Kiba Yuuto was walking alone when suddenly rain poured down from the black sky. Ignoring the water dropping and drenching his body, the Gremory knight kept walking nowhere with his eyes as if being in a daze.
"There's no way I had forgotten about Excalibur…"
Ever since he saw the picture with a holy sword in Issei's house, he remembered again his hatred towards the sword.
"I was just being caught up with the atmosphere of my current life…"
Yuuto remembered that his current comrades, life and even his current name were received from his master, Rias Gremory.
"Is it even alright to live as it is? Aren't I wishing too much?"
Yuuto's thoughts suddenly were interrupted when he sensed someone was approaching him. From the darkness, Yuuto spotted a man who was clothed in a priest's attire, along with a cross hanging on his neck, walking in front of him. Seeing someone from enemy's side suddenly appeared, Yuuto prepared himself to fight, the knight also thought that he could blow off some steam. However, just when the priest had walked more few steps, he fell to the wet ground.
Baffled, not expecting how things turned out, Yuuto approached the fallen priest out of curiosity, yet still being cautious. The knight took few steps closer and he found a large horizontal line, tainted with red blood, across the priest's back. And when the knight also spotted a tool that was used as a mass-produced holy sword, it seemed that the priest had engaged something or someone that managed to left a fatal slash on his back. But the question is, who or what did it?
As if answering his question, Yuuto felt a killing intent from behind and he quickly summoned a demonic sword, and managed to turn around and fend off a blade that almost pierced through his abdomen.
CLANG!
As the knight was skidding back from the push, he got a good look of his attacker despite of the low visibility from the rain.
"Y-you are…!" Yuuto said with venom in his voice.
The said attacker had a white hair, the same clerical attire, and familiar distorted grin. "Well, well, well… Look what I found here…" the rogue priest, Freed Sellzen brandished and twirled his sword in his hand with his teeth visible from his maniacal grin. "I honestly want to see you again. And now I'm so happy that I'm gonna cry! Ahahahaha!"
Yuuto's eyes widened at Freed's sword before him. "That sword…!"
It was a long sword which the blade resembled the blade of a long Kris, its blade was wavy and slightly jagged instead of straight, unlike swords in general. The blade was glowing in golden aura of holiness.
"Well, now that we've met and all, I want to test how this thing is going to work on you shitty devils… You can also try your demonic swords on…" Freed said as he licked the blade of his sword. "My Excalibur-chan, that is…"
Yuuto clicked his tongue in rage, readied his sword and he charged towards his enemy.
X
"The Holy Sword Project?" Issei asked to Rias, who replied with a nod.
Currently, Issei, Asia and Rias were sitting inside Issei's room to talk about the Gremory knight during the last hunt. When Issei asked his master about Yuuto's issues with holy swords, apparently, before Yuuto was reincarnated into a devil by Rias, the knight used to be an orphan that was subjected by the church into a research experiment that was known as 'Holy Sword Project'. The project's goal was to create a person that can wield a holy sword, particularly the Excalibur.
"This is the first time for me to know such a project ever existed…" Asia commented with a grim expression.
According to Rias, holy swords are weapons that pose a threat towards devils, a single touch from the holy swords themselves could be fatal for devils. While there were numerous kinds of holy swords from various mythologies and religions, Excalibur was one of the most famous among them.
The church took Yuuto in as one of the test subjects to be raised and tampered in order to adapt to Excalibur. Apparently holy swords like Excalibur cannot be wielded by random persons, and because the number of people who had compatibility to wield them are scarce, the church decided to conduct such an experiment to create a holy sword wielder by their own hands, in other words, artificial holy sword wielders.
When Yuuto and his friends were deemed not being able to wield the holy sword, the church labelled them as defects and disposed of them soon after. Yuuto managed to escape from the research facility thanks to the sacrifices of his comrades when they were about to be massacred, but the boy himself was practically dying when the crimson-haired girl found him in the forest. After she had reincarnated Yuuto into her knight, Yuuto, being the sole survivor of the Holy Sword project, swore that he would destroy the Excalibur to avenge his fallen comrades.
After listening Rias' story of Yuuto, the atmosphere inside the room suddenly turned all gloomy. Issei simply looked down with hardened face as he tightened his fists. He also felt as if his stomach was churned up.
"Poor Kiba-san… It's not an acceptable actions by those who serve the Lord…" Asia said with sad expression on her face.
"I can tell that Yuuto has talents in swords, so I reincarnated him into a devil so he can effectively use his talents instead of wasting it by obsessing over his hatred for holy swords… However, even after all these years, Yuuto's hatred towards those swords are still there", Rias said with a sad expression as well. "People keep saying that we devils are evil existence… But human's ill intentions may be the worst evil of all…"
"I see… That explains Kiba's dislike towards exorcists as well…" Issei said as he took out a photo album. "I guess it all started again from here", Issei continued as he showed a picture that Yuuto saw with him in the other day.
"So you know people who are related to the church, Ise?" Rias asked as she looked at the picture with Asia as well.
"Well… To be precise this is the picture of me with my childhood friend who is a Christian… Never thought that a holy sword was around this place 10 years ago…" Issei replied.
"It is indeed a holy sword, not as powerful nor famous as the Excalibur, but still a real deal", Rias said with calculating look. "Well, that's all we could find so far… So for now…" Rias stood up from her seat. "Let's call it a night and go to bed", Rias suddenly took off her nightdress.
Issei and Asia's faces flushed immediately at the sight of Rias stripping and their eyes almost bulged out in shock. "What the-! O-Ojou-sama, why are you taking off your clothes!?"
(Scene Break, midnight)
Issei sighed as he just finished his glass of water in the kitchen. His master just took of her clothes in front of him and Asia, saying that she could not sleep with her clothes on.
Things had gotten worse when Rias said that she would like to sleep with him and Asia started to strip her clothes as well as saying that she would sleep with Issei out of jealousy, resulting a little quarrel between the two girls, and they finally decided to ask the pawn himself to choose who would be the lucky girl that night.
In the end, Issei had to choose both of them to sleep together with him, with Issei positioned right in between Asia and Rias. Due to nervousness and his rationality started to run out, the pawn decided to sneak out of the bed as soon as the girls had fallen asleep, and went to the kitchen to cool-off his head.
"…(sigh)… What will I ever do with those girls…" Issei said to himself. But soon after, his eyes turned serious as his thought quickly went back to the issues with Yuuto and the Excalibur.
[Worried about that knight, partner?]
Issei turned to look at his left arm when he heard his inner dragon spoke. "Ah, Ddraig. Good work for today."
[Pssh… Good work to you. I barely did anything during that hunt earlier. So… Well? How are you feeling?]
Issei smiled faintly at first for a second before he asked to his left arm. "As you had guessed, I am kind of worried about this… holy sword thing. Say, Ddraig… Do you know anything about Excalibur?"
Ddraig remained silent for a second. [Well… nothing worth mentioning… But wait…] Ddraig paused for another second. [Actually, I heard an intriguing rumour during my past days with your predecessors]
"A rumour?" Issei became intrigued.
[Yeah, that rumour said that the Excalibur sword had been broken since the Great War]
Issei's eyes widened at the information. "Broken? But that project…!"
[I know, I know… However, just because it was broken doesn't mean it can't be repaired, partner…]
Issei let out a breath as he conceded with Ddraig. "Point taken. Speaking of that Excalibur and the Great War… Did you witness it yourself when the sword was broken?"
[To be honest… I don't remember]
"You don't?"
[Yeah… All I remember were, me trying to kill the white one, then suddenly the three factions were ganging up on us, then everything afterwards was fuzzy. When the three factions turned their weapons against us, it was too chaotic for me to discern what was what… I was too focused on rampaging and blasting things and people around… The Excalibur might had been broken at the point after me and the white one were defeated, or even before us heavenly dragons were dragged into the war. I don't know]
"I see… Well, the event where Excalibur had been broken before is still a hint that Kiba's goal can still achievable in one way or another. Thanks, Ddraig." Issei replied and Ddraig only replied with a hum.
"Now…" Issei now had returned to his room and he was facing another problem for the night. "How am I supposed to go back to bed?" Issei stared at the bed with two girls lying on it. He could just made his way back to his previous spot, but thinking of two beautiful girls on his sides while sleeping was already too much for him. Besides, the girls were the reason he got out from the bed in the first place.
[Just be honest with yourself, partner… You're in that age after all…] Ddraig said teasingly in Issei's mind
"Shut up, you…"
[Now, now, remember partner… While your power is increasing in each passing day, the time where you will encounter the white one is coming closer as well…]
"Vanishing Dragon…" Issei muttered the title that Ddraig mentioned to him in the past.
After contemplating of things for a minute, with a final sigh, the pawn decided to take out a futon and slept on the floor, much to Ddraig's disappointment.
X
It had been few days after the last stray devil hunt. The Gremory knight had not been seen ever since that night whether in school nor clubroom. Issei was currently doing a quick shopping for dinner from his mother so he asked permission to skip club activities that day. Rias gave him the permission, but the pawn still could not understand his master's and even Asia's grumpy mood ever since that particular day.
"I wonder if I've done something wrong to those two…" Issei thought to himself as he sighed.
The morning after Issei had chosen to sleep on the floor instead of the bed with the two girls, Rias and Asia had been seen to be angry, if lack of better term, to Issei, who was totally clueless of what was going on.
After paying the proper amount for the ingredients, Issei took his usual route to his house with a bag of vegetables, eggs, and other stuff in his hand. When Issei was still on his way out of the shopping district, Issei met with familiar black hair that was tied into a long ponytail with an orange ribbon. The owner of the said black hair seemed to take a notice of Issei's presence as well.
"Akeno-san!" Issei said in greeting.
"Oh my, Ise-kun… I don't know you're shopping groceries as well… Ufufu…" Akeno greeted back with her usual giggles. The queen was seen carrying two plastic bags on her hands, each of the bags was bigger than Issei's.
"Yeah, from time to time… Sometimes my mom is too busy with her part-time jobs so I do the shopping for her", Issei said rubbing his head with sheepish smile. "By the way, Akeno-san… Aren't you supposed to be in the clubroom?"
"Actually I'm on my job now. Yuuto-kun has not returned yet, so I was chosen to fill-in his job. Apparently his client this time is a widow, and she needs someone to shop few things while she was doing her housework…" Akeno replied with a bitter smile.
"I see… So Kiba is still missing, huh…" Issei said with down-casted eyes. Then looking at Akeno's shopping bags again, Issei looked up to his queen again. "Well, let me take those for you, Akeno-san", Issei said extending his free hand.
"Oh, no thank you. You don't have to, Ise-kun… This is my job, and you're seemed to be busy as well", Akeno refused in polite manner.
"Meh, I still have plenty of time before my mom comes home to cook dinner. Besides, I can't just leave a lady to bring those heavy bags on her own, can I?" Issei replied nonchalantly with a polite smile.
Akeno stared at her junior for a moment, before a smirk adorned her face. "Are you trying to force me to share a contract with you?"
Issei's eyes widened at this. "Wha-! No, no! I just want to help, that's all! I swear!" Issei replied in panic tone.
"Fufufu… I'm just kidding, Ise-kun…" Issei's shoulder relaxed in relief when he learnt that Akeno was joking. "I'll gladly accept your offer."
Right now, Issei was walking side-by-side with Akeno with his own shopping bag on his right hand and both of Akeno's shopping bags on his left.
"I'm glad that there's a gentleman who's willing to bring these stuff for me. You're really a big help, Ise-kun…" Akeno said expressing her gratitude.
"It's no problem, Akeno-san… Anytime", Issei replied with the same nonchalant manner.
Akeno giggled again at Issei's reply, then, after few more minutes of walking, Akeno's eyes darted towards Issei's left hand that was bringing her bulging bags, then, a smile came to her face as she thought up of something. Slowly, she extended her hands towards Issei's left, and when their fingers made contact, Issei stopped on his tracks and he found Akeno was taking one of her two shopping bags from him.
"Akeno-san?" Issei asked at her action.
"At least let me do this much. I appreciate your help but I can't let my junior to do all the work, can I?" Akeno said as if she wanted to return what Issei had said with a smile of her own.
Issei blinked once before he smiled back. "Thanks, Akeno-san." Then the two proceed again.
As the two were walking again, Akeno slowly walked closer and closer towards the pawn, resulting the latter took a curious glance at the former.
"Um, Akeno-san? What's wrong?" Issei asked as he noticed that Akeno's shoulder was brushing his.
"Fufufu, nothing… I just want to get closer with my kouhai (junior)…" Akeno replied with her smile remained on her face.
"I understand, but it's kind of hard to walk like this…" Issei said nervously.
"Come on now, Ise-kun… After everything you've shown to me about yourself, there's no way I can hide it from you anymore… I've already taken a great liking to you", Akeno replied as she leaned her head closer to Issei.
"At first, I only thought of you as a cute junior to be teased… However, when you joined as one of us, you have shown me, all of us as well many surprises. You've proven yourself to be kind, caring, and mostly, so powerful… Especially during our times in the forest of familiars and the rating game", Akeno said before she brought her free hand over her chest.
"You're really have amazed me when you managed to gain a favour from a dragon king… And when I saw you fighting Riser Phenex with my own eyes… No, when you showed us what you could do during that rating game… It was very amazing of you… Your feats, strength, everything. You even defeated that Riser Phenex, who is known to be an immortal. After seeing all of those, I can't help but feel hot… and I've been feeling strange things around my chest whenever I remembered what you did… Could this be… Love?"
Seeing Akeno's entranced eyes, Issei could not help but inwardly sweat-dropped. "Okay… This is starting to get weird…" Issei gulped, not knowing of what to say in return. "I… can't answer that, Akeno-san… Sorry", Issei smiled sheepishly.
"Fufufu, it's okay if you can't answer that…" Akeno smiled as usual until a mischievous expression appeared on her face. She brought her hand from her chest over her mouth.
"In that case… Let's have an affair, you and me."
"Excuse me?" Issei could not help but taken aback by such suggestion.
"Yes, an affair. I want to be close to you, as you're close with Rias and Asia-chan. And this…" Akeno said as she brought her hand over Issei's chest.
"Will be our. Little. Secret…" Akeno finished as she brought her face closer to Issei.
Issei blinked few times as his face was blushing due to the closeness. "An affair? What's she talking again? Affair behind whose back, anyway?" Issei thought as he swallowed a lump.
"Um… Akeno-san, why would you call this… Whatever you're proposing with me, as an affair in the first place?"
"Well, aren't you going out with buchou?" Akeno asked as she pulled her face away.
Issei only let out a breath in slight amusement. "Um, Akeno-san… I think you've misunderstood something. I'm not in that kind of relationship with ojou-sama…"
"You're not? I thought you two have done so many things… Not to mention the way you're addressing her…" Akeno said slightly surprised for a second before a playful smirk came on her face again.
"Well, you know that it was just our agreement back when I joined the club for the first time…"
"You're right about that. Well, what about Asia-chan, then?"
"Asia? Well, she's cute, kind and all, but I can't bring myself to touch her. She's like my… little sister, I think?" Issei was not sure himself what to think of Asia. He sure cares about Asia, but he found himself wanting to protect her more than dating her.
Hearing Issei's reply, Akeno pondered for a while. Then her playful smirk appeared once again. "Well… If you say so, would you like to give it a shot with me?"
Issei swallowed another lump. "Give… what a shot?"
"You know, something that can make us grow closer, know each other better… Or should I say, naughty stuff?" Akeno said sensually while licking her lips. "Don't worry, it will be still our little secret…"
Issei's eyes began to twitch. "Okay… What the hell's with her?"
Issei did not hate Akeno. In fact, he admired her to a certain degree as a graceful woman after his master. However, whenever she was behaving like this made him lost his rationality bit by bit.
[For all I know, she's probably just teasing you]
Hearing his inner partner's thoughts, Issei pondered for a second and he inwardly smirked as he came out with an idea. "Well, I always wanted to try this, anyway…"
Issei took a quick, deep breath as he steeled his mind. "Here goes nothing…"
"Do you mean it?"
"Eh?"
As he said those words, Issei's gaze turned steely as he walked towards Akeno, who did not see it coming. The latter unconsciously took a step back, her gaze fell upon the former's as Issei attempted to get closer.
"I-Ise-kun?"
Noticing the edge on his queen's tone, Issei's lips twitched upwards into a small smirk. Akeno, who was still surprised of the turn out of events, found her back was cornered against a wall. After a quick confirmation that they were alone in the area, which he found quite fortunate for himself, Issei inched his face closer as he brought his free arm on the wall beside Akeno's face, as if trying to prevent the girl to escape.
Issei tried his best to make his tone as seductive as possible. "I asked, do you mean it?" Issei's face was now very close to Akeno's. The latter was blushing from the closeness, their noses almost touched each other.
From other people could see, one could say that Issei was hitting on Akeno.
"I have to admit, you're pretty irresistible as well, Akeno-san… If you're asking something like that to a guy like me… Even I can't tell what I'll do about you…" Issei said as he slightly decreased the distance between his face and Akeno's flustered face once again.
"Wa-wait, Ise-kun… I was just…!"
"What's the meaning of this, Ise?"
Before the situation could have escalated any higher, Issei and Akeno suddenly froze at the new voice. Akeno, slightly relieved, quickly turned her head towards Rias who was standing not far from them with her arms folded. Issei, however, robotically turned his head as cold sweats started to trail on his paled face, and he was met with his master, who was clearly far from being amused with the situation they were in.
However, Akeno, being mischievous and cunning as she was, quickly used that moment of confusion as her own opportunity.
"Oh, my… What should we do, Ise-kun? Just when we're about to get to the good part…" Akeno said as this time, she was the one who leaned her body closer towards Issei. Her mischievous smile returned on her face and she pressed her closer toward Issei as well.
The pawn widened his eyes, not expecting the sudden counter-attack, and he jerked his head away slightly while his hands tried to push Akeno's shoulder away from him.
"I was thinking of helping you on your errand… But it seems you're having fun with Akeno, right, Ise?" Rias said with her expression on the edge.
Issei quickly broke away from Akeno. "W-wait, ojou-sama! Let me explain! It was just-!"
"Like I care! Do as you like!" Rias huffed in annoyance after pouting as she turned her heels around and disappeared in teleportation magic.
Issei remained frozen on his spot, while his hand still trying to reach out on the empty space in front of him as the wind blew.
[Whew… Busted. Well, you did pretty good back there, partner. I admit it was quite convincing on your part]
On Ddraig's comment, Issei straightened himself, and without looking, the pawn could tell that his queen was holding back his giggle in victory. He let out a defeated sigh without turning back.
"Akeno-san?"
"Yes?"
"I'm so sorry for earlier."
"Fufufu, I guess I can forgive you this time. But seriously, Ise-kun… You actually almost gave me a heart-attack back there…" Akeno said as she moved to Issei's side, handing him back his shopping bag, which the latter received.
"Well, shall we go, then?" Issei asked as he tried to muster a smile.
"Fufufu… Yes, let's", Akeno said as she walked forward, followed by Issei.
"By the way, Ise-kun. Don't you think buchou was really cute when she caught us? She had been like that when it comes to you…"
Issei only let out a dried chuckle, followed by another defeated sigh.
"So much for getting back at her…"
[Another time, partner… Another time…]
X
Long story short, after Issei was done escorting Akeno with her errand, the latter returned back to the clubroom before she landed a quick peck on the former's cheek, much to his chagrin. Feeling that there was nothing more he could do at the moment, Issei proceed to return to his house. On his way, he met with Asia. Fortunately for him, knowing Asia being an angel (?) and all, the girl's mood was seemed no longer grumpy, as the girl was greeting him cheerfully as usual.
"Ah, Ise-san! Good evening."
"Hey there, Asia. Good work for today", Issei greeted back with his own smile.
"Have you done your shopping, Ise-san?" Asia asked as she proceeded to walk beside the pawn.
Issei in response simply showed his grocery bag to the girl. Asia nodded back in acknowledgement.
"If I'm not mistaken, buchou-san was helping you there, did you meet her?"
Issei flinched at the question. "Y-yeah, I did…" Issei inwardly sweat-dropped as his mind trailed back to that misunderstanding earlier. "How am I supposed to tell her?"
"Asia, is something wrong?" Issei asked as he noticed Asia's solemn face.
"Um… The truth is… When buchou-san came back to the clubroom, she looked so upset. Did something happen, Ise-san?"
"Uh… Yeah. There's a misunderstanding between me and her, but nothing to worry about, everything will be fine once I explain to her", Issei replied, his eyes unconsciously avoiding Asia's. "I hope…"
"I see… Come to think of it, I've been talking back to buchou-san a lot, lately… I wonder if she was upset about me as well…" Asia's face became even more solemnly.
"Hahaha, you don't need to worry about that, Asia…" Issei patted her head. "I'm not gonna say for you to keep disobeying her, but it's not bad at all to voice your thoughts for once in a while. Just make sure you won't go overboard, okay?"
Asia smiled in relief and she nodded in response.
When the two arrived at their house, suddenly, both of them felt a chilly sensation when they were about to go through the door.
"This presence…!"
Issei's eyes widened as his instinct started to kick in. The pawn and the bishop could not mistake the presence as the presence of someone from the church, and Issei could sense more than one presence from inside the house.
Issei steeled his eyes as he grabbed on the doorknob. "Asia, stay here. If I don't come back after thirty seconds, go run back to school and tell everyone else. Don't come in unless I say so", Issei instructed, staring at Asia.
The girl was hesitant for a second, and she steeled her expression and nodded. Issei nodded back and took a deep breath, and with steady pace, he opened the door and went inside the house. His movements, while taking off the shoes and all, were cautious, yet did not waste any moment.
"Mom, I'm home!" Issei shouted with slight cautious in his tone.
He could not waste any time to ensure his mother's safety, yet at the same time he could not bring himself to act rashly, considering Asia's safety was at stake as well. He had to be calm in order to avoid the worst possible outcome.
After a second, a reply was heard from the dining area. "Oh, welcome home, Ise! Come in here, we're having someone unexpected!"
Issei let out a relieved sigh after hearing his mother's cheerful greeting. The presence remained in the house, but at least he knew that his mother was still alive, at least. However, that 'someone unexpected' made him feel edgy once again.
"Yes, coming!" Issei shouted back as he carefully strode towards the dining area.
Upon arriving at the dining table, Issei was met with his mother and two girls in white robes. One on the left was a young woman with chin-length blue hair with a green fringe on the right side and dark yellow eyes.
The other on her right was a beautiful young woman around Issei's age with long, chestnut hair and violet eyes. Her hair was tied into twin-tails, each was held with a blue scrunchy.
Glancing at the two guests, Issei quickly concluded that the two were indeed exorcists, judging from the crosses that hung on their necks. Issei also judged while they were enemies, at least both of them had enough sense not to be hostile and starting a fight while his human mother was still around.
After making sure that the current situation was safe enough for now, Issei turned his gaze at the front door, while Asia was peeking from the doorstep. He motioned Asia to come, which she followed. When Asia was close enough to him, Issei mouthed, 'stay close to me' and Asia nodded in response.
"Oh my, Asia-chan. You've back as well. Welcome home", Issei's mother greeted the blonde as soon as she spotted the girl at the entrance to the dining area. Asia simply smiled sheepishly and slightly bowed due to nervousness.
Unknown to the rest, the two guests laid their eyes for a moment at Asia before one of them broke her gaze and turned to Issei.
"Hello, Ise-kun…" the girl with twin-tails waved at him in friendly manner.
When Issei took another look at the girl, he blinked twice, and something in his brain clicked. "Err… One moment, please."
Issei said as he turned to Asia. "Asia, why don't you go upstairs and get changed? You're probably tired from the school, right?"
Asia immediately got the message to hide in the bedroom for now, and she complied. After Asia had gone upstairs, Issei walked towards one of the drawers, took out a photo album, skimmed through pages and he stopped before his eyes darted between the twin-tails girl and the album on his hand. After a minute, he furrowed his eyebrows as something was revealed to him.
"Irina-chan? Shidou Irina, is that you?"
"Oh my, so you do recognise me…" the girl known as Shidou Irina had an expression of amusement and surprised altogether. "What's with that tone of formality, anyway? We're childhood friends, remember?"
"Well… Yeah, but you… You really have changed a lot…. Irina-chan", Issei said while scratching his cheek. "10 years ago, I almost mistook you for a boy. But now… You're so… so… girly."
"I know, right?" Haruka popped in. "When I ran into them on my way home, I wouldn't have recognised her if she did not recognise me first! Irina-chan, you really have grown into a fine woman!" the older woman said with her hand on her cheek.
"Ufufu, you're flattering me, Haruka-san… You're also not much different when I left for England 10 years ago. You still look so young and beautiful!" Irina replied back.
Seeing the exchange of flatteries between his childhood friend and his mother, the gears in Issei's mind quickly worked to assess the currently somewhat bright atmosphere. There was still a chance that the two exorcists might had yet aware about his and Asia's true nature. If he were to play his cards right and act like normal until the two took their leave, everything supposed to be just fine.
However, the fact remained that there were two things that truly made him feel edgy rather than the mere presence of the two exorcists. The first thing was a large item covered in white cloth, leaning on the table-side beside the girl with blue hair, who remained silent and stoic for the entire time. While Issei could tell that the blue haired girl was no ordinary person, the said item's shape resembled that of a sword, a big sword, and upon looking at it, Issei felt like his skin was crawling and his instinct screamed that the boy should stay away from it as much as possible.
The second thing was Irina's white armband. Whatever it was, the armband also gave Issei a fright as his devil instinct screamed about the same thing to him.
However, Issei quickly focused back to keep up his act to avoid the unwanted confrontation.
"So…" Issei said, gaining the other's attention. He knew talking was risky, but if he were to stay quiet, it would be even more suspicious and his effort to avoid battle would go down to the drain.
"It's really been like over 10 years, hasn't it?" Issei asked with a natural smile he could muster.
"Yeah! And imagine how much I miss you over those years I was in England! And I'm so glad that your appearance hasn't changed much!" Irina replied back with her cheerful smile.
"And this lady is…?" Issei asked as his gaze fell upon the blue haired woman.
"Ah, this is Xenovia. My friend from the church where I studied before", Irina gestured her hand towards her friend, known as Xenovia. The girl in question did not say anything as she only stared intently at Issei, who nodded in greeting.
"Speaking of church…" Issei tried to remain 'normal' as he scanned on Irina and Xenovia's attire. "You said that your dad got a work at the church, so you had to move out. I guess you two ended up being affiliated with that church too, eh?" Issei said as he tried to keep his tone natural.
"Yes… Many things have happened", Irina said as her smile fell slightly. "And I, we sure many things have happened to you as well, Ise-kun."
The looks that Issei got from Xenovia and Irina's eyes, when the latter said those words put him on the edge. His façade almost fell when he heard the next words.
"Really, you can never tell what might happen at a reunion…"
Shit.
From the tone, looks and sentence alone, Issei immediately knew that the chance about their unawareness had been thrown out of the window. The two exorcists had been aware of his true nature all along.
"Oh, oh!" suddenly, Issei's paranoia was interrupted by his mother's voice and the sound of her clapping hands from excitement. "Ise, I almost forgot! You won't believe this, Irina-chan said that she had met your daddy back in England!"
Issei's worry had been gone almost immediately, replaced by the feeling of curiosity as soon as his father was mentioned. He was frozen for a second before he quickly went to take a seat beside his mother, across the table from Irina and Xenovia.
"Is that true?" Issei asked to Irina with serious stares that demanded no jokes.
Irina's cheerful air suddenly returned. "Yes, yes! I met him together with Xenovia when we're recently being assigned together. And you won't believe it, Ise-kun, but Saitama-san was really as bald as ever, like in his old pictures! I'm actually a bit worried that your hair might end up like him! His baldness could be genetic, you know?"
Issei suddenly paled and he reached to his hair. "Hey, don't say things like that! That scares me, you know! Like hell I'm gonna end up like him!"
"Hehehe, just kidding, just kidding…" Irina said as she waved her hand in dismissal. Even Xenovia barely managed to hold down a snort of amusement as she faintly smiled. "Still, I know that your father was travelling around the world, but I never expected to meet him in person during my stay in England, of all places."
"When did the last time you see him?" Issei inquired.
"Around several days, almost a week ago, I think. Oh, yeah! One more thing about it, Saitama-san mentioned about something to do in Japan, so I think he's coming home around now! Isn't it great, Haruka-san?"
Hyoudou Haruka was ecstatic from the news, as she grabbed her son's shoulder and shook his body. "It is, it is! Did you hear that, Ise? Daddy is coming home!"
"Err… Y-yeah, yeah… M-mom, can you stop shaking me? I'm gonna get dizzy…" Issei said while still being shaken by his mother.
"Oh, right. Sorry, dear", Haruka immediately let go of her son.
Issei straightened himself up as he pondered about the news of a moment. He smiled a bit, as a part of him was happy that his father was planning to come home, however, while he did not hate his father, a part of him could not help but feeling angry as his eyebrows knitted and he clenched his fists tightly.
True, he did not hate him, because back then he was too young to learn about hating someone. Besides, even without his father around, Issei had been able to live happily with his mother alone.
However, when he heard about his father's return, he could not help but feel agitated. That nerve of that man… After leaving and being not around for them for all those years, he had guts to suddenly show his face to them? Issei did not like this side of his father that acted however he pleases.
"How…" Issei's question gained another attention from everyone. "How was he doing? What's he doing in England, anyway?" Issei could not help but ask.
"Well, he's…" Whatever Irina was about to say was interrupted by Xenovia.
"Irina, it's already time. We have to go."
Irina blinked at her partner and after a minute, she smiled as she rose up from her seat. "Sorry, but we have somewhere else to go. We'll continue this talk another time. Is that alright?"
Issei would like to hear more, but his survival instinct told him to let the enemies go for now. "Yeah, next time, I guess."
"You're welcome to stay here longer, you know", Haruka said as she stood up as well, escorting the girls.
"No, thank you, ma'am. It's fine. We have to fulfil our own schedule, after all", Irina said as she bowed.
Xenovia, bringing her large item with her, took a last glance at Issei. "I'll be ready
in our next meeting…" the girl said in steeled tone. Issei only stared back with the same steel gaze.
"Ise-kun", Issei's eyes turned back to Irina, who was smiling genuinely. "Despite our current situation, I'm truly glad to meet you again."
For some reasons, Issei also showed a genuine smile in return. "Yeah, it is truly nice to see you again."
Issei finally let out a relieved sigh as soon as the two female exorcists went out through the door. Despite having them aware of him being a devil, no fight had occurred. However, ignoring his mother's gleeful humming as she waltzed back to the kitchen, his mind trailed back at the news that his father is going to come in near future. What should he say when he meet him? What will his father say when he meet him? Thinking of that reunion alone had made him feel nervous already.
X
"Ise! Asia!"
Rias barged into the house and immediately enveloped the mentioned two, who were about to welcome her at the front door, into a big hug.
"Are you hurt? Did they do anything to you?" Rias asked with concerned tone.
"Don't worry… We're fine, ojou-sama. They were not that reckless to start a fight while my mom was around…" Issei replied to comfort his master.
"Ise-san is right, buchou-san. We're both fine…" Asia replied as well.
"Nevertheless, I couldn't imagine what could have happened to you when I received reports about the sighting of two church's associates around your house. I'm so glad that both of you are alright…" Rias said as she turned to pull Asia into her bosoms.
"It's okay, buchou-san… I'm sorry that I talked back to you back in the clubroom… I just want to be together more with Ise-san…" Asia replied with her voice slightly muffled from Rias' cleavage.
"It's fine… Still, if because of us fighting, we got separated and I were to loose you…" this time, Rias turned to her pawn and pulled him into a hug as well. "I'm so sorry… I should've taken better care of you… Both of you…"
Issei's expression softened as he returned the hug as well. "I told you we're fine, ojou-sama… I'm sorry too about earlier."
Before Rias could have responded anything in return, Asia broke-off their hug out of jealousy as she puffed her cheeks cutely. After giggling from Asia's cute antics, Rias cleared her throat, and the king regained her composure.
"Anyway, for those exorcists to make contact with the devils in charge of the territory during the daytime, it's possible that they want to speak with me", Rias concluded.
"People from the church want to speak with a devil… A negotiation? Or a pact, perhaps?" Issei put his two cents.
"I don't know their intentions, but… We'll be expecting them in the clubroom tomorrow after school."
"Will everything be okay, buchou-san?" Asia asked, slightly worried.
"Hopefully, yes. But still, to confront us without any attack whatsoever… It looks like they come for official business, as if they were being cornered… The matter is probably related with numerous reports of priests being either disappeared or murdered when they were visiting this town."
"Disappearance and murder… I see… Those two are probably going to either ask for permission to conduct an investigation around the area, or to ask us if we were to have any involvement on the matter…" Issei gave a thoughtful look before turning to his master. "What do you think about it, ojou-sama?"
"Sounds likely. Well, we just have to see about it tomorrow…" said Rias ending the conversation.
Later that night, when Issei was sleeping, this time with Asia and Rias making sure that he would not slip away from their side, the pawn suddenly remembered about something.
"Crap, I still haven't cleared up that misunderstanding with her…"
X
Rias' hunch was right on the money. By the next day after school, the clubroom's tables and chairs were occupied by Rias, with Akeno sitting next beside her while the two exorcists from yesterday were sitting across them.
The rest of members, this time with Kiba Yuuto, who finally showed up at school, were standing on the side, watching the exchange.
However, while Issei was already wary enough about the two exorcists and their holy artefacts, whatever they were, the pawn could feel that Yuuto's killing intent and hatred were filling the atmosphere. Issei was not even sure anymore, who he had to look after, whether he had to look out for the exorcists or the angry devil knight beside him.
"We'll go straight to the case", Irina was the one who initiated the conversation.
"The other day, three of the holy swords Excalibur were stolen while in storage, under the church care.
"Three?" the others turned their gaze at Issei. "Excuse me, but… I've heard that Excalibur was broken long time ago and all, but three? What exactly happened to that famous sword?"
"Before I answer that… Ise-kun, how did you know that the Excalibur was broken in the Great War? I thought you just became a devil recently", Irina replied.
Issei only blinked and let out a faint smirk. "I have my own resources. So, mind telling me more about this… multiple Excalibur swords?"
"Well, while the church couldn't restore the Excalibur's true form, they managed to salvage seven important fragments of the original itself…"
Xenovia then continued the explanation after Irina. "And through alchemy, the seven fragments were transformed into seven new cores, and the church has created seven new swords as the cores' vessels. One of them…" the blue haired girl unravelled the white cloth of her large item and revealed a two-handed sword with a cross in the pommel, a grip long enough that could be held with three hands (judging from Xenovia's hand position), an axe-like guard, a second grip with a chain-like form, and a long blade that ended with three points.
"… Is this, the Holy Sword of Destruction, Excalibur Destruction. This sword is under the catholic supervision", Xenovia introduced her sword and she started to put the cloth back on the sword again.
"And mine is…" Irina said as her armband twirled around, and it immediately changed its form into a katana. "Holy Sword of Mimicry, Excalibur Mimic, which is under the care of the protestant church. It's really convenient for travelling, since it can freely change shapes", Irina said proudly as she played around as the sword kept changing shapes.
Despite the danger it brought over, Issei had to admit that those swords' designs were pretty cool in his eyes. However, he also had understood the reason of Yuuto's killing intent. The object of his ire was standing right before him.
"I see… What is your intention in this town, then?" Rias asked after hearing the exorcist's explanations.
"Of seven Excalibur fragments, two each are held by the catholic, protestant, and orthodox churches, and the last remaining one, which was lost during the Great War. The discussion and investigation about how each one was stolen from each sect have brought us to this land."
Rias' lips twitched downwards slightly at the fact that the holy swords were stolen and had been brought to Japan, her territory to add.
"Such careless moves from the culprit… Speaking of, who would do such a thing in the first place?"
"We believe the one who had stolen the three Excalibur fragments is none other than Kokabiel of the Grigori, the 'One who Guards Against the Children of God'", Xenovia stated with grim tone.
Rias' eyes widened at the mention of the name. "A fallen angel cadre… The famous one to add, whose name appears among those inscribed in the bible…"
[Hoo? So the angel of the stars was behind this fiasco? Interesting…]
Hearing Ddraig's comment in his mind, Issei glanced a bit at his left arm. "You know him, Ddraig?"
[Not really, I only heard about him. That guy is quite famous through millennia, you know. He's also known as the star of God, a high-ranking fallen angel who commands an army of 365,000 angels]
Hearing the information, Issei could somewhat tell that this Kokabiel was definitely stronger than Riser Phenex.
[Well, considering that you are a devil and him being a fallen angel, I suggest you to be careful when you face him]
Issei took his dragon's words but did not say anything.
"Kokabiel had wiped out all of the exorcists and priests who had been covertly dispatched in this town for the past few days, which bring us to our request… No, our demand…" Xenovia closed her eyes and took another breath before opening her eyes again,
"We ask the devils to keep out of the fighting between Grigori and us over the Excalibur swords. In other words, you devils are to not interfering our mission."
Rias grimaced at the demand. "Aren't you full of yourself? Are you suspecting us for teaming up with the fallen angels?"
Xenovia simply shrugged, "The headquarters had concluded that it is not impossible."
Hearing this, Rias steeled her expression and raised her voice. "We are not, and never will, allying ourselves with the fallen angels! I swear in the name of house of Gremory!"
Xenovia only smirk faintly. "That's good enough, it's not like we're asking for your help. In fact, we understand that if you were to only temporarily team up with us from the God's side, there would be no small impact on the three-way stand off."
"Then, what will the people from the orthodox church do about this?" Rias asked again.
"Until this matter is resolved, they will protect the remaining blade with their lives."
Rias did not like the development. "So you're telling me that you two are the only ones that are sent to retrieve the swords from someone like Kokabiel? Do you have a death-wish?"
"That's right", Irina replied with resolve, followed by Xenovia.
"It's been determined that if the fallen angels were to make use of the Excalibur swords, we are allowed to destroy those swords instead. At least if we can't retrieve them, we won't allow the swords to be used by wrong hands."
"And for that, we dedicate our bodies, ourselves. The only thing that stands a chance against an Excalibur is another Excalibur, after all…"
Rias scoffed at the exorcists' statements. "The faith of people from the church like you two is uncanny as always… I wonder, is it possible if it's only you girls?"
"Please don't mock our believes, Rias Gremory. We don't intend to simply throw our lives away in this mission", Irina shot back, slightly irked.
Rias raised her eyebrows. "How confident… I assume you have some sort of a secret weapon?"
At the question, Xenovia was silent for a second before she simply replied, "I'll leave that to your imagination…" then the two exorcists stood up.
"That's all for our business here. We'll take our leave", Xenovia and Irina started to walk to the clubroom door.
"Why don't you stay a bit longer? We've prepared tea and snacks, after all", Rias said half-heartedly.
Xenovia did not even look back as she simply waved her hand. "We don't need it."
Irina herself could not help Xenovia's impolite reply. "Sorry about that, maybe next time…" Irina said with a sheepish smile.
However, before leaving, Xenovia took another glance at a certain blonde haired girl. After taking the girl's appearance for a second, Xenovia finally opened her mouth.
"I thought I was having a wrong person, but now I'm sure. Meeting you at Hyoudou Issei's house yesterday was the last thing I expected… Aren't you the 'witch' Asia Argento?"
At the mention of the 'witch', Asia flinched and immediately got herself feeling nervous. While Issei on the other hand, narrowed his eyes dangerously, fists clenched when the blue haired exorcist called his friend the nickname that brought bad memories upon her.
"Eh? Really, that rumoured former 'Holy Priestess'?" Irina chipped in as she put her gaze on Asia. "I heard you're exiled at one point, but I didn't expect you to become a devil of all things."
"Err, um… I'm…" Asia did not know what to say.
"It's alright. We won't say to our higher-ups about what we saw here", Irina's gaze was somewhat showing some sympathy. "It'd be a real shock for people who once knew 'Holy Priestess' Asia Argento, if they were to hear your current situation, after all…"
Asia could only silent at the statement.
"But still, for one who was once known as the 'Holy Maiden', to have fallen as far as you have into a devil, do you still believe in our God?" Xenovia asked the former nun.
"Xenovia, when she chose to be a devil, she's not supposed to have anymore faith in the Lord, right?" Irina added.
"Not necessarily. People who commit treason can still feel guilty in their conscience, there are also those who still retain what little left of their faith, which I'm feeling right now from you, Asia Argento…" Xenovia said as her eyes never left the girl in question. "Again, I ask of you, do you still believe in our Lord?"
"It's just that I cannot let it go… My faith has always been a part of me, after all…" Asia replied.
Xenovia closed her eyes, taking in Asia's reply. "I see. In that case, then I will cut you down, right here, right now in the name of God. Our Lord's benevolent hand will reach out even towards the most sinful…" Xenovia brandished her sword, however…
"Oi…"
Suddenly, Xenovia felt a goose-bump as a huge surge of killing intent filled out the room, or rather, aimed particularly at her. She had sensed the blonde devil knight's killing intent since she entered the room, but she did not pay too much mind about it.
However, this killing intent managed to force her to tighten her grip on her Excalibur as she instinctively pointed her blade at the source of the killing intent.
Even Irina was affected as well, as her eyes widened in shock and she quickly turned towards the said source with her hands quickly reached out at the Excalibur Mimic around her other arm.
The source of the killing intent was none other than the brown haired pawn, who was sending sharp, yet cold gaze towards the two exorcists. Issei's killing intent even enveloped Yuuto's own, making the knight had to redirect his attention from the holy swords to the pawn. For other members of the Occult Research Club, they recognised that look in Issei's eyes.
Yes, it was the same look Issei had during his fight with the rogue fallen angels when he failed to rescue Asia when her life was taken away. His gaze now was not as intense as the previous one, but still quite intimidating nonetheless.
"Go ahead and touch her, and I'll kill you…" Issei's cold tone making his words sounded more like a promise rather than a threat as a loud 'crack' was heard when he pressed his index finger down with his thumb.
Irina could not help but let a cold sweat to roll down her temple when she took a look at Issei's eyes. "Is that really the same Ise-kun I know from ten years ago?"
Holding the urge to swallow, Xenovia tried her best to keep her ground before Issei.
"Aren't you girls already too cocky? You waltzed in to our territory, selfishly told us what to do, and now you want to hurt one of our comrades? How funny…" Issei continued with a smirk.
Asia had tried to calm Issei down and making him stop by holding his sleeve, but the pawn did not even budge. However, Issei managed to calm down slightly when he caught the sight of Asia's pleading eyes. Still, he would not stand down so easily from the exorcists that just threatened one of his friends, his family.
"Saints don't need friends. All they need is God's love, the same also applied to her before she was exiled. It was her job to be benevolent and affectionate towards people without any favouritism", Xenovia managed to remain calm enough to reply back.
"Hoo… Is that so? From all I know, you guys from the church recruited her without her consent, exploited her power to gain more followers and benefits, and when she made a trivial mistake out of kindness, you suddenly kicked her out without her able to say anything? Tell me, is that you girls call as God's love?!" Issei shot back with sarcastic tone.
"That's right, Ise-kun. God does love us all. In Asia's case, it could be that her faith was lacking, or her faith to Him was just false. As simple as it is", Irina lowered her hand as she regained her composure.
"What is that girl to you, anyway?" Xenovia asked.
"She's my friend, my comrade, my family. And I've promised to always protect her! If you lay a hand even on her hair alone, I'll beat you down, every single one of you selfish bastards!" Issei declared as his anger rose up.
"Is that a challenge to us and the church? Even if you're Saitama-dono's son, a mere lowly devil like you to shoot off your big mouth like that…" Xenovia felt slightly intrigued, despite the fear she was still feeling from him.
"Hmph, perfect timing. Let me join too…"
Everyone in the room turned their heads towards the source of the said voice, which belonged to the Gremory knight who had jumped into the opportunity.
"And you are?" Xenovia asked him.
"Let's say that I'm your senior…" Yuuto replied with venom in his voice as several demonic swords sprouted from the ground. "Although I'm a failed creation compared to you two…"
A battle was inevitable.
To be continued…