. "Yeah. He knows."
"...I'm telling Azazel."
Romani shot her a look and opened his mouth-
"No!"
She was on her feet and glaring down at him.
It wasn't much of a glare of anger, as much as it was one of worry.
"I'm telling him that there is something."
Something that she did not know what.
Because someone apparently cared about it enough to try and kill Romani during the peace conference.
The man who set the bombs for the whole thing, who presumably let the signal down for the Old Satan Faction and Azrael to act, also targeted Romani specifically.
That was not something a person just did.
Not without reason.
Not without seeing them as a threat.
While the thought might have certainly been laughable beforehand, she was not living in the beforehand right now.
This was the afterhand.
She had seen what Romani could apparently do if he reached the same potential as whatever soul was inside him and that was nothing to scoff at. Especially if he could master those abilities and maybe it was impossible, but the chance was there however slim.
And in a way it made perfect sense to her for them to kill him before he got as strong as he could.
Even if he probably wouldn't anyway.
"I'm telling him that you might be targeted again because you will be."
Romani flinched at her words and made to look down again.
Oh no.
She was not going to tell this to the top of his head.
Stepping around the table, she reached down and took hold of his shoulders. With a rather gentle touch, she brought him up to eye level with her and made sure that her next words were delivered to his face.
"Fine. You can't tell me the specifics because you're worried? Alright, I can at least respect that. They will not."
His face cracked a little.
"It doesn't matter to them if you are or are not a threat because as long as they believe you are, then they will not stop. Lev or whomever isn't going to give up over one failed attempt because that is not what these people do. They keep trying and trying until they are stopped and…"
Her jaw clenched.
Letting her hands loose from around him, she took a step back.
"...And you are my friend…I can worry about my friend."
It wasn't like she was trying to guilt trip him into an answer.
And that would be hypocritical of her to force him to reveal his secrets when she had kept so many from him for years.
"Just…"
Rubbing her brows, she fought back the throbbing headache which was definitely bulging now.
"...If it gets too much for you…"
No, even before that.
Her hand dropped down and she looked at him, hopeful that her declaration would be correct.
"Leo knows, right?"
Romani let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, she knows…it was actually Issei I told first though."
So the Red Dragon Emperor knew as well, did he?
It was, at the very least, a weight off her shoulders that Romani was not trying to burden himself with all of this alone and that there were some other people who could help him. If he didn't want her to be one of those people yet - or at all - then that was his choice.
Well, it did sting a little.
But maybe he wasn't all that wrong with expectations.
"That's good."
Hands falling to her hips, she lowered herself back down to the sofa and reached out for her coffee once again.
Right now she could do with it to sooth her stress.
How was it that asking about Baraqiel's estranged daughter turned out to be the easier thing out of this whole ordeal?
She would give Azazel as much as she knew right now.
Which wasn't a lot.
But it would certainly be more than enough to warrant some interest from him, but hopefully he would leave well enough alone.
Hopefully.
"I'm here if you run into trouble though, you know that, right?"
Romani nodded his head, giving a small but noticeable smile. "I know. Thank you."
She went and said it.
From now on, it was out of her hands whether Romani actually took her up on the offer.
But she made it all the same.
Because, yeah…
She was a bit of a softy and thought of him as a friend.
"I'll try and keep Azazel at bay but you should probably let someone know there is bound to be a target on your back, otherwise they might find out in a pretty bad way. From, you know…attempted assassinations."
Now she felt like crap as he abruptly went still and started to go a little pale.
"You're in the heart of the Devil territory."
Hasily throwing out an argument.
"We're basically on the Lucifer's front garden. There is no place safer-"
She stopped.
Then thinned her lips and took a long sip of her coffee.
"...That is probably one of - if not - the weirdest sentences I have ever uttered in my life."
Romani cocked a brow, some flicker of life coming back to him as he let out a small chuckle. "Well…It probably does sound a little weird without context, right?"
Without context?
She scoffed and shook her head.
"Try throwing in context as well. The last time I was anywhere near Devil territory in the underworld was part of a campaign. I wasn't exactly going out of my way to make friends during that little period."
Romani winced. "...Ah…right…yeah."
He shuffled a little.
"...So…what's Gabriel like?"
That was one heck of a sentence shifter.
Raising a brow and tilting her head, she tried to think of some way to tease him over it.
But the idea of Romani doing something like that was a bit strange.
Unless…?
Oh!
Now she could see it plain as day.
Her lip curled into a grin, humming rather smugly as the reason presented itself.
Slipping back into the comfort of the seat, she crossed one leg over the other.
"Oh, Romani~"
"W-what?"
Ah, he flinched.
That was cute.
Her grin grew all the wider and by now, she was sure to be showing a few teeth.
"Are you worried about that little girl, all grown up-"
She stopped, then playfully slapped the top of her head.
"Ah, my mistake. I mean that little girl who grew up into a nice big woman-"
Romani's whimper of embarrassment and the flooding of his face to bright red made her day and did well enough to remove the heavy aura of the previous conversation.
He was so lucky she was here to show how much she cared by keeping his mind off depressing stuff.
"What? No need to be embarrassed about it. She was pretty tall."
She allowed him a moment to relax.
Let him take a nice sip of his coffee.
Carefully put up a nice little shield spell around herself to protect from the…blast.
"Her tits weren't bad either-"
It was a very impressive spit take.
Yep.
Still Romani.
"Achoo!"
"Bless y-ouch."
Kiara let herself a small and pitiful smile to the young girl who flinched and gripped her head.
The intention was appreciated.
"There, there."
Running her hand across the top of her fellow sister's head, she let a bit of soothing aura flow into her to lessen the effects.
Really, she would have thought that Michael would have made an exception to her by now for all of this.
Then again, in terms of priorities, he had quite a few.
…Perhaps getting Gabriel to make a pleading face would work out?
Yes, she supposed it would.
It would hasten the matter considerably.
"Are you feeling better now?"
"Yes…thank you…"
Asia's face was small and cute.
Like a little hamster.
Kiara removed her hand from the top of her head and rested it back on her lap, glancing away from the smaller blonde and back towards the direction of the training.
She remembered the training she had gone through to control her own abilities, the long steps and arduous hours of pain and stress.
It was a strange thing to observe the same frustration in the faces of the Devils, but perhaps it was merely because they were also all born of humanity.
After all, Lilith was the first wife of Adam, was she not?
Did that not make Devils the estranged brothers and sisters of humans?
When one thought of it as such, there was very little reason to expect difference from them, merely that they allowed their vices to control them to a far greater extent.
"You're quite worried about him, aren't you?"
Asia stiffened a little, but quickly relaxed and nodded her head. "I'm…worried."
Kiara hummed, then glanced down at her. "I might lend an ear, if you are so willing. From one sister to another."
The smile she felt and the surge of relief was clear enough, looking away right enough for the girl to turn and stare up at her with a pure smile.
"I…I was excommunicated and you still-"
Kiara allowed herself a small giggle. "At this point, we can consider that a hollow punishment. Even if we need it to maintain appearances…perhaps not even as such? I would imagine you to be reinstated before long, if you so wish it."
Turning her head, she looked down.
"All you would need is to say the word."
"...I…erm…"
Kiara allowed herself a small chuckle at the sight of the unsure girl. Not to ridicule her, but because of how amusing it was she should be confused about it at all.
"But you should not feel compelled to do so. Faith is not something you flaunt, and should not be for someone else to decide."
Her eyes slid over the face of the girl.
"All that matters is what you believe, not what another tells you to believe."
Asia looked a bit thoughtful after that.
"...I don't think it would change much but…"
Turning her head, she looked down and tapped her fingers together.
Kiara could see the look.
Of course, it was natural.
"You are a Devil now, you know."
With a conspiratorial whisper, she leaned down and glanced about in a rather exaggerated manner.
"You are allowed to be a little greedy."
There was a small little embarrassed flush as she ducked her head.
Kiara let out a soft giggle once again.
"But as I said, I can see you worry for him."
Asia glanced up slowly, then let out a soft sigh.
"I'm just…worried about everyone."
"Well, naturally." Kiara inclined a brow. "You are friends, it would be strange not to…or perhaps you worry for their souls? How much they are devoting towards training and leaving very little time for themselves?"
There was quite a bit of shock on her face at that.
It meant she got it right.
"Oh, I have seen much of this before. Always with training and never time for themselves, how often they forget that the Lord did rest on the seventh day."
With a sigh, she glanced over and towards the collection of Devils.
Red Dragon Emperor included.
"So young and so troubled, they were shown frailty and seek to overcome it. Just as you have been shown their struggles and seek to overcome those. In turn, you are almost as bad as they when it comes to fretting."
Asia looked rather thoughtful now, more than a little bewildered too.
Clearly she had not realised that.
"But perhaps what you all require is a moment of respite. It is hard to claim that you fight to defend what you hold dear if you cannot enjoy it. Often we should indulge, if only a little, in those earthly ties."
"Indulge but…"
Ah, was she going to say it sounded like a sin?
Perhaps it might have been.
"Humans are not perfect, neither are Devils. As I have said before, none would think strangely of you for doing so."
"I…just want them to…"
Asia sighed and lowered her head.
"...I'm worried they're going to work too hard and hurt themselves."
They might well do just that.
Indeed, they could find results in their training.
But at what cost?
Asia was indeed wise to worry about that.
Kiara allowed herself a touch of a smile, her hand coming to a rest on the shoulder of the girl.
"Then might I offer some advice?"
"Okay."
"Thank you." She shuffled closer and dropped her voice a bit lower. "Take the time to prepare them a day of rest. A time when they need not worry about a single thing beyond enjoyment and nothing else. If not even a day of rest could harm the Lord, then what would it mean for these Devils - your friends - to have a moment to live?"
Asia thinned her lips. "But…I know that, miss Kiara-"
She kept herself still at being called that.
A flash of a young man light brown hair and pale red eyes.
It was gone just as quickly.
"-I just don't know what to do for them…and I can see they're all working so hard right now."
"It is because they are working so hard that you should worry."
Kiara said, only a touch firmer but without losing any of the gentleness.
"A reminder of what you fight for and not only for yourself, but for others also. There are few times where friendships are built stronger than amongst laughter, is it not? True, hardships bring us close…but they are mere foundations."
Asia was quiet.
But she knew the girl was thinking on her words.
Then gave a single and solid nod of the head.
"Erm…could you…?"
She smiled.
"You need only ask and I shall help. After all, I am interested in building friendships on this foundation of hardship."
The girl visibly slumped with relief.
But there was something more in that reaction.
Was that surprise as well that she could see?
Oh, perhaps her name was quite known to even this little one.
Not much of a surprise though, given who Asia had met with in the past.
Perhaps before she even knew the weight of his identity.
Settling herself back, she watched the young girl for a moment longer before finally speaking.
"Are you afraid of me?"
The response was swift and rather interesting, the whipping about of her head and her eyes flying wide. Almost as if she had been caught in the act, but it was the horror of being accused which struck Kiara most of all.
Rather, it was clear the girl had not even thought anything of the sort until she brought it up.
"I would understand it if you did. We Burial Agents are not known to be the most merciful and if we had been speaking before this peace agreement, perhaps our discussion would have been…"
She trailed off, letting the words hang in the air for a moment longer.
Then she let them drop as she shrugged.
"Truth be told? I do not see how our conversation would have been all that different."
Asia's fear melted away, as though she forgot it was even there, and now she looked more confused than ever before.
"Eh…but…I…"
"You thought that we were all merciless?"
A flinch, but it saved the girl the trouble of answering herself.
"Some of us are indeed. You've already met Bow…a rather straight forwards one, her, and she tends to deal with her problems by simply hitting them until they eventually stop moving. The iron fist approach, as they would say."
With a sigh, her eyes flicked to the side.
"On the other hand? I suppose my approach has netted me fewer allies with my peers, but Gabriel approved of it."
"What…what was your approach?"
There was such an adorable tinge of hope in that voice.
Kiara gave a soft smile. "Compassion. The love of the Lord, for even Devils can trace their roots back to the earliest man. Those who claim to be pure? Fufufu~ An amusing notion, but they were born of the union between Lucifer and Lilith."
Asia blinked.
Oh yes, her little mind was clearly working to make sense of what she heard.
Brows pinched tighter and tighter. "But…reincarnated Devils…that makes them…?"
"No different to Lilith? No, it does not. Both Lilith and Lucifer were made by the Lord, one needs only think of Devils as the estranged children who have grown up without his kindness and gentleness…"
Turning her hand over, she glanced into her palm and allowed tendrils of light to wisp around her fingers.
A brief moment where they formed a sphere before she blew on it, letting it flake away.
"All I do is share the love of the Lord where it is needed and to those who might need it."
She glanced at Asia, who was busy staring at her palm with some hidden wonder.
"It was why I was especially saddened to hear of the fate that befell you…who had no such protection as my position afforded me. Using the light of the Lord to bring his kindness and mercy to a Devil? It proved that his love existed in all things and in all places."
Such a terrible thing.
The act itself was what mattered most of all.
The ignorance of kindness where it did not even matter who the Devil was or what they did.
Kiara leaned forwards, already suspecting the answer.
"Why did you heal that Devil?"
Asia opened her mouth to reply. "Because he looked like he needed it."
And that was all she said.
A simple answer.
Kiara leaned back and let her smile grow, reaching out with her other hand and cradling the cheek of the younger girl.
"Such a sweet answer, innocent as well. The unbiased affection that we are all taught. The love of the Lord remains true and pure, but more than that…it was you. Standing there with the knowledge of what was right and wrong, you did it because it was who you are inside, yes?"
Asia thinned her lips, Kiara drew back her hand.
"You saw such a small and wounded thing and it did not matter whether they were Devil or human, evil or good. You merely saw their wounds and decided to act first and let everything else work itself out, is that right?"
She nodded her head up and down.
Kiara was all the more pleased by it.
"Even now, with all that happened, you do not regret it, do you?"
"No." It was a word delivered with such film certainty.
Yes, Kiara knew that would be the answer.
"If that answer remains as much now as it was then, what difference can there be whether you are human or Devil?"
Reaching out, she pressed a single finger over the heart of the little girl, feeling it pulse under her fingertip.
"This is all that matters. The gift of freedom that the Lord gave us all, and whether he is still here or not…that freedom remains. The choice to do good when it could have just as easily been decried as right to to the opposite, to heal when you would be hailed as one who wounded…such is the strength he gave you."
Asia looked a little shocked by the words.
Like she had never been told as such before.
Oh, perhaps she had.
But Kiara suspected them all to be nothing more than hollow platitudes.
Such were often thrown at her feet.
Those who did not truly understand her loved to say as much, even as they never really experienced a single thing she preached.
"I told Roman something like that once."
Kiara perked up at the name of the doctor. "Oh?"
Asia nodded her head. "I told him that kindness was kindness. If you do it to expect applause or praise…then it isn't really kindness, is it?"
No, no it was not.
Kiara let her smile widen, allowing a small chuckle to escape her. "No, certainly. You are quite right in that regard. Then perhaps I was the silly one for asking you such simple things, wasn't I?"
Asia shook her head this time, looking back to the fighting or sparring.
"I don't think it was a silly thing to ask. I think that it's important to remember to be kind now. More than ever…a lot of people were hurt and are in pain, so remembering to be kind to them - even if you get nothing out of it - is important, isn't it? People shouldn't be sad all of the time. That would be…rather terrible."
She pet the girls head.
"Aren't you the gentle soul? Still, whether you expect something in return or not, you inevitably get it. Whether it is scorn or the belief that you will provide it once again-"
"Then I will give it." Asia simply said, without even hesitating in her answer. "As many times as they need someone being kind to them."
The poor thing had no idea how close those words came to a curse.
Kiara looked down at her.
She was young and perhaps she would learn in time.
"You are a Devil now." Kiara reminded her. "And you can show yourself some kindness also."
"I think I do." Asia confirmed, nodding her head, then looking up and meeting her face with a pure smile. "Spending time with my friends…I think that is the best kindness I can give myself."
And people could claim that Devils remained purely evil?
Blind nonsense.
"And here you sit, saying such gentle things."
Kiara inclined her head, cupping her chin and smiling down.
"If even as a Devil, you still think of the friendship of others, do you truly believe that they cannot be shown the same love that the Lord showed us all?"
Asia blinked once, then twice.
Then shook her head. "I think everyone can be kind or cruel. It just doesn't mean that we should be as well."
Was there even a vicious bone in the body of this little girl?
She doubted it.
Such a soft little thing.
…Almost nostalgic, in a strange way.
"Uhm…miss Kiara?"
"You can call me Sister, if you want. Sister."
Asia beamed a rather pure smile at that, then excitedly nodded her head. "Then, Sister Kiara, can you…tell me a bit about your time with Roman?"
Ah, now this was another reason she wanted to spend some time with the girl.
Not least of all because she was just interested in them as a person.
Folding one leg over the other, she clasped her hands together and thought for a moment.
"Well…I suppose my first meeting with him was when he brought my food."
Kiara allowed herself a smile.
"Oh, that was also the first time I ever saw him sin as well. Terrible thing that it was, he snuck me in an extra helping of the desert."
Asia giggled but did not look surprised.
"I heard he used to hide food in the roof of the school. Koneko-san would raid it."
Kiara softly giggled.
Somehow, that did not surprise her in the least.
Romani and his sweetooth remained untouched, even now.
"Perhaps baking him a cake would ease his nerves?" Kiara suggested, then returned to her original story. "But as for the matter of Romani himself…well…after that little-"
"Excuse me?"
Kiara twitched ever so slightly at the interruption, turning her head and keeping her smile serene.
Ah, he was one of the Servants of the Gremory family, wasn't he?
"Yes?"
At least he looked semi-apologetic at interrupting them.
"Forgive the intrusion, but I have a message for the Lady Argento here."
Stepping forwards, the butler extended a small envelope towards the girl, then stepped back with his head still bowed.
Asia, with furrowed brows, took it and flipped it around.
Kiara narrowed her eyes rather quickly at the seal on it.
She was familiar with every symbol of the existing families.
This one she knew.
Astaroth.
Asia glanced up at her, confusion in her eyes, then back down as she gently peeled it open and flipped it around to start reading.
Her own thoughts swirled.
She could think of only one person in that family who would have reason to send Asia a letter.
The current heir.
"I…oh…"
Asia let out a soft noise of surprise, brows raising as she read it, then glanced up and met her gaze.
"Uhm…I've…been invited to….dinner."
Kiara kept her smile, "Is that so? From whom?"
"Someone called Diodora…he…he says he wants to show his appreciation?"
Her head cocked to the side, sounding a little confused.
As was Kiara.
At what point would Asia have even met…
Hmmmmm.
There was something going on here that she was already dubious about.
"Perhaps it would be best if we brought this to the attention of your friends, hmmm? I think this might be something they would want to learn about."
Asia gave a rather dazed nod of the head.
Kiara rose up, helping her to her feet, then glanced the way of the butler.
Who was still present.
"Excuse me?"
She drew his eyes, letting him meet her gaze.
"Would you be so kind as to let me know where Lady Rias Gremory would be at the moment?"
"I…I can find that information for you quickly." He gave a stiff nod of the head.
Kiara batted her eyelids at him, "Thank you, kindly. I appreciate it."
Another nod of the head and he turned and vanished back the way he had come.
Whether humans or Devils.
They certainly acted the same way when it mattered.
Kiara could only giggle internally.