Human World, Japan, Kuoh.
A few weeks passed in the blink of an eye after Mio and Maria were told about who their father was. Since then, not much has happened at or after school. Tonight, however, would put an end to the uneventful days. After school, Issei headed back to his house like any other day. Unfortunately, Asia was spending the night At Rias house for a girls' night. However, when Issei approached the front door, he was able to feel the presence of holy power.
Remembering what the psycho priest, Freed Sellzan, had done to a family a lot like his in the past, Issei flung the door open with his [Shadow Claws] equipped.
"Mom, I'm home!" Issei shouted loud enough to be heard from anywhere in the house.
"Oh, Ise!" Issei's mother replied. "Hurry into the living room, we have guests."
Hearing that his mother seemed to be fine, Issei breathed a sigh of relief. However, he did not lower his guard in the slightest. Dispelling his [Sacred Gear], for the moment, Issei removed his shoes and walked cautiously toward the living room. When he arrived, the first thing he noticed was that his mother was talking to two beautiful girls who looked to be around his age, both wearing white robes.
The first, a beautiful girl with long chestnut brown hair styled into twin tails, held together with blue scrunchies, violet eyes, and a curvy figure. The second, an equally curvaceous girl with chin length blue hair, a green dyed bang on her right side, and brown eyes.
'Damn these girls are hot!' Issei thought to himself while scanning the girls' bodies perversely.
"Ise, it's been a long time." the brown-haired girl said with a smile.
Meanwhile, the green-haired girl maintained an impassive expression, merely examining Issei's threat level.
"Uh... I guess?" Issei responded bashfully.
'A long time?' Issei thought to himself. 'I don't remember ever seeing this girl. I would never forget such a hottie if I had seen her.'
Realizing that her son did not recognize her, Issei's mother, Hyoudou Miki, decided to give him a helping hand.
"Irina has really grown up since the last time she came to visit, hasn't she Issei?" Miki said with a nostalgic smile.
"Say What?" Issei exclaimed in surprise. "Are you that Irina? But I thought Irina was a boy."
"Well... Haha..." The brown-haired girl, Irina, chuckled embarrassedly. "I was a bit of a tomboy when I was a kid."
Seeing that everything was going well, Miki decided to leave the kids alone and prepare dinner.
"Well, Issei I'll go into the kitchen to make dinner." Miki said as she stood from the sofa. "Why don't you keep these girls company in the meantime."
"Uh... Sure thing, Mom." Issei said while scratching the back of his head.
"Actually, there's no need." the blue-haired girl said nonchalantly. "We need to leave soon, anyway. We still have work to do."
"Yeah, we can't stay for much longer." Irina said with a smile. "We only stopped by because I wanted to see my childhood friend."
"That's too bad." Miki said disappointedly. "Well, you're always welcome to come back. Issei, when they are ready to leave, make sure you walk them to the door."
"Okay, Mom." Issei said, still a bit uneasy from the holy power he was feeling from Irina and the blue-haired girl. Once Miki left the living room and entered the kitchen, Issei turned his wary gaze toward the girls again.
"You don't have to worry, Ise." Irina said with that same cheerful smile on her face. "We would never do anything to Aunt Miki. But I must say, I'm quite disappointed that you gave away your humanity, though. To think my childhood friend would fall to the path of evil. Dear Lord, please offer this wayward lamb salvation, Amen."
'Damn it, I'm never gonna get used to this feeling.' Issei thought as he felt a massive headache.
As it turns out, Sincere prayer in a devil's vicinity will cause them harm depending on the strength of the two parties involved. Luckily, Issei was about Irina's equal in strength.
"Well, as long as you don't plan on hurting my mother, I don't really care." Issei said while shaking his head to rid himself of the headache.
Seeing Issei's reaction, the green-haired girl raised an eyebrow. Admittedly, she was surprised that Issei could simply shrug off the effects of Irina's prayer.
"Anyway, how is Uncle Touji?" Issei asked with genuine concern in his tone.
"He's good." Irina answered energetically. "He's been promoted several times since we moved to England."
"That's good, I'm glad everything is going well for him." Issei said with a happy smile.
"Yup!" Irina replied with a happy smile as she nodded.
"Well, I think it's time we head out, Irina." the blue-haired girl said calmly, interrupting the conversation between the childhood friends. "Hyoudou Issei, please inform your superiors that we wish to meet with them tomorrow afternoon."
Hearing that, Issei looked at the blue-haired girl warily. But before he could speak, Irina spoke first.
"Aww, Xenovia, do we have to go so soon?" Irina asked with a pout.
"Do you really want to stay in the presence of a devil so badly?" The blue-haired girl, Xenovia, asked while glancing at Irina from the corner of her eye. "Have you betrayed your faith?"
Hearing that, Irina froze. Then, she looked at Issei apologetically.
"*Sigh* It's really a shame, Ise." Irina said with a sad smile. "It's such a shame that you've walked away from God's light."
Once again, Issei experienced pain. However, he did not pay too much attention to it and simply stared at the girls in front of him.
"I'll inform my king of your arrival and intention to meet." Issei said dryly.
"Thank you." Xenovia said calmly. "Let's go, Irina."
"Okay!" Irina said energetically. "Don't worry Ise, one day I'll bring you back into God's embrace."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Issei said while frowning due to the damage the Biblical God's name inflicts on devils.
"See you tomorrow, Ise." Irina said happily.
As Irina and Xenovia walked out of the living room, Issei followed them toward the front door. After putting on their shoes, the girls left his house without speaking or looking back. Then, after they were a distance away, Issei closed the door and walked back into the house.
"Hey, Mom!" Issei shouted as he made his way toward the stairs. "Irina and her friend left, I'm going up to my room and changing out of my uniform."
"Okay, dinner will be ready soon." Miki replied from the kitchen.
Then, Issei made his way up the stairs and entered his room shortly after. After changing into more comfortable clothes, Issei picked up his phone and called Rias.
A few moments later, Rias answered the call.
"{Hello.}" Rias said from the phone.
"Buchou, did you know there are two people leaking holy power in the town?" Issei asked with concern.
"{I did.}" Rias replied casually. "Except, there are four people leaking holy energy in the town. Two of them sneaked in, though.}"
"There are four of them?" Issei asked in surprise.
"{That's right}" Rias replied. "{But how did you find out about them?}"
"Well, two of them were at my house when I got home." Issei said awkwardly.
"{What?}" Rias exclaimed in panic. "{Are you okay? Was there a fight? Are you injured?}"
Hearing the concern in Rias' voice, Issei felt a warm fuzzy feeling in his chest.
'Even though those boobs aren't mine, it feels nice to have someone worry about me' Issei thought to himself with a smile.
"Don't worry Buchou." Issei said with a smile. "Well, you see, one of them happens to be my childhood friend. So, they were actually just coming to visit."
"{A childhood friend, huh?}" Rias said in a contemplative tone. "{I guess that means you know someone affiliated with the church.}"
"Uh... Yeah, her dad was a priest, or something." Issei replied while scratching his head.
"Ise! Dinner is ready!" Miki's shout could be heard from downstairs.
"Okay, Mom! I'll be right down!" Issei shouted back after moving the phone away from his mouth. Then, after placing the phone against his ear again, Issei continued to speak with Rias. "Sorry, Buchou, my mom is calling me for dinner. So, I have to go."
"{it's fine, Issei.}" Rias replied nonchalantly. "{Have a good night, bye.}"
"Oh, Buchou, there's one more thing." Issei said quickly as he remembered what Xenovia asked of him.
"{Oh, what is it?}" Rias asked curiously, while hoping it was not something perverted.
"One of the girls with holy power asked me to tell you that they would come to see you after school tomorrow." Issei said in a serious tone.
"{Okay, thanks Issei.}" Rias replied seriously. "{I'll talk to Sona and James about the meeting. See you tomorrow.}"
"See you tomorrow, Buchou." Issei said before ending the call.
Meanwhile, in Rias' mansion, Rias had just put her phone down. Then, she created a small magic circle on her palm and held it up to her ear.
"Akeno, I need you to contact Sona and James." Rias said, speaking into the magic circle. "Inform them that I need to speak to both of them as soon as possible."
"{Understood.}" Akeno replied, then quickly followed her [King's instructions.
Shortly after that, Rias met with James and Sona. Naturally, Akeno and Tsubaki accompanied their [Kings], as a [Queen] would be expected to.
"*Sigh* Every time we meet like this, it feels weird that you're always alone." Rias said with a wry smile.
"Indeed." Sona said while nodding in agreement. "Are you ever going to get a [Queen]?"
"You know recruiting a [Queen] is serious business, right?" James said with a smile while shaking his head. "Anyway, we're not here to discuss my lack of a [Queen], right? We're here to talk about the meeting with the girls from the Church."
"I know, I know." Rias replied, "But it's still a bit awkward."
James could only shrug his shoulders at Rias' complaint.
"Anyway, those girls aren't the only ones in the town." James said seriously. "There are two, decidedly more dangerous, holy power wielders hiding in the town right now."
"Do you know who they are?" Sona asked while adjusting her glasses. "Or how long have they been here?"
"They've been here since the day we went to the underworld after the [Rating Game]." James said solemnly. And I don't think it was a coincidence they chose that day to infiltrate into the town."
"So, you think someone knew our scheduled movements?" Sona asked uncomfortably. "That would mean..."
"Take it easy, Sona." James said while waving his hand dismissively. "I think it's more likely that someone at the banquet leaked it. I trust all the members of our peerages."
"Are you suggesting there are traitors among the devil nobility?" Rias said with a frown. "That would be a huge security leak if it were true."
"That's not what we should be focusing on right now." Sona said as she made eye contact with her two childhood friends. "James, do you know who the intruders are?"
"Dante has been shadowing one of them." James said with a wry smile. "The psycho priest from last time, Freed Sellzan."
"That homicidal maniac, again." Rias said with disgust. "And who's the second one?"
"Not sure yet." James said while shaking his head. "We know it's an old man, but we haven't been able to find out his identity, yet."
"And, of course, we can't figure out his motives until we know his identity." Sona said unhappily.
"*Sigh* That's right." James said with a sigh. "But you don't need to worry, I've got Lady staking out their hideout."
"I guess that's all we can do for nw." Rias said with a shrug. Then, her attention shifted to Sona. "We got off topic again. What are we gonna do about the meeting tomorrow after school?"
"I think we should have the meeting in the ORC club room." Sona said after a moment of contemplation. "That way we can keep our visitor's interactions with normal students to a minimum."
"That makes sense." Rias said with a nod. Then, she shifted her attention to James. "James, can you inform them of the time and place?"
"Sure, I'll get Moka to deliver a message with one of her bats." James said nonchalantly. Then, his expression turned serious. "But there is something I want to say about this meeting."
Seeing the change in James' expression, Rias, Sona, Akeno, and Tsubaki also switched to a more serious expression.
"What's wrong, James?" Sona asked.
"There's a good chance those two girls will recognize Asia." James replied. "Be prepared to keep your peerage on a short leash, Ri Ri. Make sure that they know I will handle any issues that arise."
Hearing how serious James' tone was, Rias only nodded. At the same time, Rias, Sona, and Akeno blushed slightly due to the dominant aura James was exuding. Then, for the next hour, the three [Kings] discussed as many possible scenarios that could happen tomorrow afternoon as they could think of.