In a park somewhere in Kuoh, Leo is waiting for someone to come and suddenly a black cat climbs up to the bench and transforms into Kuroka.
"Leo Nya? What's the matter for you to suddenly invite me to meet?"
"Could it be! Leo needs some company Nya?" Kuroka appears playfully and makes suggestive poses for Leo. "Unfortunately, Kuroka's heart and body belong to Vali."
Leo simply gives her a flat stare and waits for her to stop her teasing.
"Hahaha. No need to be that stiff, Leo Nya." She laughed and then her eyes slowly lowered to his crotch. "Oh, I forgot Leo only gets stiff for little girls."
Leo sighed and facepalm himself. Kuroka really is playful like a cat would. But sometimes it can get irritating.
"Have you had enough fun, Kuroka?"
"Alright. Alright. So, what is it that you want to talk about?" Kuroka's playful expression changes to serious as they begin their business talk.
"If Leo wants to know about the Khaos Brigade then they are still the same. Rampant internal strife to seize power and more are leaving to form their own group."
"Really?" Leo found it doubtful that Rizevim still hadn't dealt with this issue when almost a month had passed.
"Yes. Although, I heard there is a new guy in the organization trying to unite the people but the gods refuse to follow him and lead to another fight as they try to kill each other."
"Haah. Why can't they just resolve it peacefully." Kuroka sighed, feeling fed up with the Khaos Brigade.
"Hmn… How about the Heroes Faction?" Leo changed the topic after making sure the Khaos Brigade isn't a problem he needs to worry about for now.
"Cao Cao's gang? They had vanished without a trace. I heard there is news about some of his members skulking in Kyoto. Other than that, nothing much." Kuroka answered.
"In Kyoto?" Leo said, surprised because it's the prelude of Kyoto Arc where Cao Cao tried to use Dragon Gate to summon Great Red but failed.
"Why?" Kuroka found his reaction to be suspicious and curious why.
"Nothing. I just didn't expect they would be in Japan and I didn't realize it at all." Leo gave an excuse without revealing the real reason.
"That's true… You need to be careful, Leo. That Cao Cao guy hates you for Khaos Brigade's fall." Kuroka warned Leo out of kindness since she sees him as a friend.
"I'll keep that in mind." Leo nodded and then stood up from the bench. "Anyway, I'll be leaving." Leo bid her goodbye before he walked away, thinking about the information Kuroka just gave him.
New player in Khaos Brigade trying to unite the organization and then Heroes Faction in Japan. Both are problematic. But somehow, he feels like he is missing the bigger picture.
"Why do I keep feeling this restless?" Leo mutters as he feels his heart beating rapidly.
Leo shook his head and walk into the shopping district and found himself in front of a bakery house. He stop by to buy sweets for Ophis and some gift for Mittelt and Ravel.
When he returned to his home, which is this tall blinding golden building, he sighed and ignore it's apperance and walk to the elevator and went to third floor where his apartment were left untouched by the transformation.
He walk into his apartment and find Mittelt sitting in front of the TV, looking bored but instantly changed when she hears the familiar footsteps.
"Leo, you returned." Mittelt excitedly greet him.
"Yeah and I brought you some gifts." Leo said and gave her a fancy looking box that had delicious pastry inside.
Mittelt didn't really look excited about it. Rather, she seems to appreciate the gesture more than the gift.
"For me? Thank you, Leo." She took this opportunity to get a free hug.
After that, Leo went to brew a pot of tea while he looked at Mittelt's profile.
Leo noticed that when affection reaches the final level, it would be very hard to increase. Like a hard cap is placed there and only action and gesture that is very special can increase it.
[Host is correct. Once Affection reaches a certain point, it would be even harder to increase. It's like medicine. They will build up resistance and will require stronger emotional reactions to increase.]
'So, what do you suggest I do to raise it further?' Leo asks while he prepares the tea leaves into the pot while waiting for the water to boil on the stove.
[The easiest way? Just give her what she wants. Why is the Host still hesitating when she is already ready and willing to accept Host love.]
Leo freezed and his eyes locked at Mittelt's thought in her profile.
'I… It feels wrong to deceive her.' Leo admits.
[Deceive her? Did the Host really deceive her? Mittelt's misconception of the Host being the Biblical God is something she made on her own. Host never admits being the Biblical God. Thus Host did not lie to her at all.]
'Yes. It's true. But I knew she misunderstood my identity yet I let her be and even took advantage of it. There really any difference from lying to her?' Leo argues.
[It is different. Host did nothing wrong and besides, Host is underestimating the power of love. Do Host really think something this shallow as mere misunderstanding can make her dislike you?]
[Misunderstanding aside. Host's affection for her is genuine. The bond Host forged with her is also genuine. If Host is really that bothered by the misunderstanding, why not clear it up?]
Leo fell silent. He didn't even notice the kettle was already shooting out steam loudly.
He is afraid. He fears Mittelt would come to hate him if the truth is revealed. His deception is unraveled. But what his System said to him resonated deep within him.
Is his affection fake? No! It's genuine!
Is the bond they forged fake? No! No it's not.
Then… Then why is he that afraid to tell her the truth? Did he not trust the affection and bond between him and Mittelt?
Leo cannot give an answer… No, he knew the answer. But he was too afraid to tell.
"Leo? What's wrong with you?"
Leo snapped out of his daze when Mittelt's worried voice reached his ears.
He looked at the kettle he left on the stove for too long that the water had all evaporated and burnt black. He then looks at Mittelt who is very worried about him. Not just her expression and body language. He can see and read her thoughts, she is very worried about him.
Yet, the more she cared for him, the more guilty he felt. He can't stop imagining what would happen when he reveals the truth. She will hate him for lying to her. She will leave him and run away.
Suddenly, Leo felt Mittelt float into the air with her wings and hugs her head into her chest. She gently caressed his head and reassured him it's alright. She whispers to him he didn't need to be sad.
Yet, deep inside his heart. He felt disgusted with himself. He is unworthy of this treatment for the lies and deception he did to her.
"What's wrong, Leo? Why do you look sad like that?" Mittelt let go of her hug and looked at his face with worry.
He couldn't say it. He wanted to say but the words stuck in his throat and shoved back in.
"It's… nothing. I just feel a little tired." Leo gently pry himself away from Mittelt before he cleaned up the kitchen and went to his room.
Mittelt of course didn't believe it. But she didn't want to force him either. In fact, she noticed his mood worsened and emotionally withdrawn these last few days. It happened when he no longer went out and hunted Stray Devil because they are impossible to be found anymore. Either they fled from Japan or went into hiding.
Mittelt is very worried and consulted with Ravel about this when she returns from school. She explains the situation and hopes her frenemy can offer some advice. However, they soon discovered that they didn't really know very little about Leo despite him knowing about them a lot. It didn't help that Leo isn't very open about his personal history.
Ravel later invites Rias and Her Peerage members to learn about Leo because they had been very close to him for a brief period of time. Especially those who he trained like Issei, Koneko and Kiba.
———
"So… Why do we have to do this in my club room?" Rias sighed when Ravel suddenly called for a tea party which was just a meeting in disguise to learn about Leo.
Ravel then explains to everyone about Leo's sudden mood swing and asks them to help her and Mittelt learn about him.
"I thought this Fallen Angel is the longest one by his side. How come she knows very little about him?" Rias calls Mittelt out which earns a frown from Mittelt.
"He is very tight-lipped about his history, alright. Besides, I never thought about asking…" Mittelt's voice gradually became smaller as she felt ashamed she failed on her part to learn more about the person she loved.
They all could agree on the tight-lipped part. Leo only talks when he wants to. If he doesn't, no amount of effort will bear an answer.
Then they begin to talk one by one about what they know about Leo, starting from Kiba who spends the most time with Leo during the training.
"Leo sensei did talk about his profession to me before when he tried to teach me about determination and willpower." Kiba started.
"He said that a Hunter is a profession made out of necessity for the disaster that struck his world."
"Wait. His world?" Ravel, who just learned about this, was very surprised.
"Oh right, you never heard about this before. Yes. Leo sensei was from another world." Kiba answered.
Ravel immediately turned to Mittelt with a look of betrayal.
"You never asked." Mittelt replied before the question even asked.
"We will talk about this later." Ravel fumed but calmed down and asked Kiba to continue.
"So, he said his world was struck by a disease. A plague that causes humans to transform into hideous monsters that eventually wiped out everything. The Hunters are created to counter these monsters and he said he killed a lot. By the time he became a Hunter, the city he was in already became a monster infested city with only a handful of people still sane and he is tasked to kill all the monster."
"I imagine that would have taken a toll on Leo sensei's mind. After all, the monsters are all formerly human and he said some were still human when he fought them and later turned into monsters." Kiba concludes what might have caused Leo's deteriorating mood and added, "I imagine he had been hunting Stray Devils to create distraction for his mind."
"If that is the case, then the lack of Stray Devils to hunt makes him start to have memories relapsing. Maybe that's why he would sometimes become distracted." Akeno points out the explanation for why Leo would sometimes be in daze.
"What can we do to help him then?" Ravel asks Akeno, who seems well versed in the matter.
"It's very simple. You two only need to keep him distracted with activities and pay close attention. Don't let him be alone too much to brood about the negative thoughts." Akeno says.
Mittelt and Ravel took the advice to heart and continue to ask further on what they can do.
—————
(Leo gonna be very confused when they suddenly pay too much attention to him. Well, as for the lack of actions… Please bear with me. I am trying to lay out the romance part which will be very important for the finale I planned for DxD. As for what the finale is… I had given plenty of clues in his abilities and some answers in the comments so I'm sure some already guessed it. Basically, I'm asking for you to Let me cook. I will try my best not to disappoint.)
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