Beta read by, Shigiya Fluffy Slayer and Paragon of Awesomeness
.
.
.
-Lucifaad-
The grand castle of Lucifer, surrounded by thousands of Devils constantly patrolling the area to safeguard one of the most powerful beings in the Underworld — not that he needed it in the first place. Being a Super Devil, he had previously climbed through multiple mountains of his enemies' corpses in the Great War and then again in the Devil Civil War. Having fought against godlike beings and neverending armies by himself and emerging victorious with his mastery over the infamous Power of Destruction and now holding the title of Lucifer — Sirzechs Lucifer.
Formerly a Gremory, he had been required to cut all ties with his family in order to become a leader of Devil-kind. The same had happened with Serafall Leviathan, Ajuka Beelzebub, and Falbium Asmodeus. Now they govern the Devils' side of the Underworld after having won against the Old Satan Faction. Though life was never so easy, as trouble still loomed over the horizon with enemies lurking in every shadow — even those who publicly claimed to be their allies.
Today, Sirzechs walked through the halls without his usual smile on his face. A stern and emotionless expression that frightened many of the Servants who hastily bowed to him before scurrying away. By his side, a woman that could only be described as an ethereal Ice Queen with beauty that challenged even the likes of Gabriel — his wife, Queen, and head maid, Grayfia Lucifuge.
"Has Rias sent any letters back?" He asked, both worried and curious about his precious little sister.
"I'm afraid not, as aside from the last one from four days ago, Lady Rias has remained silent for the most part. She still refuses to speak to her mother and father regarding matters relating to their recent attempt to push the wedding forward." She said with an emotionless face that revealed nothing of her personal thoughts.
Sirzechs couldn't help but sigh at the reminder of that. He was trying his best to delay this wedding while also never appearing too biased towards his family. Zekram Bael watched his every move, and the slightest sign of weakness or him neglecting his duties would be a political disaster. His hands were tied and even his status as a Super Devil did little to help any of his problems these days.
"She'll manage, I know her, she's strong and capable." Yet it was another matter that also related to his sister that had caused him a lot of worry recently. Which also turned out to be the main reason why he was going to have a meeting with Ajuka.
"You dote on her too much, she never experienced any kind of hardship in the past. Though Lady Rias has indeed inherited great talent and power from both the Gremory lineage and the Bael, she barely practiced any of them." Even if her words sounded like criticism towards Rias, Grayfia was actually very concerned about the girl and her future. The Underworld with all its politics were as tricky and deadly as that of the humans. Except here, influence alone was not sufficient and also had to be backed up by both power and cunning. "She basically spends every day doing nothing other than having fun in the human world."
"Which is a good thing." Sirzechs mentioned, giving her a light smile. "We battled against the gods and our own kind for this period of peace. We became this powerful out of necessity to survive, to protect our families, and fulfill our obligations. The fruits of our labor is the tranquil environment the current generation has grown up in; a place where they don't have to head out to the front lines every single day to put their lives on the line. Nothing brings me more joy than to see the youngsters all smiling and living the life we couldn't get. That we sacrificed so they wouldn't have to. So why force them into hardship once again when there's no need?"
Grayfia couldn't help but sigh, "Lord Sirzechs, your words are a double-edged sword. It is due to these hardships that we became capable enough to create the current Underworld which you treasure so dearly. If these children are granted too much freedom and don't experience pain, then they as well as other people will only suffer in the future."
The redhead looked at the ceiling, mulling over her words for a few seconds before nodding. "I can understand your point. But… I just can't bear the thought of having to see either Millicas or Rias go through such a hellish life. If something were to happen to them, I'm afraid I will no longer have control over the monster inside of me." To become the kind of leader able to win over former enemies like those who had once fought for the Old Satan Faction, one needed to be ruthless, cold, and a true demon. A single misstep could cause the death of thousands. There was no room for error and compassion was only seen as a weakness.
A hand came to rest on his shoulders. "Everything will be fine. We are still here, and have the opportunity to guide them. It's not like they'll have to figure everything out by themselves."
He touched her hand, finding comfort in her presence and having his stress bleed away bit by bit.
"I sure hope so, Grayfia."
.
.
.
In a room filled with a myriad of lab equipment and a small library's worth of various complicated formulas and notes, all written by hand, was a man said to be bewitchingly beautiful and attractive. Appearing to be in his early twenties, with light blue eyes and green hair that was slicked back. He has a mysterious aura around him, which often caused the likes of Serafall to compare him to one of her anime characters combined with frequent requests for him to come onto her show. The man studied a single Pawn piece — or rather, its remains.
It came not that long ago from the human world, sent by none other than Rias Gremory. A mixture of confusion and wariness filled his eyes as he took a small crystalline piece of the broken pawn and placed it in the middle of a magic circle on his table. Immediately, hundreds of not thousands of pieces of information about the piece flashed before him. Enough data was displayed in a single second that it could have made any human or lesser Devil have an aneurysm. But for him, this was an everyday activity and part of his job as the creator of the Evil Pieces. From the material's composition, to any contact it had with a certain individual or power was displayed to him within an endless matrix of numbers and symbols that only he could decode and read, all within microseconds.
Not even someone as wise and intelligent as Azazel ever managed to decode and break through the secrets of the Evil Pieces. It was far easier to recreate a Sacred Gear than it was to create something similar to the Evil Pieces from scratch. Ajuka was hailed as a monstrous genius throughout the supernatural world for a reason.
A savant when it came to numbers and formulas. Due to his interest in calculations of any variety, Ajuka had developed his demonic powers to specialize in mathematics. His demonic power was so unique that among all the other Devils with their vast might, only his demonic power specialized in creation. This had led to him using the power of the Kankara Formula, also known as the Equation of Military Supremacy. It was Ajuka's specialized move which had the ability to control all phenomena using equations and formulas. With it, he had been able to take control of his enemies' demonic power attacks, change their shape, direction, and also increase their power.
This along with his immense reserves made him on par with Sirzechs as a Super Devil, something, not even Serafall nor Asmodeus could claim. Though this status was not nearly as known to the public due to Sirzechs' greater popularity, since two Super Devils could have actually undermined his friend's authority as Lucifer.
Knock
Knock
"..."
He didn't bother to answer, too engrossed in his work to bother opening the door in the first place. And, only a handful of people were even allowed to come here, and out of them…
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." The door opened with Sirzechs popping his head in like a child. "One of these days I will catch you doing something inappropriate if you don't lock up, Ajuka."
"Not necessary, only a few can march inside without setting up my defences." The mathematician's eyes twitched, "As a matter of fact, you are interrupting me, so leave."
"Whaaaat? I don't wanna!" Sirzechs said childishly, before jumping onto his sofa and relaxing as if he owned the place… which wasn't an inaccurate sentiment. The furniture creaked from the weight of his armor, and tears had also formed on the piece of furniture from the jump. Not many knew this but Sirzechs' armor served no other purpose than to create an intimidating and battle-ready image of him as Lucifer. Yet the set itself weighted so much that it would actually just annoy the Satan on stressful days.
"Oi, your best friend has come for a visit. The least you can do is serve me some tea if you're gonna keep on doing nerd stuff instead of hanging out and relaxing like friends are supposed to."
"Go do it yourself, you big baby. I'm neither your wife nor your maid." Ajuka pointed at the coffee-making machine at the other side of the room while never breaking his focus on his work.
"Haa… it's too far away! I feel too lazy to move today, especially now that I'm on this couch. Never mind, I'll just have Grayfia brew me some later." He grabbed a pillow and rested his head on it while closing both eyes. This was the routine between them; on busy days, Sirzechs would escape to Ajuka's office to hide from those irritating old fools who plotted 24/7 behind his back and just enjoy a moment of silence. Even as a Super Devil, he needed some time to rest and there was no one he trusted more to lower his guard around than his old friend Ajuka. Also his wife of course.
"Have you found any additional leads regarding the matter concerning your sister and that mark of hers?" Ajuka suddenly asked, knowing how this matter still resided in the mind of his friend.
"I'm afraid there's little to go on. My father and I both scoured through every book and record in our family library and even Lucifer's collection, but the few things we did find that could be connected were honestly pretty weak. There were parts related to summoning powerful familiars, but those were just creatures from a dragon's descendants or perhaps a fully mature hydra." He spoke with a blank tone, the smile on his face vanishing as he kept his eyes closed. "Father himself couldn't help me as he was just as much in the dark as I."
Ajuka briefly stopped his spell, grabbing an old binder next to him before tossing it in Sirzechs' face — the latter catching it in time.
"Then you didn't do your research properly. The heir to the Sitri and your sister took any mention of such things along with notes from the familiar master Zatouji, and kept it for themselves. Fortunately, I've asked Rias if she could pass it along to me and she agreed. I've added my own findings and research inside, take a look."
For the next half hour, Sirzechs scoured through each page one by one, his blank face slowly morphing into a frown. He didn't like what he was reading, as it only further enforced his opinion about the connection that being had to this 'summoning'. His memory went back to the symbol on Rias' hand, something he couldn't stop thinking about. "Fascinating…" he uttered.
"You read the part about the Holy Grail War? I believe Rias also sent a detailed report about this matter to both of us."
"I did, and just half of that makes the entire situation very messy and complicated. This is no different than bringing the dead back to life with even more power than before — all that just to die again for a slim chance for someone to make a wish. And from my understanding, if the Master is ruthless enough, they can even make their own Servant kill themselves as a way to ensure that only their wish will be granted. Then again, I don't believe such a thing would happen in the first place with Rias as the Master, but it is still within the realm of possibility I guess. Also, just the thought of having any wish granted… How terrifying that would be in the wrong hands." Many faces appeared in his mind, both of his past enemies and current. Any of them getting such an opportunity would ruin the world as a whole and could very possibly even end Devils as a species. "Do you think we could qualify as Heroic Spirits?" Sirzechs asked jokingly.
"I don't believe so. My best guess is that we need to be from that world to begin with. Then again, I'm not sure about that either, what with us being Devils after all. I don't know about reincarnated Devils, but it's not like we can study this case in the first place unless we somehow unlock interdimensional travel and make contact with this other universe." Such questions did pop inside his mind from time to time, a scenario where the knowledge of another world's magic system would make anyone such as him very curious. But he also had to be realistic. With the Dimensional Gap separating different realities, worlds, and possibly timelines, no one aside from the likes of Ophis, Great Red, or Trihexa had the power that would be required to navigate through it with any degree of ease. And with Great Red inhabiting the Dimensional Gap and guarding his domain jealously, no one could hope to pass that monster of a dragon.
"You know, I think Okita Souji, my Knight, would be able to become a Heroic Spirit. If his version from the other universe is anything like him, then it is practically guaranteed."
"Going back to more relevant matters we were discussing before — Rias' action of summoning someone from that world — I take it that you don't like it." Ajuka came to sit next to him on another sofa.
"This matter is not that simple, Ajuka. It would have made things far easier if this truly was nothing but a familiar summoning ritual. Yet everything about it points to something far more dangerous and deceptive being at play here. And I don't like that my little sister has been caught right in the middle of it."
"You don't trust whatever or whoever came out of that ritual." He stated. "I believe he identifies himself as Archer."
"I would have trusted him if he was part of her peerage. But even without that, under any other circumstances, I would have still kept a perfectly neutral opinion of him so long as Rias trusted him."
"But that symbol on her hand, along with his possible connection to that being bothers you." Ajuka could read Sirzechs like an open book, even without looking at him. They both grew up together and fought beside one another countless times, so naturally, they understood each other. "There hasn't been any reported activity of any kind about him for centuries. Who even knows what, who, or where he is now."
"It still bothers me, more than anything else." Sirzechs nodded. "Rias isn't dealing with just a small threat like a rogue Stray, Fallens, or even the Old Satan Faction. This is someone even I fear, so you must understand my position here. I'm afraid Rias might get herself killed or hurt by her enemies or…"
"This Servant of hers?" Ajuka finished his phrase, sipping a cup of tea he had made for himself beforehand. "Having a possible connection to that sign does not necessarily mean Archer will do anything to harm Rias to begin with. Especially while she had those Command Seals. She may be your sister but such a being as him wouldn't ever care about someone like her in the first place." He said it bluntly, not bothering to sugarcoat his words.
"We can't risk her life over an 'if' or 'maybe', I need some clear-cut answers that will assure me she is safe."
"Speaking of Rias, I never expected for one of my inventions to be destroyed in such a manner. Though this also creates a big dilemma for your sister as she mentioned that this one missing Pawn piece caused her to be unable to turn a human into a Devil." He was very intrigued by the idea of a single human with no magical abilities being worth so much in the first place. Eight Pawns? That would require nothing short of them being in possession of a Longinus class Sacred Gear.
"This impacts Rias' capability to take on Riser in the future."
"You're so sure that a Rating Game will even happen in the first place. What gives you so much confidence that the heir to the Phenex will even agree to such a thing so soon?" Ajuka asked curiously. According to his calculations, Riser wouldn't mind waiting until Rias finished her final year in school before seeking to marry her.
His friend chuckled, "Not everything has to be logical, Ajuka. In fact it seems that being cooped up in your lab has caused you to forget that people will not always take the logical approach, my friend. If anything, Devils like us tend to go more in the opposite direction if it means obtaining or doing what we want, and that can easily cause trouble for ourselves due to arrogance. Riser Phenex is such a person, and I know he won't accept those kinds of terms." Then his features turned frosty. "Now her chances are ruined with this Servant creating problems for her."
He knew he was being more than a bit biased with his words, but if there was even the slightest chance that this man was related to that being, then Sirzechs would never be able to trust him completely. Archer posed a danger to his sister, and that was putting him on edge.
"You speak as if he can't aid her in her goals, or in a Rating Game. Given that he is a familiar of sorts, he should be qualified to participate. And who knows, he might even be good enough to allow Rias to win all on his own." They barely knew anything about Archer's powers, as Rias intentionally kept this information from them which was actually a good move in Ajuka's opinion. Even if they were on her side, it was wise to not overshare such details about one's own abilities or that of their subordinates.
"I need to make sure he won't pose any kind of threat to Rias." Sirzechs' eyes narrowed, a cold and ruthless light shining within them. "Ajuka, can you do me a favor with Rias' replacement Pawn?"
The green-haired Devil immediately realized what Sirzechs was implying. "Are you sure about that? Wouldn't that count as favoritism and have Zekram on your tail?"
He waved his hands, "I can handle him. He may be a shrewd old bastard who shits politics, but I am not someone he can bully so easily. At the end of the day, I am Lucifer and he still hasn't seen me at my worst. Besides, claiming that this was another bug in the system or something that just came about on its own is hardly without precedence, and will give me a fair amount of leeway."
"He was present during our final battle against the house of Lucifer…" Ajuka said with a deadpan. "I'm pretty sure he did see you at your worst."
"Come on, why have you always gotta ruin my epic moment?"
"Because you're an idiot, and even I can't begin fathom how the Underworld hasn't descended into anarchy with your abominable skills which you apparently think passes for administration being at the helm. You're almost as flippant as Serafall, and Falbium spends over ninety percent of his time sleeping. Most likely Grayfia is the one doing all of the other Satans' work in the first place. She probably just gets the rest of you to sign the documents at the end of the day, assuming she hasn't learned how to forge your signatures." He couldn't help but sneer at the former Gremory heir.
"Hey, I'm bad but I'm not that incompetent… Grayfia only does my documents in my stead when I'm sleeping here. As for the others, you'd have to ask. I don't keep track since it's not really my problem. And since you asked, she can forge my signature."
Ajuka resisted the urge to facepalm, he wondered how this man managed to get a woman like her in the first place. They were polar opposites of each other!
Both Devils conversed for a few more minutes before they received a message from Serafall. A matter concerning the Fallens, and so both quickly left the room.
Unbeknownst to them, the door to Ajuka's lab opened silently with a boy with facial features similar to the 'lesser' of the two Satans walking inside whilst holding a particular key. With dark green hair and a malevolent stare, he gazed at the binder left on the table before gaining some interest as to its contents.
His brother wouldn't mind if he snooped around a bit.
{Break}
-Occult Research Club--
"You can't be serious…" A certain red bowman said as he stood in the middle of the dark clubroom with his arms crossed and eyes twitching.
There were many things in his past Archer had dealt with. An uncountable number of times he's been in uncomfortable situations doing things he would rather never think about ever again. Yet all of those moments always involved some sort of battle or his role in a Holy Grail War. None of them even came close to what he was facing at this moment. One could even say that it was a nightmare he wished to wake up from.
"I literally told you yesterday that you, or Toujou Shirou if you will, came back to Kuoh to pursue higher education and start a career as a teacher." Rias said mirthfully, holding a plain black buttoned shirt with a pair of dark brown business pants. Akeno stood by her side with a sadistic glint in her eyes that she didn't bother to hide when gazing at the Servant to her front. "So, I hope you are ready to help educate the young minds of our esteemed academy, Sensei~"
Yuuto stood quietly in the background next to a set of textbooks and classroom materials such as pens and paper.
Was this an elaborate, cruel prank? Was he being targeted by these Devils and their nefarious plans? Most likely. Even Rin wasn't this evil, and that was saying something. Only someone like Emiya Shirou could have possibly found joy in his discomfort and mocked him right to his face like this.
"I refuse to become a teacher." He said bluntly. "When I heard you were making a background story about my life and that it involved academics, I was expecting it to be more of a cover-up in case I have to physically accompany you in school or to validate my presence in the Occult Research Club in case someone spotted me. The last thing I had been expecting was I would actually do any of… this."
"Fufufufu~ You can't go back on your words, Archer. You did say that you would follow Buchou's orders after all since she's your Master." A coy smile emerged from Akeno's face as she gazed at the irritated Servant. The mere thought of seeing him trying to fulfill his role as a teacher in front of a class and failing miserably brought an immense rush of excitement and joy from the deepest corner of her mind. An inexplicable emotion she could not put into words that made the idea so worth it. This could even act as revenge on him for stealing her kitchen and forcing everyone to prefer his food over hers! Even his tea-making was superior!
Rias nodded along at her Queen's words. "I agree with Akeno, you did say to let me handle things and that you would follow along. And now that I have done my part, you suddenly refuse and backtrack at the last minute? I expected more honor from a Heroic Spirit, especially one summoned as a knight class." ¹
"Don't tempt me, Devil. I care even less about abstract concepts such as honor than I did for the mediocre tea I was served this morning by a certain someone." He threw a jab at the raven-haired girl who froze at his words, the sadistic glint in her eyes dulling until her face became empty and apathetic, a spark of lightning fluttering across her fingers. "And you are really stretching the idea of a 'Servant' much too far, Master. We are warriors of legend who have been brought back for the sole purpose of battling vast armies, god-like beings, and other Servants — not teaching English or algebra to a bunch of immature brats."
"Oh come on, Archer, it'll be fun!" Rias insisted. "This is a good idea, trust me. You'll be able to grow more familiar with Sona and her peerage by becoming a teacher. I would have preferred if you were a student but let's be honest, no one's going to believe you're a teenager."
"I can just meet them and introduce myself after school hours if it's so important to you." Archer argued.
"No, you don't understand. It's easier to gain a good impression from Sona if you actively participate in this school system. Unlike me, she actually cares a lot about her image and takes her job as a Student Council President very seriously. If you introduce yourself as you are then she will have doubts about you. But if you do it as a teacher, she will have nothing but respect!"
Honestly, most of everything she just mentioned was a complete lie that she just pulled out of thin air. She didn't care one bit if Sona had a good initial impression of Archer or not. Heck, a part of her wanted to keep him a secret from everyone until the time came to reveal her Servant in all his glory. She only wanted to see Archer acting as a teacher because it offered her a good excuse to call him Sensei without issue and even have him dress for the part. It was an idea she got after the first day at school, and it had only grown the more time she spent with Archer. The shopping trip yesterday had been what really sealed the deal for her, since many of the clothes she picked out for him had been appropriate attire for a teacher, and each set had made her heart throb and she wanted to see him wearing them again. Also a not-so-small part of her was entertaining certain ideas about what Archer being a teacher could result in… and it seemed her Queen shared her enthusiasm.
"Your reasoning doesn't make sense, Master. I'm your Servant, not Sona Sitri's. If she is that untrusting of me then my actions will be enough to prove otherwise in due time, but I have no reason or obligation to be worried about her opinions." He insisted, looking at the Knight in the background who was trying to stay out of this whole fiasco. The latter only shrugged and gave him an uneasy smile.
"You'll get to spend more time with us," Akeno said, trying to poke his arm with her lightning only to be ignored by the man. She still felt a bit salty over his last comment about her tea… did he really not like it? "And I heard from Buchou about how you spend almost all of your time at school in your astral form. Don't you find it boring?"
"I could spend an entire week without moving from a spot if I wanted to. What will a few hours of listening to a teacher rambling on do to me? Nothing. In fact, I'll have less time to accompany my Master if I do this and be forced to waste my energy grading students' papers, which is another reason why this is not a good idea."
"How about playing the role of a hero and keeping an eye on unruly students like the perverted trio so they can't get up to any mischief. I'm sure the girls would appreciate it a lot — I know I will."
"No," again, Archer refused immediately. Akeno found herself pouting at how he delivered his response without hesitation.
Rias was the next one to speak. "You know, there are many different mages around the school. Due to the nature of us Devils and our relationship with certain clans, trying to establish any sort of contact with them is often very difficult. So if you take the role as a teacher, you'll be able to gather much more information about these people since they'll likely think you're human as well. You'll even interact with them on a day to day basis and they can become more trusting of you, thus making it easier for me to approach them. Not to mention, we still need to keep an eye out for Hyoudou Issei as he's not yet turned into a Devil, and that rogue Fallen might come back to try to attack him anytime. If you are close to him then it'll be easier to protect him,"
Archer raised an eye."You honestly expect Raynare or any of her allies — assuming she has any to begin with — would attack him in a crowded building during broad daylight?"
"Very unlikely to be sure, but the chances are not zero. They are most likely no longer associated with the Grigori, and those kinds of people often don't tend to worry about other rules, as evidenced by their trespassing on my territory in the first place. With you there, not only am I and my peerage protected, but so are the other students." And she'd get to see him even during class and be able to watch him work, which was much better than having him in his astral form and thus make her somewhat lackluster day-to-day school life that much more enjoyable. "Trust me, it won't be that bad. In case if you still hate it later on, then you can stop and I promise I won't make you do anything of the sort ever again."
She just wouldn't let this go. He could see that saying no wouldn't make them budge whatsoever. They were set on this decision for some odd reason and really wanted him to become a teacher. He hesitated a bit before once again coming to the conclusion that all of this was a waste of time and was about to say no again, until…
"Archer," he heard Koneko call him from behind. Turning around, he found the little girl with her hands behind her back, looking like she was hiding something. She slowly showed him a small black box decorated with ribbons as a gift and presented it to him. "A present for you Nii-s…" her following words got stuck in her throat as if something held her back from saying it. "...Sensei."
The girl's behavior did seem a bit weird to him, but he decided to let it go for now. He took the box and opened it. To his surprise, he found a pair of rectangular glasses with a note attached to it.
'Good Luck!' It said, a present that he certainly didn't expect from the quiet little Rook. She then looked at him with hopeful eyes. "Please?"
What a blunder he got himself stuck into. This was basically forcing him into a corner. But he wouldn't falter, all he had to do was to apologize to the girl and refuse the gift. He didn't care whether this would make her sad…
Nope, not one bit.
{Break}
-Kuoh Academy-
"We're getting a new teacher!?"
As the bell rang signaling the start of school for the day, Issei sat at his desk with barely any energy, a stark contrast from his usual self. He'd barely slept last night, and couldn't deal with everything that had happened to him recently. He couldn't even finish any of the eroges he borrowed from Matsuda and Motohama recently.
He did notice the girls talking actively about some new teacher. Not sure why they were so excited about this, the last English teacher was an old man whom Issei could barely remember the name of.
"He's a foreigner?" One of the captains of the kendo club, Murayama. A beautiful big-breasted brunette girl that he and his friends had peeped at on many occasions, even if the price was getting brutally attacked and beaten to a pulp. Murayama whispered to her best friend, Katase — another member of the club with lackluster boobs in Issei's opinion, but she had great legs and an awesome butt.
"Most likely, I think I saw him speaking with the principal this morning. He's so hot!"
Issei felt himself quickly becoming more attentive, as this was a topic that especially pissed him off. It was already a pain to deal with that damnable prince charming, Kiba Yuuto, but now a possible second ikemen was apparently going to show up now? It wasn't fair! Just because Kiba Yuuto was hot, sexy, nice to everyone, really smart and athletic, and overall the coolest guy in the whole damn school all the girls wanted to sex him up, leaving nothing for Issei and his pals! And now a new predator was coming onto the scene…
Honestly, Issei didn't really want to bother with these thoughts in the first place. His mind had been far too preoccupied with the impending meeting with Gremory-senpai, where this bizarre new chapter of his life would officially begin as his humanity came to an end. And it didn't exactly help that when he spotted her before classes had started in the morning and went to go have a quick word with her, it became clear that she was focussed on something else entirely as her only words to Issei had been her quickly saying that she'd send someone to fetch him later and that they'd speak then.
All of this crazy new stuff happening made him sigh and rest his head on his desk out of exhaustion.
"I hope he's like one of those handsome men with lots of muscles and a deep, rough voice."
"Me too! Those kinds of guys are just the best!"
These girls were getting annoying. He was reaching the limit of his patience and wanted nothing more than to scream for everyone to be quiet and let him sleep for once.
Issei was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of the doors opening registering in his ears. This was followed by more than a dozen of his female classmates squealing uncontrollably. Confused, he lifted his head to see what was their deal and nearly fell off his chair when he saw the person stepping inside the class.
Having his hair down made him look very different from how he did the last time Issei saw him, and he was wearing a black buttoned shirt with his sleeves rolled up and dark pants. Clothes that didn't even try to hide his jacked physique, and that instantly made Issei green in envy with how he could literally hear the girls fawning over him! Yet the most attractive feature to them, or at least to Katase who looked like a red tomato at this moment, were the black rimmed rectangular glasses on his face.
Just as Issei felt himself shoot to his feet about to yell out loud in shock and demand an explanation about what he was doing here — he was stopped in his tracks by a tidal wave of unease creeping up his spine. Archer gave him a side glance that carried enough killing intent while also promising a world of pain if he dared to say or do anything. With goosebumps all over his body, the brown haired boy felt his legs turn into jelly as he quietly sat back down.
Though it seemed that the other two boys in the classroom also did not like this new teacher one bit.
"Oi, what's this gigolo doing here?" Matsuda whispered harshly to his bespectacled friend who was equally fuming. "The last thing we want in this school is a Kiba 2.0!"
"Why are all the girls so impressed with the glasses in particular out of everything? I'm literally wearing some and not a single one of them ever even looked at me once!" Motohama said with clenched teeth and tears streaming down his face. Their complaints were met with murderous glares from the girls in the class, especially Katase who looked so ready to give Motohama a beatdown.
"Alright class, settle down." Archer spoke, getting everyone's attention whilst ignoring the feverous stares he was getting from the girls. Had they never seen a grown man before who wasn't their own dad or something? Then again, he saw that the only boys in the classroom consisted entirely of a certain infamous trio, and realized that he may well be a sight for sore eyes to these girls. He grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote his name on the board in both Japanese and English. "My name is Toujou Shirou, and I'll be the new English teacher for both second and third years for Kuoh Academy's high school division. You can address me as Toujou-sensei or just Sensei if you prefer. Any questions?"
Some girls noticed the similarity between his name and that of a certain school mascot as well as his hair color also being the same, causing them to wonder if they were related.
"Are you related to Toujou Koneko?" Murayama asked.
"Somehow. Next question."
"How old are you?"
"Too old for you." What was with these weird questions?
"Are you Japanese? You don't look like you are…"
"Yes." Archer didn't bother to elaborate any further.
"Can I have your number, handsome?" One of the girls near the back where Issei and the other boys sat asked with a teasing voice.
"You can have an hour of detention if you ask me that again or say anything else inappropriate. And the same goes for everyone else. Also, I won't be taking any more questions unless they're course-related." For some reason, his answer seemed to only make the girl blush furiously.
Seeing how the girls further fawned over him after hearing his answers, all three boys of the Unpopular Alliance knew what danger they were suddenly faced with. A calamity that was only mentioned a few times during their secret meetings behind the kendo club's changing room. This man was handsome in much the same way as Kiba Yuuto!, A handsome prince charming who all the girls dreamed about every day at school — he was Damn Handsome!!!
"You boys look like you're all having an existential crisis or something." They heard a teasing voice and turned to see the dreaded sight that was their other archenemy: a girl who was just as perverted as them yet no one seemed bothered about it! Her special ability paralleled Motohama's three size analysis gaze, in that she could accurately calculate a boy's genitals size with just a glance no matter how many clothes they were wearing. How was that not even more perverted than anything they did? Where was the equality!?
"What do you want, Aika!?" Issei exclaimed at the twin tailed brown haired girl who also wore glasses. She was beautiful just like every girl in Kuoh Academy, but her personality and habit of consistently humiliating them with her cutting words left much to be desired.
"I can see the jealousy dripping out of you three from a mile away. You see the sex appeal of this right here?" She tapped her glasses. "Not just anyone can just rock these bad boys and look sexy while doing it. It requires talent that you fortunately don't have, Perverted Glasses."
Motohama felt attacked, "Why you little—" not willing to just sit there and take this abuse, he was about to scream at her before his vision suddenly turned white.
Pa!
All three of them were hit right in the middle of their foreheads by chalk pieces with enough force to turn the small projectiles into dust upon contact.
"Ah!"
"Ouch!"
"I can't see!"
What just happened?
"You three, no chit chatting while class is in session. You're all more than free to do so during your break, but if I catch you behaving like this in my class again, then I promise you'll regret it." Archer said sternly, making Issei curse this man in his thoughts. First he threw him into a fountain, punched him in the stomach, got to be close to Gremory-senpai on a daily basis, and now this! He'd get his revenge one day!
'First chance I get, I'm gonna punch this stupidly handsome bastard right in the face!' He silently grumbled.
Issei saw Archer turn his head to speak to everyone else, and began his lesson. Today just wasn't his day… ah he wanted to touch some boobs so bad to calm his nerves. Even small ones would help.
"I like him." Aika said with a large grin on her face.
{Break}
(A few hours later)
Archer sighed to himself as he stood on top of a rooftop in the middle of the night. After finishing his 'classes' with the second years today and gathering all of his supplies, Rias gave him the task of keeping an eye on Hyoudou Issei. Since he hadn't been turned into a Devil yet, there was a big chance that the Fallens would reappear again.
And unlike last time, he'd made sure they wouldn't escape. Sure Rias wanted to keep them free in order to track their main base — but there were better ways of doing so. He was technically going against the desires of his Master, but this would benefit her more in the long run and avoid any unnecessary problems that could have been easily avoided.
Rias was still waiting for a certain package to arrive before inviting Issei and turning him into a Devil, which he understood would be a replacement Pawn piece so she'd have a full set of eight again. He wasn't that familiar with this world and the Devils' Evil Pieces system, so he trusted her to know more than him and take the best decision.
He watched the Harem King Wannabe grumble from what happened previously as he walked back to his house after departing from his friend's home, before he spotted three small fluttering black dots approaching from afar. The sun was about to set and few people were still out in this part of the city while Issei himself was out in the open, so this was the perfect opportunity to attack the boy. And furthermore, he saw that there were three Fallen Angels this time… Was that in case he was present so they would have a better chance of taking him down?
Archer chuckled, "I wonder if I should be flattered?" They wouldn't spot him, he was in his astral form after all. As they drew closer he fully materialized with a large black bow in his hand. Barely two days and it had already been proven that these people would come back and cause more trouble if given the chance, so keeping them all alive would be a mistake.
He only needed one Fallen alive in the end for what he wanted.
--------------------
¹ (Saber, Archer, and Lancer are all regarded as being knight classes for Servants.)
The next 5 chapters of Snafu, Harry Potter and my 3 other Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword with 3 chapters, A Fake Familiar Reborn with 3 chapters and To love a sword having 4 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post monthly commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise, Broly and Snafu.