Chapter 4: Sweet Meeting and Cold Refusal
I was regretting having gone through my little experiment.
Waking up with a migraine worse than the one I had gone to sleep with and with my body still suffering with something close to what I would only expect to happen from a hangover situation, I was pretty much feeling like crap even when I started to eat a handful cookies for breakfast.
My stomach was churning in disgust at the miser amount I've picked, rejecting even the small baked goods while also coming close to send me to the bathroom with the stomach aches I was experiencing.
Said effects were starting to get difficult to hide and father picked quickly fairly quickly that something was wrong with me.
Cue the several questions coming from the renowned doctor of Kuoh, the man pestering me for a good hour before nodding at the sufficient level of knowledge I had over the matter.
I was sick from an infection that was born from a cut in my hands caused from messing a little while making some dinner dinner two days earlier.
Then I continued my explanation by detailing how I had it already bandaged and that I've already taken in the medicines to deal with the resulting symptoms of the infection.
There was some confusion regarding the extent of the effects of the medical pills and their effectiveness to counter the ongoing infection since I seemed to be looking way more ill than I should be when he first noticed me, but I managed to shrug it off by saying that it was just a minor allergic reaction and that I would be fine by the end of the day.
Quite the tall expectation, but I didn't need his infuriating presence over the matter.
Maybe it was the pressure of possibly turning late for work if he continued with the interrogation what truly made him back down from that subject, but the man easily accepted the excuse and waved me a goodbye as he and mother went for the car, directed at their respective jobs.
Dad would have kept me at home by just a glance at my current conditions, and mom… mom would have forced me to stay at bed.
I took a sigh, I closed my eyes and I was glad that the two 'replacements' that were meant to be my new parents.
It was quite the horrible depictions of these two individuals' role in my new life, yet it was sadly the kindest way to describe their attitudes towards me.
Sure, every parent was meant to give their own children a push to strive for the highest ambition so that they could reach out and become rich enough to never suffer the risks of poverty, but their motivations stemmed far away from this little thought.
All for the family. The Sakakibara 'Clan' was just a petty idea conceptualized by my 'father' for the sake of keeping up with those few people that had some old lineage that came from samurai and daiymio families.
A modern clan. What a stupid idea.
Once they had left the house and I noticed that the vehicle had gone out, I let out a sigh of relief before proceeding to return to my room for some careful planning.
Opening the wardrobe, I picked some good clothes and started to change with those while folding my Pjs by the end of the bed.
While I should seriously take some rest from this long process of energetic integration and maybe continue to study some more my magic capacity, today was meant to be a very important day that would see me make some swift and careful actions to avoid the some instances of the timeline to happen.
Asia was supposed to be coming in Kuoh today and I had to try to catch up with Issei to get them both to safety for the time being.
The intrusions of yesterday from members of Rias' peerage had taught me that planned meetings within the school with the Host of the Red Dragon Emperor were going to be monitored by some people.
If I wanted to have a chance to finally explain some of the new things that the owner of the Welsh Dragon Sacred Gear was meant to know by now, I needed to intercept him while he wasn't at school just yet.
Before going to intercept Issei, I had to also go and buy some groceries since the fridge was starting to get noticeably empty and I needed to refurbish it with fresher ingredients if I wanted to survive.
Thus I first ventured to the local super-market to buy some ice cream, some veggies and some cheese.
There wasn't a shortage of meat-related food back home, so my main priority was to get the products that were actually missing from home.
I did concede myself that ice cream might be helpful in dealing with the painful effects of the integration, hoping that suddenly ingesting the cold sweet treat wasn't going to slow down the biological process.
Once I got everything paid by the counter, I walked out of the store and started to think where Issei could be around this time since I had a good idea what kind of route he would usually take.
It was fairly early in the morning, but I didn't doubt the younger student would be already out to walk to school, his house quite distant from the place.
It was odd to think that, as perverted the boy was, the youth didn't make any other issues regarding the school's rules.
Very respectful in being punctual with the classes' times, he was keeping up good grades and he was also getting praised numerous times by his fascinating understanding of Japanese History.
Odd for someone with a bad reputation with the entire student population, but also a main proof that there was something more than a pervert in the individual that was Issei Hyoudou
It was in that moment that I did remember a minor detail I was almost forgetting about.
In Canon, Issei meets Asia near the local park and they were going to spend some time talking there before actually moving away from there.
Without wasting more time rummaging in my thoughts I proceeded to take the proper path to the next section of the town that led right to the local park.
It took me a few minutes of slow-paced walking and, much to my awe, I was bestowed with a familiar sight from the show.
Being that I was looking at everyone with 'real life glasses', Asia Argento proved to be as breath-taking as I had long suspected.
Her golden locks were well-cared considering that she had been living a humble life and one that had taken quite a big hit with the recent happenings, as her hair was clean and pristine.
Her suave face was something I had trouble to not look at without getting too much endeared by it, the only reason why I managed to not get far too mesmerized came from the fact I was still in pain.
It was just like the first time I had seen Akeno and Rias during school hours.
The gorgeous ladies of this series looked so incredibly impressive and yet… there was just something incredibly 'more' about the little nun that got me to pause a little more than I did with the two other girls.
Asia was surely going to give some unexpectedly harsh competition to the girls without even trying, of that I was quite sure of.
As I finished looking at the nun, I noticed that the young girl was fixing her clothes after her clumsy fall and I slowly turned to the little problem of this scene.
Issei was slowly helping her by putting back the various pieces of clothes that had fallen out of her suitcase, stopping more than once to stare at… intimate objects within the case.
I narrowed my eyes and starting to pace towards the unsuspecting kohai of mine, stopping mere moments before crashing onto him as I waited for the brunet to finally notice my presence.
Since I was covering the sunlight that helped the boy have a better look at the panties that he was currently holding, Issei slowly turned to see who was looming behind him and…
He blinked once.
Then twice.
Finally he paled in realization, his eyes widened and his jaws dropped in a moment of brief panic.
"S-Senpai! W-What are you doing here?"
Indeed, what I'm doing here looking at you being a little pervert?
"Doing some groceries and thought of try to find you now to speak about that important things… to think you would do that to a poor nun of all people."
He looked back at the panties and dropped them back inside the container, swiftly doing the same with the other clothes before staring back at me with a nervous look.
"S-See, just a minor mistake," He said nervously before letting out an embarrassed chuckle, expecting some retribution from my part at being caught in a perverted act but I decided to grace him about the fact he had moved quickly enough to fix his little issue and I merely sigh.
"Just… don't do that ever again," I said with a placid blink, slowly turning to look at the nearby blonde. "By the way, who is the- Uh?"
As I spun around to face the nun, I found myself facing Asia, blue eyes looking concerned at my gloved hands as her very soft ones started to caress it. "Did you get hurt?"
I blinked. "I may have, yes. Why do you-"
It was kind of sudden but my attention was yanked away as I noticed a soft green light instanly coated my entire arm and-
I started to felt some energy returning to my entire body.
Gone was the fatigue and the tiredness created by the dreadful efforts of integrating the foreign energy, and gone were the aching from my belly and the back pains that had tortured me for a full day now.
My eyes were wide open as I let the girl finish her treatment and blinked once the light stopped covering the limb.
I had merely thought about the possible sensation 'Twilight Healing' could have given to the patient being cured and… to think that it would so…
"Meraviglioso..." Wonderful…
The girl gasped for a moment, my mind catching up quickly that I did slip up for a moment by letting out some words in my native language, and had to hold back a flinch at the recognition in her eyes as, much to my brief inner groaning, we both shared the same nationality.
"Siete un Italiano anche voi?" Could you be that you are an Italian too?
I almost gave out my entire cover in that state of surprise.
What the hell is wrong with me?! Why did those cute girls have this effect on me of all people?
"Parlo poco la lingua, imparato da cliente di Padre." I can barely speak it, I learned from client of dad.
Knowing well enough how to properly speak Italian, I also knew how to sound quite foreign-ish with its accents. It was slightly difficult to not facepalm at the know mistakes I was leaving with my words, but the main purpose of this broken version of a reply seemed to be successful.
"Oh?" She deflated a little but then seemed to regain some happiness at the fact someone could partly understand her. "T-Then could you help me find the local church, good sir?"
I blinked at the was she was addressing me and I faked a frown at her mentioning the 'local' church.
"You mean the one that has not been used for a decade now, young miss?" I smiled at the pale blush at the way I returned the addressing, but then sighed. "I am sorry to say that it is not a safe place for a young lady as you to go to. The police did issue a warning that forbid people from visiting it a couple of years ago."
Her eyes widened in surprise at this revelation. "W-What? I-I thought that-"
"There had been some unpleasant people wandering around the place and… some found a dead man in the park quite recently."
She gasped at the following news and Issei frowned nervously at the mentioning of Dohnaseek to the girl but I nodded to him as I hummed in thought.
"Young miss, would you like to accept my gratitude for your kind gesture by inviting you to the local ice cream parlor? I think they just finished to refurbish the store and-"
"M-My name is Asia, Asia Argento," She suddenly introduced herself. "A-And the offer is truly kind but I healed you without thinking of a reward or-"
In that moment a soft growl reached for my ears, Issei blinking in surprise too as he heard it too.
The girl's blush worsened to a full-face bright red and she looked away as her treacherous belly ruined her moment of selflessness.
"I think you would do well with some breakfast, signorina," I hummed with a slight teasing tone, enough to not appear to be pressing too much onto her.
She smiled at being called 'young lady' and gave a calm sigh.
"F-Fine, but it is only because you are insisting..."
I chuckled and my kohai was the one taking the suitcase, his strength partly augmented so he barely felt the weight in his hands.
A few moments later, Asia took a spoonful of her cup of 'Fior-di-Latte' ice cream, enjoying the delicious flavor as Issei took a chocolate cone and I picked a cup of watermelon flavor.
I just enjoyed the chocolate bits hidden in that delicate sweetness.
"S-Senpai, y-you kind of promised some explanations," The brunet poked about while I took a little spoonful out of my cup.
I blinked at him and then sighed.
"And I am ready to give some answers," I interjected with a kind voice. "But let's start with something you wish to know a little more about."
He appreciated the offer of having some of his important questions solved and nodded.
"W-Why is Asia-chan here for this?" He turned at the confused girl and tried to wave in an appeasing way. "I- I mean, this discussion should kind of be private and-"
"That is because I wish to discuss about Asia-san's current living quarters from now on," I glanced at the blonde. "Asia, do you understand that the local Church is a stronghold of Fallen Angels, right?"
"Y-You know-" She looked surprised at my knowledge of the race but nodded with a sad look, causing Issei to narrow my eyes in my direction. "I… I do."
"I want to say that I don't find the fact you healed a Devil to be a reason to warrant the horrible ordeal you had to go through, signorina," I stated with some genuine interest and politeness. "Quite the opposite, I found it a commendable act and proof you are worth of your Sacred Gear."
The nun perked, eyes sparkling at the mentioning of the event that costed her the place within the community of God, but I think the kind comment was what got her mostly happy.
"I… I don't know what to say and… actually, why is Issei-san needing your assistance, Mr-"
I softly facepalmed and groaned at forgetting that important thing.
"I kind of… forgot to introduce myself, didn't I?" I said while smiling, then I gave her a quick bow with my head. "I'm Hoitsu Sakakibara, and you may consider me Issei's senpai at school."
She tilted her head by the side. "S-Senpai?"
There wasn't a clear translation of that specific term in Italian, so I had to explain it to her through the meaning of the world.
"I am his senior at school and thus there is a relationship of support for him to grow and get a proper grip over his study and proper behaviors."
The boy blushed as I patted his shoulder. "I- I am not that bad-"
"You are if you have to be taken to the teachers with your 'naughty' behavior."
His blush worsened, the fact that he was a pervert still eluding the confused nun.
"Anyway, I was saying that the church was under Fallen Angels' control and- those are not the good kind of people within Grigori, Asia-san."
"B-But I thought that they were there by A-Azazel-san's order?"
I nodded partially at her outdated knowledge.
"This was the case at first, then their leader decided to rebel against him and try to steal the Sacred Gears she could get," I said while pointing at the boy. "Issei here has a Sacred Gear himself and was attacked a few days ago by the leader of the group here, left to die as his 'gift' was mistaken for something weak."
Issei flinched at the telling of his near-death experience and was taken by surprise as Asia quickly looked at him with a genuine worried look. "R-Really, Issei-san?"
"I-I almost died, yeah but-" The brunet tried to make some explanation, but his stuttered proved to be delaying much of the precious limited time we all had at the moment.
"I think I should explain that myself, Issei, since I know this circumstance in the bigger picture of things," I interrupted him, the boy frowning at the intrusion in that intimate closeness of theirs. "As the topic is fairly complex and it has to be… well-detailed."
The nun frowned. "W-What do you mean? Y-You think I could mistake something?"
"Kind of, yes," I replied with a calm tone, getting her frown to ease just a little bit with the warmth from my voice. "You see, Kuoh Town is currently the fief of the heiresses of two Devil Clans, the Gremory and the Sitri-"
"Y-You mean that Issei-san-?" Asia interjected as realization materialized on her face.
"Was turned in a Devil, yes," I interrupted again, knowing that if I let these two speak without much understanding over the weight of their words, I might have to face some kind of fallout that I wasn't sure to be able to solve alone. "Previously a human, this young man has been recently thrown inside the big tug war."
Her innocent stare returned to the brunet and she frowned. "Y-You think that I would doubt the g-genuine helpfulness of Issei-san, Hoitsu-senpai?"
I blinked at the honorific and the stubborn tone behind her voice. She sure was picking up on these details fairly fast...
"I mean, without some context some people would be careful around a Devil," I explained with an appeasing note. "No, I wasn't thinking you would do that that… I mean, you did heal a Devil before."
She blushed at the remark and nodded, accepting the quick explanation given.
This time it was Issei that spoke. "Senpai, you also mentioned that I had this 'Sacred Gear'. Buchou explained to me what it generally was but… she didn't know which one I had."
"The knowledge of one Sacred Gear's identity can be given by the power the object make use of. I would be lying in saying that I knew precisely the true identity of yours with just a look, but I did found your energy pattern… unique," I carefully explained, trying to bring some logical reasoning behind my discovery instead of blowing my SI cover. "Rather similar to how a dragonic one should feel like and, since you are hardly someone driven by logic to be considered the Host of the Vanishing Dragon, but by heart and emotion, I would say you have the Red Welsh Dragon."
…
"W-What?"
I sighed as I knew I had to go fairly deeper in the lore since Issei didn't knew about the other Sacred Gears.
"The Red Dragon Emperor is part of the 13 Longinus. The Boosted Gear is how it's known commonly," I continued to explain, careful to not rush too many things at once. "Differently from Asia's Twilight Healing, this is a very powerful Sacred Gear and it is considered to be one of the few ones that could manage to kill the Satans if its full potential is unlocked."
"B-But how does it work?" The brunet asked, a little awed by the description. "I can form the gauntlet but-"
"You ended up with a very lazy Dragon within yourself, Ise." My comment surprised both teens and I smiled smugly as I continued. "You see, Ddraig is not as helpful as Albion is as he sleep all-day and has the least victory against his rival. I wonder why he is considered a Heavenly Dragon if he is that dumb."
Issei blinked, his eyes widening the more the words left my mouth and he let out a nervous chuckle as his gauntlet formed right as I finished this little session of roasting.
Asia blinked in surprise at the appearance of the dragonic arm on her new friend, but I think she was mostly taken by what I was trying to do here.
I was glad that there weren't many people there and that the workers were all sitting inside and chatting away while waiting for some other clients, thus unable to see what was going on here.
"U-Uh, senpai, I think you should-"
But the teen's plea fell deaf as I continued.
"And let us not forget about the time he and Tiamat went-"
"Okay! That is enough, Magician!"
The sudden outburst coming from the Boosted Gear ended up making me crack a smile at the familiar voice. "And here is the sleeping drake-"
"Desist from going through that spiel, I know what you are trying to do here by trying to get a reaction on me."
I raised a brow at that. "Truly? Then pray tell, what do I want from you?"
"Support, help and… power-"
"Wrong, wrong and also wrong." I sighed tiredly. "I want a very simple thing from you, Ddraig, and… that is something that has to do with Issei."
The brunet blinked in surprise, pointing at himself with his normal arm. "M-Me?"
"Oh? Do you wish to have him as your minion or-"
"Can you stop with throwing senseless accusations for once?!" I interrupted with a groan, close to facepalm. "It's starting to get quite annoying and what I meant is…" I sighed. "I need you to train him."
"Train this weak host?" Issei let out a soft 'Hey' but the dragon ignored him. "While he does have an… interesting group of people around, I fail to see the potential he might have."
"I consider him your best bet against the current owner of Albion," I shot back with a huff. "The host is a powerful half-Devil which… I would like to see kicked around here and there."
"Some revenge? Did he slight you perhaps?"
"Just angry at how he could ruin things around if not stopped early on."
"Some preventive strike? And you wish to make use of my rivalry for that?!" He seemed angry but at this point I could recognize the bluff from his heated tone.
"Would you truly mind that?" I retorted back with a sigh. "You would still get some victories against Albion."
"T-That is true but- ARGH! You are one of the most infuriating humans I had to deal in my entire existence!"
Okay, I think that was kind of flattering knowing the lengthy presence of Ddraig in this universe.
Sadly, the smug victory was dampened by his following words.
"Differently from the fair and gorgeous babe sitting near us."
Asia blushed a storm at that unexpected barrage of compliments compressed in that sentence and Issei poked at the Gear.
"Excuse you?! What are you saying to Asia-chan?"
"Being a blunt and honest male with good ideas for her beauty- Gah, stop poking now!"
Despite the protests, the boy continued to poke even harder than before.
Meanwhile, the blonde had a hand pressed on her lips as she tried and failed to contain her mirthful giggles at the comic scene she was bestowed with as the gauntlet and brunet continued to engaged in what looked to be a battle of poking and 'bites'.
I stared at it with some entertainment myself, but I was keen to not let out any chuckles or any other things more than smiles from that sight.
A few moments passed and after the bickering of the boy and the dragon had finished, Issei did remember that he had to go to school.
So bidding goodbye after some guarantees and assurances that I would take Asia to a safe place (which was his house and I forgot to tell him about that), the girl and I started to walk towards the Hyoudou's residence.
Every corner I would glance first before going with the nun in tow, knowing full well that Raynare might as well have decided to wander around to find Asia to avoid any other hindrances to her plan.
It was weird for someone as cautious as her to attack in broad daylight but-
I heard a gasp and then I was pushed forward, almost falling on the ground and I turned around at the sound of something making a loud noise.
Thud
My eyes widening at the sudden noise, I was greeted with Asia fallen on the road and a pool of blood forming underneath her clothes. The liquid was coming from the gaping wound in her lower chest and the cause of the injury was the vanishing dark-pink light spear piercing her.
I felt a sharp cold sensation going through my body as I realized what had just happened and… I felt a strong thought giving me a brief pause over the matter.
I-I almost died!
"Shit! She had to jump and take the hit, that idiotic nun-"
Raynare was flying right above us and she sighed with annoyance in her lips as she turned her attention at me. "That means I will have to take care of you so we can go ahead with the process. To think that I have to risk this much..."
Several other light spears formed above me and, feeling the shock starting to get replaced by seething anger, I decided to try out if Twilight Healing did bolster the integration process to completion.
I remembered the composition of my newer spell and the pure emotional grade required to fully form the spears.
Soon enough, I was graced with the relieving sight of several dark-gray blades of light appearing to my sides.
The Fallen Angel blinked in surprise at the development before snarling, her six dark-pink spears launching towards me.
Responding to the threat, my own Light Spears propelled to intercept her own and minor blasts of lights echoes across the street.
There was surprise and fury within the woman's eyes but I wasn't going to back down now.
Asia required help and I had to kill this bitch as quickly as possible.
Why can't things just go my way even this early in the story?!
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AN
Cliffhanger, Raynare just attacked! And she has mortally damaged Asia-chan!
The battle will be epic and… divided in two sections and times.
While our MC could technically work around the odds with some ingenuity and good-thinking, doing so would prolong the fight and further reduce the chances of saving the nun.
Can he works in this situation to win and saw our lovable young, Italian nun?
Quick explanation about the Light Spears and other Magical Constructs: While a Magical Construct is connected to its creator and could be dispelled in normal circumstances, the connection between creator and construct can be severed or altered by external magic. This was the case with Dohnaseek's spear being used against him and, before anyone ask how someone with 'Earthly' magic is capable of sustain the spear, the answer lies in what the drain entails. The spear drains energy, Earthly energy could work as an alternative for the toll but it would require much more because of its lesser quality compared to Holy energy.
Also about Twilight Healing: I know, I am going a little over the usual AN's length but I wish to avoid any issues with what I am pulling there. This Sacred Gear can only cure injuries and wounds, but cannot cure sickness and fatigue… and yet it worked on the MC? The solution is that those two are not independent things but are caused by the process, an injury to one Magic Core that allows the implementation of a secondary magical energy within the body. With the process concluded swiftly, the two bad factors are removed from affecting the MC.